As my sophomore year came to a close, marking the halfway point of my undergraduate experience, I came to a depressing conclusion: I needed a new coffee maker. I stared down at my battered old friend, long my favorite appliance, with a sense of somber satisfaction. Although it was now plagued with a leaky pot, a dangerously frayed wire, and a power button that was beyond the point of "sticky," it had faithfully served an apartment of college students for two years, weathering multiple uses each day (and fewer cleanings than it probably deserved). For this, I was able to see it as a true feat of engineering.
Out of respect for the appliance, I started thinking about history of the coffee maker, all the way back to its origins. There were many viable options for coffee creation before its invention, so what inspired this engineer to create something new? Was he or she searching for a more convenient coffee-making process? A better cup of coffee? A quick buck? This question of inspiration -- the driving force of engineering -- stuck with me, and I soon moved past the coffee maker. I developed a range of possible inspirations for nearly everything I saw.
The purest of inspirations would probably evolve from the same type of passion for science and technology that drove many people to engineering in the first place. This is certainly true of the development of molecular gastronomy, where a single man's curiosity regarding the physical and chemical properties of food has turned into an international culinary sensation. The history of turbocharging is dominated by engineers who simply craved more powerful vehicles. They probably wouldn't have imagined that their speed junkie technology would one day be looked at to help relieve the modern energy crisis. The development of artificial snow-making technology is inextricably linked to scientists and engineers who were interested in creating everlasting winter conditions for themselves (as well as others) to enjoy.
Inspiration does not always have to be centered on individual desire. Engineers also feel the pressure of producing a safe, ethical future, and improvements in airport runway safety help protect citizens from a danger they probably did not realize was so threatening.
One of the least idealized inspirations, but possibly the most realistic, is money. Products such as DLP televisions were not designed to change society or improve our quality of life. They were invented to be sold in a market full of demand. While it may not be the prettiest path, financial motivation can give engineers greater resources to work with.
In reality, inspiration cannot be pinned down to a single moment or idea. While runway safety may good for society, runways are also safe because airlines would lose great sums of money in the event of a crash. And while DLP technology was developed primarily for commercial purposes, it still required the work of engineers who want nothing more than the clearest picture possible on their own televisions. But as I mourned the loss of my coffee maker, however, I decided to choose just a single (and slightly selfish) source of inspiration for that particular invention -- my 8 A.M. classes.
