Author: mazdaPage 7 of 8
The Institution of Civil Engineers, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birthThomas Telford, has launched a blog in the name of that great Scottish engineer. The…
Today I sat the final exam for what has probably been the most enjoyable course that I have studied during the last four years, the ambitiously titled “History…
When Haussmann was busy tearing down and rebuilding large swathes of Paris, he wasn’t doing it all by himself. His chief engineer was this fellow, M Alphand. In…
We have just had the first of two earthquake engineering exams, and this one was hard! Revision for the exam was doubly frustrating: firstly because the key topics that…
Today I developped the film that I shot while in the south of France over Christmas. It is magical watching the images appear out of nothing in the…
hello readers I would like to apologise for the lack of posts of late. This blog was meant to be about engineering and my life in Paris. Well,…
Monday 30th continued When it comes to rail travel in Eastern Europe, Budapest is a hub, which is why this is the third time I have arrived in…
Monday 30th October I must have slept well in my reclining seat as I completely slept through Munich and Saltzburg, although I had been aware of many different…
This afternoon’s lecture on earthquake engineering was a struggle. The mountains of photocopies that we were given didn’t really match up with what the lecturer was saying, which…
dsc02040b.jpg Last week I got wind of a course at ENPC in photography. After a little research I found out that it is actually an advanced course for…
Although I have now been living in Paris for five or so weeks, I only had my first full week of lectures last week. We had to give…
Glen Canyon Dam, as featured in the popular film «Superman» When designing, building and operating a dam, there are a few steps that ought to be followed in…
Tuesday lunchtime saw the end of the SPEIF (semaine préparatoire pour étudiants ingénieurs en Français – a stunning acronym). With our free afternoon a group of us students…
Freedom of speech for the mute Today I taught for the first time my other English conversation class. This class is larger than the first; twenty to the…
This post refers to an event I took part in a couple of weeks ago and I have been meaning to write about it for some time. One…
As far as food at institutions go, the grub at ENPC ain’t half bad. For the early morning caffine boost, elevenses and mid-afternoon pick-moi-ups there is the coffee…
It’s one of those things about growing up. People start calling you Mister. For a long time it was just my bank or anyone asking me for money….
So with an oven installed in our ever-better equipped kitchen, I decided to invite a few of my new international chums over for dinner. We discovered that our…
Time is flying by. I am already into my second week of college. These first three weeks are preparatory classes for all the Erasamus students at les Ponts,…
Sunday evening I started to pack my bag for my first day of school on Monday, or so I thought… A double-check of a letter from ENPC reconfirmed…
On Sunday I had the chance to go to a “repas du quartier” – (neighbourhood meal). The deal is that it’s a meal somewhere in the locality, sometimes…
I saw this ad last spring but it still makes me laugh!
Hooray – I have arrived. Last night, I hauled up the steps the final suitcase into the flat that will be Mary and mine for at least the…
26th August 2006 I am on my way down to the south of France for the bank holiday weekend. This is the first time that I have managed…
My thanks go to Henry Bardsley, lead structural engineer on the Pont Simone de Beauvoir, for putting me right on some of the points I made in my…
This quote is from Jonathan Glancey in today’s G2: “It is nearly always a lovely day in Architecture World. Happy, shiny, gym-fit young people living today’s latte-fuelled urban…
Thanks to all of you (well one of you) for your requests for photos. I have now been trying to get photos to work on my last entry…
This weekend is my last in London. I am away next weekend for the bank holiday, and the weekend after that it’s the big off. It has all…
It is with great pride that I report that Expedition Engineering won Thursday’s cricket match against Wilkinson Eire architects. In a game between two teams each with a…
My thanks go to Mary for finding this article in the Sunday Independent on Paris’ newest bridge, Le Pont Simone de Beauvoir: http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3340477 I am fond of this…