Nerd.
Yes, I called you that.
Own it.
It’s modern chic. It’s the new cool. And it’s going to save the USA.
If you were temporarily offended then you may be focused on antiquated notions of nerddom such as the 1984 hit comedy Revenge of the Nerds where characters like “Booger” were the epitome of what being a nerd was. The gross-out was NOT the core of nor the truth of nerd reality. No. The core of being a nerd is being deeply enamored with the intricacies of specific topics that though they may not have particularly sexy overtones, they have deep, intrinsic value. Math. Science. Robots. Legos. Ham Radio. Niche history. Space. Quantum mechanics. A love of STEM life.
If you’re saying to yourself, “HEY! Space is kinda sexy… what is this bogger talkin’ about?!?!” then you’ve pinpointed the key change in our world that makes nerd life wonderful. As a society we have embraced formerly negatively overtoned geeky, nerdy things as wonderful. Heck, comics were for losers and weirdos once upon a time, and now… EVERYONE loves Marvel (I personally have issues with DC characters… and yes, that’s a nerdy thing to say).
So, why does a manufacturing company write about modern nerd life? Well… we’re nerds. We love taking ideas and making them a reality through the lenses of physics, fluid dynamics, metallurgy, chemistry, electrical engineering, programming, and more. We’re grateful that the maker movement has awakened society to the beauty and wonders of applying technical skills to creative pursuits. It is quite literally what our kind has been doing since the term manufacturing was coined.
For the sake of Re:Build Optimation, let’s define the term NERD… because by the end of this blog it will greatly matter.
To “nerd out” on the topic of manufacturing is to go into hyper-enthusiastic mode, diving deep into the details of the subject and getting lost in a world of processes, systems, and machinery. It involves gabbing about production cycles and shouting out words like “just-in-time inventory” with a sparkle in your eye. It’s about celebrating the complexity and beauty of creating things from raw materials and getting fired up about the possibilities of new technology. In short, it’s about being an uber-fan of making stuff!
Being a nerd… is living life as someone who is an uber-fan of making stuff. Nerds are Makers… and passionate makers are Nerds.
In 2023, Re:Build Optimation’s blog will openly get nerdy as we “nerd out” on all sorts of topics. We’ll celebrate what we think is cool, show off some projects that we have worked on and maybe talk about some stuff we really want to work on soon.
So, fellow Nerd, in the style of Obi-Wan… “We’re the nerds you’re looking for”. Look for some great blogs from us in 2023.
NERD MOMENT #1:
Hey, look at this!!! While doing some research on photovoltaics and battery energy storage technologies I came across an old Mark Rober video. For the non-nerds out there – Mark Rober is a former NASA engineer who became a quirky, fun, and forever curious STEM YouTuber. In this video, he tries to use sustainable technologies to power a racecar.
In attempt 1 he tried to create the world’s largest Lemon Battery. Have you ever seen that science fair entry from a grade-schooler? A lemon – an electrolyte – is pierced with a copper bar and a zinc bar. A wire with an in-line light bridges it so that the electrons can flow from zinc to copper. Fun. Science. FAIL. He needed a lot of lemons – more than 1000 – and still, not enough. No surprise but it was cool to watch him try.
Then, in attempt 2 he created a zip line with a regenerative energy tech he inserted so that the kinetic energy from kids zipping could be captured into a battery. Super fun, and, more energy productive but certainly not enough.
Finally, in attempt 3 he and a group of industrious kids – um, future engineers – we’ll call them pre-Nerds – invented a solar array to charge a massive battery that could charge the electric race car.
WOW! Mark is totally the type of Nerd we Love! So… watch his super cool video and then we want you to do one or all of 3 things…
- Send us your favorite YouTube video of a Nerd doing Nerdtasticly Awesome stuff.
- Send us a Nerd-Out request – what should we write about on this blog?
- Hire us. We’re your nerds (if you want… I mean, it’d be cool and we make really great, world-class stuff… so… here’s a link to send us an email: _______________
MARK’s VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1D-fZP8qJk
Now, at the outset of this intro to Nerd Out we teased that Nerds will save the USA. In previous blogs on this site, we’ve explained how the US is at risk from supply chain issues because too much of our critical supply of both materials and finished goods come from countries that could just stop sending us what we need. It is dangerous to allow that to keep going. The solutions – and they will be many and complicated – will come from us Nerds. Us. You. Fellow Nerds. We’re the ones who can solve these problems and we need to really focus on doing that. So… This Nerding Out thing we’re doing together matters.
Get ready for some interesting reads and fun stuff this year.
Signed,
Nerd Blogger Josh
