Professional and Career Topics

At a recent classroom visit, one of my coworkers explained to the students that "cement" and "concrete" are actually not the same thing since cement is a component within concrete. To call "concrete" "cement" would be like calling "bread" "flour" instead. 

In another baking analogy, one of my favorite professors said something along the lines of, "If you can make chocolate chip cookies, you can batch concrete. It's all about mixing the right ingredients in the right proportions."

Have you heard any fun ways to explain technical civil engineering concepts to non-technical or student audiences?

Do you have any civil engineering analogies you like to use?

Maybe a rift is "form follows function." This was a favorite of my undergrad structural engineering professor and something I've carried in my head for 46 years. One can do a search to learn about the saying's history.