Andrew Bergan
Structural mechanics researcher at NASA. I like to ski, climb, mountain bike, sail, hike, run, fix stuff, and code.
Structural mechanics researcher at NASA. I like to ski, climb, mountain bike, sail, hike, run, fix stuff, and code.
May 29, 2018
I really enjoy reading great books and articles. Some of my favorite books are fiction. I like works of fiction because they provide a lens for understanding complex ideas, experiences, and emotions. But I read far more nonfiction than fiction, probably because I’m just too damn practically minded. There’s so much amazing information just waiting to be discovered in the pages of nonfiction work that I feel obliged to consume it. I’m also a sucker for articles with titles like “Clean Up Corrosive Interpersonal Dynamics on Your Team with This System” and “Loneliness on the Job: Why No Employee Is an Island” that promise to have an immediate impact on my career. Immediately after reading the work, I’m eager to discuss it with others and the ideas are fresh in my mind. Inevitably, my unrelenting appetite for a new book urges me to pick up the next one on my list. I continue to devour nonfiction only to find that, six months later, I am lucky if I can remember the story arc and the most significant findings. The intriguing details and actionable knowledge that I hoped to internalized rarely are secured in my not-so-great memory. This unfortunate cycle of reading and forgetting has been nagging at me for years and was the inspiration for this project: to generate an automated daily email that sends me an idea, quote, or striking fact from my favorite nonfiction reads. Read more ...April 29, 2018
NASA publishes thousands of technical documents each year. In the past year, 6,240 documents were added to the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS), which is the main repository where all publicly released NASA technical documents are made available. That’s a lot of reports, papers, and technical documents! As a researcher at NASA, one thing I’ve found challenging is keeping up with all the great work that my colleagues do in my field. There’s no existing system or software that lets me (or anyone else) know when someone else in the agency publishes a paper on a topic I’m interested in. Read more ...March 11, 2018
I really enjoy reflecting on all the amazing places I’ve visited. I’ve been planning to create a “Place’s I’ve Been Map” ever since I was inspired by Dominik Schwarz. One day I will make my very own wall-size world map of places I’ve been. While I’m waiting for that day to come, I made a digital version. Read more ...February 24, 2018
A few years ago my climbing partner, Chris, introduced me to the idea of climbing route pyramids. It’s a way of visualizing the routes you have climbed. Each row of the pyramid corresponds to a route grade (5.9, 5.10, etc) and the width of each row is proportional to the number of routes you have ticked at that grade. Climbing route pyramids can be used as a tool for training. In general, I think visualizing your ticks as route pyramid is a nice way of thinking about your climbing progress. Building a solid foundation to your climbing route pyramid by climbing lots of moderate routes will give you the experience and opportunity to develop technique and efficiency that pay off when you try hard routes at the limit of your capability. I wanted a tool to check out my climbing route pyramid, so I created a simple app. Read more ...December 26, 2017
Termites can be a big problem for wood framed homes in the southeast. I bought my first house knowing there was some termite damage. There was evidence of termite damage throughout the house, most noticeably in the wood floors. The previous owner did relatively extensive repairs to fix the termite damage including replacing about half of the first floor joists. While most of the evidence of termite damage was on the first floor, there was a dormer on the second floor that had water damage, and so we suspected that there could be some termite damage around the dormer since termites are attracted to moisture. This post describes the work I did to remediate the termite damage in this dormer. Read more ...November 27, 2017
When my wife and I were looking for our current house, we knew we wanted a privacy fence in the backyard. Our favorite (and only) dog, Izzy, is dog-reactive. Izzy is a sweetheart, but she barks, yelps, shrieks, and basically goes completely crazy when she sees other dogs. So, our thought process went, if we had a beautiful privacy fence in our new backyard, we could avoid awkwardly running away and hiding behind cars when we inevitably encounter our canine neighbors while taking Izzy for walks. We quickly realized most houses didn’t have the fenced-in backyard we wanted. No problem, I thought, I’ll install a fence. It took about six months and some long weekends of hard work, but now we have an attractive and functional privacy fence enclosing our backyard. Read more ...August 15, 2013
Recently I needed to machine carbon/epoxy composite test specimens for my PhD research. With very limited composites machining capability in my University’s machine shop, I was left on my own. How hard could it be? Use some carbide tools and your good to go right? Sort of. I needed to hit a tolerance of ±0.003 inch parallel over a 12-inch-long cut and using Harbor Freight tile saw. Read more ...