I took an astronomy class once in college that I found to be extremely interesting. Still, it could have been one of those courses of study where people react, “How would anyone ever make a living with astronomy?”

I remember learning about how astronomers can determine the age of a star by analyzing the light waves through a gas spectrometer. I can’t tell you for sure how people who study astronomy make a living, but I can say that the class instilled awe and wonder within my own mind about the science of the galaxy.

Long before I studied engineering, I was in awe of water. Memories about water include feeling the power of an ocean wave, admiring a water feature in the park or walking on a frozen pond. In plumbing engineering there is an aspect that is arguably nonscientific, that begs us to use our intuition, and pon-der the behavior of the systems we design. Just as astronomers gaze at the stars for inspiration and then apply their science to unlock the secrets of the universe, us plumbing engineers can look at the mysteries of water and apply our engineering skills to design systems for the spaces we live in. While the foundation of astronomy was built by scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo and Newton, one name stands out in the field of plumbing engineering: Bernoul-li.