Inventions have never been about the exact science or methodology of anything. If necessity is the mother of invention, then science has always been the father. A curious mind is all it takes to create something new and invent. For ages people have been looking at the world around them and the few that could find that ‘flash of genius’ and go beyond a problem, those few were celebrated as inventors. How many men did it take to be hit on the head with an apple till Sir I. Newton, coined the term gravity?
Great discoveries were made by great men but if we look closely, it was their vision, their insight, their curiosity that made them great. Of course some discoveries were a consequence of the learning’s of others. The concept of atoms finds their foundations from Newton’s Laws of attraction of masses. Hence learning, sharing and science become a foundation for inventors today.
Some years back, before the wide spread of the internet people working with things like computer programming and electronic design and microcontrollers etc were scarce to say the least. The main problem was that technology was starting to come out of the ‘punched card era’ to mass communication.
People had great ideas and some could be revolutionizing inventions but unfortunately the availability of resources was a hurdle. Simple ideas that could solve huge problems could not be realized because the resource, that helping hand, those few support inputs were not available. People would do one simple job and learning something new was so complicated that whosoever was good at more than few things like a doctor who would build a wooden machine to water his plants for example, was consider a genius and exceptional. This may be the case but then most people could not achieve their full potential. Later generations with mass communication sources were better able to accelerate the learning process thereby forming virtual communities, on the internet, online and do more, learn more achieve more.
In the past few years things have evolved drastically. With new and easier-to-access technologies coming to the market it has become easier for a person with the will to do, realize and invent new things. Software engineers a few years back were supposed to be people with expertise in languages like C and Fortran etc. These languages were restrictive, difficult to learn, had few supporting tools, difficult-to-learn-and-use-debugging-systems and so software engineering was really something that made the engineer stand apart. Same goes with electronics designers. Analog designs with problems in fabrication, costly setups, tons of analysis and calculations and all this for simple tasks- Physics meets maths meets hell. Those guys really deserved a medal.
Thanks to the effort of lots of innovative people, things have changed for the better. New easy to use and learn computer languages have now popped up.
Java is a very flexible language that allowed us to do internet based programming after taking the good points of Object oriented programming. In addition Microsoft introduced C# with a host of classes and code support which enables today’s developers with a powerful platform to work with. A software engineer today need not know what the exact architecture of the underlying hardware is. Other good languages are Python, Javascript, PHP, TCL/TK and Ajax. These are easier to learn than conventional computer languages and have a large fan base for support.
Same goes for electronics development. Microcontroller programming was initially done in assembly but now there are loads of ways to write a program. The easiest way I have seen is by Lego Mindstorm kits that are programmed using block diagrams and a GUI.
Children buy these kits(where availability meets money) and the hardware is essentially building blocks which can be programmed on the PC and easily ‘downloaded’. Making robots was never so easy and fun. For a little more advanced/senior user with a more specific purpose in mind, open source electronics platforms like the Arduino are a more apt platform.
A really good example would be found if you Google the term “Blender Defender”. This gentleman had a problem with his cat jumping onto the kitchen counter. To solve this problem, he interfaced a motion sensor with a microcontroller with a food processor. So essentially every time there was cat-movement in the counter, the machine would turn on and hence the cat was scared off. Can this be a successful consumer product? Probably not but it took care of the problem. This is the very essence of invention.
As a child I was very intrigued by how machines worked and what the thought process behind creating such machines was. Later as I learned more about new technologies I became even more curious about how mechanical parts combined with electronics and with software components to form products. The products were not as interesting as the working of the mind behind the design. When I was doing my engineering I was introduced to a wealth of knowledge that I was more than eager to absorb. A lot of people thought engineering subjects were just a lot of theory that we can never use in real life but that’s not true.
I have spent a lot of time teaching engineering students and to do so, I have always started by teaching how each subject of engineering is of use in practical life. E.g mechanical drawing- Lots of people say they want to do product design and focus on the electrical or software aspects. How about the final enclosure and ergonomics? Handheld devices like the ipod can’t be convenient if they are triangular in shape. Drawings are the method by which a mechanical fabrication engineer says, “This is how I can fit your circuit and battery in a box”. If you are any kind of engineer you should be able to read the drawing and comment.
I started my electronics career very early with learning radio repair. My local radio repair man was my only source of knowledge and parts initially and books came once I knew what I was dealing with. I met the guy a few days back and his kid was continuing his trade. Both father and son had the same thing to say that the electronics repair trade had stuck a dead end and with the advent of “Single chips”, there was no repair in terms of discrete electronics. They were convinced that children could do things with cell phones and computers that they never learned. My response to this surprised him I think. I told him that since school going children were able to use computers and there was a lot of exposure, I am thinking about bringing basic electronics and prototyping to their age group. My supporting argument is those grad school students don’t have the time anymore. To me my engineering years were the time when I would learn my trade and spend my working years honing my skills. Engineering students today have either too little interest in engineering itself or too much interest elsewhere. I have hobbies too- I like photography but engineering has always been my primary (professional) interest.
So what are the repercussions? It is my personal observation that the younger generations are getting exposure to technology at early stages which allows them to absorb and assimilate newer things later as well. India as a developing nation needs more intellectuals and fewer illiterate bureaucrats where younger generations understand the value of money, education or freedom. The education system may or may not be perfect but reform starts with an individual. If you are a student ask yourself this- Are you fulfilling your duties as a student? Are you doing justice to what you are learning or are you just letting days and weeks pass by as you reach the end of your tenure as a student? If you thing you are learning nothing, then imagine you get your certificate/degree today- then what? What’s the point?
Learning in my humble view is about the desire to learn. Most children do not wait for a cricket coach or club invitation to arrive at their doorstep- they go out and make the effort to learn how to play. How good they get depends on their natural talent and the time he puts into practice. It’s the will to learn. I have so many examples but I think I have made my point. Kids playing games on a computer or the internet have more insight on good web resources and are far more apt at using the Google search engine than most grad students today. Parents ask their kids when they reach home from school, “What did you learn today?” I ask the student/teacher/person reading this, “What did you Google search and learn today?”
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