Is Gordon Murrary an Engineer?

[Conor D]

I have to write an essay about a famous engineer; Gordon Murray he studied Mechanical Engineering, but then went on to work as a designer for various places.

Would he still fall under the category of Famous Engineer?

Any other suggestions, I'd like to do one from the Automotive field.

[El Capitano]

Born to Scottish immigrant parents, Murray was born and grew up in Durban, South Africa. His father was a motorcycle racer and later prepared racing cars. Murray studied mechanical engineering at Natal Technical College (now Durban University of Technology, which made Murray an Honorary Professor in 2002). He built and raced his own car, the IGM Ford, in the South African National Class during 1967 and 1968.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Murray

[El Capitano]

im guessing thats where you got your info from?

there was a big write up about him in Evo not so long ago, i will try and dig it out

[Papa Hotel]

I would say yes, he is an engineer. And a famous one.

But... You have to write an essay on him but you don't seem to know much about him. What about Brunel?

[Conor D]

Papa Hotel said:

I would say yes, he is an engineer. And a famous one.

But... You have to write an essay on him but you don't seem to know much about him. What about Brunel?

I figured that someone like Brunel may be quite a popular choice, so I'm trying to think outside the box as such.

[checkmate91]

What about Stephenson, Whittle, Telford, Faraday (he's a very good candidate). If you want to go F1, Keith Duckworth has some provenance as does John Barnard. Gordon had a good F1 career but branched out into road cars and other experiments too early IMHO. His work with current city cars etc might be worth investigating but you might struggle to work up an essay from it. What's your required word count?

You will NOT differentiate yourself with Brunel...

[davepoth]

Chapman? Newey? McLaren? (there's a good story, only person ever to win an F1 race in a self-designed car)

[Stu R]

How about Tesla? One of the best engineers the world has ever seen

[Conor D]

checkmate91 said:

What's your required word count?

It's only 500 words. But the main title of the essay is to write about a famous engineer whom you feel you share some personality traits, habits and characteristics.

Writing the essay should be easy enough, it's just picking an engineer.

[j123]

Murry was the first to use carbon fiber in racing and road cars oh and he put three chairs in front... this is not in the same breath nor for that matter universe as Tesla or Faraday. And never before have I seen an engineer with such a ego. A higher opinion of himself he could not posses. Good work yes. j

Edited by j123 on Saturday 25th September 22:41

[Dr Derek Doctors]

What about a left field choice and do an essay on Mikhail Kalashnikov?

The man engineered the most deadly machine ever created.

[Rubin215]

Stu R said:

How about Tesla? One of the best engineers the world has ever seen

Hero of mine.

The man was an absolute genius, and so far ahead of his time.

David Bowie's portrayal of him in "The Prestige" was cringe-worthy.

[JR]

Conor D said:

I have to write an essay about a famous engineer; Gordon Murray he studied Mechanical Engineering, but then went on to work as a designer for various places.

Engineers design things. Don't get them mixed up with mechanics who build what they design. (Of course some engineers are mechanics as well.)

[anonymous-user]

Conor D said:

I have to write an essay about a famous engineer; Gordon Murray he studied Mechanical Engineering, but then went on to work as a designer for various places.

Would he still fall under the category of Famous Engineer?

Any other suggestions, I'd like to do one from the Automotive field.

Yes he would.

However if you want to write about something that nobody else will ever thinl of then you could do wrose than base an essay on Smokey Yunick. I wrote about him at Uni and still consider him an engineer in the truest sense of the word.

[Ed.]

yonex said:

Conor D said:

I have to write an essay about a famous engineer; Gordon Murray he studied Mechanical Engineering, but then went on to work as a designer for various places.

Would he still fall under the category of Famous Engineer?

Any other suggestions, I'd like to do one from the Automotive field.

Yes he would.

However if you want to write about something that nobody else will ever thinl of then you could do wrose than base an essay on Smokey Yunick. I wrote about him at Uni and still consider him an engineer in the truest sense of the word.

Thanks for the heads up, he makes a good read.

[Red Devil]

A few more candidates.

Brindley
Maudsley
Naysmith
Vermuyden

[velocemitch]

Barnes Wallis?

[plasticpig]

Conor D said:

I have to write an essay about a famous engineer; Gordon Murray he studied Mechanical Engineering, but then went on to work as a designer for various places.

Would he still fall under the category of Famous Engineer?

Any other suggestions, I'd like to do one from the Automotive field.

Henry Ford springs to mind.

[weezb]

Rubin215 said:

Stu R said:

How about Tesla? One of the best engineers the world has ever seen

Hero of mine.

The man was an absolute genius, and so far ahead of his time.

David Bowie's portrayal of him in "The Prestige" was cringe-worthy.

Tesla is a good one, allied to his many quite astounding achievements there have been (urban?) rumours of cloaking technology and teleportation for as long as I can remember, and an oft attributed quote to him is that "the world's not ready" (for some of his inventions).

Regardless of speculation he is, was and always will be an utter genius.

[Chiswickboy]

plasticpig said:

Conor D said:

I have to write an essay about a famous engineer; Gordon Murray he studied Mechanical Engineering, but then went on to work as a designer for various places.

Would he still fall under the category of Famous Engineer?

Any other suggestions, I'd like to do one from the Automotive field.

Henry Ford springs to mind.

Would not consider him as an engineer = more of a business man (who employed some very nasty people to push his plans forward at all costs).