Chuck Christoe '64 has been back at his keyboard, this time writing an introductory story about engineering practice and procedures for students in their early teens.

 

Join a group of high-school sophomores as they are introduced to the ideas of engineering practice and procedure by working together as a design team facing a simple construction challenge. Follow their ups and downs (mostly ups!), as they work their way through formally understanding the problem they are to solve, consider various innovative solutions, settle on their preferred design, compose a detailed implementation plan, and (finally) produce a product that fully meets the expectations of their "customer." 

 

Told more from the perspective of the students than from that of their teacher, the tale is intended to give middle-school or early high-school students an early look at what a career in engineering might entail.  Chuck intends this book to be the first of a series of “engineering adventures” of increasing technical sophistication.  He is currently at work describing the next project that the students will undertake.

 

Although the book is available from Amazon in Kindle format at the modest cost of $2.99, plus tax (no shipping!) it is not necessary to use a Kindle to read it.  There are instructions on the Kindle site for downloading an app that will match the format of the book to that of the reader’s choice.  It is also possible to preview the first dozen or so pages of either story at no cost, directly from the Amazon website.  Click on “Look Inside” above the image of the book’s cover at: