In nature, prey animals tend to gather in herds to (among other things) provide protection from predators. 15 minutes of watching the Discovery Channel will show you exactly how effective this is. In the end the weak ones are always thinned out. It may seem cold-hearted, but this is exactly how a recent lay-off went in our office. On the morning of the previously announced lay-off, the engineers huddled together…

Knovel Engineering Cases feature the stories of engineers who have applied innovative theories and new technologies to both common and uncommon challenges. Whenever a new Engineering Case is posted, we will provide K Exchange readers with a link to the article. Energy Efficiency in Industrial Process Heating Systems By Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan, West Virginia University and Deepak P. Gupta, Southeast Missouri State University. This article provides a summary of case studies…

As New York City is in the throws of the holiday season, I can’t help but being amazed by the infrastructure that allows it all to happen. I realized on my way in just how impressive that is. Bridges, tunnels, roadways, railways, subways and walkways, this city manages to accommodate thousands more people than normal every day. So as a tribute to our friends in civil and transportation engineering, K…