TED Conversations

Adel Bibi

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

What is the biggest problem you want to solve?

I'm an undergraduate electrical engineer. I'll be doing my senior project in less than a year from now. I'd like to hear your comments on the problems you face daily and you really want to solve.

All suggestions will be taken seriously, and I'd love to work on many projects at once.

Topics: Electrical Problems Senior Project engineering future solutions project solutions
0
Share:
progress indicator

  • Kevin Kamaile

    • 0
    Dec 26 2012: Perpetual energy... If we could solve this we would have enough energy to fix the rest of the problems easy.
  • thumb

    W. Ying 10+

    • 0
    Dec 26 2012: How can people quit their ineffective (invalid, bad) happiness easily?
  • thumb

    Mike Sha

    • 0
    Dec 25 2012: manage my time efficiently

  • Noman Bashir

    • 0
    Dec 25 2012: I want people around me to understand me. I want to have a peaceful mind, want to concentrate on necessary and relevant things. I am a final year electrical engineering student so a bit worried about the future.
  • thumb

    David Fuchs

    • 0
    Dec 20 2012: Sub $20 per MWh renewable energy with energy storage. It would be at a third the cost of any of the fossil fuels or nuclear and motivate corporations via their bottom line to go green.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source#US_Department_of_Energy_estimates

  • Kevin Jacobson

    • 0
    Dec 20 2012: Efficient human survival.
    • thumb

      W. Ying 10+

      • 0
      Dec 26 2012: So, i think,
      People should quit their ineffective (invalid or bad) happiness.
      Wrong?
  • thumb

    Casey Christofaris 10+

    • 0
    Dec 18 2012: existence

  • Richard Krooman 50+

    • 0
    Dec 18 2012: There are so many problems that I don't know where you should start.
    Just to name a few in random order.

    1) consumption of the earth (food / water problems combined with global warming)
    2) religion based wars (terrorism, war on terror, wars between 'clans' mainly in the arab world (etc.))
    3) health issues (mainly in Africa)
    4) the broken monitairy system.
    5) space aviation issues (which could be our only possible salvation to some of the above problems)
    6) social isolation. Where people who do not fit in go sit behind a computer and log-in to 'feel lonesome together with millions of other lonesome people'.
    7) unequality in the world. (women rights / rights in afica / unequality in salary / etc.)

    There are so many...
  • thumb

    Thomas Anderson

    • 0
    Dec 18 2012: To me, there are only 2 problems: Entropy, and the Food Chain. Humanity should be able rise above these 2 design flaws. By focusing on these 2 design flaws, humanity could eliminate fear and unnecessary suffering, and increase joy.

    Using electricity more efficiently is one way to reduce Entropy.

    Thanks for your question :)
  • thumb

    Casey Christofaris 10+

    • +1
    Dec 18 2012: We can solve all problems, where would you like to start?

  • Martin Pepa

    • 0
    Dec 18 2012: I wanna give my life a ****ing meaning, but of course you cant help me with that... :|
    Good luck with your project.
    • thumb

      Adel Bibi

      • 0
      Dec 18 2012: Sorry for that mate. I recommend you voluanteer in a comunity center. That will help for sure. :)
    • thumb

      David Fuchs

      • 0
      Dec 20 2012: If you are an engineer you can help me solve the worlds energy problems.

  • Dustin Booth

    • 0
    Dec 17 2012: That mass marketing and an ignorant population have destroyed democracy. Get on it.
  • thumb

    Robert Winner 50+

    • 0
    Dec 17 2012: Adel, Staying realistic and noting that you are about to be come a EE ... please consider this.

    When I purchase a product that you invented ... included will be directions. And the problem begins.

    The consumer is given instructions written by someone who is familiar with the product. Eliminate the technical jargon in the user guide ... speak plain talk. Convience your bosses that after the instructional phamplets have been written to send someone to the mall and ask fifty people to read and apply the instructions without your assistance and film the action. Bring back the films and do a critical review as well as a debrief of the fifty volunteers ... then make changes.

    On the last aircraft I helped design a number of gages were placed where they could not be seen or read. The engineers only knew they were necessary but since they would never have to use them them did not follow up. The point is this Adel ... being a good EE is easy if you work in a office and never care about what leaves your area. So I suggest that you consider the whole picture design .. cost ... instructions ... and what is being addressed most on your help lines and by technical assistance agents.

    Good luck. Bob.
  • thumb

    Jimmy Strobl 30+

    • 0
    TED Translator
    Dec 17 2012: Social injustice.
  • thumb

    Gail . 50+

    • +1
    Dec 15 2012: I would like people to become self-aware - which is an educational thing. When we are a culture of self-aware people, bloodshed, violence, and the disparity of wealth can finally come to an end.

