[philm63]

...Engaging people in conversation is really the best way to gain knowledge anyways....

+1!

[morticaixavier]

My two cents: I agree with both sides. I completely agree with Mort in that people should not just be brushed aside because it was their first post because the that's how we all get involved but I also agree that the first time poster should be diligent in follow up and participation and in this case, also comment on the feedback being provided.

Forums are a two way street and everyone is here to both learn and teach or mentor, which is also the way the world basically works, So to the OP, if you ever check back in, keep these things in mind as a lot more information can be provided than just simple answers to a survey, that, well, wasn't really well thought out in the first place;)

Engaging people in conversation is really the best way to gain knowledge anyways....

well stated. Thanks

[punatic]

Engineering senior design projects are the culmination of 4 to 5 years of rigorous study.  They are not an opportunity to engage hobbyists in conversation.  That would be the equivalent of a medical intern putting up a online questionaire asking Boy Scouts which bandaid brand they prefer to keep in their first aid kits.

It would be a whole lot more believable if the student had said he was a business major designing a maketing campagne for a new type of brewing equpment.  Something is fishy here.

I suspect we are being punked by some fraternity brothers, you know, kinda like the names of the pilots on the airliner that crashed in San Francisco.

[redbeerman]

Engineering senior design projects are the culmination of 4 to 5 years of rigorous study.  They are not an opportunity to engage hobbyists in conversation.  That would be the equivalent of a medical intern putting up a online questionaire asking Boy Scouts which bandaid brand they prefer to keep in their first aid kits.

It would be a whole lot more believable if the student had said he was a business major designing a maketing campagne for a new type of brewing equpment.  Something is fishy here.

I suspect we are being punked by some fraternity brothers, you know, kinda like the names of the pilots on the airliner that crashed in San Francisco.

I must agree Carl.  The survey would have been more believable as a first round marketing questionnaire.  Even then, it doesn't seem to be very well thought out.  I thought Georgia Tech was better than that!  I mentored a group of Delaware engineering students a number of years ago on a senior project and believe me, there was a boatload more research into the concept phase than I see here.

[Jimmy K]

I suspect we are being punked by some fraternity brothers, you know, kinda like the names of the pilots on the airliner that crashed in San Francisco.

Tricking some people on the internet into filling out a survey - Lamest. Prank. Ever.  We've been had.

[erockrph]

I suspect we are being punked by some fraternity brothers, you know, kinda like the names of the pilots on the airliner that crashed in San Francisco.

Tricking some people on the internet into filling out a survey - Lamest. Prank. Ever.  We've been had.

Actually, no. This is:

http://youtu.be/EagRjSZAXDc

[udubdawg]

I was gonna fill it out, but great grandpa-dawg went to Cumberland.  Family is still pissed.   

[mugwort]

I agree. however if I was the guy that posted that and then came it to see these responses I would RUN the other way. I would feel like some of the people on this forum didn't want me here because I was new and didn't know a lot.

Now, I freely admit that this could be some lazy kid in college who figured 'beer, that should be easy' but they could just as easily be just like any of the new folks that come on here to ask if they should pitch their yeast when the wort is at 80* 'like the instructions say'. Should they have to chat with us for a week or so first?

Certainly asking specific questions would net them more information but in what form? when the assignment is 'design a survey and gather data with it' you can't use conversations for a forum. it has to be a survey.

I'm just trying to put a different perspective out there. Let's remember when we were in school and feeling overwhelmed. Would it have helped if people we approached for help told us we hadn't earned it?

Agreed.  Nobody likes to be duped but that's the necessary risk if we're going to be welcoming to those new to the hobby-obsession.  To me, this forum is about earnest sharing of knowledge in a virtual community setting.  We tend to take posters at face value with a healthy level of trust, and we happily accept and answer the same post after post, usually without any comment that the poster could have / should have done a simple search before blithely posting a much-repeated question.

I agree with Mort that this goodwill should extend to posts of this sort.  It's easy to conclude that we may be being used, but who really knows.

If this post was some sort of an odd hoax, then some of our egos were mildly harmed and we'll quickly get over it.

If this post was genuine, then we are slamming someone who is reaching out to the homebrewing community, albeit with a specific agenda and project to complete.  As was said, anyone getting this kind of reception would rightly want to get out of AHA Dodge.

[HoosierBrew]

Very well said, mugwort.  I'd rather err on the side of being welcoming and helpful. A one-post guy with an agenda doesn't mean that I'm required to buy whatever he's selling. Probably won't. But in this case I honestly see a couple of slacker college guys who thought a project on beer would be cool doing the bare minimum (if that) to get by. Yes their knowledge of beer styles and the like was obviously lacking. No skin off my butt.

[punatic]

Weee!  Sunshine and lollipops for everybody!!

[ynotbrusum]

I am no engineer, so maybe my take isn't so concerned with engineering students looking bad.  Maybe they are coming up with a legitimate means of controlling temperature in a way that is new and efficient.  If so, then perhaps costs will come down eventually.  I saw something a few months ago, where two cores are inserted into the wort during fermentation and somehow it is similar to computer heat sink technology, able to cool 5 gallons to lager temperatures.  It didn't seem to be worth what they were expecting to charge, but it wasn't too far off from what I would consider using.  This may be a similar project.  I say cut them some slack and let them be students and learn.

[hubie]

I say cut them some slack and let them be students and learn.

Nobody has an issue with wanting to help out people who want to learn.  The more skeptical among us are wondering whether there exists that desire to put in the work and learn, or just look up the answer in the back of the book (or in keeping with the times, look it up on Wikipedia) and try to fill in the middle afterwards.

[ynotbrusum]

I say cut them some slack and let them be students and learn.

Nobody has an issue with wanting to help out people who want to learn.  The more skeptical among us are wondering whether there exists that desire to put in the work and learn, or just look up the answer in the back of the book (or in keeping with the times, look it up on Wikipedia) and try to fill in the middle afterwards.

Re-reading the initial post and survey, you would have to be a cynic of epic proportions not to think that they are students simply asking some questions about brewing habits from a relatively uninformed perspective.  I don't see where anybody is slacking or trying to short cut anything here.  If the engineering project is the ultimate objective, this survey isn't going to provide them any shortcut.  Sheez, people, can't we just get along?

[dmtaylor]

I think we all need to shut the hell up.  We're giving homebrewers a bad name.  Shut up now!  Let my post right here right now be the last!  Don't even say Amen!  Don't say +1.  Just shut up!

[punatic]

Bummer dude, Denny didn't give you the ban hammer.

I know, how about we all hold hands and sing a chorus of kumbaya.