After the Princess’s visit, Rockefeller began to conceive of the basic design that would become Empire State Plaza. With the help of architect Wallace Harrison, Rockefeller imagined a vast complex that would rival in scope and scale that of the Capitol building. Today, the plaza sits directly opposite the capitol in a strangely beautiful juxtaposition of old and new architecture. The plaza evokes the styles of Brasilia, Versailles and Chandigarh with large, monolithic structures that remind one of futuristic dystopias.

Albany’s skyline features the plaza prominently, with Corning Tower at its apex and the four agency buildings leading the eye to The Egg, the spherical performing arts center at the plaza’s end.  The Corning Tower is the tallest building in the state outside New York City. It has an open viewing area popular with tourists, since it provides an unobstructed view of the entire city, including a long blue stretch of the Hudson River.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the plaza is hidden from view. The large underground concourse is home to many of Albany’s government offices, and it runs from the Cultural Education Center at one end of the plaza to the Capitol at the other end. Workers can gain access to all of the plaza’s buildings from the concourse, and can enter in the morning and leave at night having visited the State Library, the Governor’s office and the technological epicenter of the city without ever stepping outdoors.

The history of the plaza is as fascinating as the plaza itself, and it is all outlined in the New York State Museum, also accessible from the underground concourse. The supplanting of The Gut displaced thousands of low-income residents who were forced to move to other areas of the city. While the plaza gentrified the downtown, it set up the wealthier residential neighborhoods for an influx of low-income families, a controversial development that left many residents homeless and many others unhappy with their new street-bound neighbors. Today, Albany still reflects the transition the plaza perpetuated as the relatively small capitol city remains strikingly diverse, with only a few small streets set aside from the more egalitarian districts. The city is vibrant and alive, despite the economic downturn of the past few years. The plaza and the city are bursting with history, making Albany a beautiful and educational destination for tourists.

Big Dig – Boston – $14.6 Billion (US)

Designed to relieve some of the traffic issues and gridlock in Boston, Massachusetts, the Big Dig was intended to reroute the central artery of the city. The design called for a 3.5-mile tunnel to be created below the city’s existing structure, hopefully alleviating congestion. Boston, as one of the oldest cities in America, has streets that were not designed to handle the heavy traffic that grew with the advent of the automobile, and the Big Dig was seen as the most effective method for upgrading the traffic flow through the city.

Unfortunately, the project went off anything but smoothly. Engineers encountered unexpected obstacles such as sunken ships, glacial debris, and the foundations of buried houses during excavation. The project was also hampered by cost overruns, leaks, the use of inferior quality materials, and even some deaths.

The tunnel has faced many crises since its completion, including a fatal collapse of a section of the ceiling. In an ultimate irony, reports have been issued that show that since construction of the tunnel, traffic flow problems have only worsened in the city. It seems that many more people took to the roads rather than using mass transit or other means of transportation, effectively negating any positive impact the project would have on relieving traffic congestion, making the Big Dig not only costly but, apparently, a waste.

Three Gorges Dam – China – $26-$30 Billion (US)

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River. Located in Hubei province, China, the dam is the largest electricity generating plant of any kind in the world. The bridge boasts 26 generators, each with an output of 700 megawatts, with six more generators scheduled to become operational in 2011.

The dam is considered an engineering and construction success on nearly every level. When it is completed, the project is predicted to come in at 12% under budget. Full cost recovery is expected to take place in only 10 years after the dam becomes fully operational, making the Three Gorges Dam expensive, but a sound investment.

The Large Hadron Collider – Switzerland – $9 Billion (US)

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and highest energy particle accelerator. In September 2008, the LHC was put into operation. The unit faced some almost immediate and repeated complications, but nothing too far out of the realm of what might be expected in a project of such magnitude and in a technology so new.

Physicists have high hopes and great expectations for the LHC, believing that work related to the machine may reveal some of life’s greatest mysteries, such as a clearer understanding of the Big Bang Theory and the formation of the universe. The LHC has recently been in world headlines, as scientists have used it to capture anti-matter for the first time. This achievement is a monumental breakthrough for physicists, and goes a long way to justify the cost of the LHC, and forgive some of its early malfunctions.

The Gerald R. Ford Class Aircraft Carrier – United States – $8.1 Billion (US)

The $8.1 billion price tag for the Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier project does not include the approximately $5 billion spent on research and development prior to construction, making this the most expensive ships in history. Work began on the vessels in 2007, and is scheduled to end in 2015. The aircraft carrier line is currently scheduled to produce three ships, but as many as eleven could be constructed over the life of the program.

The nuclear powered aircraft carriers contain technology unparalleled and unseen anywhere in the world. The ships feature a new nuclear reactor design, advanced arresting gear, electromagnetic catapults, and many other innovations, some of which are classified military information.

The International Space Station – Multiple National Partners – $80 Billion (US; approximate)

Arguably the greatest feat of engineering in the history of mankind, the International Space Station (ISS) is currently being constructed while in low earth orbit. The construction is scheduled for completion in late 2011, and is easily the largest satellite to ever orbit earth. The ISS is even visible from earth with the naked eye.

