Imagine building models for a living! These engineers at NAVSEA Carderock in Bethesda, Maryland, spend their days creating and testing models that often become the prototypes for ships in the Navy's fleet. They start with 3-D computer drawings that contain information about the size and shape of a desired ship. Using wood, foam, and fiberglass, the engineers construct ships to scale, meaning the samples are built in miniature with all their features in proportion. During testing, computers, sensors, and cameras measure the way the models hold up to different forces -- even real ocean conditions.
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RatiosBuilding to Scale