Engineering eye - July 2015

News, rumours and gossip from the world of engineering

The internet is full of lists these days. They are a sure fire way of attracting clicks and driving up traffic. Thirty photos of cats dressed as cartoon characters. Fifty thoughts you have when you’re the only single person at a dinner party. There are whole websites dedicated to such dross. But what’s this that catches Eye’s eye? Top 10 celebrities with engineering degrees. Who knew that rubbery-faced thespian Rowan Atkinson studied electrical engineering at Newcastle University? Or that Hollywood heart-throb Ashton Kutcher qualified as a biochemical engineer at the University of Iowa. There’s even a famous mechanical engineer. Step forward Dutch footballer Dennis Bergkamp, who studied the subject at the University of Bath. Poor Dennis – from academic excellence to a career at Arsenal – you can’t win them all.

The Engineering Eye award for the most idiotic headline of the past month goes to, drum roll, the Daily Mail Online for this little gem published on 18 June: “Is BMW working on an electric car that could do 706 miles per gallon?” Err, not quite sure how that works. The Mail Online has form, of course. Last year it published a cracker of a confusing piece entitled: “Could wind farms of the future be underwater?” Eye is no expert on such matters, but doubts there is much wind yield 50 metres beneath the surface of the sea. 

• If you have any news, rumours or gossip, email engineering.eye.profeng@gmail.com