Amusing Engineering Recruitment Poster

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers around a humorous engineering recruitment poster found on the University of British Columbia's engineering webpage. The poster humorously addresses the question, "What does an engineer do?" and includes a witty caption about calculating the trajectory of a snowboarder amidst an accelerating universe. Participants are encouraged to contribute their own amusing captions, enhancing the comedic aspect of the engineering profession.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of engineering principles and humor
  • Familiarity with the role of engineers in various contexts
  • Basic knowledge of physics, particularly projectile motion
  • Awareness of the significance of creativity in engineering
NEXT STEPS
  • Explore the impact of humor in engineering communication
  • Research creative recruitment strategies in STEM fields
  • Investigate the role of physics in sports engineering
  • Learn about the importance of visual aids in educational materials
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for engineering students, educators, recruitment professionals, and anyone interested in the intersection of humor and technical communication in engineering.

cepheid
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
5,197
Reaction score
38
Maybe I have a quirky sense of humour, but I found the poster on this webpage (also attached here) to be hilarious:

http://www.engineering.ubc.ca/prospective_students/undergraduate/index.php
GvaLF.jpg


It's especially funny that it comes as an illustration on a webpage that essentially attempts to tackle the question, "What does an engineer do?" My friend came up with an amusing caption for it:

"When you're computing the trajectory of a snowboarder who's in the middle of an awesome jump, be sure to take into consideration the accelerating universe."


Maybe the good members of PF can do even better?

I know some people may need an explanation, but that would ruin the joke for those who don't. So I've hidden it:

The equation on the poster is the Einstein Field Equation from general relativity, which expresses the relationship between the curvature/geometry of spacetime, and its mass/energy content. This version includes Einstein's infamous "cosmological constant", whose presence is now used to explain the observed accelerated expansion of the universe. I do understand that the equation is central to theory the explains what gravity is, and that this poster is depicting a situation in which gravity is important. HOWEVER, I can assure that no engineer has ever had to deal with this equation in his career, or even his/her schooling for that matter (and I'm not trying to belittle engineers at all with that statement. It's just not too relevant for most of the physical systems they deal with). Therefore its presence on a webpage that is supposed to explain "what engineering deals with" is especially absurd. Not only that, but the actual subject matter of the poster is specially-designed crash pad for snowboarders, which makes it even more incongruous.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Engineering news on Phys.org
Nice catch.