YouTube, an oft-overlooked cornucopia of wonderfully high-quality, well-researched, well-presented, and interesting educational content. Soon after its inception in 2005, YouTube established itself as the locus of entertainment for anything cat-related or capable of being shoe-horned into the format of a “Top-Ten List.”
It may seem like YouTube’s prime function is to provide a library of comedic exploits and vlogs, but the platform offers so much more than that. To shed some light on these lesser-known facets of YouTube, I will be doing an ongoing series of articles highlighting individual videos or content creators who are doing excellent work to educate their viewers – focusing on those videos/creators who touch on subjects near and dear to the Clean Cities world.
Articles in this series will primarily serve to direct attention to the amazing work that YouTube creators are doing. I aim to provide something of an appetizer for the main course that is the video/creator in question.
Note: To step into the language of the YouTube space, I will henceforth refer to YouTube creators by their channel name, particularly since some channels are run by small teams.
Channel Spotlight: Engineering Explained
To kick off this series, I feel that there is only one channel I can possibly start with, and that’s Engineering Explained. The channel was started and is run by Jason Fenske, who graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University. He has a great bio on his website, so I will spare you the minutiae of his personal life – the important thing here is the fantastic videos he creates.
For years, Engineering Explained has provided video explanations of the technical workings of the automotive industry. With loads of hands-on mechanic experience and a degree to back it all up, his explanations manage to be approachable yet thorough. I have been watching his videos personally for around 5 years now, and I often re-watch many of his videos when I feel like I need to understand a topic better.
His videos span a variety of topics throughout the automotive industry, and some of his videos have even been used in various Clean Cities University lessons to explain relevant technology. While only a handful of videos on his channel are alt-fuel related, they are all very high quality. What’s more, he even cites his sources!
If there is something automotive-related that you’ve been wondering about, if you’re looking for tips about taking care of your engine, or just interested in watching a review of a new car, Engineering Explained likely has a video to meet your needs.
I will be doing articles specifically highlighting individual videos by Engineering Explained in the future, but here is a short list of his videos that I think are particularly interesting (in no particular order):
