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Free eBook About Symmetry

‘Some Rather Mechanical Reflections on Symmetry’ is an e-book in ePub format about symmetry in relation to art, science, mathematics etc. (file size: 1.88 MB). Click or right click on the logo to download the file.

Aeronautical Engineering Drama

If an engineer were to write a play it might be rather technical. They may seem self-assured and highly logical, but engineers have emotions too. How engineers relate to one another and to society is vitally important, but their technical microcosm is not very different to any other microcosm of humanity. Click on the logo for details of a drama called ‘Just Let Me Fly’ by Jim McGovern.

Unstrike a Match

Did you ever strike a match? Did you ever unstrike one? If you never unstruck a match, then perhaps you would be interested in knowing what it would be like if you were to do so. Click on the animated icon for the full story or to watch the movie at higher resolution.

Accolade for Excellence

The Fun-Engineering Accolade for Excellence, October 2010, is awarded to Amazon.com for the Amazon Kindle 3. Click on the Accolade link to the right for details.

About the Author

This web site has been prepared by Jim McGovern. Click the photo for details about his career and his publications.

Jim's Fun-Engineering Blog

This is Jim McGovern's Fun-Engineering blog. Click the icon to go to the blog.

An Engineering Demonstrator

Are you are wondering what Engineering is all about? Click the icon on the right for details of a simple demonstration model that was constructed to explain some of the basic principles of engineering. You can also view a video clip of the demonstrator.

Miss Tumble and the Steam Museum

This is a story that is mainly intended for children aged between ten years and fourteen years. It teaches them about the principles of steam engines. The story is also suitable for adults who are interested in teaching children about the technology of steam power plants and the industrial history of the Steam Age. Click on the icon to read the story. It may seem a little far-fetched; but there really is a steam museum, at a place called Straffan.

AK Leo About Thermodynamics

Occasionally Professor Leo Nest answers questions put to him about Thermodynamics. This stuff is rather technical. Click the moving icon to go to some questions and Leo's answers.

An Interesting Spinning Top

This is a rather unusual spinning top. Click the photo for more information and a video clip.

Symmetry

Symmetry is fun. It's not just part of Engineering—it's part of everything! The link here is to a paper entitled "Some Rather Mechanical Reflections on Symmetry: in Art, Science, Engineering, Mathematics, etc." by Jim McGovern. This was written for a general audience as his Inaugural Lecture as a Professor of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). Click on the image of a tetrahedral kite to go to the DIT archive, Arrow@DIT, from where you can download the paper as a PDF file.

Double Pendulum

Simple double pendulums were constructed using plastic components from a construction set. The pendulums demonstrate chaotic motion.

A Disused Tractor in Context

Some pencil sketches made in Gleann Cholm Cille. Click on the tractor icon to view them.

Boats in Connemara

Two pencil sketches of boats in Connemara.

Light Rail Experience

This is a poster inspired by the Dublin light rail system called LUAS, which means speed in Irish. It is called Sonas, which is the Irish for happiness!

Jocular Engineering

Jocular Engineering is only for those who are technically and jocularly qualified.

Providing Academic Leadership as a Senior Lecturer

The linked document is a personal expression in relation to academic leadership at a particular moment in time and under the rather specific heading of "Providing academic leadership through the role of Senior Lecturer 1 (Teaching) using the theme of 'Sustainable Energy' as an example".

The Very Basics of Sustainability—an Alternative Viewpoint

On 14th August 2009 Jim McGovern presented one of the keynote addresses at the 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Energy & Environmental Protection at Dublin City University, Ireland. The address, which dealt with the very basics of sustainability, was not over-technical and presented views that were somewhat alternative to ‘conventional’ alternative views. A set of slides with audio is available in the Dublin Institute of Technology’s archive, ARRROW, at the link above in the form of a pdf file (note: the file size is large, 41 MB, because it contains about 43 minutes in total of audio clips).

Ireland France Hand Ball Poster

This doesn’t have much to do with engineering, or does it? In the 2009 Ireland vs France Soccer match, technology allowed perhaps millions of viewers to see a foul that the referee and the match officials missed. If such information is not made available to referees for games that are broadcast in this way, there is a risk to the integrity of competitions. Click or right-click on the image for a larger PDF version.

Ireland France Hand Ball Poster by Jim McGovern is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

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