HISTORY Ironically, it was during the American Depression when Monopoly, a game of wealth and finance, became popular. Charles Darrow devised of a buying and selling real estate game with Atlantic City’s street names. He sold each hand-painted oil-cloth game for $4. When it caught on, and he could not keep up with the demand for manufacturing, he wroteContinue reading “A Real Life Game of Monopoly”

In honor of Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, celebrated on November 15th, you may want to know how your refrigerator operates. HISTORY Refrigerators are a modern invention. Until the advent of wide-scale electricity, keeping food cold had been a challenge for civilizations. Even as late as the 1800s, ice continued to be the major method for cooling.Continue reading “How Cool Is This”

Autumn is a beautiful season: waning days of warmth, cool nights, and dramatic color. All is blissful until the leaves fall from the trees covering the ground with a thick mass of debris. So begins the raking…or blowing. The Invention Although not confirmed, it widely is believed that the leaf blower was invented by Dom Quinto inContinue reading “Blowing in the Wind”

ALFRED NOBEL October 21st is the birthday of the late Alfred Bernhard Nobel who lived from 1833 to 1896. He was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator and manufacturer. In 1862, he started experimenting with nitroglycerin as an explosive material for oil mining. By the next year, at age 30, he obtained his first patent. A year later, he alsoContinue reading “Happy Birthday, Alfred Nobel”

WHAT IS BUILDING GREEN? The terms building green and green building practice typically refer to a method of designing and constructing buildings that increase the efficiency with which buildings normally use resources while reducing the negative impact the building has on its natural environment.¹(p.2) For any building to be considered “green architecture,” it must, to some degree,Continue reading “It’s Not Easy Being Green”

  The Lichtenberger Engineering Library announces an addition of 24 new items to the Tool Library. The tools are made available through the donations by the Engineering Electronic Shop and the Engineering Computer Services. Various screwdrivers, wrenches, measurement devices, an eyeball webcam, and 2 LabQuest data devices with 19 accessories are some of the tools available for check out. For a complete list of allContinue reading “The Library Has New Tools to Borrow”

Iowa is known for many things: the butter cow, John Wayne, ethanol, and the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). On July 20th, 8,500 riders will mount their two-wheeled pedal machines to cover more than 400 miles in one week. Would this have been possible without the engineering feats of light-weight carbon fiber materials, multiple-speed performance gears, durable traction wheels and brakes, and ergonomicallyContinue reading “Engineering the Bicycle”

Are grandparents, aunts & uncles and friends stumped as to what to purchase for your graduation gift? Let an engineering librarian research and suggest a few ideas including wall-frame patent art, stylish pens & pencils and interesting magazines and books.