Once upon a time you got your best action and science fiction fix from the movies.
“2001: A Space Odyssey” showed us how pedestrian structures on the moon might seem; Walt Disney brought us tiny robots called microbots in “Big Hero 6”; Robert Zemeckis convinced us we wouldn’t need roads when he created Marty McFly’s hoverboard in “Back to the Future II”; and, “The Fast and The Furious” showed us what it would be like to fly like the wind while staying on track.
Those movies gave us a precursor to what history could be. Now, the Cullen College of Engineering is making those predecessors leap off the big screen and come to life.
Yes, swarms of micro-robots are performing jobs, hoverboards are being launched, space habitats are being designed and racecars are being built — all in the Cullen College’s labs.
The latest issue of Parameters Magazine focuses on how the UH Cullen College of Engineering is creating realities that seem straight from the movies. But in this special video supplement, we explore how Cullen College engineers feel about science and engineering in the movies -- which films inspired, disappointed or challenged them as scientists and engineers.
Click here to watch how the big silver screen continues to influence UH engineers!