Education : Lets make fools of ourselves!

Now doesn't that picture speak for itself?

The first time I saw it, all that ran through my head was AC sqare equals bc square pluc AB square! Believe me folks, it took me one whole minute to figure out what the photographer was trying to convey!

Ha ha ha ha :)

If only modern education and engineering examinations were like this!

Humourists that they were, I'm sure Newton, Einstien, Feynman, Rutherford and Bohr would have agreed whole heartedly!!

Sometimes we try to be so rigid and normal(read conventional) in our thinking, that we miss out on better ideas and lose out on creativity and common sense!

All this can only be blamed on the system that teaches us nothing but how to become blind in our analysis of situations!

As Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes wrote after answering an exam question----

" All I've learnt here is to memorize this utterly useless fact long enough to pass this stupiod test question. I now intend to forget this as soon as possible, because all you have taught me is how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations! "

Hats off !

No wonder everybody likes that comic character!


Cheers,
The Techmechanic

Engineering, higher education and the rest of the train...

Hi all,

Back again after quite some time huh.
Anyways, what's all the hype going on about higher studies?

Here's how it actually goes:

With a basic engineering degree, a B.Tech or a B.E , one has a fairly basic and convincing idea about the course and the subject that they learn in it. So a Mechanical Engineer , in his Bachelor course , will get a good picture about what he likes,as most fields of engineering , offered in Bachelors, are still very wide and diversified in their subjects and course structures. He will be taught subjects and lessons regarding automobiles,design, engines, heat transfer and heat flow, fluid mechanics, mechanics of solids, gas dynamics, air conditioning, refrigeration, cryogenics,alternative energy, nuclear energy, solar power, gas turbines, compressible flow, Metallurgy, manufacturing technology, machine tools, Metrology and a host of other subjects that may encapsulate Design, manufacturing and production.
He may be interested in theoretical subjects, like metallurgy, Manufacturing Technology, Machine tools, or Metal Casting and Forming. Or he may be more of an analytical person and may like subjects like compressible flow,solid mechanics,fluid mechanics, gas dynamics, aerodynamics, cryogenics, thermal engineering, heat transfer, etc. But since the system is not very flexible at the grass root level, and most colleges and universities prefer that students get to see all facades of their course and gain basic knowledge in all branches of their field, a Bachelor of Engineering or a Bachelor of Technology is made to learn a majority of these subjects and his choices of subjects are restricted to a smaller number.

However,once he has finished his course, he may get a clearer idea about what he might want to pursue as his career. But unfortunately, he does not know enough of his favorite subjects. Hence,in order to learn more and expand his knowledge and abilities in his area of interest, he takes up available opportunities like his bank(for a study loan) or his fathers bank(again, for a study loan)and applies to universities abroad or within the country to get a Master's degree on the subject. Thus our man is now a Master on the subject and can handle anything flung on him from a Bachelor effortlessly or with some thought. He now knows more in his specific field and can apply his knowledge in a variety of methods, and is confident of what he knows in that field. Now this man may have an invention or idea in mind , or may think that there is still a lot left unaccomplished in this field, or may still have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge in a further sub category in this field.And now, after paying off the bank, our man gets up and goes ahead to tackle the PhD, or the Doctorate course in his area of interest, which is a smaller section of his area of expertise, which in turn is a section of the field of engineering. So our man learns more and more, and once all of it is exhausted, gets ready to find out something new, and researches his own project and presents papers on his findings in international journals to prove that he has contributed to the area of super expertise. Then his work is reviewed by a committee and they decide on the fate of our man,after agitating him with questions and verbally and practically testing and verifying his knowledge, and his findings. Then they ward him a Research degree and his doctorate and our man is now one of the highest on the rung of knowledge of the ladder that constitutes his tiny field. He now finally sits down and selects which company(yes, selects!) and choose one where he will teach more bachelors and masters of engineering, and will encourage them to become like him, a researcher and academician and scholar. Thus the cycle goes on and on, and science seems to be improving only for the case of fatter salaries and pay packages and social respect and esteem. People are more interested if G.E. or Mercedes will recruit them, or if they end up working with N.A.S.A, or some other high five multinational company or organization that hits the headlines every time their CEO farts or their management takes a hike or their product fails miserably in the market, but they suddenly make a comeback with "amazing new technology"... It is pretty pathetic that nobody learns and studies for their thirst for knowledge or for self satisfaction.Alas, man has made a slut of science as well.

