Bryan O. '07 | February 22, 2006
"My Engineering Hero"
So two weeks ago, I had a lecture from one of the oldest people at MIT.
...This might have also been possibly one of the best lectures I've ever had as well.
The lecture was given by Professor Ernest Blanco from the Mechanical Engineering Department.
Now ever since I was a young kid, I've always been intrigued by invention and design to the point of electric shock at times when I tried to power a robot by plugging a wire hanger into the socket and expecting my robot to come to life.
Professor Blanco's lecture spent some time on four-bar linkages so we can be successful in our 2.007 Design Competition, but the rest of his lecture he spent on the iterative design process and what it takes in order to be successful when designing.
Four Bar Linkage:
This year's contest table for 2.007:
From the MIT News Office:
"In addition to the stair-climbing wheelchair, Blanco has invented a Braille reading machine ("old before its time"), numerous machines for textile manufacturing and an automatic page turner for musicians, among other things."
Awesome, eh?
Apparently his office doubles as a museum, I can see why.
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Responses To This Entry:
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hey! i thought I was your fav prof!
Posted by: Professor Jealous (aka Siddharth) on February 22, 2006 08:56 PM
Hey Bryan!
That's amazing! I plan on majoring in mechanical engineering at MIT *if* I get accepted! I hope Professor Blanco is still there next year if i get the chance to study at MIT!
Thanks a lot for the entry!
Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar
Posted by: Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar on February 23, 2006 09:48 AM
Automatic page turner? Where can I get one?
Posted by: James on February 23, 2006 01:00 PM
That automatic page turner is great! I wish I had one! Thanks Bryan for the post =]
Posted by: gm on February 23, 2006 06:22 PM
Unfortunately, the page turners are not for sale. Sadness. =/
Posted by: Bryan on February 24, 2006 12:22 PM
Hi Bryan!
That was an incredibly interesting entry. I'm planning on majoring in civil engineering, and now you've got me all excited about Professor Blanco's mechanical engineering lectures!
I'm planning on attending MIT if I hopefully get accepted.. What are the most interesting/useful classes you've taken so far?
Posted by: Fatemah Boukhadour on February 26, 2006 06:49 AM
Hi Bryan!
Wow, I just registered here and everything sounds very exciting!
Engineering is my goal at the moment. What kind of high school preperation did you have in order to enter into engineering?
Posted by: Anne Marie on February 28, 2006 11:10 PM
Hello,
Just wondering if the page turner u were talking bout can turn pages both forward and back. =)
Posted by: kelv on March 25, 2006 07:19 PM
