Quote:
Originally Posted by Libby K
Unfortunately at the moment it is over a thousand dollars, but another aspect of the project is figuring out how to make it more affordable.
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Keep in mind that this is what engineering is really all about. Anyone can make a bridge - as long as it is made of a 30 ft by 30 ft chunk of steel spanning the 2000 foot river, costing $30 billion dollars. The real challenge of engineering is getting that bridge down to the minimal amount of materials for the minimal amout of cost.
Part of engineering is the proof of concept, but the real meat of the discipline is all about making things economical.
The only reason I'm bringing this up is that most people focus on engineering as a discipline that makes marvelous jumps in technology. This makes some people have some unrealistic expectations about the profession. The fact is that the vast majority of engineering is done as refinements, mostly to make things more economical. And let's be honest, having comupters in the world is pretty cool, but having computers that cost $500 (not the millions that they cost in the 60's) is amazingly cool.