Patience and a Steady Hand
Driving me Nuts; Fettuccini Pasta Testing
By Richard Williams 5/13/2008
“Steady as she goes.” What a correct statement to use in Pasta Testing. Not being able to see like I once was able to in the previous millennium, it is a big disadvantage in performing these delicate procedures. However, I am half way through this tedious part of my Barilla Fettuccini Bridge testing and it will not be very long when I will be able to present to the world the best possible test results of a very unlikely building material for school science projects. It is already being used elsewhere so I am not unique in my idea. Actually it has been fun and very interesting to do this testing to finish up on this whole Pasta Thing. I had to be inventive in my testing set ups because pasta is very brittle and being like that it breaks very easy. I broke many pieces just setting up different tests I wanted to run. When I release the results to the world I will have a much more avid description of things with pictures but for now let me announce to you that I have had some very, very surprising results to inform you with. Mind you that I am not a certified testing lab but having a general idea on these procedures and I’m getting a lot of information sent to me from engineers out there that want to see the final results as soon as I can finish. That also includes designers, teachers, university Professors, friends and family and not to forget the Barilla Pasta Company in Calabria, Italy and the Elmer’s Wood Glue company too. I strived to document every step and all tested data retrieved from this testing of the pasta. I know one thing for sure, I will never ever look at pasta in the same way again. The bridge itself will soon be presented on its special platform to the newest North West Career Technical Academy here close to where I live. (https://ccsd.net/schools/nwcta/) It will be housed in a large display case until such time as the testing of it can be done. Maybe it will occur during the next fall semester. With my industry contacts and such, I am getting some pretty good things donated for their library and also the possibility of some donated hardware as well like the Data Acquisition Modules from the National Instruments company in Texas. (https://www.ni.com/) I filed the paper work so we will see what happens. They said they are studying request for now.
The young adults that are enrolled in this high school academy are really good students and America needs them badly. For too long it has been more fashionable to get the MBA degree and forget about the sciences that go begging for talent. This is why I have thrown my full support behind SolidWorks and the STEM initiative. I also throw my support to all the teachers worldwide. I know what it is like to teach a bunch of youngsters in all the different age groups and behaviors and phases of life. So I have been there and done that. It is not an easy job and our teachers in the world deserve lots of credit for doing this work and all the support from everyone else. I will endeavor to do that job faithfully for the rest of my retirement career. Our normal school season is fast approaching the end for this year and I have only one more class to give a speaking engagement to. It is a special school that helps those children with bad behaviors and bad social skills. I’ve got pretty good at doing this over the last three and a half years. These students need this school. Nevada realizes that a disruptive child is very hard to teach and he or she stops the learning process in the class room for everyone else too. They are important to the USA also. They are important to Nevada, our school district and to me. Talk to you soon.