Will’s View

Yesterday afternoon was a sad one. Whist having a snack after a long day of work, I made myself a Milo. My Milo tin has been growing empty recently, a sure sign that I need to go to the supermarket reasonably soon. This meant that I had to do a little bit of extra work to get the last bit out, which I’m not upset about - having to work for a Milo makes it somehow better. But the real problem was that I couldn’t get the last bit out of the tin. No matter how much I twisted, shook and attacked the tin, there remained a sizeable amount caught under the lip of the tin which was impossible to dislodge. Short of actually pouring milk into the tin, then shaking it, and having to go through similar amounts of trouble to get all the milk out, there was no way to get that last bit of Milo that I had legitimately paid for.

This got me to thinking about just how many companies deliberately contrive their products such that you can never get the last bit out. On the whole, as a commercialist society, we’re being had. Have you ever managed to get the last bit out of the toothpaste tube? How about that last sip out of a soft-drink can? And the barbeque sauce bottle, ever squeezed the last bit out after you forgot to go to the supermarket and buy some more?

Why do we let this continue? We have paid for these products with our own money, and we are casually forfeiting the remaining portion. Students and upset consumers alike are having a swift one pulled on them by the large companies, and it makes me sick. From now on I’ll dissect toothpaste tubes, puncture soft-drink cans and slice up sauce bottles to get that last bit that so often gets forgotten about, and I implore you to do the same.

--> Yesterday afternoon was a sad one. Whist having a snack after a long day of work, I made myself a Milo. My Milo tin has been growing empty recently, a sure sign that I need to go to the supermarket reasonably soon. This meant that I had to do a little bit of extra work to get the last bit out, which I’m not upset about - having to work for a Milo makes it somehow better. (More...)

The recent spate of assignments around uni has lead me to some interesting observations on overtired students and their assignments:

Sense of Humour:

It has struck me that almost anything is funnier after being awake for more than 18 hours. This phenomenon has been well documented throughout the ages, but only recently has it come to my attention. One knows that the mental state of the people in the room has undeniably deteriorated when I can crack a joke about programming (that’s right my jokes are notoriously bad anyway, but one about programming, that’s just low!) and half the room is in stitches/hysterical laughing fits for at least 5 minutes. I have several theories about why this is (none of them scientifically founded of course):

1. After days of looking at computer screens, anything remotely removed from this is a blessing and a surprise.
2. Without enough sleep, the ears and the brain just aren’t in proper communication anymore. Thus if the brain is expecting something funny, then no matter what the ears get you end up laughing.
3. When you spend many hours in computer labs with the same people you can tell when they are about to say something that they think is pretty funny, so you end up laughing in sympathy without really thinking.
4. If you start laughing for any reason, you just don’t have the presence of mind to stop yourself without considerable effort.

Camaraderie:

Many end-to-end days in the computer labs with a similar gathering of like-minded and equally disorganised (otherwise why would you all be there in the first place?) people lead to tightly-knit groups forming. After all, you end up spending several hours a day with these people (many more on the weekend) and possibly eat one or two meals a day with them. I’m not yet sure whether these are the sort of ‘complete immersion friends’ which end up being obsolete as soon as you can fight your way out of the labs, or if they end up being long-lasting friendships. Regardless of this they end up being one of the things that help get you through the long hours.

Day/Night Blurring

I was reasonably sure this only happened when you spent many hours in gambling (sorry, gaming) establishments, spending all your hard-earned money on the pokies or the roulette wheel. But a recent encounter with the trickiness of time has lead me to believe otherwise. I was listening to the radio on my phone one night to keep me entertained whilst finishing off an assignment, it was mostly the sort of commercial pop/rock that I have found predominantly gets played after the radio announcers have gone home. So there I was, bopping away whilst typing and writing out equations and such. Then suddenly, out of the blue, came a radio announcer with the six o’clock traffic report. What the hell? Where did the night go? Surely they’re just stuffing around. But alack, no. On examination of the nearest window, it was clearly proven that the sun had risen. Blast.

Procrastination

We all know that this is rather a large topic, so it will just be mentioned here, and perhaps elaborated on at some later stage, while I’m procrastinating. The main thing I’ve noticed is that I feel like doing anything but sitting in front of a computer screen. That’s right, I could almost be convinced to go for a run rather than sit down for another umpteen hours.
Ok, maybe not go for a run. But maybe a walk around the block, or a nap, or a quick brunch on Lygon Street….?

