Recession and the Mother of Invention
by
Darren Saravis
A period of financial contraction means that designers are going to have start thinking a bit differently. Less expensive materials, more efficient use of those materials, and finding ways to build products using less labor. If we're really clever, maybe we can also find ways to marry reduced cost with more ecologically sustainable processes. We probably don't need to tell you this -- in fact, you
Seamlessness and Delaying Childhood's End
by
Darren Saravis
We humans have an uneasy relationship with perfection. We strive for it -- but we're not always sure we want it. If something is close to perfect, it seems suspiciously smooth or, as commentators invariably say when an athlete or performer is at doing the best possible work, "he/she makes it look easy." Of course, nothing is harder than making something look easy -- but a lot of us still don't qui
The Kite Shipper
by
Darren Saravis
We recently across an example of a literally ancient device updated to the modern age: the idea of a kite-driven ship, which we learned of via Jack Moffett. Of course, this idea has the beauty of being a very easy sell because of its familiarity, simplicity, and the fact that it actually seems to work. In another article, we talked about designers going to great lengths to make high-tech products
Form v. Function, Forever
by
Darren Saravis
As an engineering and industrial design firm operating in the real world, the "form follows function" debate is a needle that we have to thread on a daily basis. It's important to design products that are aesthetically pleasing; consumers will always prefer a pretty product to an ugly one. It's essential to design something that actually works and doesn't create grief.
Ignorance and Innovation
by
Darren Saravis
We've heard it a million times. A great innovator is questioned about some early achievement, "We were too young and foolish to know that what we were doing wasn't how things were done," the innovator replies with a bit of a chuckle. Creative revolutionaries usually move on to even more significant accomplishments, even as they become more sophisticated about their field's technology.
Norwegian Company to Build Huge Offshore Floating Wind Turbine
by
Creative Assistant
After building a successful scale model, Norway’s StatoilHydro has set out upon an ambitious engineering project. A Norwegian company, StatoilHydro, is planning to build Hywind, a floating wind turbine about 10 kilometers off the West coast of Norway. Hywind is to be the first full-scale biofriendly floating wind turbine.
Drilling and Producing
by
Lance Williams
The historic Drake well, drilled in Titusville, Pa., in August, 1859, the birth of the petroleum industry as we know it today, was 69 ft deep and at its peak produced about 20 barrels of oil a day. The petroleum industry's barrel from the start has been of 42 gal. Drilling depths and volume of oil produced in single wells have been extended since t
Nature and Occurrence of Petroleum
by
Lance Williams
Crude oil is not a uniform material. Its composition may vary with the location and age of the oil field and even with the depth of the individual well. Two adjacent wells may not produce crude oil of the same characteristics. Some wells, known as distillate wells, produce crude oils which can be used directly in a gasoline engine.
Other crude oil
The Petroleum Industry
by
Lance Williams
The petroleum industry, born 100 years ago in western Pennsylvania, has become indispensable to our mechanized civilization of today; its products power and lubricate the machinery of modern industry. We drive our automobiles, fueled with petroleum, on tires of synthetic rubber made from materials derived from crude oil and natural gas. We ride ove
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