tallbridgeguy

The title says it all….rattlesnake bridge.

I admit I am having some difficulty adjusting to the University teaching culture, even though I have taught off and on for more then ten years.  The actual teaching and the student interactions are fun but working with the system can be difficult. The current system is really not set up for outside engineers and is traditionally geared toward graduate students and post docs. (Which is where friction can occur…)

So my question is, is it worthwhile for outside professional engineers to teach a course in their field of expertise?

If no, we are done. If yes, how can Universities encourage engineers to share their knowledge and help teach a course?

I would also love to hear, from other engineers, how their course went when they taught at the University.

update: I found this paper (pdf) on the web. Sort of, kind of, related.

Money quote.

Back in my undergraduate days in the 1970s, I had one professor that had many years of experience. We didn’t like him very much, but he did tell us stories. I don’t remember the details of his lectures, but I remember a number of his stories, and so I remember the points he was trying to get across. I even use some of his stories myself. In retrospect, he was probably one of my best teachers.

Stories are fun, but they need to make a point. That point can be a moral, an example of how to do
something right, an example of how to do something wrong, or simply an example. Be sure that the point is clear and not confused. Tell the story so that the point will be remembered; humor is a great tool for this. Tell it so that the students can see the theory brought to life, and can use the lesson when they are faced with a similar issue years later.

I have been under the weather the last few days, including the day I made this video. So it might not make sense…

I am interested in writing a book, both for the experience and the big bucks. (ha)

I have self-published books, with a valid ISBN (I bought a batch of 10 for fun.) and one of them is even in our state library. (Hey they were dumb enough to buy it.) It is pretty easy to do, now a days, with book sites like blurb.com and others. You get a really good quality book that you can sell yourself.

I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on the following.

• Do you wait until you get approached or do you pitch ideas?
• Is it worth it monetarily?
• Would it be better to continue to self publish?
• What topics would engineers like to see?
• Are books outdated ideas?

Thanks!

Missed a lot in 2009,

• Man throws dog off bridge, dog is fine
• Man jumps off bridge, man is not fine (some really sad comments from people)
• Man gets shoved from bridge
• Man climbs bridge for ring
• Dog falls off bridge, man saves her
• car on bridge fights gravity and wins
• police shoot man on bridge

Who knew bridges were in the news so much?

Some  good pictures here, of the Arbour pedestrian bridge, in Calgary.

Thanks for the heads up Michael!

Plus a bridge photo I got today from one of my students. Beautiful France bridge. Click for large view.

I just found out the textbook for my structural analysis class will cost $165 (US). This seems extreme for a course on “classical” structural engineering techniques!

I can’t imagine buying any book for that price, let alone one where the 5th edition is as good as the 7th…(plus the fact you can find thousands of old structural analysis books online. I just downloaded a free e-version)

So do you think there will be a paradigm shift in the world of University textbooks? (Maybe Mark can weigh in on how much money authors make on a book. )

I could probably write the five chapters we use in our course and sell it directly to the students for $25 a book, but obviously I would get in trouble for that…..

What do you think, should we start a online textbook company? Any other suggestions on bringing down the cost of textbooks? (Do I use this “……” too much?)

Okay this bridge has been built for a while but I just “discovered” it. Besides anything pre-TGB doesn’t exist in my mind. (Like when I cover my eyes and the world goes away)

The Pedestrian Bridge Simone de Beauvoir has an interesting twin arch system, which I don’t really understand how it works… a combination of traditional arch and stress ribbon/tied arch?

I also like the exposed structural members. Sorry have to get back to my lesson plans….(Hey HP I got the book by Iain Macleod.)

You can get a sense of the top 100 blogs, as listed on Technorati.

As expected I am just out of the running….but I did search for “bridge” “engineers” and not a lot of good blogs popped up. It was all politics, celebrities, and gadgets.

So I will have to start a new trend, bridges, celebrities and gadgets…

Gorzów Wielkopolski – an architect shows a plan to create a pedestrian core in a city in western Poland. I think the bridge concept needs some work but the concept looks interesting.

Birds in my backyard will have to wait a while longer…..(the background is a garage I am going to replace..)