Legends

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya- "Father of Indian Civil Engineering"

2010-09-05T20:57:00.000+05:30

Born: September 15, 1860
Muddenahalli, Kanivenarayanapura Hobli, Chikballapur Taluk, Chikballapur District, Kingdom of Mysore (now Karnataka)
Died: April 14, 1962 (aged 101)
Bangalore
Occupation: Engineer, Diwan of Mysore

Honours :

In 1915, while he was the Diwan of Mysore, Visvesvaraya was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire by the British for his myriad contributions to the public good. After India attained independence, Sir M. Visvesvaraya was given the nation's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955.

The Knight Commander of The Indian Empire medal

Sir M.V. was honoured with honorary membership of the international Institution of Civil Engineers (based in London) and a fellowship of the Indian Institute of Science (based in Bangalore). He was also awarded several honorary doctoral degrees like D.Sc., LL.D., D.Litt. from various universities in India. He was president of the 1923 Session of the Indian Science Congress. Sir MV was also awarded honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken period of 50 years.[1]

Institutions in his honour
The Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, to which nearly all engineering colleges in Karnataka are now affiliated
The Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology located in Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura.
The Upcoming Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli is being built in Sir MV's birthplace.
The University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore popularly known as UVCE, is an engineering college affiliated to the Bangalore University established in the year 1917 by Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The college was renamed University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering from its earlier name University College of Engineering, Bangalore in honour of its illustrious founder Sir. M Visvesvaraya.
Vishweshwarayya Polytechnic College
Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute Of Technology (popularly known as Sir M.V.I.T), Bangalore, is named after Sir M.V.
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (V.N.I.T.), Nagpur (formerly Visvesvaraya Regional College of Engineering) was established in the early 1960s in his honour. The college is among the elite 19 National Institutes of Technology (formerly Regional Engineering Colleges) in India
The Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Bangalore, set up as part of his birth centenary celebrations
Visvesvaraya Iron & Steel Limited, a public sector undertaking,at Bhadravathi, in the founding of which he was instrumental. He also supervised VISL and under his supervsion, the loss making Factory turned the corner and started earning profit.
His alma mater, the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) has erected a statue in his memory and honour on their campus in central Pune, immediately outside the historic COEP administration building.
Institute of Technology- Banaras Hindu University(Largest residential University in Asia) has a hostel named after Sir M Visvesvaraya
Karnataka Industrial Cooperative Bank Ltd
NIT Rourkela named a Hall of Residence in his honour

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel

2010-09-05T10:15:00.000+05:30

Nationality French
Birth date December 15, 1832
Birth place Dijon, Côte-d'Or, France
Date of death December 27, 1923 (aged 91)
Place of death Rue Rabelais in Paris

Buildings and structures
The "Casa de Fierro" in the Peruvian jungle

El Palacio de Hierro, Orizaba, Veracruz, México

Konak Pier in İzmir, Turkey, designed by Gustave Eiffel
Eiffel Tower
Estación Central (main railway station), Santiago, Chile
Budapest Nyugati Pályaudvar (Western railway station), Budapest, Hungary
Konak Pier, Izmir, Turkey
Nice Observatory
Palacio de Hierro, Orizaba Veracruz, Mexico
Paradis Latin, Paris
San Sebastian Church, Manila, Philippines
Statue of Liberty
The General Post Office, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
The Market, Dijon, France
Church of Santa Barbara, Santa Rosalia, Mexico

Bridges

Truong Tien Bridge

Eiffel bridge in Caminha
Birsbrücke, Münchenstein, Switzerland which collapsed on 14 June in 1891 killing over 70 people. See Munchenstein rail disaster.
Bridge over the Schelde in Temse, in Belgium
Abu El-Ela Bridge in Cairo, Egypt
Garabit Viaduct
Garonne River Bridge near Bordeaux was Eiffel's first project at age 25.
Long Bien bridge, Hanoi, Vietnam
Maria Pia Bridge (Porto Viaduct)
Railway Bridge near Constitución, Chile
Souleuvre Viaduct
The Eiffel Bridge in Viana do Castelo's Marina was a Gustav Eiffel's project from 1878.
The Eiffel Bridge in Zrenjanin that was disassembled in the 1960s and is being rebuilt currently.
The Railway Bridge over the Coura river in Caminha, Portugal.
The road (D50) bridge over the River Lay at Lavaud in the Vendée, France
Truong Tien Bridge is reflected in the Huong river, Hue, Viet Nam.
Troitsky (Trinity) bridge in St. Petersburg, Russia
Quezon Bridge in Quiapo District, Manila, Philippines
Eiffel Bridge between Ungheni, Moldova and Romania

Other works
Combier Distillery, Saumur (Loire Valley), France
Viaduct over the Sioule river (1867)
Viaduct at Neuvial (1867)
Notre Dame des Champs, Paris (1868)
Swing bridge at Dieppe (1870)
Gasworks of La Paz, Bolivia
La Paz Train Station, La Paz, Bolivia (now Bus Station of La Paz)
Church at Tacna, Peru (1875)
Church in Arica, Chile
Ruhnu Lighthouse at Ruhnu island, Estonia (1877)
Hotel Traian, at Iaşi, Romania (1884)

"Traian Hotel" from Iaşi, is Gustave Eiffel's link to Romania
Bolivar Bridge, at Arequipa, Peru
Fenix Theatre, at Arequipa, Peru
San Camilo Market, at Arequipa, Peru
Church at Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Bridge over the Tisza near Szeged, Hungary
Farol de São Thomé in Campos, Brazil
Theartwork of the Western Train station in Budapest, Hungary
Great bridge over the Begej in Zrenjanin, Serbia, built in 1904, disassembled and replaced by concrete bridge in 1969
Mona Island Lighthouse at Mona Island, Puerto Rico
Plaza del Mercado (local produce market) at Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Bridge in Trujillo Alto (still there but not used anymore), Puerto Rico
Puente Quezon (Quezon Bridge) over Pasig River, Manila, Philippines
House of Steel in Maputo, Mozambique
Ajfel Bridge On Skenderija Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dome (Salon Royale) of Hotel Negresco, Nice, France
Pabellon de la Rosa Piriapolis, Uruguay
Mercado Municipal, Manaus, Brazil
Aérodynamique EIFFEL (wind tunnel), Paris (Auteuil), France
La Cristalera, old portuary storage, El Puerto de Santa María, Spain

Leonardo da Vinci

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Birth name : Leonardo di Ser Piero
Born : April 15, 1452
Vinci, Florence, in present-day Italy
Died :May 2, 1519 (aged 67)
Amboise, Touraine (in present-day Indre-et-Loire, France)
Nationality : Italian
Field : Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences
Works : Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man

Leonardo Bridge Project

In 1502 Leonardo da Vinci did a simple drawing of a graceful bridge with a single span of 720-foot span (approximately 240-meters.) Da Vinci designed the bridge as part of a civil engineering project for Sultan Bajazet II of Constantinople (Istanbul.) The bridge was to span the Golden Horn, an inlet at the mouth of the Bosphorus River in what is now Turkey.
The Bridge was never built.

Leonardo's "Golden Horn" Bridge is a perfect "pressed-bow." Leonardo surmised correctly that the classic keystone arch could be stretched narrow and substantially widened without losing integrity by using a flared foothold, or pier, and the terrain to anchor each end of the span. It was conceived 300 years prior to its engineering principals being generally accepted. It was to be 72 feet-wide (24 meters), 1080-foot total length (360 meters) and 120 feet (40 meters) above the sea level at the highest point of the span.

Norwegian painter and public art creator, Vebjørn Sand, saw the drawing and a model of the bridge in an exhibition on da Vinci's architectural & engineering designs in 1996. The power of the simple design overwhelmed him. He conceived of a project to bring its eternal beauty to life. The Norwegian Leonardo Bridge Project makes history as the first of Leonardo's civil engineering designs to be constructed for public use.

Vebjørn Sand took the project to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Though hardly a visionary organization, when Sand presented the project the reaction was unanimous. "Everyone on the project knew we would be making something more than another boring bridge," Sand says of his meetings with government officials, "We would be making history."

On the Project, Vebjørn Sand successfully collaborated with a professional team of engineers and architects to test the build-ability of the design. Numerous sites were considered all over Norway until the right one was found in the township of Ås spanning E-18, the highway linking Oslo and Stockholm. Fundraising for the project also became a major responsibility for Sand. The next five years required the ability to sustain the vision while building coalitions to undertake the construction of what the Norwegian press would call "Vebjørn Sand's Leonardo Project."

The Norwegian Leonardo Bridge Project did not easily fall into place. Vebjørn Sand's celebrity in Norway rests on his reputation as a young painter of considerable ability who gleefully joined the public debate over the issue of the dominant Modernist orthodoxy. Sand supports rigorous technical mastery required of classical art training. The Norwegian art academies no longer taught those skills. As the Leonardo Bridge Project developed, this debate continued to grow more heated in the Norwegian press. Sand's conceptual tribute to the Renaissance thinkers, and Leonardo's vision, came under scathing criticism. Some said the bridge belonged in Disneyland; others accused Vebjørn Sand of being a fascist.

Conceptually, Vebjørn Sand sees the project as a vivid meeting between the functional and esthetical worlds. It is a reminder that the technology the human race has come to consider a necessary part of daily life, was possible only by the deep faith the great geniuses of Western art and science had in the spiritual reality of the natural world. Nature now almost trivialized by the very pervasive-ness of these inventions. The bridge unites the past with the present, and expresses the greatest and the most beautiful aspect of Renaissance art and science. That is a meeting between heaven and earth, between the spiritual and the material realms.

To the artist, the bridge is also a beautiful metaphor for the meeting between people, cultures and continents. It is in itself - in its reality - the harmonic expression of this meeting. Thus was born Vebjørn Sand's vision to build the bridge on every continent.

# # # # # # # # # # #

Da Vinci had left sketchy instructions in his notebooks for the construction of his design. It has been suggested that he didn't intend for the bridge to be anything more than a visionary sketch. But evidence of a letter written to the Sultan, though not in Leonardo's hand, proves that it was intended as part of a millwork project. Since he hoped the Turkish prince would approve the project, he is unlikely to have presented a project that couldn't be executed.

Leonardo's design consists of a weight-bearing granite vault with a built up walkway that forms a crossing between terrain and vault. Granite is extremely strong under stress and the load force of the pressed-bow design is such that a slender and resilient span can be constructed. The flat bridge shape, which is also seen in the viaduct over the Golden Horn - described in the same terms as those between pier height and arch span - give the bridge elegance and boldness. This impression emphasizes the slim mid-portion of the bridge, which at its narrowest point, measures only 25.5 inches (65 centimeters). Towards the sides and bottom of the arch the construction thickness increases to 15 feet (4.5 meters) and an anchoring footing 42 feet (14 meters) wide flairs out on each end.