--> The recent spate of assignments around uni has lead me to some interesting observations on overtired students and their assignments: Sense of Humour: It has struck me that almost anything is funnier after being awake for more than 18 hours. This phenomenon has been well documented throughout the ages, but only recently has it come to my attention. One knows that the mental state of the people in the room has undeniably deteriorated when I can crack a (More...)

I have a message for Product Development, Product Improvement, and Idea Generation engineers/scientists everywhere. Sit down and take a load off. Someone’s beaten you to it. The best product ever has been developed and is currently in circulation, and it takes into account all of your fields and puts them to shame. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the squishy rat.

I first saw one of these whilst walking down The Corso in Manly during my recent visit. They are amazing. You can throw them against a flat surface and they spread out like a huge flat sheet of rubbery plastic. At this stage you can either peel them off said surface, or just leave them there. Either way the rat gradually regains its shape and returns to its original form - tail, ears, feet and all. Brilliant!

Whereabouts can the inventors go from here? People will stop them in the street and ask for their autographs. Then while the bewildered inventors are signing, the adoring fans will ask, “So where’s the follow-up? Can we expect an indestructible hydrogen car, or a warp drive next?”. Surely the pressure would get too much, and they’d have to go into hiding in South America, or cave in and admit that the material and idea was given to them by aliens.

What has happened to this world of ours?

--> I have a message for Product Development, Product Improvement, and Idea Generation engineers/scientists everywhere. Sit down and take a load off. Someone’s beaten you to it. The best product ever has been developed and is currently in circulation, and it takes into account all of your fields and puts them to shame. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the squishy rat. I first saw one of these whilst walking down The Corso in Manly during my recent visit. (More...)

I have often been asked why I decided on Mechatronics as a discipline, and to use the immortal words of Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Whilst on my little jaunt down this road they call Mechatronics, I have been asked many a time to define exactly what it is I do. I try and resist the temptation to say something inane like: “We are trying to build the next generation of The Transformers, called the Mechatrons.”; “It’s just a fancy word to mean that we sit around and play with Meccano all day”; and “I’m basically just learning how to make robots. Cool huh?”. And instead I say something along the lines of “Well it’s basically just a mixture of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, with a bit of Electronic Engineering just for kicks.”

But as of today I now have a new definition of Mechatronics that I saw on a poster around uni, here goes:

Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronic controls and systems engineering in the design of products and processes

Try understanding exactly what it means after only hearing it once. And then try saying it ten times fast! Should I carry a copy of this poster around with me so that I can show people exactly where I fit in the Engineering universe?

--> I have often been asked why I decided on Mechatronics as a discipline, and to use the immortal words of Robert Frost: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Whilst on my little jaunt down this road they call Mechatronics, I have been asked many a time to define exactly what it is I do. I try and resist the temptation to say (More...)

Washing dishes is a chore, there’s no contest there. It sucks. It’s one of those ‘facts of life’ that your parents always told you about, but you never believed because you had this magical machine which washed them for you. You’d put them in dirty, and they’d come out clean. Magic.

Well some of us aren’t so lucky. I actually hand-wash my dishes. That’s right folks, old-school style. And then, after they’re washed they go on the drying rack. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it (okay, well, not as simple as that magical machine, but close). But, as always, there is a catch.

In the morning, after waking up gloriously refreshed (read: after hitting the snooze button at least twice, and then cursing at the clock, the world, and especially 9am lectures), I waltz into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. Relatively ordinary really. Then after trying to find a clean bowl, my journey leads me to the pile of clean, dry dishes next to the sink.

This is where the fun begins. Because dishes have been cleaned throughout the day there are different strata of crockery to be found in the drying rack. The challenge here is to identify which strata your plate belongs to, and then extract it whilst expending the least amount of effort, and not breaking anything (remembering it is early in the morning).

This last point is vital, and is where it seems I recently went wrong. I have in my possession several glasses of which I am quite proud, they have been with me through the hard times and the good. And one fateful morning recently, while trying to extricate my bowl from the drying rack, I managed to set in motion an apocalyptic event: plates flew; cutlery went everywhere; and one of my beloved glasses toppled to the floor unchecked.

Not only that, but I had to clean up the darn mess whilst still feeling upset and somewhat sleep-deprived.

I’m never playing Jenga with dishes again.

--> Washing dishes is a chore, there’s no contest there. It sucks. It’s one of those ‘facts of life’ that your parents always told you about, but you never believed because you had this magical machine which washed them for you. You’d put them in dirty, and they’d come out clean. Magic. Well some of us aren’t so lucky. I actually hand-wash my dishes. That’s right folks, old-school style. And then, after they’re washed they go on the drying (More...)