Learners Live

Did you Know?
Menu

Implementing AI in Electrical Applications— Part 2 by Michael Morris

William Attardi on August 9, 2025

From the EC&M e-books library: How the industry is responding to data center challenges, influx in electrical grid demand, and artificial intelligence. For this e-book, we’ve collected a selection of articles that further explores different ways artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting the electrical industry. This article looks at how new technology, specifically AI, will increase demands on data centers and how electrical engineers are working to ensure data centers can meet these demands. Building off that theme, the next articles look at the relationship between data centers, AI, and the electrical grid. Implementing AI in Electrical Applications— Part 2 | EC&M  Part 1: Implementing AI in Electrical Applications— Part 1 | EC&M

 

Implementing AI in Electrical Applications— Part 1 by Michael Morris

William Attardi on March 17, 2025

From the EC&M e-books library: How the industry is incorporating artificial intelligence into the electrical space.  Ever since the rise of ChatGPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has been unavoidable. Just about every industry is developing ways to incorporate AI into their field, and the electrical industry is no different. EC&M has followed the rise of AI in order to keep our readers informed on how the technology is impacting the electrical industry. This content has been immensely popular, so we decided to collect some of the best articles into our first e-book of 2025. The topic of artificial intelligence and its role in the electrical industry is such an important and rapidly evolving one that we decided we’ll need two e-books to do it justice. Stay tuned for “Implementing AI in Electrical Applications — Part 2” releasing later in 2025.  67d1dc96c1db52f96511aefc-ecm_ebook_implementing_ai (1).pdf

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.