putting more mechanics into mechanical engineering

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© 2012 Stanford Universit

Gregory Kress

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LESSONS

The syllabus didn't quite work, but there were plenty of teachable moments.

Greg Kress knew there was a lot he didn't know. He just didn't know how muchhe didn't know. He found out during a spring quarter mechanical engineeringclass that failed to revive a 1962 Cadillac de Ville, but brought to life an eraof technology and culture that put students in the mindset of craftsmancarmakers.

Kress, MS '09, a PhD candidate working as an instructor under the direction ofacting assistant professor Martin Steinert, turned his late grandfather's longdormant Caddy into a hands-on lesson about the sort of basic mechanics thathe had never learned—like exactly how a brake works. Nine students enlistedto share his quest into mechanical anthropology, but it turned out that

everyone drastically underestimated the challenge, which proved to be much more expensive and vastly moredifficult than anticipated.

For an illustrated tour, see the PDF.

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September/October 2012

Stanford Magazine - Putting More Mechanics into Mechanical Engineering... http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=55981

1 of 1 9/20/2012 9:44 AM