Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Amazing Engineering Facts to Ponder

What is Technological Literacy? *

Browse to http://www.nae.edu/nae/naehome.nsf and you will find some interesting information at this site for National Academy of Engineering (NAE). In particular I was intrigued in reading more information about technology at the "Technically Speaking" link. While I was reading about technological literacy it occurred to me that this would be an excellent resource to share with the Tech I students. For example there is a listing of resource links of some very informative and fascinating web sites which provide a blend of facts about science, engineering and technology. One link in particular was a link to A Sightseers Guide to Engineering - which spotlights how engineers improve our lives. This site is a great collection of engineering related facts and figures as well as links for more information.

For example, did you know that "The largest building by volume in the world is Boeing's 747/767/777 Assembly Plant, and that it covers 98.3 acres"? or that "The first 767 entered service in 1982 and the wide body jetliner contains 3.1 million parts"? or that "The Boeing 777 is the first jetliner to be 100% digitally designed using three-dimensional solids technology"?

My challenge now to the Tech I students is to read and research further in completing the following:

1. Collect an Engineering Fact about Big Brutus and post your findings (in order to avoid a lot of redundant posts on here, make your fact significantly different from any prior posts).

2. Include with your Big Brutus post, further discussion about engineering marvels. Include 6 additional engineering facts (from at least 3 different sources). Again to avoid a lot of duplicate or redundant posts, make sure your facts are significantly different from any other posts on here.

3. Be sure to site your source and provide links as applicable.

*We can refine our technological literacy skills by sharing little insights while learning :)

Monday, September 8, 2008

3D Imagery Gallery & Cool Links

Go to:

http://www.highend3d.com/gallery/architecture/interiors/Sunny-Corner-983.html

.... and you will find a gallery of some great examples of high end 3D.

The design and creation of computer generated three-dimensional imagery is still a relatively new field. Many designers have attempted to incorporate 3D imagery into various areas and have for one reason or another, failed, while others have had successes. Whatever the reason for success or failure; familiarity, core knowledge, and well-refined competencies (as well as cost effectiveness of the process), are vital to achieve and sustain success in any field. By investigating various applications and uses of computer generated three-dimensional imagery, by determining the feasibility, substantiating it, and reporting/discussing discovered success of the use of 3D graphics, we can better our knowledge and understanding of current industry trends, future possibilities, and even indentify other potentials for uses of computer generated 3D imagery in many various fields. Three examples that I can think of for fields that are currently using this type of imagery with success are, architectural and engineering, advertising and retail, and computer gaming. Of particular interest for DGET students is both architectural and engineering disciplines which are finding use of 3D imagery to be invaluable. Other opportunities exist in many other fields such as website design, entertainment, fine art, forensics, sciences, and medicine.

Please share your posts and links of 3D imagery sites that you found of particular interest!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

General Questions

Please feel free to post any questions or topics for discussion here.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Autodesk 3DSMax

The question arose about the availability of student versions or trial versions of 3DSMax;
as mentioned if you go to http://students.autodesk.com there is a Student Engineering & Design community sponsored by Autodesk. Within this site at the software downloads page there is :

Autodesk 3ds Max
30-day Free Trial Version OnlyBring 3D film effects to the big screen. Generate realistic characters for a top-selling game. Create rich and complex design visualization. Autodesk® 3ds Max® 9 3D animation, rendering and modeling software lets game developers, design visualization professionals, and visual effects artists maximize their productivity and tackle challenging animation projects.

Cheers!

Introductions

Welcome DGET3400 students for fall semester 2008.
Please post your introductions here.