On March 14 at 1:59 pm we gather together to celebrate the most famous and mysterious of numbers.  That Pi is defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter seems simple enough but Pi turns out to be an “irrational number.”  Computer scientists have calculated billions of digits of pi, starting withContinue reading “Come Celebrate Pi Day 3.14,1:59!”

Join the Lichtenberger Engineering Library and the People in Engineering LLC for an exciting afternoon of free pie and Pi(e) trivia. The fun begins at 1:59 pm on 3.14 in the Seamans Center Student Commons. Show off your knowledge of Pi(e). Form a team of four and pre-register for a trivia game at http://goo.gl/Ncnvmy. PiContinue reading “Pi Day : Pie, Trivia & Fun … Oh, My!”

Alexander Graham Bell is known as an inventor, scientist, and engineering.  He is well-known for his invention of the telephone and was involved in many other inventions. His invention of the telephone came from his desire to help the deaf hear and had done research into speech articulation following his father’s work.  The patent was issuedContinue reading “Alexander Graham Bell: The Man Behind the Telephone”

MECCA Week was a tradition at the University of Iowa College of Engineering for many years.  This celebration took place around St. Patrick’s Day, due to St. Patrick being the patron saint of engineers.   One popular event was the search for the Blarney Stone. It is named for the Blarney Stone in Ireland which,Continue reading “A Mecca Tradition: The Blarney Stone”

The College of Engineering celebrates E-Week in conjunction with National Engineers Week, February 16 – 22, 2014. During E-Week, a variety of student-organized activities help celebrate and recognize engineers and their contributions to society. However, did you know that the College of Engineering founded a similar event more than 100 years ago? On March 17,Continue reading “Celebrating Engineers”

What is more romantic than riding a Ferris wheel? Considering George W. G. Ferris, Jr. was born on Valentine’s Day in 1859, perhaps nothing. Ferris was an engineer who graduated from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY) and founded the G.W.G. Ferris & Co. firm (Pittsburgh, PA) which tested and inspected metals for railroads and bridges. He is credited forContinue reading “Let the Spinning Wheel Spin”

Charles Darwin is known for his work on the theory of evolution but did you also know he spent time researching earthworms? Each year on Feb 12th, we celebrate Darwin Day as a celebration on the anniversary of the birth of the historical scientist Charles Darwin, who was born on February 12, 1809. Darwin isContinue reading “Theory of Evolution and …. Earthworms?”

The world today would be a very different place without the inventions of Thomas A. Edison.  He was known as the Wizard of Menlo Park. Edison had obtained 1,093 US Patents over 63 years from 1868 to 1931 (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents).  Only 2 people hold more patents in the United States.Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Thomas A. Edison!”

The Lichtenberger Engineering Library is now highlighting the Winter Olympics. This exhibit features information related to the Winter Olympics in general and showcases some of the engineering components for the fifteen sports participating through a plethora of library resources. The 22nd Winter Olympics is scheduled to take place from February 6th to 23rd, 2014 in Russia,Continue reading “The Winter Olympic comes to the Engineering Library”