Blog Post I

As an engineering major, I am inclined to explore the effects that technology has on mankind. Engineers work to use technology to solve problems and make solutions to those problems increasingly efficient. I was excited at the idea of our first writing prompt, "Has technology made us smarter?". I see this question as an opportunity to define who we are, what is technology and what is "smarter"? If I use this question as a base point for a new topic that interests me more I can then ask, "How has technology helped mankind grow?" This is a broad topic that requires several different definitions of the word grow. I can elaborate on innovations that have expanded our frontiers, made information more available to the public, helped people live longer and many other things that technology helps us do. As an Aerospace & Mechanical major, I am inclined to explore how methods of transportation have mad people more connected to each other, natural resources, and information. I plan to explore how people continue to improve upon designs that already exist. According to Mary Bellis, Richard Threvithick invented the steam powered the locomotive but it was not a practical method of transportation until George Stephenson designed his own version. I can explore more specific examples of other improvements made to transportation such as the evolution of NASA's space vehicles and the improvements in efficiency of the internal combustion engine, and then how they have improved our existence.


Works Cited

Bellis, Mary. "The History of Transportation." About.com. About.com, n.d. Web. 11 Sep 2011. <http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_transportation.htm>.