Nuclear Cafe

      Yesterday I was invited to the most odd ball luncheon I think I've ever attended.  The Nuclear Cafe is a kind of social club a couple of young engineers at MPR started where engineers can present the newest, cutting-edge design features of nuclear power plants, discuss the advantages of these plants, and debate the challenges and obstacles of manufacturing them, all while munching on rocket-shaped munchies.  You heard me.  Perhaps the most impressive delicacy was the rocket-shaped watermelon with fruit spilling out of the top!  The luncheon was truly, well, nuclear.  Despite the utter hilarity of the entire scene, I learned a lot from the presentations.  Many of the engineers who attended were young so they presented in a way in which I could actually understand the high-tech, proprietary information they were talking about.  It was also intriguing to observe the different age dynamics that exist at MPR.  In Product Development, where I've been spending the majority of my time, the engineers are older, more experienced, and more serious.  Since the nuclear department comprises 50% of the company's industry, there are more young engineers.  I enjoyed listening to their wise-crack jokes about nuclear power plants while munching on the rocket-shaped delicacies soaking up the strange social dynamics in the world of engineering.  Nuclear Cafe, just another day on the job at MPR.