Welcome to Basic Research Lab. I am one of those people who always has two or three projects at various stages of completion, and a bunch more I can’t wait to get started on. The projects usually are just a way to satisfy my curiosity regarding a subject, and often have no practical or monetary value.

Over the last few years blogs have provided inspiration and information that have been very helpful to me. This is my attempt to return the favor. In ‘East of Eden’ John Steinbeck wrote something along the lines of “The secret of success is to have just one good idea and pursue it doggedly.” I have many ideas – some good and some not so good – and do not pursue any one of them to the exclusion of the others. This blog will follow the progress of my projects and perhaps will provide the impetus or spark for someone to create something that is actually useful and successful.

There usually isn’t a common theme or relationship between my projects, so a mission statement or succinct manifesto isn’t feasible. In other words, this blog will not be optimized for search engines. So if you have found your way here you probably have an interest in one of the  projects I’m working on. Please tell me about what you are working on and feel free to ask me questions. Maybe that’s the mission – interaction and dialog on what currently interests me.

As for my projects, they are usually quite basic – hence the name of the blog. Although I am a mechanical engineer and do love technology, I tend towards the simplicity is elegance philosophy of design (although most of my designs are far from elegant). As I write this, my three current projects are (1) a panelized, prefab building system for emergency shelters; (2) a lightweight, compact, low speed electric mobility vehicle; and (3) a 12′ sailing canoe with a pilot house. Projects on the back burner include a vertical axis wind turbine, thermal solar power generation, improved supply chain management techniques for disaster relief operations, a device that generates power from ocean waves, furniture design, and much, much more.

I hope you find this blog helpful. I look forward to hearing from you.