Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] fascinating stories

I don't have a submersible yet, and only preliminary sketches, notes and calculations at that, and I can only speak for myself. [raising hand] Hello, my name is Shawn and I'm a design-aholic. :) Design is what drove me through six years of engineering school (ME & CS) and what also drove me from the mainstream professional field. Frankly, I got tired of designing widget subassemblies that went into a widget machines that I simply didn't give a %^#^$& about, and working under senior engineers who'd lost their *passion* for design years if not decades ago. To those of you who had the intestinal fortitude to do so, you have my respect. So, I chose to make a living in other ways and reserve my engineering design for projects *I* want to build.

For me, design is an end unto itself rather than a path to a goal ... arguably a form of mental masturbation. When I look at a design, mine or someone else's, I see an artistic expression of that person's psyche, using mathematics and physics as a language, and steel and aluminum as media. Even with a BSME, the design process is also a learning process. Building widget-subassemblies didn't automatically equip me to design submersible subassemblies, and each incarnation of my current design reflects that learning curve. Considering the number of Versions or Phases found in many of the group's designs, I suspect the same holds true for many of us.

Don't get me wrong, I very much look forward to field-testing and operating my submersible when it's built, and to sharing those experiences with the group. But, I also know myself well enough to know that it won't be long after that first incarnation hits the water that I'll be working on a refined design. My only true lament is that I *hate* fluid dynamics ... thank the Gods of Programming for CFD software. :)

I realize this isn't what you wanted to hear (Damn ... surrounded by engineers & technicians!). Question: Given a hypothetical magic wand, would you choose A) to design and build your psub or B) have it built so you can start diving right away? I trust my answer is fairly predictable. :)

*****

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."

-- Auguries of Innocence, William Blake, ca 1803