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3M Ivy League Engineering project topic revealed!


Whitemithrandir

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It's that time of the year again, all you aspiring young engineers or creative folks with a knack for imagination! 3M has announced the premier topic for their upcoming engineering competition for university engineering students. I just got the chubby manila envelope full of goodies from them today, and the topic looks to be nice and juicy, something I'm sure people would have a lot of fun with, so I thought I'd share it with y'all, and see what kind of creative ideas this forum can come up with!

 

No engineering degree needed - creativity is where it's at for this one!

 

The problem: In the immediate future, as tensions between nations escalate, the world fears the worst of possibilities: nuclear holocaust, and it might occur as soon as two years! So it's up to you, the head of a major corporation with moderate amounts of resources at your disposal, to design a completely isolated capsule capable of keeping four people alive in relative comfort for the duration of their natural lifetime. Assume hostile environment with radiation.

 

The solution: You decide! It's completely up to you! Solution entries must require <blah blah blah>. Here, I'll summarize it for ya:

 

Location: Where's the shelter going to be located? Above ground? Underground? Space?

 

Bulk Material: What makes up the walls? Titanium? Concrete? Plastic? Ceramic?

 

Power Source: Where is the electricity going to come from? Nuclear reactor? Fossil fuel generator? Natural source like wind or a waterfall? Maybe solar winds?

 

Sustenance: What are the people going to eat? Small vegetable garden? Stockpile of canned food?

 

Waste disposal: Where's the waste going to go? Ejected outside? Vacuumed? Recycled? Kept in a storage chamber somewhere?

 

Preparations for Exodus: Years (or generations) down the road, you might wish to leave your shelter. Should you keep a radio in case someone is alive out there? A geiger counter? A periscope? A system of cameras?

 

Minor luxuries: Will you include a nintendo system? A TV with Gilligan's Island re-runs on tape? Perhaps a lava lamp or a chess set?

 

The solutions will be judged based on:

 

Will it survive the initial impact of warheads?

 

Are the inhabitants going to be in relative comfort? Is there enough room to manuever? Is the quality of sustenance enough to sustain a healthy life?

 

Is it feasible based on current technology and a time span of two years?

 

 

____________________________________________

 

There ya go! You can post your own ideas about this fallout-esque engineering problem or just ignore it as spam! Up to you!

Word economics

To express my vast wisdom

I speak in haiku's.

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Why not just take a page from Isaac Asimov and build cities resembling the Caves of Steel. It'd be completely feasible considering you started it with a small area, rich with whatever ore you decide to build it out of, and branch out gradually. Probably would be most efficient to have it contained almost exclusively underground, but I don't see any problem with having some sort of 'peak of the dome' as a hatch that's at the surface of the ground. Do they seriously believe this is going to happen, or is this just for fun. Sounds alot like Cold War 2.0 to me. :rolleyes:

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