We were so excited to witness SpaceX’s latest rocket launch/flight over the Southern California desert last week! It just so happens that we’ve been building some AI rocket simulations for an upcoming student research project studying the effects of aerodynamics and various rocket designs.

Check out a little demonstration of some of our rocket A.I. sims as well as some awesome 4K footage of the SpaceX rocket flying over the desert!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about our AI sim guru, Derek, click here!

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A student conference isn’t just presentations and posterboards…they can be loads of fun too! In this video, we give you a glimpse into our awesome weekend at the University of Maine while attending the IEEE Region 1/Region 2 Joint Student Conference in April 2023.

We got to explore UMaine’s impressive and innovative campus, including their massive art/media center, official NASA lunar habitat, the world’s largest 3D printer, and first 3D printed bio-house! And IEEE took us to drone school after lunch where we built and flew our own drones! Madness!

We want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the University of Maine and IEEE for being such incredible hosts and for working hard to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Hannah, our videographer, click here!

The post Student Conference Experience! appeared first on The Curio Cat.

Note: The title card of the third video in the series incorrectly showed “Ch. 2.2”. This video is the actual Ch. 2.2. Sorry about that!

To see all of our educational videos, please go to our YouTube channel here. Thank you!

The post Circuit Analysis Ch. 2.2 – Circuit Elements appeared first on The Curio Cat.

This project will be part of a series of ongoing senior-level projects presented as part of TheCurioCat’s Open Science Project. Our goal is to present high-level scientific concepts and methodologies in a simple way in order to make science and research accessible to the public.

We drop engineering tutorials regularly. So subscribe and stay tuned!

Please visit our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Derek, the tutorial creator, click here.

The post Senior Thesis: Modeling Electromagnetic Fields (made easy!) – Pt. 3 appeared first on The Curio Cat.

This project will be part of a series of ongoing senior-level projects presented as part of TheCurioCat’s Open Science Project. Our goal is to present high-level scientific concepts and methodologies in a simple way in order to make science and research accessible to the public.

We drop engineering tutorials every Tuesday and Thursday. So subscribe and stay tuned!

Or watch on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Derek, the tutorial creator, click here.

The post Senior Thesis: Modeling Electromagnetic Fields (made easy!) – Pt. 2 appeared first on The Curio Cat.

This project on electromagnetic fields will be part of a series of ongoing senior-level projects presented as part of TheCurioCat’s Open Science Project. Our goal is to present high-level scientific concepts and methodologies in a simple way in order to make science and research accessible to the public.

We drop engineering tutorials every Tuesday and Thursday. So subscribe and stay tuned!

Or watch on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Derek, the tutorial creator, click here!

The post Senior Thesis: Modeling Electromagnetic Fields (made easy!) – Pt. 1 appeared first on The Curio Cat.

Note: The video title card incorrectly shows “Ch. 2.2”. It should be Ch. 2.1. Sorry about that!

To see all of our educational videos, please go to our YouTube channel here. Thank you!

The post Circuit Analysis Ch. 2.1 – Circuit Elements appeared first on The Curio Cat.

The post Circuit Analysis Ch. 1.2 – Power and Energy appeared first on The Curio Cat.

Or watch on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Derek, the video creator, click here!

The post Circuit Analysis Ch. 1.1 – Current and Voltage appeared first on The Curio Cat.

The Queenpost Truss – The Simplest of the Three

A Queenpost truss is the second simplest of all the truss examples I discovered (the simplest being a Kingpost truss). Due to the simplicity of the construction, these covered bridges tend to be quite small and cover shorter distances. Consequently, I found only one example of a Queenpost truss bridge: The Carlton Covered Bridge in East Swanzey, New Hampshire. The current bridge was built in 1869, but it’s believed a bridge existed on that site consistently since 1789.

The Paddleford Truss – Embroiled in Controversy!

Millwright and builder Peter Paddleford created this design in the 19th century. But, due to the surrounding controversy, he could not obtain the patent! Sadly, this unfortunate man was accused of copying his design from another truss type, the Long truss which was patented by Stephen Long in 1830. Certainly, they do seem very similar at a passing glance, but there are some definite differences as you can see in the comparison illustrations below.

As a result of the legal battles, the design wasn’t as widely used as others. Hence, I only found two examples of the Paddleford truss on my expedition: The Albany Covered Bridge in Albany, New Hampshire and the Lovejoy Covered Bridge in Andover, Maine.

Built in 1858, The Albany Covered Bridge has some added arches inside which make it almost look like a Burr Arch truss!

Built in 1868, The Lovejoy Covered Bridge is Maine’s shortest.

The Town Lattice Truss – Beautiful and Strong!

Owing to the great success of the design, the Town Lattice truss is, by far, the most ubiquitous. And, in my opinion, the most beautiful! Due to the significantly more efficient load distribution, builders were able to use cheaper and lighter types of wood. Therefore, bridges became much lighter and considerably less expensive to build! Patented in 1820 by renowned architect and engineer Ithiel Town, the design gained him much notoriety in architectural circles. Later, he would go on to form one of the first architectural firms in the United States! This design was used by all the rest of the bridges I saw, so I am sharing only two of my favorites with you: The Thompson Covered Bridge in West Swanzey, New Hampshire and the Ashuelot Covered Bridge in Winchester, New Hampshire.

Built in 1832, much needed reconstruction occurred in 1993. Prior to this, school busses needed to empty of kids before crossing!

I’ve saved the best for last! My absolute favorite was the Ashuelot Covered Bridge! It’s considered to be one of New Hampshire’s most elaborate. Built in 1864, the Ashuelot Railroad originally used it to carry wood across the river.

To learn more about the author, Hannah, click here!

The post An Adventure with Covered Bridges and Engineering! appeared first on The Curio Cat.