My love story with blogging dates back to 2011. I had just arrived in Madrid to study energy engineering. I was excited to be in a big city, in a big university and starting a career I was (and I am) deeply passionate about. At my home town, I had the feeling I was not able to find enough challenges, while Madrid promised more than I could think of.
I began writing the blog Ingenieros en apuros (Engineers in troubles) only one semester into my bachelor. Its original goal was “to help students of engineering to succeed and reach excellence in their degrees, in the most efficient way possible.” Although it is hard to know, I like to think the blog fulfilled its goal. It became a go-to online resource for my colleagues, reaching +100k views in 2015, and some of my classmates told me it had helped them get through some of the courses.
I finished my bachelor three years ago. Almost the same time I have not posted on Ingenieros en apuros. Not because I did not have what to write about but because I felt the blog had accomplished its mission. I wanted to write about other topics and address a different audience. This is my main and first reason to start this blog. I feel the need to write, to share my thoughts, and to engage in discussions about how to address the world challenges. I enjoy doing it, and, perhaps, someone might find it interesting.
The second reason is a pragmatic one: I aim to become a scientist. I agree with Joshua Schimel, author of Writing Science: scientists are professional writers. Hence, as an aspiring one, I need to hone my communication skills and my writing in particular. Thus, blogging might help me become a (better) scientist.
Finally, an idealistic reason. Since many years now, to the question about what my beliefs are, I have always said that I believe in humans. It may sound like cheap talking, but it is not. Think, for example, that music would not exist without humans. Neither would poetry or mathematics. These things make me realize what beauty we are capable of. No doubt, however, we are also capable of terrible things. Yet, we have been able to pull us out of misery. We have enabled many of us – sadly, not nearly enough – to live extraordinarily comfortable lives, and we have done this collectively. Summing up small and big contributions of millions of humans.
We now face outstanding challenges which, if only for its sheer scale, dwarf other previous ones. Writing about a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to energy and sustainability challenges, I hope to contribute, even if slightly, to address them.
If you have reached this line, thank you very much. I hope you will enjoy this blog as much as I do. I look forward to hearing from you and grow together!
Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez 