David Sanders

The General List
June 15, 2007

Welcome

A wall in my office sports an interesting relic from the past.  It sits in a nice leather case that has preserved fairly well over the years despite being bombarded by UV rays from fluorescent lighting.  Most visitors never inquire or care but occasionally a passerby asks “what’s that?”  It is at this moment I smile and begin to explain the role this relic played in the modern world.  I usually start the explanation with the comment “Oh that, that’s what we went to the moon with!”

Have you ever heard of Frederick Post?  If you attended an engineering school prior to 1980 I am sure you have.  The Frederick Post Company manufactured numerous slide rules in the past.  Yes the article in question is a Versalog 1460 made out of Celluloid Bamboo manufactured in Japan sometime between 1960 and 1968.  My slide rule was a given to me by a close friend some years ago.  I barely missed the slide rule days by a few years.  I am still passionate about its contribution to our world The Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, Spruce Goose, World Trade Center, B-17, Apollo, the list goes on forever.

I have been working on an introduction to this blog for a few days now.  I am excited to be able to participate in a forum where I can share my experiences and give back some of the knowledge I have acquired over the years, moreover I am excited to learn something from my readers!

I will be blogging on many topics primarily centered on manufacturing and metalworking.  I will be including commentary on everything from Process Management to Environmental Compliance.  The title of this Blog means many things.  The General List, a list of things, To-Do’s, Parts Lists, Wish Lists, etc.  Then there is the Generalist that’s me. 

In my younger days I was a go-for now I am the go-to.  Its not that I am proficient in everything it’s primarily because my goal is to help everyone do their job well.  If I don’t know the answer then I don’t know but I will do everything within my ability to find the answer.  After all that’s how we learn through searching for the answers.

This attitude has served me well and at times not so well.  It has increased my knowledge of many processes and allowed me to interact with some “cool” stuff.  I will apologize now but I have to admit I am not remorseful.  If I say “cool” then its cool, trust me.  Commissioning a 5 million BTU burner is cool! If you do the math that’s almost 2000 horsepower per hour!  Okay I know there are some foundry folks out there that will say that’s nothing.  But hey it was my first burner start up.

Welcome aboard!

Links of the Day

http://www.discoverengineering.org/coolstuff.asp
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Fermat's_last_theorem.html

Posted by David Sanders on June 15, 2007 | Comments (2)