Abdullah AlManayes
Nothing here was written to prove a point. If there is one, I hope it becomes obvious on its own.
Learning to Weld
My first attempt at welding showed me the difference between understanding how something should work and developing the physical skill to actually do it.
The Breadth of Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering crosses boundaries between water, infrastructure, biology, chemistry, and other fields. A departmental meeting showed me how that breadth can create very different paths toward addressing the same environmental problems.
Defining the Rules
Organizing a bridge building competition showed me that rules cannot rely on what seems obvious. If a requirement matters, it has to be defined before people are expected to design around it.
Between the Buildings
Seeing a red-tailed hawk feeding on campus made me think about how wildlife continues to function within developed environments, and what responsibility we have when deciding how those environments are built.
Minecraft and the Cost of Starting Over
A Minecraft world built over time raises a broader question: when is replacing something with a better design actually better than adapting what already exists?
Designing for a Changing Environment
A visit to the Montauk Lighthouse reveals how looking across centuries can change the way we understand environmental change and the way engineers design for it.
Designing Within Constraints
Designing an escape room taught me that constraints are not simply obstacles to a plan. They help define what a useful solution looks like, especially when the conditions around it change.
From Understanding to Engineering
How iGEM changed my perspective from understanding environmental problems to engineering solutions, and showed me the difference between studying what biological systems can do and designing what they could do.
Guilt and Morality in Breaking Bad
A reflection on Breaking Bad that questions whether guilt makes someone more moral, or whether our choices ultimately matter more than our conscience.
Why Pokémon Endures
A visit to Japan's Pokémon Centers sparked a deeper question: how did Pokémon become the world's highest grossing media franchise? This article explores the power of simplicity, branding, and how childhood interests unexpectedly shaped my own journey into science and research