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Ultrasonics and Antarctica

Husain Shekhani • Aug 09, 2021

Colin O'Brady was the first person to cross Antarctica/South Pole on foot, unassisted by machine, animal, or wind. (please keep reading, I am going somewhere with this).


His journey was highly disputed because his approach to achieving this feat was by creating a “criteria for ever-more finely sliced accomplishment.” Basically, he figured out a way to cross the South Pole in the easiest fashion by foot in order to increase his chances to accomplish the feat. People said he cut corners and, for example, trekked on a beaten path of vehicles instead of going head-on against challenging terrain.


We ultrasonic folks have a lot to learn from Colin. Unfortunately, me and other engineers get ego-struck and try to accomplish things the hard way, just because we think it can be done. Or, we just head into things head first and think that we will just figure it out as we go.


To put it frankly, “taking the hard path” across the South Pole resulted in some men being frozen solid when crossing by foot. Colin made it across because he was smart, but that doesn’t mean he was not equally as gifted.


Don’t get frozen solid on your ultrasonic/piezoelectric transducer projects. Achieve the minimal viable product, do complete system testing often, and don’t skip measurement steps. Otherwise, your company’s transducers will just be some forgotten ice cubes in a closet somewhere in your lab.

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