The Creative Engineer

Book excerpt: Most people see the world of engineering as a discipline consisting solely of physics and math that offers very little room for creativity. The Creative Engineer explores the missing element in engineering: a focus on creativity. The importance of creativity in STEM fields and the ability to think and design with artistic innovation is a vital skill to be taught and practiced within engineering and manufacturing disciplines in order to stop hindering us from expansive progress. With extensive access to information today, we have the ability to think outside of the box, take risks, learn from our surroundings, and become more inventive and solution-driven than ever before. However, we have to understand math and science are not the only pillars upon which engineering and design should be based. In The Creative Engineer, Yang shares stories of individuals from around the world looking to nature and unconventional influences for inspiration in design. In doing so, we read the effects of freedom on the confines of science and math in traditional classrooms. People such as Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Burt Rutan have taken the world by storm as creative individuals whose work and mindset can be expanded to the engineering world.