Home About Us Stanford University Homepage Giving to Sta Contact Us Help Privacy Policy Terms o © 2012 Stanford Universit Gregory Kress Click to download PDF . LESSONS The syllabus didn't quite work, but there were plenty of teachable moments. Greg Kress knew there was a lot he didn't know. He just didn't know how much he didn't know. He found out during a spring quarter mechanical engineering class that failed to revive a 1962 Cadillac de Ville, but brought to life an era of technology and culture that put students in the mindset of craftsman carmakers. Kress, MS '09, a PhD candidate working as an instructor under the direction of acting assistant professor Martin Steinert, turned his late grandfather's long dormant Caddy into a hands-on lesson about the sort of basic mechanics that he had never learned—like exactly how a brake works. Nine students enlisted to share his quest into mechanical anthropology, but it turned out that everyone drastically underestimated the challenge, which proved to be much more expensive and vastly more difficult than anticipated. For an illustrated tour, see the PDF . Comments ( 0) Be the first one to add a comment. You must log in to comment. September/October 2012 Stanford Magazine - Putting More Mechanics into Mechanical Engineering... http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=55981 1 of 1 9/20/2012 9:44 AM

Putting More Mechanics into Mechanical Engineering

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Page 1: Putting More Mechanics into Mechanical Engineering

Home About Us Stanford University Homepage Giving to StaContact Us Help Privacy Policy Terms o

Gregory Kress

Click to download PDF.

LESSONS

The syllabus didn't quite work, but there were plenty of teachable moments.

Greg Kress knew there was a lot he didn't know. He just didn't know how muchhe didn't know. He found out during a spring quarter mechanical engineeringclass that failed to revive a 1962 Cadillac de Ville, but brought to life an eraof technology and culture that put students in the mindset of craftsmancarmakers.

Kress, MS '09, a PhD candidate working as an instructor under the direction ofacting assistant professor Martin Steinert, turned his late grandfather's longdormant Caddy into a hands-on lesson about the sort of basic mechanics thathe had never learned—like exactly how a brake works. Nine students enlistedto share his quest into mechanical anthropology, but it turned out that

everyone drastically underestimated the challenge, which proved to be much more expensive and vastly moredifficult than anticipated.

For an illustrated tour, see the PDF.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to add a comment. You must log in to comment.

September/October 2012

Stanford Magazine - Putting More Mechanics into Mechanical Engineering... http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=55981

1 of 1 9/20/2012 9:44 AM