the civil chick

Iggy Peck, Architect...and other book club suggestions

I don't know about you, but lately I've noticed an uptick in news coverage and books about engineering.  In the last couple of months alone, NPR has presented stories about stormwater runoff and urban planning and architecture. Some are business-focused, like this. But many more are focused on making the technical stuff easier to understand. On PBS, Frontline has an entire story about the current state of the planet's water quality. (Watch it here. And listen to NPR's interview with Hedrick Smith, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who wrote the story, here.) Just yesterday, my boyfriend called me into the living room to see Waste Management's education advertisements on the Discovery Channel.  (He said something like, "Hey, isn't this one of your things?" And when I saw the landfill on TV, my face lit up.  I think landfills are magical. He thinks I'm odd.)

I didn't see much of this mainstream stuff at the start of my career, 15 years ago.  Back then all I had was a fresh engineering degree and a copy of The Civilized Engineer.   (I just used the phrase "back then." Not a good sign.  What's next?  Gloating about the days of dot-matrix prints?  HANDWRITTEN graphs and lab reports? Laughing at the glory days of COMPUTER PUNCH CARDS?)  

Anyway, there's more than just news; there are books, too.  I'm always on the lookout for inspiring books about design. The other day I found 2 fantastic ones.  One is for grown ups, and one for kids. Both would be fun gifts for new grads, too, now that I think about it.

Iggy Peck, Architect is a children's book about a little boy who loves to build things.  The story is a lot of fun, but the illustrations are incredible.  They show what Iggy builds, versus what he envisions in his mind.  (As you can imagine, there might be a difference between his imagination and reality).  The whole look and feel of the book's artwork will remind you of hand-drafted blueprints, down to the shades of blueprint blue used throughout.  (I wonder why Blueprint Blue isn't yet a Crayola color; I think it should be.)

3,000 Years of Building, Design, and Construction. This one is for grown-ups.  I spent well over an hour reading this beautiful book at the store. There's a chapter about the evolution of CAD software that's beautifully written. It's full of pictures and illustrations of all sorts of things: structures, buildings, slide rules, calculators, and engineering references. One of my favorites are The Rules for Designing Air Handling Systems for Theaters. (I'm paraphrasing.) It's an elaborately handwritten list that includes gems like: "Don't expect to design a Rolls-Royce system for the cost of a Ford" and "Don't expect to pull air anyplace. You can push air, but you cannot pull it."  (Between finding this funny, and my use of the phrase "back then," I am very concerned about becoming crotchedy.)

If I had a coffee table, I'd definitely put both of these books on it.  Either way, they're on my wish list.

That's it.  Get thee to a library, or book store.  Happy reading!

Cheers,

Sarah

Cool Gifts for Engineers and Architects: The 2008 List

Buying presents for Christmas? Hanukah? Festivus?  I'm always looking for cool gifts with an engineering or architecture theme, and here are a few that I love this year:

1.  The Gingerbread Architect by Susan Matheson.  It's full of blueprints for different styles of houses you can make from gingerbread.  (I would totally create a building information model full of custom materials like gingerbread (walls), Necco wafers (roof tiles), and gumdrops (yum).  

2.   Rex's Outrageous Road Crew Crunch.  Pick your flavor: Asphalt (dark chocolate), Gravel (white chocolate), Sand (peanut butter), or Mud (milk chocolate). This might be my favorite find of the season.  (My favorite?  Sand.)  

3. 101 Things I learned in Architecture School It's written by Matthew Frederick, an architect living in the Boston area. I found this one day when I was browsing at a Borders in Boston, and noticed it because it's beautifully designed and illustrated. It's elegant, and simple.  The first lesson is titled "How to Draw a Line."  (I'm hoping someone buys this for me this Christmas, but I'm running out to the bookstore on the 26th if I don't get it. Even though its about architecture, a lot of the observations are ones that engineers and landscape architects will easily relate to.)

