Introducing Experts in the Field

    In general, mechanical engineering is not a field that someone goes into with the interest of becoming famous. However there are a few that have made names for themselves. They are those that become media icons through television and those that became successful entrepreneurs. I would like to highlight one of each.

    First off is William Nye, more commonly called Bill Nye, the Science Guy. He was a mechanical engineer, but quit to become an entertainer. He became famous in he show titled Bill Nye the Science Guy. In it, he tried to teach kids about different science topics. Since the end of his show, he has been active in politics. His main focus has been educating the public on a variety of scientific topics. These include global warming and GMOs. He has advocated strongly for international action against global warming and has expressed that he is for the use of GMOs. Bill has also made a number of guest appearances in high profile places such as on television and in the White House trying to spread his message of using the sciences as the basis of facts instead of opinions.

    Next we have Elon Musk. Though does not technically have a degree in  mechanical engineering, he is another key figure in the field. He is the CEO of Tesla Motors, a leading electric car company, a co-founder of SpaceX, the leading private space company in the US. He has also put into the work the Hyperloop, a proposed hypersonic rail system . With all three of these projects, he is pushing the envelope for transportation and as such is a key figure in the mechanical engineering field. In December 2015, he announce the creation of OpenAI, an open-souce non-profit AI research company. This is another large opening for mechanical engineers to get involved in.

    The last prominent figures to take a look at aren't people. They are the nations of China and India.  Since the turn of the millennium, they have been producing between 5 and 10 times the number of engineers the US and Europe have been producing. This mean that we have to be able to communicate with them. Dave Schmidt, an engineer in Underwood, says that there a number of times he has had to create a technical document such as blue prints or an analysis of some kind that has to be sent off to an overseas company. When he does these he has to be sure of his writing and the standards for the technical document to avoid any confusions that could arise from the language barrier. Dave's other writing includes reviews of his subordinates as he has an immediate supervisory position.