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Engineers are good at, err, engineering. But they are not so good at running companies. That’s the oft-heard accusation, anyway. So imagine Eye’s surprise when a new study published by Approved Index, a UK-based business-to-business platform, suggested that engineering was the most popular degree among the world’s top 100 billionaires. The research found that more than a fifth of these moneyed winners had studied the subject at university level. Meanwhile, just 8% had studied economics, and a paltry 3% finance. So not only are engineers saving the world, they are also making money at the same time. Are there no end to an engineer’s talents?
Eye was shellshocked – in a heartening way – by the cracking tale of a Colorado student, a 3D printing store, and an underfed teenage leopard tortoise called Cleopatra, which demonstrates the previously unforeseen power of the much-hyped manufacturing technology to repair reptiles.
Cleopatra, suffering from malnutrition-related osteoporosis, was left with a damaged shell and susceptibility to infection. The danger for the tortoise could also have been that she might have struggled to flip back on to her feet if she was turned over. Fortunately, she was rescued by a Colorado reptile rescue centre, which hooked Cleopatra up with Roger Henry, a student from the local technical university, according to a blog on Colorado Technical University’s website. The ingenious information technology student scanned her shell and reverse-engineered a 3D-printed prosthesis from the data, using technology supplied by the Dutch rapid prototyping company Makerbot. The tortoise – she could live to be 100 – and her new home are doing fine, Eye can report. Aww together now.
Time for space: Cosmic-Con, a forthcoming convention at the Hilton Manchester in June, will give youngsters the chance to boldly go and do something Eye has only dreamt of, and meet astronauts in the flesh. The organisers are offering visitors the chance to meet and greet Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden and Skylab 3 astronaut Jack Lousma, as well as Space Shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton and Don Thomas. Children under 13 can do so for free, Eye learns. What better way for the harassed engineer and their family to inspire the next generation this summer?
If you have any news, rumours or gossip, email the Eye at engineering.eye.pe@gmail.com