4. This is the coolest little handbag I've ever seen. Click the link, and take a look.  I'll wait.  

I KNOW, right?! Who'd have thought that a geotechnical textbook would make such a CUTE PURSE?

5. If you don't want to splurge on a purse, how about a kitschy coaster for your office?   (On a side note, Etsy is simply awesome. Add it to your list of time-wasting websites if you haven't already. I like searching it for vintage books, but could kill a lot of time aimlessly browsing everything.)

6. The Rhode Island School of Design has a store that features work from students and teachers.  I like these compass cuff links.

7. Boris Bally is an artist who creates all sorts of things from salvaged traffic signs. Many are incredibly expensive, but some of his pieces, like these wreaths, are pretty accessible. (I can imagine these looking really cool in a big loft.  Like the one I don't live in.)

And once you're ready to wrap your gifts, check out these templates for holiday gift tags at Microsoft's website. Maybe it's a good way to use up some of those Avery labels you have lying around. (I'm using these orange snowflake ones.)

Happy shopping, and best wishes!

Cheers,

Sarah

On the first day of AU, my true love gave to me...

The first thing at AU

I really want to see,

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

The second thing at AU

I really want to see,

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh, and

a blogger at breakfast with me

 

The third thing at AU

I really want to see,

My agenda! (Really, can anyone read font that small?)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh , and

a blogger at breakfast with me

 

The fourth thing at AU

I really want to see

Caffeinated Grading!

My Agenda! (Can you have NEGATIVE font sizes?)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh, and

a blogger at breakfast with me

 

The fifth thing at AU

I really want to see,

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading (Mmm. This Red Bull. Is tasty.)

My Agenda! (Oh, the squinting!)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh, and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

The sixth thing at AU

I really want to see

The DWF Spot a-dwiffing

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading (Need. Coffee. Now.)

My Agenda! (Gaah. Where is LUNCH on this thing?)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh, and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

The seventh thing at AU

I really want to see

Partbuilder building

The DWF Spot a-dwiffing

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading (Trade you these chips for that Red Bull, dude.)

My Agenda! (Does anyone have a magnifiying glass?)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh, and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

The eighth thing at AU

I really want to see,

More tips and tricks and hacks,

Partbuilder building,

The DWF Spot a-dwiffing,

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading! (Sweet Starbucks, with your festive red cup.)

My Agenda! (Oh, it’s so dang heavy!)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh, and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

The ninth thing at AU

I really want to see

Labs with open seats,

More tips and tricks and hacks,

Partbuilder building,

The DWF Spot a-dwiffing,

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading! (Why are there no Dunkin’s here?! Why?!?)

My Agenda! (Oh, forget what it says, I’ll just walk in to this class and hope for the best.)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh, and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

The tenth thing at AU

I really want to see,

Photos from the Beer Blast,

Labs with open seats,

More tips and tricks and hacks,

Partbuilder building,

The DWF Spot a-dwiffing,

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading! (These hotel cups are so SMALL! Gaaah.)

My Agenda! (Does anyone know what day it is?  I didn't think so.)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

The eleventh thing at AU

I really want to see,

Sneak peeks at new releases,

Photos from the Beer Blast (OMG. That wasn’t me!)

Some labs with open seats,

More tips and tricks and hacks,

Partbuilder building,

The DWF Spot a-dwiffing,

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading! (Screw it, I’m buying a travel mug!)

My Agenda! (Really, Security Dude?  My bloodshot eyes, bad breath, and pale skin aren’t enough to ID me as an AU attendee?)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

 

And the last thing at AU

I really want to see

Space for all that swag,

Sneak peeks at new releases,

Photos from the Beer Blast (Can we Photoshop that out, please?)

Some labs with open seats

More tips and tricks and hacks,

Partbuilder building,

The DWF Spot a-dwiffing,

Funk’s Secret LIST!

Caffeinated Grading! (Is there any Mountain Dew around here?)

My Agenda! (I lost it at the Beer Bust, please just let me in so I can have some coffee.)

Free t-shirts and some PlayDoh and

a blogger at breakfast with me.

