Journal

Engineering Is Everywhere!

Posted 29 June 2023

Today we’re highlighting some of the places you’ll find engineering in everyday life. First up is LEGO! LEGO kits are designed by people with lots of different skillsets including design and engineering. If you’re interested in putting your own LEGO engineering knowledge into action you can find out more about opportunities to work with the LEGO team here. If you still need convincing that LEGO really is engineering pop over to the Institution of Civil Engineers and hear what they have to say about those brightly coloured bricks.

Now we’re taking a detour into the world of Electrical Engineering with a shout out for the good old Roland TR-808 drum machine! Built by electrical engineer, Ikutaro Kakeshashi in 1980, this machine revolutionised how music was made. If you want to know more about the history of our beloved 808 have a read of @suddiraval’s Ask Audio feature here.

Our wildcard for Engineering Is Everywhere is knitting. Think we’re spinning a yarn? We put it to you that knitting is one of the oldest forms of engineering that relies on precision, measurement and materials to create a 3D object with flexible properties. Before you twist yourself up in knots in an attempt to dispute our claim, see what real life engineers have to say on the matter and listen to Roma Agrawal’s podcast with materials scientist Dr Anna Ploszajski and electronic textiles researcher Irmandy Wicaksono from MIT Media Lab.

Our final offering for Engineering Is Everywhere is the rollercoaster. Civil Engineers are essential to getting the torque, speed and of course the brakes just right; without engineers there would be no rollercoasters. So scream if you wanna go faster and pop over to the Institution of Civil Engineers if you want to find out more about a career calibrating Barrel Rolls and Corkscrews!