Plus: HP’s New Non-Computer, Office Spray Tans and the CDC’s Primer for a Zombie Apocalypse.

UK Students Rank Engineering Heroes
Engineering students in the United Kingdom have ranked Isambard Kingdom Brunel as their favorite icon in their field. In General Electric‘s survey of 900 undergraduates, respondents indicated that both historic and modern engineering figures continue to inspire a new generation of engineers.

The students were asked who they considered to be their hero/icon in the engineering field. Brunel, a leading 19th-century civil engineer, claimed the No. 1 spot.

In the No. 2 position, students ranked industrial designer James Dyson, who developed a new generation of vacuum cleaners. In third place: Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc., which has developed some of the most iconic personal technology products, including the Mark II computer and the iPod. Rounding out the top five were Nikola Tesla, an inventor and engineer whose work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power systems, and Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft.

“We continue to see the impact of these icons all around us today,” Mark Elborne, president and CEO of GE UK, said in an announcement of the findings. “With the very significant environmental, energy and health care challenges we face today and will face in the future, it is critical that we continue to inspire young people into engineering and science, nurturing future generations of Brunels, Newtons and Edisons.”

The survey also looked at the innovations that most inspired would-be engineers. Asked about the most world-changing innovations over the past century, the students listed their top five as: computers and electronics; communications technology; transportation technology; power and energy technology; and manufacturing and materials.

Energy was seen by the students as the biggest challenge that engineering technology should look to address, followed by the environment; food, water and natural resources; societal issues; and the quality of education.

New Superfluous Work Perk: Office Spray Tans
Lunch at your desk, sure — but a spray tan at your desk? This is a thing now? As more tanning salons offer on-site visits, more office workers are taking them up on it, according to the New York Post.

Outfitted with “a pop-up tent” and a “mobile air-brushing contraption,” in-office sprayers say the service makes their clients feel like A-listers. Because the treatment dries quickly, the service can be done virtually anywhere. Mobile sprayers say they’ve worked their magic everywhere from the bathroom at a Manhattan restaurant to the basement of a funeral home.

The Post says the trend began when fashion magazines realized it was cheaper to bring spray tanners to photo shoots instead of painting models with body paint. Soon after, editors at those magazines were calling for their own appointments.

The service typically costs about $100 per office visit, though rates drop depending on how many colleagues you can get to strip down with you in the conference room.

HP Unveils Non-Computer for Folks Who Don’t Need a Computer
Hewlett-Packard has announced the release of the first-ever “non-computer,” a fully unusable device designed specifically for consumers with “absolutely no need to own a computer.”

“For too long, manufacturers have catered exclusively to people expressing at least minimal interest in what a computer has to offer,” HP CEO Léo Apotheker said during a recent press conference. “Meanwhile, there’s an untapped group of consumers out there who’ve been telling us for years, ‘Hey, no thanks. Computers aren’t really for me.’ Well, as of today, someone’s finally listening.”

The deets: Expected to retail for $4.99, the non-computer includes absolutely no software, keyboard, monitor, memory or internal circuitry whatsoever, and was constructed to free users from the computing functions that have historically turned off people who don’t like using computers. According to Apotheker, the non-computer is ideal for people “who can’t imagine typing, surfing the web or sending an e-mail.”

“If you’ve never wanted a computer, this is the product you’ve been waiting for,” Apotheker added.

Source: The Onion, of course.

CDC Have a Plan in Case of Zombie Apocalypse
Even if tomorrow doesn’t turn out to be Judgment Day (around 6 p.m.), we should always be ready for the impending apocalypse. And when it comes to an end-of-days zombie attack, luckily for us, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have a plan in place.

“If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak,” the federal health agency said on its Public Health Matters Blog this week. “CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts and infection control (including isolation and quarantine).”

The CDC provide instructions on coping with a zombie apocalypse, though the suggestions seem more like a primer for non-zombie events, such as a natural disaster or a virus outbreak — develop an emergency plan and stock up on water, food, medication and other supplies. So, to this list we’d add: Practice your cardio.

Cheers.