    On a much smaller scale, and one than an electrical engineer-to-be might be interested in - If I won a huge lottery today, I would find students around the world to find a way for homes to produce free energy sufficient to power a modest home. (Perhaps a hydrogen-on-demand system that would fit in a shed, combined with an inverter to convert the power to the appropriate wattage)

    I lived full-time for many years in a motorhome. My hot-water heater was only 15 gallons, but so well insulated (with propane backup for quick emergency re-heats) that I could turn the heater off in the morning after breakfast dishes and not need to turn it back on until the next morning. No big oven that wasted power. Mine was a microwave/convection. My 350 sq foot home was so efficiently designed that it was much easier to live in than the home I now live in.

    Part of me would love to gut the motorhome of its wonderful devices and build them into the house, but I don't know how much power I would need to generate to run a house, and have been unable to figure that out. I don't know how many hydrogen fuel cells I would need to generate sufficient power. Wouldn't it be wonderful if homes had their own power stations in a shed in their back yards? The oil cartels would be out of our lives and much violence would end. I could use a golf cart or electric car for transportation - and power it from my own power station.
    • thumb

      Adel Bibi

      • 0
      Dec 15 2012: That is a very nice idea.

      I was reading a paper on how to generate energy not my Hydrogen cells but rather by walking. Yes, by walking.
      There are specific type of electronic devices used today in electric drums known as "Pizo-electric Transducers", these small circuits generate electricity whenever there is a change on pressure on it. So this can be used in a way to be implanted in the floor, so whenever someone walks over it, it generates electricity that can be stored and used later.
      Think this will be the best project to work on.

      Thanks for your comment.
      • thumb

        Gail . 50+

        • 0
        Dec 15 2012: Wow! How fascinating, thanks. Harvesting micro energy sources like this could easily be applied to many, many things. I look forward to studying this today.
  • thumb

    Berend Maepa

    • +1
    Dec 15 2012: reconciliation among-st the African, stopping the bloodshed and creating an accommodating environment to all the races,religion and social groups in Africa. In all i'd like to make Africa a better place to the rest of the world

  • Justin Garrard

    • +1
    Dec 14 2012: Fixing people would be my first choice. Removing apathy, installing better education, etc.

    But I too am an Electrical Engineering undergraduate, and I realize that as far as projects go that one is a bit out of our fields. So, something in the field:

    1. Set up a household energy monitoring system.

    This was one I proposed my senior year of high school, but lacked the electronics knowledge to design an actual product. Make products that perform the same function as electrical outlets and switches, but with wireless (induction-based?) sensors that transmit energy consumption data to a hub. Also, make them remotely operable so that home/business owners can shut off or turn on lights on command.

    2. Find a good way to repurpose old desktop computers.

    This one falls more under computer science than EE, but I think a case could be made for it. Find a way to do something either with all the raw materials of the computers or the processing/disk space of older machines.
    • thumb

      Adel Bibi

      • 0
      Dec 15 2012: Thanks alot for your response, it was very helpful.

      I guess your first proposal in very practical, and it will go under a project know as "Smart House". By which you can control all of your house using a software app, or by voice using voice recognition systems. The idea of the energy consumption monitor is already in stores, but I guess it's not (wireless).

      Thanks for your comment.

  • jesse roberts

    • 0
    Dec 14 2012: where I live stray and feral cats and dogs are a HUGE problem. Depending on the area Hundreds and Thousands are unnecessarily killed weekly.

    The local city shelters say they cannot afford to house the stray animals for longer than 3 days and to compound the problem the private shelters are corrupt and benefiting personally with little regard for the health and welfare of these animals.

    I spend most of my paycheck free time fighting this problem but I am not making much progress... so if anybody reading this wants to talk to me and perhaps offer ideas I am eager and open to all suggestions.

    I believe in creating a no kill society.
  • thumb

    Sachin Bhatia

    • +3
    Dec 14 2012: I'm really saddened by the way humans, namely the 'superior beings', resort to violence to achieve their interests and solve misunderstandings. Sometimes I ask such people ' Can animals talk?' They reply with an obvious 'no'. Then, I ask them ' Can we humans communicate and talk amongst ourselves?' They say 'yes'. I go on and say:' Animals unable to communicate, unable to understand, any problem tend to solve their problems using violence and aggressiveness. We humans even after having received the ability to speak and understand problems resort to violence. Tell me then, what is the difference between a human and an animal? ' Violence is something I hate and would like it to be eradicated from the world. The only solution I see to this problem is spreading ideas against violence and invoking a consensus with the people of the world on this matter.

  • Bob Stiglitz

    • +1
    Dec 14 2012: A system that tells you how much power you are using, one thing that I disliked as a kid is my parents always telling me to turn off the lights if I had some idea how much it was costing to run the light I could argue back. Kind of like a digital device like a clock with measurements/consumption and nifty readouts like how much its costing you.

    Invent this my friend! People who argue about the use of electricity in the home all over the world will love you, and easy system that can get at total power used by most frequently used devices in the home.
    • thumb

      Adel Bibi

      • 0
      Dec 15 2012: Very possible idea.
      Guess I have to start researching on it very soon.
      Thanks alot, your comment was very helpful.

