This time, it’s a oldie-but-goodie about the final-round competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The stringent requirements of the next-generation U.S. military strike fighter were well-characterized by Lockheed Martin’s X-35, which beat out Boeing’s X-32. After winning the government contract, the X-35 was renamed F-35.

The F-35 is a”fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine, stealth-capable military strike fighter, a multirole aircraft that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air defense missions. The F-35 has three different models; one is the conventional takeoff and landing variant, the second is short takeoff and vertical-landing variant, and the third is a carrier-based variant.” (Wikipedia) The F-35 Lightning II is expected to be fully introduced in 2016.

Not only is the F-35 an awesome feat of engineering, which is interesting to learn about in its own right, I’d like to bring your attention to the overall design process of getting the job done. All engineering students who have lived through such a challenging and demanding experience will surely enjoy watching how Boeing’s team and Lockheed Martin’s team fought it out with design decisions and prototype manufacturing to eventual failure or success.

Brooklyn Bridge Gothic Arches

Being a (slightly) proud New York City native, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to share video that I watched this past Independence Day weekend. It’s an episode of the show “Man Made” titled Bridges of NYC (via Hulu). In its history, New York City has held consecutive world records for the longest bridge, and not just once too. From the times of New Amsterdam, we had the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the longest bridge of its time, followed by the Williamsburg Bridge, which was the longest of its time, to the Queensboro Bridge, to the George Washington Bridge, etc. Each has its specialty and each has its interesting history.

If you like bridges or if you live in New York City, this is a must see. Watch the video here on Hulu, or below. (It’s about 45 minutes long.)

My personal favorite is the original one, the Brooklyn Bridge. The photo above was taken from my personal collection. The bridge has far more character than any of the others, I’d say. Which one do you like most, in terms of looks, or design, or whatever? Leave a note in the comments!