Abstract Thinking 1: The Search For a Structure

As engineers, we must learn to think in the abstract. Dr. Bogen told us in class that “engineers control the physical world through abstractions.” This is a nice concept, but somewhat hard to implement into our daily lives. I’m not the best abstract thinker. In fact, for any given abstract term, I try to turn it into a physical manifestation. For instance, with feelings, I associate a reaction or an example of the feeling for what it really is. I wouldn’t know how to describe the actual feeling without using these examples. But as an engineer, I guess I will just have to learn how.
As an assignment to learn how to figure out this abstract concept, we were told to find a structure on campus and describe it in three lengths. What? What does that mean? That’s what I’ve spent the last week trying to decipher.
I wanted my structure to be different than everyone else’s. It’s sort of boring to have the same thing as someone else. So I first tried to think out of the box. There are two aspects to this type of thinking. It could either be totally obscure that no one else would think of it, or it has to be totally normal, right in front of your eyes that everyone else would just glance right by. I attempted the first type because that is ultimately the cooler and more interesting type. But I was unsuccessful with that. I could think of strange structures, but measuring it in three lengths was a challenge. So I switched to the second type of out of the box thinking. I sat down on a bench in the quad outside my dorm and looked at everything in front of me.
I first noticed a tree. That’s not a structure. Then I saw the wall of the building itself. As easy as a building may be, I didn’t think it would be a challenge to describe in three lengths, hence no real expansion of abstract thinking. So I continued to look. After focusing on a few other structures and throwing them out for various reasons, I focused on a bike rack. Its structure is so simple, yet so hard to describe and measure. So I have finally found my structure: I will be using a bike rack.
Now on to measurements. Are the three lengths supposed to be in cm, area and volume? Or is it a structural measurement? Or a functional measurement? A combination of all three? So confusing.
Wish me luck, because I’m a little lost about how to go about my measurements and descriptions.