Best wishes for a great AU.

Cheers,

Sarah

Looking for me?

Send emails to scunningham71 at gmail dot com, or follow me on Twitter: I'm scunningham71. If I get my act together, I'll be skulking around LinkedIn and Facebook someday in the near future.

Closing Credits

Things to do when one is no longer required to occasionally think about Civil 3D during normal business hours:

1. Be secretly thrilled about not ever having to recover from another trip to Vegas.

2. Apply for job as a conducktor. Driving a duck boat around Boston...how hard could it be, really?

3. Write up plan to create handmade Christmas gifts, because nothing says holiday fun like testing the limits of "It's the thought that counts."

4. Stop looking for the perfect way to illustrate runout and runoff. Not that I was really trying all that hard in the first place.

As of today, I'll be putting my brain to work elsewhere. There are, like, 4.2 people who read this blog, and I'm guessing the reason there aren't fewer is because they keep forgetting to clean out old RSS feeds. 

For anyone who stumbles upon this tiny little corner of the web and wonders, "Who left this Internet litter behind?" they can rest easy knowing that I've moved on to other things.

Best wishes, happy trails, and all that good stuff.  Don't let the feature lines get you down.

Cheers,

Sarah

Fast Company: Lost in the Funhouse

A simple case study about an owner, a building, an architect, and construction firm turns into a soap opera when you're talking about MIT, a new technology center, Frank Gehry, and Skanska USA.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/lost-in-the-funhouse.html 

What I liked about this article was the way it presented the perspective of each person. It makes you think, not just "blame the architect," or "blame the contractor." 

Johnny's Mom, The Civil Engineer

Need a laugh?  Try this. 

Fun with cold patch, safe stopping distances, and public works crews.  Fine ingredients for a most touching Mother's Day memory and a ragingly funny story. 

It's a kneeslapper, for sure.

Cheers (with delayed cheers to all moms),
Sarah

Greengineering

Greenginering is cool.

There are lots of fantastic examples showing how sustainable, low-impact, and otherwise green principles make their way into civil engineering.  But here's one that might've slipped by you.  If you have about 30 minutes and want to hear some amazing thoughts from someone with 30+ years of experience in green design, watch it.  In particular, there are 2 things that will appeal to civil engineers:

1. The speaker* believes that an exceptionally sustainable design must encompass the infrastructure - roads, utilities, and such - leading up to the building.  It's not a new concept, but this speaker puts it more eloquently than I've ever heard or read before. 

2. The talk has two examples of projects where civil engineering plays a lead role in a green design. One of them is enormous infrastructure project - a megaproject by anyone's standards - that I hadn't been aware of until now: The Two Seas Canal. 

*The speaker is Norman Foster (actually, it's Sir Norman to you and me).  He's one of the world's most prominent architects (something else I hadn't been aware of until now). Some of his designs that are now nearly 30 years old, but they encompass many of the sustainable and green principles that aren't new.  They're just newly popular, that's all.

Cheers,
Sarah

Bloggerific stuff

Looking for a few ideas on better blogging?  Check out copyblogger.  I stumbled on it today at Seth's Blog.  I've already scanned some of the popular posts this morning.  And what I love about it is the tone.  It's upbeat and friendly, and full of good tips for improving your writing.

Cheers,
Sarah

p.s.  After nearly 2 weeks, my stint as Juror #10 is over.  I'm back at work and thinking about gettin' my beta on this week!

Has the chick has flown the coop?

Nope.

After a fantastic 2 week vacation (sailing in Tortola), I came back to work ready to go. Then I got called to jury duty, which I thought would be a quick one day exercise: show up, wait around and read the jury duty booklet, and go home. Not so. Since last week, I've been living out a fantasy worthy of a Law and Order episode.

Odds are that I'll be offline for the next week or two. Crazy to be away from work, Internet, e-mail, and Civil 3D for this long. I'm betting it's a blessing in disguise.

Cheers (and best wishes for happy beta testing),
Sarah