Go to Post If I was making this I would want to not have to use anything smaller than a 3/16" end mill, but 1/8" would be acceptable. Anything smaller and I'd tell the designer to go play in traffic. - Cory [more]
Home
Go Back   Chief Delphi > FIRST > Career
CD-Media   CD-Spy  
portal register members calendar search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read FAQ rules

 
Reply
Thread Tools Rating: Thread Rating: 5 votes, 5.00 average. Display Modes
  #31   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 06-09-2005, 23:36
sciguy125 sciguy125 is offline
Electrical Engineer
AKA: Phil Baltar
FRC #1351
Team Role: College Student
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 519
sciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond reputesciguy125 has a reputation beyond repute
Send a message via AIM to sciguy125 Send a message via MSN to sciguy125 Send a message via Yahoo to sciguy125
Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain
Their is a countless number of things that can hamstring the country if they failed!
Think of what would happen if the internet failed. No ChiefDelphi. :shivers:
__________________

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GE/S/P a-- e y-- r-- s:++ d+ h! X+++
t++ C+ P+ L++ E W++ w M-- V? PS+ PE+
5- R-- tv+ b+ DI+++ D- G
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
Reply With Quote
  #32   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 07-09-2005, 23:27
Bill Moore's Avatar
Bill Moore Bill Moore is offline
Iv2gr8sons
AKA: Be More
FRC #0365 (Miracle Workerz)
Team Role: Team Spirit / Cheering
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Rookie Year: 2001
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 461
Bill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond repute
Send a message via AIM to Bill Moore
Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?

Quote:
Originally Posted by KenWittlief
there is enough space and room for people to survive (at this point), but there are not enough resources for every person on the planet to have a 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, 4 computers, 5 TVs, all the food they can eat...

there are only so many acres of land that can be farmed. Once the population gets above 1 person per acre, or 2 people per acre of farmland, people will starve.
That's a fair statement for todays conditions, but not going forward. Already our farmland is being converted from food sources to non-food product sources. Soy beans to diesel fuel, corn being used to make plastics . . . our main farmlands will become a battleground between producing enough food for a growing population and satisfying our desire to have unlimited cheap material resources.

The major engineering challenges for the future will be related to agriculture -- genetic engineering to squeeze greater yields per acre, hydrologic engineering to allow us to crop currently non-arable land, and bioengineering to create microorganisms that will turn any marginal bioresidue into useful product.

It doesn't matter when the price of oil becomes "too" high, it'll still take 3 generations before the population weans itself off the excess energy we think we need.
Reply With Quote
  #33   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 08-09-2005, 09:01
KenWittlief KenWittlief is offline
.
no team
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 4,213
KenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond repute
Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?

getting as much food per acre of land is still a dead end path, if the world population continues to increase.

If we scaled the population back, then none of these things you mentioned would be necessary.
Reply With Quote
  #34   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 08-09-2005, 14:33
Bill Moore's Avatar
Bill Moore Bill Moore is offline
Iv2gr8sons
AKA: Be More
FRC #0365 (Miracle Workerz)
Team Role: Team Spirit / Cheering
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Rookie Year: 2001
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 461
Bill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond reputeBill Moore has a reputation beyond repute
Send a message via AIM to Bill Moore
Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?

Quote:
Originally Posted by KenWittlief
getting as much food per acre of land is still a dead end path, if the world population continues to increase.

If we scaled the population back, then none of these things you mentioned would be necessary.
Theoretically you have a point; it just doesn't work in practice. Even in dictated societies where population control has been tried, they only succeeded in slowing growth down, never actually stopping it.

You argument is similar to the old Zero Population Growth movement (something like 2.4 children per family) which would sustain the current world population numbers. But what about the "immortality dreams" of the future (i.e., nano-mechanisms that can enter cells and turn back the aging process). Right now, an expected lifespan is about 3 to 3.5 generations long and that is increasing. What happens when we increase that lifespan to 6 or more generations through improved medical technology? At some point the ZPG number will drop below 1.0 due to life expectancy itself. Unless something catestrophic happens (war or disease) the increase will continue.

