I have been working with DMC since March of 1997, when I joined a one-man upstart founded by Frank Riordan. However, my roots in engineering go back a little farther, to a memorable day in February of 1991, which has now been 20 years ago.
As a junior in high school, I entered the Marquette University Spaghetti Bridge Contest, which was held for high school students as part of the Engineering Open House.
My bridge pictured here won the competition by supporting a 900 gram (2.0 lb.) load while the bridge itself weighted only 18.9 grams. The load of meatballs was carried by a string-drawn cart which rolled over the 500mm span on a flimsy balsa-wood bridge deck. This bridge, and each of its 4 or 5 prototypes, took about 4 hours to build from thin spaghetti, vermicelli, and Elmer's wood glue.
What makes the date memorable is that on the same date, February 23, 1991, US ground forces invaded Iraq to begin the liberation of Kuwait
And what did I look like in 1991? 