Stein Atle Haugerud, from the structural engineering firm of Dr. techn. Olav Olsen a.s., worked with Vebjørn Sand to construct computer renderings of the design, testing possible durability issues. The conclusion was that the bridge should be a pedestrian overpass to avoid unforeseen structural problems caused by traffic vibration. It would be a scaled-down version with a 300-feet (100 meters) span and a total length of 400 feet (135 meters.)

Two versions of the bridge, one in stone and one in wood, were planned. Following a tradition of bridge construction in Norwegian culture, timber was used for the Ås project. The bowed arches so critical to the elegant form were created by a process of lamination developed by the Norwegian company, Moelven Group, well known for the 1994 Lilihammar Olympic "Viking Ship" Ice Rink. Moelven also developed a new technique for preserving the bright color of the Norwegian pine. An innovative walkway material was also developed specifically for the project.

The architectural firm of Selberg Architects created the final plans for the Project.

Through the process of development, these world-class architects and engineers have joined Vebjørn Sand to create a "dream team" of experts on the history, design and structural aspects of the "Queen of Bridges" prepared to implement the global project. Sand's vision to build the bridge on each continent also includes drawing on the cultural traditions, and incorporating materials, unique to each region.

Finally, the Leonardo Bridge Project represents a historical connection between Europe and the Middle East, between Christianity and Islam. The Italian Renaissance was inspired by the scholarship of the Ottoman Empire. Leonardo, in turn, was fascinated by the Middle East. This aspect seems particularly relevant since the events of September 11, 2001, as the Leonardo Project expands into the global goodwill project Vebjørn Sand envisioned.

The Norwegian Leonardo Bridge was constructed and opened to foot and bicycle traffic on October 31, 2001. Da Vinci's vision resurrected, 500 years after the drawing was made. Vebjørn Sand is currently considering several sites in the United States for the next Leonardo Bridge Project.

Rudolf Diesel

2010-07-08T08:35:00.002+05:30

Born :
March 18, 1858
Paris, France

Died :
September 29, 1913 (aged 55)
English Channel
Nationality :
German
Occupation Engineer, inventor, entrepreneur

Employer:
Sulzer, Linde, MAN AG

Children:
Rudolf Jr, Heddy, and Eugen

Parents:
Theodor Diesel, Elise Diesel

Awards:
Elliott Cresson Medal (1901)

What makes him a legend ?

Inventing the diesel engine

Boris Yeltsin

2009-06-04T09:08:00.002+05:30

Born :1 February 1931
Butka, Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

Died : 23 April 2007 (aged 76)
Moscow, Russia

Education : Yeltsin received his higher education at the Ural State Technical University in Sverdlovsk, majoring in construction, and graduated in 1955.

Political party : CPSU (prior to 1990)
Independent (after 1990)

Spouse : Naina Yeltsina

Religion : Atheist(prior to 1990)

Russian Orthodox(after 1990)

What makes him a legend ?

1st President of Russia

In office
10 July 1991 – 31 December 1999

Pierre Emanuel Tirard

2009-06-04T09:05:00.002+05:30

Born 27 September 1827
Died November 4, 1893 (aged 66)
Political party None

What makes him a legend ?

54th Prime Minister of France

In office
12 December 1887 – 3 April 1888

56th Prime Minister of France
In office
22 February 1889 – 17 March 1890

Sukarno

2009-06-04T08:57:00.002+05:30

Born: June 6, 1901
Blitar, Dutch East Indies

Died June 21, 1970 (aged 69)
Jakarta, Indonesia

Education : Technische Hogeschool (Technical Institute) in Bandung. He studied civil engineering and focused on architecture.

Political party: None

Spouse: Oetari
Inggit Garnasih
Fatmawati
Hartini
Kartini Manoppo
Ratna Sari Dewi Soekarno
Haryati
Yurike Sanger
Heldy Djafar
Religion Islam

What makes him a legend ?

1st President of Indonesia

In office
August 18, 1945 – March 12, 1967

Turgut Özal

2009-06-04T08:54:00.002+05:30

Born: October 13, 1927

Malatya, Turkey

Died :April 17, 1993 (aged 65)

Ankara, Turkey

Political party: ANAP

Spouse: Ayhan İnal (m. 1952, div. 1952)

Semra Özal (m. 1954)

Alma mater: Istanbul Technical University

Religion: Muslim

What makes him a legend ?

8th President of the Republic of Turkey
In office
November 9, 1989 – April 17, 1993
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office
December 13, 1983 – October 31, 1989

Süleyman Demirel

2009-06-04T08:49:00.001+05:30

Born: November 1, 1924 (age 84)

Isparta

Nationality: Turkish

Political party: Justice Party, True Path Party (now Democratic Party)

Spouse: Nazmiye Demirel

Alma mater : Istanbul Technical University

Religion : Muslim

What makes him a legend ?

Prime Minister of Turkey

Assumed office
27 October 1965-16 March 1971
31 March 1975-21 June 1977
21 July 1977-5 January 1978
12 November 1979-12 September 1980
20 November 1991-16 May 1993

9th President of the Republic of Turkey
In office
16 May 1993 – 16 May 2000

Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo

2009-06-04T08:32:00.003+05:30

Born : April 14, 1926
Madrid, Spain

Died : May 3, 2008 (aged 82)

Nationality : Spain

Political party : UCD

Spouse : María del Pilar Ibáñez-Martín y Mellado

Religion : Roman Catholic

What makes him a legend ?

74th President of the Government of Spain

{2nd of Democratic Spain (since 1977)}

6th Second Vice President of the Government of Spain
{3rd of the Democratic Spain (since 1977)}

Minister of Public Works

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

2009-06-03T17:08:00.002+05:30

Born: 28 October 1956 (age 52)
Aradan, Iran

Political party : Abadgaran-ISE

Education : Iran University of Science and Technology

Profession : Civil Engineer

What makes him a legend?

Ahmadinejad became the first president of the Islamic Republic in twenty-four years who was not a religious cleric

The three men

2009-01-11T22:46:00.001+05:30

An Engineering Student, a Physics Student, and a Mathematics student were each given $150 dollars and were told to use that money to find out exactly how tall a particular hotel was.
All three ran off, extremely keen on how to do this. The Physics student went out, purchased some stopwatches, a number of ball bearings, a calculator, and some friends. He had them all time the drop of ball bearings from the roof, and he then figured out the height from the time it took for the bearings to accelerate from rest until they impacted with the sidewalk.
The Math student waited until the sun was going down, then she took out her protractor, plumb line, measuring tape, and scratch pad, measured the length of the shadow, found the angle the buildings roof made from the ground, and used trignometry to figure out the height of the building.
These two students bumped into the Engineering student the next day, who was nursing a really bad hangover. When asked what he did to find the height of the building he replied: "Well, I walked up to the bell hop, gave him 10 bucks, asked
him how tall the hotel was, and hit the bar inside for happy hour!"

Four Engineers and a Broken Car

2009-01-11T22:00:00.001+05:30

There are four engineers travelling in a car; a mechanical engineer, a chemical engineer, an electrical engineer and a computer engineer. The car breaks down. "Sounds to me as if the pistons have seized. We'll have to strip down the engine before we can get the car working again", says the mechanical engineer. "Well", says the chemical engineer, "it sounded to me as if the fuel might be contaminated. I think we should clear out the fuel system." "I thought it might be an grounding problem", says the electrical engineer, "or maybe a faulty plug lead." They all turn to the computer engineer who has said nothing and say: "Well, what do you think?" "Ummm - perhaps if we all get out of the car and get back in again?"

Why Engineers Don't Write Recipe Books

2009-01-09T00:05:00.000+05:30

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
532.35 cm3 gluten
4.9 cm3 NaHCO3
4.9 cm3 refined halite
236.6 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11
177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11
4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde
Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein
473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao
236.6 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve size #10)
To a 2 litre jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat transfer coefficient of about 100 Btu/&degF-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two and three with constant agitation. In a second 2 litre reactor vessel with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four, five, six, and seven until the mixture is homogenous.
To reactor #2, add ingredient eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in reactor #1. Additionally, add ingredient nine and ten slowly, with constant agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the reaction to control any temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction.
Using a screw extrude attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x 600 mm). Heat in a 460&degK oven for a period of time that is in agreement with Frank & Johnston's first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown.

NIce quotes

2009-01-08T23:49:00.007+05:30

“A scientist studies what is, an engineer studies what never was.”

“The engineer has been, and is, a maker of history”

A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible

There are three possible roads to ruin - women, gambling and technology. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technology

-Georges Pompidou
Sunday Telegraph 1968.

Inventing is the mixing of brains and materials. The more brains you use, the less materials you need.

One has to watch out for engineers - they begin with the sewing machine and end up with the atomic bomb.

-Marcel Pagnol
Critiques des Critiques

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." —Confucius

"A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there." —Charles Darwin

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." —Charles Darwin

"The story of civilization is, in a sense, the story of engineering—that long and arduous struggle to make the forces of nature work for man's good." —L. Sprague DeCamp (1963)

"Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration." —Thomas Edison

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." —Albert Einstein

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" —Albert Einstein

"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it's only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it's two hours. That's relativity." —Albert Einstein

List of Mechanical engineers

2009-01-08T22:39:00.001+05:30

B
Joseph Cyril Bamford - Founder of the JCB company, manufacturing heavy plant, and especially backhoes
Keith Black - American high performance automobile engineer.

C
André Citroën - automobile

D
Rudolf Diesel - inventor of the diesel engine
Keith Duckworth - designer of the Cosworth DFV

E
John Ericsson - Inventor of Ship Propeller[1]

F
Harry Ferguson -Three-point_hitch
Henry Ford - automobile
Yuan-Cheng Fung - biomechanics

G
Emile Gagnan - underwater apparatus
Henry Laurence Gantt - Gantt chart
John Josiah Guest - iron production

H
James Harrison - pioneer in the field of mechanical refrigeration
Beulah Louise Henry - nicknamed lady Edison
Hero of Alexandria - ancient
August Horch - automobile

I

J
Matthew Jacobs - Toolmaker and machinery maker.
Taylor Jones-Pioneer in recent engineering technologies

K
Alan Kulwicki - 1992 NASCAR Champion
Anil Kumble - Indian cricketer

L
Frederick Lanchester - automobile and aviation
Leonardo Da Vinci

M
Ma Jun - 3rd century China, invented the South Pointing Chariot, mechanical puppet theaters, chain pumps, improved silk looms, etc.
Elijah McCoy
Andrew Meikle - threshing machine and windmill sails
James Morgan - Applied Materials CEO
Thomas Midgley, Jr. - He developed tetra-ethyl lead (TEL) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

N
Bill Nye - (The Science Guy)

P
Charles Algernon Parsons - steam turbine inventor
Ferdinand Porsche - automobile and German tank designs

R
William John Macquorn Rankine - fatigue and one of the founders of the science of thermodynamics, particularly in reference to steam engine theory.
Richard Roberts - machine tool and machinery maker.
Alfred H. Rzeppa - constant-velocity joint
Osbourne Reynolds - prominent innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics

S
Igor Sikorsky - Inventor of the single-rotor Helicopter
Javagal Srinath - former Indian cricketer and ICC match referee
George Stephenson - Railway Engineer and Founder of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Robert Stephenson - Railway Engineer
Su Song - 11th century China, first to use an escapement mechanism (see Yi Xing below) and chain drive to operate his astronomical clock tower
John H. Sununu - Presidential Chief of Staff
Dr. Victor Szebehely- Aerospace Engineering & Celestial Mechanics

T
Dr. Andy Thomas - Australian Astronaut
Nikola Tesla - Serbian Physicist, Electrical and Mechanical Engineer

U

V
Boris Vian - writer

W
James Watt - Scottish inventor of the Watt steam engine that fundamentally changed the Industrial Revolution and considered by many in the discipline as the father of modern mechanical engineering.
Samuel T. Wellman - various inventions used in the steel industry
Eli Whitney - cotton gin
Joseph Whitworth - mechanical
Ludwig Wittgenstein - aerospace engineer turned philosopher
Nathaniel C. Wyeth - inventor, chemical engineer
Felix Wankel - Inventor of the Wankel Rotary Engine

X

Y

Yi Xing - 8th century China, first to use an escapement mechanism in operating a water-powered armillary sphere

Z

Zhang Heng - 1st century-2nd century China, invented the first hydraulic-powered armillary sphere, and the first seismometer device to detect the direction of earthquakes

Quotes-John Prebble

2008-11-13T19:07:00.001+05:30

Architects and engineers are among the most fortunate of men since they build their own monuments with public consent, public approval and often public money.

John Smeaton The father of civil engineering

2008-11-13T18:49:00.002+05:30

Birth : June 8, 1724

Death : October 28, 1792

As an engineer : Recommended by the Royal Society, Smeaton designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse (1755-59). He pioneered the use of 'hydraulic lime' (a form of mortar which will set under water) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse. His lighthouse remained in use until 1877 when - with the rock underlying the structure's foundations beginning to erode - it was dismantled and partially rebuilt at Plymouth Hoe. He is important in the history, rediscovery of, and development of modern cement, because he identified the compositional requirements needed to obtain "hydraulicity" in lime; work which led ultimately to the invention of Portland cement.

What makes him a legend :
Smeaton is regarded as the father of Civil engineering
He was the first self-proclaimed civil engineer (1761).

World wonders-Civil engineering achievements

2008-11-11T11:35:00.006+05:30

Hu Jintao

2008-08-09T21:31:00.000+05:30

Born : December 21, 1942 Jiangyan, Republic of China

Political party : Communist Party of China

Spouse : Liu Yongqing

Alma mater : Tsinghua University

Profession : Hydraulic engineering

Religion : No religion

Early life and education :

Hu Jintao was born in Jiangyan, Jiangsu on December 21, 1942. His branch of the family migrated to Jiangyan during his grandfather's generation.

Even though his father owned a small tea trading business in Taizhou, the family was relatively poor. His mother died when he was seven, and he was raised by an aunt. Hu's father was later denounced during the Cultural Revolution, an event that (together with his relatively humble origins) apparently had a deep effect upon Hu, who diligently tried to clear his father's name.

Hu was a talented student in high school, excelling in activities such as singing and dancing. In 1964, while still a student at Beijing's Tsinghua University, Hu joined the Communist Party of China, prior to the Cultural Revolution. He graduated with a degree in hydraulic engineering in 1965. At Tsinghua University Hu met a fellow student Liu Yongqing, now his wife. They have a son and daughter, Hu Haifeng and Hu Haiqing respectively. The daughter lives in a mansion in California.

In 1968, Hu volunteered for service in Gansu and worked for a hydro-power station while also managing Party affairs for the local branch of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power. From 1969 to 1974, Hu worked for Sinohydro Engineering Bureau No 4, as an engineer

What makes him a legend :
President of China since November 15, 2002

H. D. Deve Gowda

2008-08-01T21:49:00.001+05:30

Born: 18 May 1933

Political party: JD (S)

Spouse : Chennamma

Children: 4 sons and 2 daughters

Residence: Bangalore

Religion: Hindu

Positions occupied : Chief Ministers of Karnataka , Prime Ministers of India

What makes him a legend:Born into a farming family, he won his first seat in the Karnataka state assembly in 1962, rising to become Karnataka's chief minister and 14th Prime Minister of India

Yasser Arafat

2008-08-01T21:17:00.000+05:30

Name   :    Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini

Born :       August 24, 1929 Cairo, Egypt

Died :        November 11, 2004 (aged 75) Paris, France

Nationality         :    Palestinian

Political party       :   Fatah

Spouse :     Suha Arafat

Branch of engineering    :     Civil engineering

Graduated from    :   Arafat studied civil engineering in University of King Fuad I and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) from 1952 to 1956

Positions occupied :1st President of the Palestinian National Authority,

What makes him a legend:1st President of the Palestinian National Authority
January 20, 1996 – November 11, 2004   ie., till death

List of civil engineers

2008-07-06T20:03:00.001+05:30

A
James Abernethy - Scottish canal, marine and bridge engineer
Duff Abrams - early concrete researcher
Marcus Agrippa - Ancient Roman General
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - President of Iran
John Aird - English engineer from the late 19th century
Othmar Ammann - Designed the George Washington Bridge, among others
Yasser Arafat - Former Palestinian President
William George Armstrong - British engineer and 22nd president of the Institution of Civil Engineers
John Aspinall - British railway engineer

B
Benjamin Baker - English engineer in late 19th century
Hannskarl Bandel - Madison Square Garden roof, Crystal Cathedral
Henry Barnes - traffic Engineer who worked in US cities during 20th century
Peter W. Barlow - English engineer in late 19th century. Notable for Lambeth Bridge (old) and tunnelling shield
William Henry Barlow - English engineer in late 19th century; railway engineering
Sir John Wolfe-Barry - English engineer in late 19th century; designed Tower Bridge
John Frederic La Trobe Bateman - British hydraulic engineer
Sir Joseph Bazalgette - English engineer in late 19th century; London sewerage system
Bernard Forest de Belidor - hydraulic engineer
George Parker Bidder - British engineer; railways, telegraphs and hydraulics
Sir Alexander Binnie - English engineer in late 19th century; tunnels and bridges across the Thames
William Binnie - British waterworks engineer, son of the above
John Blenkinsop - English engineer in mid 19th century; railways, locomotives and mining
Benjamin Blyth - Scottish railway engineer
Benjamin Blyth II - Scottish railway engineer, first practising Scottish engineer to become president of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Sir Thomas Bouch - English engineer in late 19th century; first Tay Rail Bridge disaster
William Bragge - English engineer in the 19th century
Frederick Bramwell - British Engineer
Jacob R. Brandt - American engineer in the mid 19th century; covered bridge engineer
James Brindley - English engineer from mid 18th century - canals and watermills
John Alexander Brodie - City Engineer of Liverpool and inventor of the football goal net
George Barclay Bruce - English railway engineer
Henri Marc Brunel - English engineer in late 19th century.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel - English engineer in mid 19th century - designed Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and important bridges.
Marc Isambard Brunel - French engineer in early 19th century. Notable for the Thames foot tunnel.
James Brunlees - Scottish engineer notable for designing Southend Pier
Peter Bruff - English engineer in 19th century. Notable for work in Clacton on Sea
Sir George Buchanan - British civil engineer associated with harbour works in Burma, Iraq and Bombay, during early 20th century.

C
Santiago Calatrava - Spanish architect: skyscrapers, bridges, train stations
Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo - Spanish Prime Minister
Augustin Louis Cauchy - French mathematician
Giovanni Domenico Cassini - 17th and 18th century astronomer and engineer of papal fortifications
Octave Chanute - 19th century American railroad engineer and aviation pioneer
William Tierney Clark - English engineer in mid 19th century; suspension bridges
Reginald Coates - British civil engineer and academic
Joseph Colaco - American structural engineer.
John Coode - English engineer, notable for work on Portland Harbour
Hardy Cross - American engineer in 20th century. Notable for the developer of the moment distribution method
William Cubitt - English engineer in 19th century.
Carl Culmann - German Engineer in mid 19th century. Notable for graphical pioneering statical methods.

D
Leonardo da Vinci
Gustaf Dalén - sun valve, unmanned acetylene lighthouses
Henry Darcy
Simon James Dawson - Red River road
Süleyman Demirel - Ex-Prime Minister and President of Turkey
Sydney Donkin - British civil, mechanical and electrical engineer
Francis Drake
Jules Dupuit
Thomas Dadford Junior — canals
H. D. Devegowda - Ex-Prime Minister of India

E
James Buchanan Eads - American civil engineer
John S. Eastwood
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
Hans Albert Einstein - hydraulics
John Ericsson - propeller, USS Monitor

F
Hilario Fernández Long - Argentine engineer and university president
Joshua Field - telegraph cables, sewerage
Maurice Fitzmaurice - Irish bridge, dam and tunnel engineer
Sanford Fleming - railroads, time zone
Sir John Fowler - bridges
Ralph Freeman - English bridge and highways engineer
Eugène Freyssinet - structural engineer concrete
Buckminster Fuller

G
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri
William George Nicholson Geddes - Scottish engineer
Alexander Gibb - Scottish railway and military engineer
William Glanville - British highways engineer
George Washington Goethals
James Henry Greathead
Charles Hutton Gregory - railways,
William Grierson - British railway engineer
John Griffith - Irish engineer
Hans Ulrich Grubenmann
Johannes Grubenmann

H
Sir William Halcrow - tunnels
Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover - Big Ben
Björn Hamilton Swedish civil engineer and politician
William Hammond Hall - American civil engineer noted for his work on Golden Gate Park and Californian water supplies
Dr Edmund Hambly - British structural engineer
Thomas Elliott Harrison - British railway and bridge engineer
Arthur Hartley - British oil engineer
Sir John Hawkshaw - British railway and harbour engineer
Thomas Hawksley - English engineer noted for his work on water supplies
Harrison Hayter - British railway and harbour engineer
Brodie Henderson - British railway engineer
Clement Hindley - British railway engineer
James Hird
Clifford Milburn Holland - Holland Tunnel
Walter Hohmann - buildings,
Herbert Hoover - mining engineer and 31st President of the United States
Clarence Decatur Howe - grain elevators
Hú Jǐntāo - President of China
John Hotaling - American soldier and businessman

I

Charles Inglis, British engineer and academic

J
William Jessop - canals
Albert Mussey Johnson - helped design Scotty's Castle.
Theodore Judah - railroads
Edward Judge - bridges

K
Remi Kaler - Civil Engineer who worked with Punjab Government
Alexander Kennedy - British maritime and electrical engineer and academic
Fazlur Rahman Khan - Bangladeshi Structural engineer and skyscraper specialist

L
Osama bin Laden - Civil engineering student and 9-11 perpetrator
Rashid Latif - Former Pakistani cricket team wicketkeeper and captain
Robert Legget - Canadian non-fiction writer
Curtis LeMay - U.S. Air Force general and Vice-Presidential candidate
William LeMessurier - American structural engineer
Ferdinand de Lesseps - Engineer for the Suez Canal
Tung-Yen Lin - bridges, the pioneer of prestressed concrete
William Lindley - water and sewerage works
Joseph Locke - railways
Ian Lloyd - railways, bridges
Anthony George Lyster - British docks engineer

M
John MacAdam - roads
Sir John MacNeill - railways
William Mahone - plank road, railways
Robert Maillart - Swiss, concrete bridges
Robert Manning - Open channel flow
James Mansergh - English railway, water supply and sewage engineer
Mao Yisheng - a Chinese structural engineer who expert on bridge construction
William Marriott - English railway engineer
Timothy P. Marshall - failure analysis, wind and impact engineering, meteorologist (codeveloper of Enhanced Fujita Scale)
William Matthews - British harbour engineer
Jorge Matute Remus - Mexican, known for moving a 1700 ton building in 1950
William Maw - British railway engineer
Sir Henry Maybury - British railway and highways engineer
John Robinson McClean - British engineer, railways, water supply
Conde McCullough - bridges
Carl Friedrich Meerwein - German, aviation
Charles Meik - ports, railways, hydroelectric schemes
Patrick Meik - ports, railways
Thomas Meik - ports, railways
Christian Menn - Swiss, known for bridges, including the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, part of the Big Dig in Boston.
Otto Mohr - bridges, railways
Guilford Lindsey Molesworth - English railway engineer
General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD - bridges and precast concrete (also Commander of the Australian Corps in World War I)
Riccardo Morandi - bridges
James Morgan - Regent's Canal
Basil Mott - mines, tunnels, bridges

N
Pier Luigi Nervi - Italian architect/engineer, thin shell concrete.
Nitish Kumar - Railway Minister of India

O
C. Y. O'Connor CMG - Fremantle Harbour and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, Western Australia
Benjamin Outram - canals
Turgut Ozal - Ex-president of Turkey built Ataturk Bent

P
William N. Page - railways, mining
William Barclay Parsons
Florentino Pérez - president of Grupo ACS, ex-president of Real Madrid
Samuel Morton Peto - railways, harbours
Rafael del Pino - President of Ferrovial, billionaire
Henry Petroski - failure analysis
Peyman Askari Nejad - structural engineer
Henry Pleasants - Civil War general
William Henry Preece - telegraphic engineer

Q

R
Robert Rawlinson - English canal engineer and sanitarian
Richard Redmayne - British mining and civil engineer
Markus Reiner studied deformation, strain and flow, coined rheology
James Meadows Rendel - bridges, harbours
John Rennie the Elder - canals, bridges, docks
John Rennie the Younger - son of the above, railways and bridges
Peter Rice - structural engineer
Benjamin S. Roberts - railways, United States and Russia
Leslie E. Robertson - structural engineer
John August Roebling - Brooklyn Bridge, Niagara Railway Suspension Bridge, John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
Washington Roebling
Richard Birdsall Rogers - designer of the Peterborough Lift Lock, Ontario, Canada

S
Herbert Saffir - codeveloper of Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
Joseph Strauss - Structural Engineer Golden Gate Bridge,San Francisco
Marc Séguin - railways, inventor of the wire-cable suspension bridge
Shen Kuo - irrigation canal system
Vladimir Shukhov - Russia, pioneer of hyperboloid structures, shell structures and pipelines
James Simpson - hydraulic engineer
Ole Singstad - Holland Tunnel tunnel ventilation system
Sir Alec Skempton - Founding father of soil mechanics
Otto Skorzeny - SS commando
Carlos Slim - Mexican tycoon, owner of Grupo Carso & Telmex
John Smeaton - canals, bridges, Eddystone Lighthouse
George F. Sowers - geotechnical engineer
George Stephenson - railways
George Robert Stephenson - British railway engineer
Robert Stephenson - railways
Robert Stevenson - lighthouses
Simon Stevin
Sukarno - former President of Indonesia

T
Thomas Telford - canals, roads and bridges
Karl von Terzaghi - soil mechanics
Mat Roy Thompson - American landscape and defense engineer, overseer of construction at Scotty's Castle.
Stephen Timoshenko - engineering mechanics
Pierre Emanuel Tirard - 19th century Prime Minister of France
Fritz Todt - Reichsminister for Armaments and Munitions during World War 2.
Ernest Crosbie Trench - British railway engineer

U
William Unwin - British civil and materials engineer

V
Charles Blacker Vignoles - British railway engineer
Michel Virlogeux - France. Second Tagus crossing and Millau viaduct.
Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya- "Father of Indian Civil Engineering". Dams in India, many projects in Mysore state.

W
James Walker
William Kelly Wallace - Irish railway engineer
André Waterkeyn designed the Atomium
William Henry White - British engineer and chief constructor of the Admiralty
Edward Leader Williams - canals, bridges
Norman D. Wilson - mass transit
Frank E. Winsor chief engineer for Quabbin Reservoir project
John Wolfe-Barry
A. Baldwin Wood - pumps
Edward Woods - British railway engineer
William Barton Worthington - British railway engineer

X

Y
Boris Yeltsin - Ex President of Russia
T. Leslie Youd - Geotechnical engineer, liquefaction research

Z
Konrad Zuse - early pioneer in computers

Herbert Hoover

2008-06-06T18:49:00.000+05:30

Herbert Hoover - 31st President of USA (1929-1
933)

Born: August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa

Died: October 20, 1964, in New York, New York

Married: Lou Henry (1875-1944), on February 10, 1899

Religion: Society of Friends (Quaker)

Education: Graduated from Stanford University (1895)

Political Party: Republican

Positions occupied :

Chairman of American Commission for Relief Committee, 1914-15; Chairman of American Commission for Relief of Belgium, 1915-18; Director of U.S. Food Administration, 1917-19; Chairman of American Relief Administration, and Russian Relief, 1918-23; Director of Supreme Economic Conference, 1919; Chairman of European Relief Council, 1920; Secretary of Commerce, 1921-23 (under Harding), 1923-28 (under Coolidge); Coordinator of European Food Program, 1926; President of the United States, 1929-33; Coordinator of Food Supply for World Famine, 1946; Chairman of Committee for Reorganization of the Executive Branch, 1947-49, 1953-55

As an engineer :

Herbert Hoover spent almost twenty years as an active mining engineer and consultant. He began his career with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in the Sierra Nevada range of California.

In 1897 Hoover went to Australia as an employee of Bewick, Moreing and Company, a London-based mine operator. It was in Australia that he made his name as a geologist/mining engineer. In August and September 1905, Herbert Hoover visited the mines at Broken Hill, NSW Australia. There was considerable zinc in the Broken Hill lead-silver ore, but it could not be recovered and was lost to the tailings. Hoover devised a practical and profitable method to use the then-new froth floatation process to treat these tailings and recover the zinc.[3]

Hoover was also the mining engineer at the Prince of Wales Mine, Gundagai, New South Wales about 1900.[4] He was also hired in London to be a company representative at various gold mines in Western Australia. In 1902, Hoover travelled to Big Bell, Cue, Leonora, Menzies and Coolgardie.[5][6] His house in Gwalia is now a historical tourist attraction. Hoover is profiled as a mining pioneer in the Kalgoorlie Miners Hall of Fame, with a biography not mentioning his subsequent role as US President.

He married his Stanford sweetheart, Lou Henry and they went to China, where he worked for a private corporation as China's leading engineer. In June 1900 the Boxer Rebellion trapped the Hoovers in Tianjin. For almost a month the settlement was under heavy fire. While his wife worked in the hospitals, Hoover directed the building of barricades, and once risked his life rescuing Chinese children.

In 1908 he became an independent mining consultant, traveling worldwide until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. In 1909 his lectures at Columbia and Stanford Universities were published as Principles of Mining, which became a standard textbook. In 1912, Hoover and his wife published their English translation of the Renaissance mining classic De re metallica by Georgius Agricola; their translation is the most important scholarly version of the work, and provides the historical context of the work. It is still in print and published by Dover Publications.

What makes him a legend:

Almost 33 Schools named for Herbert Hoover

31st President of USA

Humanitarian

Abul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

2008-05-13T18:30:00.000+05:30

Name :
Abul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

Branch of engineering :
Aeronautical Engineering

Graduated from :
Madras Institute of Technology ,Tamil nadu, India

Born :
October 15, 1931,Dhanushkodi, Rameswaram, Madras Presidency

Positions occupied :
Chief Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary(July 1992 to December 1999),11th President of India ( July 25, 2002 – July 25, 2007 )

As an engineer :
As the Project Director, he made significant contributions to the development of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). As Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), he also played major part in developing many missiles of India including Agni and Prithvi . Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period, led by him.

Personal details :
Kalam observes strict personal discipline, vegetarianism, teetotalism and celibacy.

What makes him a legend:
He has received honorary doctorates from as many as thirty universities .[ Government of India has honoured him with the nation's highest civilian honours: the Padma Bhushan in 1981; Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
Kalam is the Fourth President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the highest office, the other three being Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan ,V. V. Giri and Zakir Hussain. He is also the first scientist and first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Referred to as the "People's President", Kalam is often considered amongst India's greatest presidents, going on to win a poll conducted by news channel CNN-IBN for India's Best President.