      • Bob Stiglitz

        • +1
        Dec 15 2012: I was thinking if you're really ambitious could make a cloud/website service that keeps stats on "worst energy offenders" so there is a database of the most power hungry products so there is market pressure on manufacturers to drive energy consumption of their devices down. I know it would be a lot of work but it'd be great if we had some kind of standard system to easily and quickly be able to read the power we are consuming all around us.
  • thumb

    Meredith M

    • +1
    Dec 14 2012: Excuse my English as it's not my first language either.

    I'm just a normal student, so what I want to solve are quite individual. Such as "how could I make the best use of my time" or "what's the best way to keep weight".But since I'm a student studying under the kind of educational system that is not quite shaped to the needs of the children, I'm also keep thinking about one question: why we all know this educational system has deficient but still haven't seen any change? Who plays the most important role in an educational system reformation? Students? Teachers? Parents? Or still politicians?
    • thumb

      Kaleb Roberts

      • 0
      Dec 21 2012: Meredith,

      "Who plays the most important role in an educational system reformation? Students? Teachers? Parents? Or still politicians?"

      I find your question posed to this question rather intriguing. In the end, I think it must be the parents. The child's voice is not loud enough to carry the needed messages to the politicians ear. Parents should learn the enthusiasm their child shows for school, and they should speak out to the politicians so the schools themselves can match the child's enthusiasm. If schools were more open, a little less regulated, who knows? Kids might want to stay in school, leading to them wanting their kids to have a better time in school, and a self-appreciating spiral is formed. At least that's theory.
  • thumb

    Maaher Sayeed 10+

    • +1
    Dec 14 2012: The human need to be "arrogant". Arrogance blinds reason, humility and the ability to learn.

  • MADyMADy MaryA

    • 0
    Dec 13 2012: Stop looking at others failures and comparing it to you in order to consider yourself successful!! People need to stop taking joy out of other people's sorry and need to work collectively!!!!
  • thumb

    Jedrek Stepien 10+

    • 0
    Dec 13 2012: The greatest problem I am trying to solve in my life is to find a shortcut to wisdom. If I figure it out, all the lazy bums out there will get the possibility to become wise in no time.
  • thumb

    Chetan Somani

    • +1
    Dec 13 2012: Poverty is the biggest problem prevailing everywhere.
    Though measures have been taken in order to get rid of the problem,it has not been completely eradicated.
    Need to work on it and find out effective solutions that can act as positive tools which will help to get rid of the problem completely.
    It's not a one man work,it's a group activity.

  • Barry Palmer 50+

    • 0
    Dec 12 2012: Power outages.

    Electrical power is essential to modern everything. Our power infrastructure should be designed and built to deliver electricity always, under any circumstances. A reliable grid is far more important than a smart grid.
    • thumb

      Adel Bibi

      • 0
      Dec 12 2012: Excuse my English as it's not my first language.

      What is happening nowadays is that we make generators specifically known as "Synchronous Generators". Once multiple of them are made and are in operation, we then connect all those generates together in parallel. In this manner whenever on of these generators fail, it won't affect the others as they'll keep working. This method is like power sharing.
      The problem comes when a huge catastrophe happens such as Tornadoes and other natural phenomena which kills all/most of the generators at once.

      Will be thinking of a new design for the generators that will solve such a problem.

      Thanks for your comment.

      • Barry Palmer 50+

        • 0
        Dec 12 2012: The problem is not so much the generators as the fragile delivery system.

        In the USA, most of our high voltage lines are carried on metal towers that are vulnerable to weather and earthquakes. Even more vulnerable are the local lines, carried on wooden electrical poles. These local lines are often cut by falling trees. These methods were a good first draft, but it is time we became serious about a design for reliable delivery.
        • thumb

          Adel Bibi

          • 0
          Dec 12 2012: To be honest, I have a report to write on wireless power transmition that is due next Thursday.
          I guess this will be the best solution to our problem, although it needs alot of work to do.
  • thumb

    Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

    • +1
    Dec 12 2012: If I have the power there will be no more badly made films on the earth.
    • thumb

      Adel Bibi

      • 0
      Dec 12 2012: Excuse my English as it's not my first language.

      I guess this specific project is tough to do. It's because I think that deciding whether a movie is good or bad is relative and differs from a person to another.
      Could you tell me what are the measures you take when deciding if a movie is considered to be a good one?

      Thanks for your comment.
      • thumb

        Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

        • 0
        Dec 12 2012: Nothing grand. Just a good story told with technical and creative excellence. I will always love a filmmaker that gets the best of the medium.
        • thumb

          Chetan Somani

          • 0
          Dec 13 2012: Hello Feyisayo,
          How will you decide a film is bad?
          After watching the movie?
          If you do after watching the movie,what will be your call?
          Before the movie is on air,promotions are on verge which does have an impact on the people who will then decide whether they need to watch it or not.
          How will you change their decision?
      • thumb

        Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

        • 0
        Dec 13 2012: I just love a good story; and sometimes, explaining what a good story is, is like explaining what love is. Individual experience is a better revelation.
      • thumb

        Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

        • 0
        Dec 13 2012: I just love a good story; and sometimes, explaining what a good story is, is like explaining what love is. Individual experience is a better revelation.
Showing all 47 comments