This is part 2 of Meet Professor Zappy. You can read Part 1 here.
Today we’re continuing our talk with Professor Zappy, famous squirrel scientist, engineer, and adventurer. Prof. Zappy recently launched his Twitter and Instagram account. He has appeared in several videos on standards, and is hoping to complete a video game soon.
Luigi: Your work has got you involved in standards development and you even appeared in some videos about standards. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Prof. Zappy: Yes, well, being a squirrel, we had to be very careful around electrical equipment and installations, such as power substations. So the IEEE 1264 standard, the “Lights Out” video, is personal. The “Come Sail Away” video was suggested by me, from personal experience. During my studies, to learn more about shipboard electrical installations I got a short term job on a cruise ship and spent my free time with the technical folks on the ship. Of course, stopping by the tropical islands was quite the adventure. I climbed all sorts of trees that you just don’t see back home. Unfortunately, other commitments prevented me from appearing in the “Hello World” video.
Luigi: That’s great. I hear you are working on a video game?
Prof. Zappy: Yes, another pet project, no pun intended. The game is based on the IEEE 1264 standard and puts in quite a bit of fantasy to make it more fun. That’s the point of the game, make it fun and hopefully people will enjoy the game while coming to understand how the work we do affects their daily lives. But fun is key, we hope to get young people to playing and with luck, they’ll become interested in engineering, or STEM or STEAM programs in general. I’m actually an amateur artist myself. Engineering does require an active imagination. The game project also gave me the opportunity to work again with my good friend Eddy, although she doesn’t appear in the game itself. She is a great engineer and extraordinary person.
Luigi: Thank you Prof. for speaking with us. By the way, we do have some snacks and beverages in the other room.
Prof. Zappy: h, any acorns?
Luigi: Umm…sorry, no acorns, but we do have an assortment of nuts, you know, almonds, walnuts, pecans…
Prof. Zappy: That’s fine, thanks.
