Believe it or not, engineers like to have fun, too.
Well, at least one of them does.
His name is Matt Holmes, and he’s the man behind Real Civil Engineer. Holmes’ channel isn’t going to take you to see how roads or bridges are constructed—at least, not in real life. No, instead, he’ll do it virtually.
Reak Civil Engineer is a gaming channel—and Holmes loves games that center around building things. Poly Bridge and Cities: Skylines (games about constructing bridges and a functioning city, respectively) are mainstays on the channel, for instance. And whether he’s explaining how a truss bridge bears weight or building virtual freeway designs submitted to him by fans, Holmes will teach his viewers a little bit from his engineering background.
Not every video game uploaded on the Real Civil Engineer channel will have an engineering focus. However, references to the profession and explanations of its practices are relatively common as Holmes puts his experience to use in-game. In Poly Bridge, for instance, Holmes occasionally explains why certain bridge designs work better at withstanding weight than others. In Hydrology Engineer, Holmes talks about how engineers determine where to put rain drainage systems on the road.
Holmes often interacts with his audience in videos, reacting to their engineering builds or enacting them himself.
Real Life Engineer often makes crude jokes about male genitalia. Many of his bridge designs in games (and, by extension, the bridge designs of fan submissions) are intentional depictions of male genitalia. Likewise, toilet humor makes an occasional appearance.
Holmes occasionally uses crude language. The f-word is censored, but words like the s-word, “h—,” “d–n” and various British vulgarities are not. God’s name is used in vain, too.
You may learn a thing or two from Real Civil Engineer. That thing may be that engineers are more fun than they’re stereotyped to be. It may be a tidbit about how freeways are designed in real life. But you may also see or hear some issues you’d rather not. So take that yield sign into consideration before you merge to watch this channel.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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