engineering

World Skyscraper Day – 3 September

Skyscrapers have become pretty commonplace in modern times, and National Skyscraper Day is our golden opportunity to appreciate these architectural marvels and feats of engineering. Skyscrapers grace our big cities with their bold presence and define our skylines with mighty buildings that literally seem to scrape the sky. But skyscrapers have only been around for about 130 years.

The world’s first skyscraper was completed in 1885 in Chicago and it stood only 138 feet tall, a mere 10 stories that would not even count as a skyscraper today. But the name stuck, and initially any building that towered high over the surrounding structures was dubbed a skyscraper. Over time, our ability to engineer and construct skyscrapers improved drastically, and now a building must have at least 40 floors to be classified as a skyscraper at all.

In crowded urban areas where land space is at a premium, skyscrapers allow us to build upwards rather than outwards, converting a single allotment of land area into 40 or more floors of potential living space. For National Skyscraper Day on September 3, we invite you to join us in taking a long look up.

Source: Text & Image: https://nationaltoday.com/national-skyscraper-day

Skyscrapers are a real decoration of big cities, but they have existed for only 130 years. In crowded areas, where there is little land space, such buildings are also quite effective. The date was not chosen by chance.

September 3rd was chosen as the date for this commemorative day because it was the birthday of architect Louis H. Sullivan, who has been called the « father of skyscrapers » and was widely considered to have designed the first ones.

The world’s first skyscraper is generally considered to be the Home Insurance Building in Chicago. It was built in 1885 and was 10 stories tall — an impressive height back then — and stood out as well for having a frame of metal, rather than being built primarily from stone. An addition in 1890 later gave another two stories to the Home Insurance Building.

Source: Text: https://www.thereisadayforthat.com/holidays/various/skyscraper-day

International Day of Women and Girls in Science – 11 February

Background

A significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world. Even though women have made tremendous progress towards increasing their participation in higher education, they are still under-represented in these fields.

Gender equality has always been a core issue for the United Nations. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution not only to economic development of the world, but to progress across all the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well.

On 14 March 2011, the Commission on the Status of Women adopted a report at its fifty-fifth session, with agreed conclusions on access and participation of women and girls in education, training and science and technology, and for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work. On 20 December 2013, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on science, technology and innovation for development, in which it recognized that full and equal access to and participation in science, technology and innovation for women and girls of all ages is imperative for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Did you know?

Women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of national science academies are women.
In cutting edge fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) is a woman.
Despite a shortage of skills in most of the technological fields driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics.
Female researchers tend to have shorter, less well-paid careers. Their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals and they are often passed over for promotion.

Stories

Women scientists on the forefront of climate action

Over the last few decades, the world’s understanding of climate change has improved exponentially thanks to science, technology and the dedication of some of the world’s top climate scientists.

We pay tribute to the women who champion the science behind climate change.

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