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We had a machinist in the Physics department at my university who made incredible things. He made things that are out in space and tons of cool and very diffic

We had a machinist in the Physics department at my university who made incredible things. He made things that are out in space and tons of cool and very difficult hardware for laser systems and particle accelerators. He could make practically anything and was a great resource for us physics students to learn some practical things like how to use a milling machine, machinability of materials, tolerancing, and how to articulate our needs to a machinist. Sadly when he retired, I heard that they didn't replace him. I still feel like it was a huge loss for the department. I think the glassblower here is the same. Such a shame that we don't have pipelines for more people to pursue things like this.

bitJericho 10y ago
We do, just not at "college". Now you have to go out and find them because college in the US, like many other industries, is a place for the rich to get richer.
tjl 10y ago
In the engineering faculty at my university there's actually a machine shop with people of various specialities. If you go there you can get things made as long as you have a CAD drawing for them to work from. They'll also point out issues in the drawing if they see them. We also had a student machine shop where students could work and there was a technician on hand to give advice (and prevent you from doing something stupid).
- michaelt 10y ago
  Having machinists in an engineering school makes sense from an undergraduate education perspective; for certain types of engineering, designing something with CAD and having a machinist make a prototype is a core part of the work students are being trained to do. I assume getting custom glass blown isn't a core requirement of the chemistry curriculum, or a very common thing for working chemists to be doing.
messel 10y ago
I hope that some of this type of hands on expertise develops and is shared in places like this https://synshop.org/ https://synshop.org/ (my friend Aakin who helps out there told me about it)
briandear 10y ago
My dad was that person at Rice University. A high precision machinist that just had a high school education yet was involved with Nobel Prize winners in their daily work. Great memories hanging out in the research support shop at Rice. When he retired, they did replace him, but the new guy certainly doesn't compare. Scientists at Rice still call him up to consult from time to time.

bitJericho 10y ago

We do, just not at "college". Now you have to go out and find them because college in the US, like many other industries, is a place for the rich to get richer.

tjl 10y ago

In the engineering faculty at my university there's actually a machine shop with people of various specialities. If you go there you can get things made as long as you have a CAD drawing for them to work from. They'll also point out issues in the drawing if they see them. We also had a student machine shop where students could work and there was a technician on hand to give advice (and prevent you from doing something stupid).

michaelt 10y ago
Having machinists in an engineering school makes sense from an undergraduate education perspective; for certain types of engineering, designing something with CAD and having a machinist make a prototype is a core part of the work students are being trained to do. I assume getting custom glass blown isn't a core requirement of the chemistry curriculum, or a very common thing for working chemists to be doing.

messel 10y ago

I hope that some of this type of hands on expertise develops and is shared in places like this https://synshop.org/ https://synshop.org/ (my friend Aakin who helps out there told me about it)

briandear 10y ago

My dad was that person at Rice University. A high precision machinist that just had a high school education yet was involved with Nobel Prize winners in their daily work. Great memories hanging out in the research support shop at Rice. When he retired, they did replace him, but the new guy certainly doesn't compare. Scientists at Rice still call him up to consult from time to time.