Engineering eye - December 2014

The Eye enjoys the odd foray into the world of The Guardian and was intrigued to see a piece on a new Barbie book for children entitled I Can Be a Computer Engineer. Pamela Ribon, a writer at Walt Disney animation studios, pointed out the inherent sexism in this otherwise worthy volume, which contains the following unedifying passage: At breakfast one morning, Barbie is already hard at work on her laptop. “What are you doing, Barbie?” asks Skipper. “I’m designing a game that shows kids how computers work,” explains Barbie. “You can make a robot puppy do cute tricks by matching up coloured blocks!” “Your robot puppy is so sweet,” says Skipper. “Can I play your game?” “I’m only creating the design ideas,” Barbie says, laughing. “I’ll need Steven and Brian’s help to turn it into a real game!” Hmmmmm. Barbie’s a computer engineer who needs the help of boys to, erm, program computers. Not a great role model for girls. Eye hopes subsequent Barbie stories – such as I Can Be a Civil Engineer – won’t require blokes to show the heroine how to build bridges.

The Civils crop up again in a series of jokes that won a lot of retweets on micro-blogging site Twitter and attempted to demonstrate that engineers – despite appearances to the contrary – do have a sense of humour. So: What is the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers? Answer: Mechanical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets. Boom. And, indeed, BOOM! One of the better examples, it has to be said. Eye thinks the problem is not so much that engineers are humourless: just that the jokes they write are rubbish. To wit: To the optimist, the glass is half-full; to the pessimist, the glass if half-empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. Surely Eye readers can do better than that? 

Let this be the last of a series that has busted Eye’s slender postbag month by month. It seems while our readers may be unconcerned with many things, they are most definitely concerned with drinking. You guessed it, it’s more engineering-themed pubs. Take it away, Rev Bob Rainbow, who recommends Spooner’s Bar at Ffestiniog Railway’s Porthmadog Harbour station. Rainbow, who describes himself as a retired steam and locomotive fireman, says the boozer is notable for its archival displays and historic photos from the heyday of the line. Sounds like a great place to spot trains, and down ales.

» If you have any news, rumours or gossip, email the Eye at engineering.eye.pe@gmail.com