The International Space Station is the largest research facility ever created. It has been continually manned since October of 2000, and is scheduled to continue scientific research into the year 2020. It is an anomaly in the world of engineering projects, as the ISS has been a joint venture of several nations since inception, each contributing to its research, development, and costs. Ultimately, the construction of this landmark station is justified because of the incredible advancements it houses, and the potential for scientists to study our earth our solar system, and our universe to a degree that past generation have only dreamed of. Its cost also is mitigated by the hope of international cooperation in the name of science and discovery to a new level.

Geoengineering is an early-stage movement within the science and engineering communities that aims to halt, or at least counteract, global warming. Supporters plan to do this through carefully planned, large scale manipulations to our environment. The desired effect of these manipulations is to prolong the existence of our species, as well as retain the highest possible amount of plant and animal life. There have been no implementations of any projects to combat global warming; however, many scientists and engineers are developing and proposing methods to help protect the earth from the threat of global warming.

One proposed project is “Solar Radiation Management”, and no, the project is not based on the “the Simpsons” episode where Mr. Burns blocks the sun, though some speculate that placing a shade in space may be beneficial to reducing sunlight. The project mainly focuses on reflecting sunlight that has reached the surface. Critics argue that the negative effects of sunlight reflection have not been properly examined. Others that support Solar Radiation Management suggest a method called “cloud seeding”, which would result in an increase in the surface coverage of clouds, as well as an increase in precipitation, both of which would likely contribute to a decrease in temperature.

One of the root causes of the increased temperature of the planet is the increase in the presence of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. Another geoengineering project suggests that by capturing or by naturally and artificially neutralizing these gases we may be able to effectively reduce their impact on the temperature of the earth. Though environmentalists have been encouraging the planting of trees to counteract deforestation for years, doing so may now be one of the most important solutions for the salvation of life on our planet.

The project called “Arctic Engineering” may also have a positive effect on the earth’s temperature. Because the polar regions of the planet are two of our best physical representations of the temperature of the planet, scientists believe that by counteracting Arctic ice loss we may be able to not only decrease the temperature of all ocean water, which would also decrease the planet’s overall temperature, but also increase the reflectivity of the earth’s surface. This would also contribute to the Solar Radiation Management project.

Though many of these projects are still in the works, geoengineers are working hard to get them fully developed and implemented before the impact of global warming causes extensive damage to our ecosystem. If we can successfully study and test both the positive and negative effects that geoengineering may have, and develop a reasonable compromise between the two, then we have the potential to stop the damaging effects of global warming.

“There’s this old saying,” Jennifer says. ” ‘Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.’ Well, it’s my job to figure out how to improve the mousetrap — or in my case, the tennis racquet.

“My job is to make the racquet cheaper. Or easier to use. Or more attractive. Or more efficient to manufacture. You get the idea: basically I try to lift the company’s tennis racquet above the competition by improving it in every way I can possibly think of.”

A day in the life of an engineer

8:00 a.m. Jennifer arrives at work. The morning’s task is to test various metal alloys by giving prototype racquets to tennis players and gathering their opinions.

“I helped research and create these different metal alloys,” Jennifer says, proudly holding up one of the prototypes. “We wanted something durable and lightweight, and we’ve come up with a few good ideas.”

8:30 a.m. Jennifer walks to the tennis courts to oversee the trials, watch for any unforeseen problems or benefits of the new materials, and gather the opinions of the tennis players who try out the racquets.

“How cool is this?” Jennifer asks. “How many offices have four indoor tennis courts on the premises? Sometimes I spend an entire work week in a lab. But then there are days like this, when I feel like I get to go on a paid field trip!”

For the next several hours, Jennifer monitors the testing process, which she designed carefully to give accurate results.

“I had to account for everything,” she says. “Right down to varying the order in which each subject tries the racquets. And providing them with a disguised version of the leading competitor’s racquet. And being very careful not to give them any information about what each racquet is made of. Of course it’s tempting to talk about it, but I can’t — it would spoil the test results. I even had to make sure that the rackets were all the same color, to avoid biasing everyone’s perception!”

Jennifer observes and records the results of her survey for the next four hours.

12:30 p.m. Lunch.

1:30 p.m. Jennifer returns to her office to gather all the questionnaire answers together. She’s been running this test all week so far, so there are hundreds of opinions to tabulate.

2:30 p.m. “Looks like we have a winner,” Jennifer says. “It’s not the alloy that I created myself, unfortunately! But it’s not the competition’s racquet that people preferred, either, which is great news.” Jennifer double-checks the test results.

3:00 p.m. Time to write up a report and a presentation on the test results. She graphs the consumer preferences and includes observations on the characteristics of the new alloy.

“Tomorrow I’ll present our findings to some of the company executives and, if I get the go-ahead, I’ll begin working on the details of manufacturing today’s winning racquet,” Jennifer says.

4:30 p.m. Time to go home.