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Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Room for innovation in engineeering?
Is there room for really pushing the boundaries in engineering? There's a reason I think there might be. I mean : new materials and/or new power sources. Even new methods of propulsion. And how to make things cheaper. Resulting in : great new machines, at little expense. Science fiction today.
We need first to understand that most of what was discovered is by chance. Few predicted something would work. Esp. in materials. So mix things, see what combination works.
Notice anything strange, no matter how small. Look at electricity. Just a small spark was produced at first, this could have been ignored.
The question is: have all combinations been tried? All leads followed up?
I'm thinking of going back to Edison's method of mass experimentation. This time taking it way further. Machines that automate the mixing process, to try and create new materials. On a massive, production line scale. A factory as big as a modern car plant. All for trying new combinations, as cheaply and efficiently as possible.
Bang things, shake things, mix things, heat things, etc. etc. all in different order, and repeating some of them. Then automatically measuring the properties. How hard, how strong, how elastic, how heavy, etc. etc.
Perhaps some kind of algorithm, so the computer can try to produce half intelligent guesses. But for sure a factory, doing massive numbers of experiments on a scale not seen before.
Uses: super conductors, strong materials, materials that can withstand heat etc. Can also search for logic gates this way, the building blocks of new computers.
We need first to understand that most of what was discovered is by chance. Few predicted something would work. Esp. in materials. So mix things, see what combination works.
Notice anything strange, no matter how small. Look at electricity. Just a small spark was produced at first, this could have been ignored.
The question is: have all combinations been tried? All leads followed up?
I'm thinking of going back to Edison's method of mass experimentation. This time taking it way further. Machines that automate the mixing process, to try and create new materials. On a massive, production line scale. A factory as big as a modern car plant. All for trying new combinations, as cheaply and efficiently as possible.
Bang things, shake things, mix things, heat things, etc. etc. all in different order, and repeating some of them. Then automatically measuring the properties. How hard, how strong, how elastic, how heavy, etc. etc.
Perhaps some kind of algorithm, so the computer can try to produce half intelligent guesses. But for sure a factory, doing massive numbers of experiments on a scale not seen before.
Uses: super conductors, strong materials, materials that can withstand heat etc. Can also search for logic gates this way, the building blocks of new computers.
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