Short term, this world needs to focus on renewable resources, including products from our farmlands, but this won't stop or control our population growth. The only long term answer to controlling the population on earth (that isn't inhumane) is to access new resources by populating other planets.
Reply With Quote
  #35   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 08-09-2005, 15:48
Chris Hibner's Avatar Unsung FIRST Hero
Chris Hibner Chris Hibner is offline
Eschewing Obfuscation Since 1990
AKA: Lars Kamen's Roadie
FRC #0051 (Wings of Fire)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: May 2001
Rookie Year: 1997
Location: Canton, MI
Posts: 1,488
Chris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond reputeChris Hibner has a reputation beyond repute
Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?

I hate to continue the thread down a side path, but...

I agree with Ken that population growth is going to be a big problem in the future. In many ways, it already is becoming a problem.

One problem that I see quite often is society's lack of acceptance of people that choose to not have children. Since my wife and I fall into this category, I have had to endure everyone's opinion on this (mostly negative). The one that gets me is that we are "selfish" for our choice. Since I agree with Ken's point about overpopulation, I hardly think that our choice is "selfish". In a lot of ways it's the opposite.

Anyway, I just want to give another "heads up" to people to have an open mind about other people's choices, and to not continue to spout old-fashioned beliefs without first thinking about them.

(As a side note, I support everyone else's choice to have kids. It just irks me when people think that what they choose to do is the "right way" to do things.)

Back to the thread:

I think the most important engineering problem of our future is to find a replacement for fossil fuels. Fossil fuel is used not only to fuel our vehicles, but also to generate electricity, heat our houses, run manufacturing plants, and also make things like plastics, medicines, and many other materials. It's amazing how much of our current lives depend on fossil fuels. The computer that you're using to read this thread depends heavily on polymers (plastics and rubber) that are made from petroleum.

The problem is that there still isn't a great substitute. Some reports state that corn-based fuels (such as ethanol) actually require more energy to produce them than they contain - that hardly makes it a sustainable energy source.

I really don't know what the answer is, but I hope that the answer is found before mass chaos sets in as the supplies are depleted. I recently read an article that estimates that the world's supply of oil will run out in about 20 years. That's pretty scary.
__________________
-
An ounce of perception is worth a pound of obscure.

Last edited by Chris Hibner : 08-09-2005 at 15:58.
Reply With Quote
  #36   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 08-09-2005, 16:46
KenWittlief KenWittlief is offline
.
no team
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 4,213
KenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond reputeKenWittlief has a reputation beyond repute
Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?

maybe technology could be used to address the population increase?

In the recent past couples had children to help with the farm or family business, and to insure that someone will be there to provide for their needs when they are old.

If a couple has no children who will be there for them when they need to be taken care of? Can technology address this?

Another reason why people have children is they want their ideas and beliefs to carry on after their death. We want our accomplishments to be remembered, and we want to be a part of molding future generations, as a parent, grandparent, etc.

What if a persons characteristics could be captured and emulated, by a computer generated character for example? I'm thinking along the lines of those star trek episodes where famous people from the past are re-created in the holodeck, for educational purposes. If a persons character and essence could be captured by a computer generated character, or even by a life-like robotic humanoid form, then in a sense the qualities and characteristics that we develop during our lives could live on after we die

and thereby to some extent, lessen the need to have children who will carry on after us?
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Battlebots I.Q.- A serious threat to FIRST or a half thought up cheep copy? Joe Matt General Forum 75 17-10-2005 20:43
Strange Encoder Problem AIBob Electrical 3 20-02-2005 22:20
Problem w/Mesh Kevin Thorp 3D Animation and Competition 4 17-02-2005 23:04
Full list of teams & competitions archiver 2001 14 24-06-2002 00:52
Important info about light Jay Lundy Technical Discussion 10 12-04-2002 11:37


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 16:04.

The Chief Delphi Forums are sponsored by Innovation First International, Inc.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Chief Delphi