A hero of the Battle of Gettysburg and a veteran of many other American Civil War battles, Washington Roebling assumed the duties of Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge only a few short years after the war ended. This report was written by Roebling and his staff six years before the completion of the famous bridge. It contains fascinating details about the construction methods, material selection, and materials testing that are easily understood by any lay person. Roebling suffered a debilitating injury from decompression sickness due to time spent deep in the bridge's caissons. His wife Emily was essential in helping him finish the project while viewing it from his apartment windows. She was a critical link between her husband and his engineers on the construction site, as well as helping him write reports. For the first time, this long-out-of-print book is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

“A welcome tribute to the persistence, precision and humanity of Washington Roebling and a love-song for the mighty New York bridge he built.” - The Wall Street Journal Chief Engineer is the first full biography of a crucial figure in the American story--Washington Roebling, builder of the Brooklyn Bridge. One of America's most iconic and recognizable structures, the Brooklyn Bridge is as much a part of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. Yet its distinguished builder is too often forgotten--and his life is of interest far beyond his chosen field. It is the story of immigrants, the frontier, the Civil War, the making of the modern world, and a man whose life modeled courage in the face of extreme adversity. Chief Engineer is enriched by Roebling's own eloquent voice, unveiled in his recently discovered memoir, previously thought lost to history. The memoir reveals that his father, John-a renowned engineer who came to America after humble beginnings in Germany-was a tyrannical presence in Roebling's life. It also documents Roebling's time as a young man in the Union Army, where he built bridges to carry soldiers across rivers and fought in pivotal battles from Antietam to Gettysburg. He then married the remarkable Emily Warren Roebling, who played a crucial role in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, Roebling's grandest achievement-but by no means the only one. Elegantly written with a compelling narrative sweep, Chief Engineer introduces Washington Roebling and his era to a new generation of readers.

Congratulations on being selected as a Chief Engineer! You've been handed tremendous responsibilities and your success will play a huge role in achieving NASA's mission. Now what? Three Sigma Leadership is a practical guide through the challenges of leadership. It provides an overview of twenty-four key leadership skills, each described fully and backed with relevant real-life experiences from the author's career. NASA sets the bar high for its Chief Engineers, and Three Sigma Leadership explains those expectations in straightforward terminology. Each chapter provides familiar surroundings for engineers and speaks in their language, but also lays out the higher standard of leadership skills necessary to perform the job of a Chief Engineer.