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Engineering Book Review/Discussion

Engineering Book Review/Discussion 150 150 ieeeeduweek

Join us! This engineering book review/discussion explores common themes of two books.

Brilliant!: Shuji Nakamura And the Revolution in Lighting Technology by Bob Johnstone.

Shuji Nakamura is the engineer that discovered how to produce blue LED lights. The blue LED was the gateway to all modern LED applications. It was a theoretical and technological challenge with some practitioners denouncing the prospect of it ever being possible. On the path to its development, Mr. Nakamura decided to publish his work in academic papers. The blue LED origin story is fueled by individual tenacity, academic expectations, societal challenges, and political disruptions which resulted in lawsuits against Mr. Nakamura despite his discovery and its success.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

How to Win Friends and Influence People was originally published in 1936. It is considered one of the first best-selling books published within the self help genre. Nearly a century later, it continues to be printed in multiple editions, selling over 30 million copies. It is on many practitioner’s bookshelves and today remains within the top ten books in Kindle’s Business Leadership category. It remains a highly rated book, in both the rating and the number of reviews. Even though it is a book that has been available for a long time, it seems that it is still relevant today.

How do these two books relate with one another, and what lessons can be learned by combining and contrasting their messages? How can the story in Brilliant! relate to the advice given in How to Win Friends and Influence People? What are potential lessons learned for engineers today who are leading in the edges of innovation? The reviewers explore these two books together by combining common themes for discussion
points and add their own experiences from their engineering careers. Their goals are to link literature to current-day challenges and for participants to:

  • Gain different perspectives, both from literature and from the reviewers.
  • Get inspired toward action: to try something new, read one of the books, or make new connections with others.
  • Inspire others in their engineering work.