As my prof said, "higher studies is where you learn more and more about less and less, and finally you know everything about nothing!!!"

HOW TRUE!!


Cheers,
Techmechanic !

Science & Engineering: How raped our basics are..

Hi all,

There I was today, at Thermal Engineering class, and was sitting at the first bench, surprisingly paying attention to every uttered word (I desperately need better grades, and My Prof.(he's a genius, but sadly not the mad scientist types.That would have been cooler.) was just getting into the concepts of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. So there he was lecturing about what tonnage actually is and what they mean by a one tonne capacity of air conditioners.

It kinda went along like this>>>>>>>

One tonne capacity of an air conditioner would mean that the amount of energy required to convert one tonne of ice at zero dergrees to water at the same temperature.

!#$%!#%%^ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIPPPPP!#$!#%#%13

I awake immediately.."something wrong with this goddamit! "

q...3253125..@%24 ...352^&
(now that's me furiously thinking about what was wrong)

So i finally consult my buddies behind me and stop my Prof and ask him:

"Excuse me, but does the water, after melting from ice, still weighone tonne or does it weigh more or less? Shouldn't there be a difference in the weight because of the breakage in the intermolecular bond stuff? "

:) :) :) :) :) :)

(now that's me thinking I am very intelligent)

Until...

"No ! What's wrong with you today? Did you sleep enough last night? You seem to have lost it"

me thinking(with an open mouth):Huh??WTF?

Prof: "Law of conservation of mass man!"

Me: Errr...

Prof: "OK What weighs more? One kg of Steel or 1 kg of cotton"

A brief pause and me:"err they are both one kg right? It's the same"

Prof: "Yeah so what is your problem now? trouble cleared?"

Me thinking: Thank god I said it right..

Me: "Err...okay what about the weight???"

Me thinking:(Gotcha now sucker...)

Prof: "Fellow, Ice has the same weight as water even after melting.What is Weight?"

Me: "Err.."

Some Random SMart ass in class: " Mass into Acceleration Sir"

Me thinking :" Have i been saying "err " too much?

Prof : "Exactly , so even weight will be the same"

Me (now desperate): "But sir isn't tonne a unit of weight?"

Prof: "Man, tonne is a unit f mass like kilogram is"

Me:"aaaaaaaaaaah..."

Me thinking:Then why the hell did the newspaper say "the boat that capsized had cargo that weighed one tonne"....Idiots..

All Random Smart Asses In Class: HAHAHHAHAHHAHHA

........

Doesnt this make you think folks? Of course I admit I was a bit confused because of the intermolecular forces and stuff. So i didn't get it right. But I should have, atleast when he said "law of conservation of mass" ! Because the ice doesn't have any mass added to it or removed from it, so how can it's weight increase?

But this was the cake of it.

A friend of mine quickly ran out of class and asked another would-be mechanical enginner "what is heavier? one kg of Iron or one kg of Cotton?"

The intelligent soul actually said the iron would be heavier and more specifically
"why are you irritating me with such simple questions"

All I'm trying to say here is, what the hell is giong on with our basics? Where have they been raped? Why is it that I know the Law of Conservation of mass, but yet I still don't KNOW it??

Somewhere our education is being raped....WHERE????

Mr.Feynman..are you looking???


Cheers,
The Techmechanic....

Feel free to comment please :)