Magic promotes understanding

By Signe Gry Braad

Jakob Rasmussen from DTU Mechanical Engineering takes out three identical pieces of rope measuring approximately 40 cm.
“Go ahead and check them, ” he says, handing them to me. I confirm that they are three pieces of ordinary rope and hand them back to him.

But then something miraculous happens—Jakob Rasmussen’s hands move quickly through the air and the three pieces of rope begin to change length, as he explains that in measuring technology, you must always measure three objects as a minimum and the same object more than once. Otherwise you risk ending up with products that are either too long or too short.

Finally, he holds up a single length of rope. How he did it is impossible to say—for Jakob Rasmussen is not only a measuring technology engineer at DTU Mechanical Engineering, but also a genuine magician performing under the name TrylleJakob (Magic Jakob)—not to mention a member of Magic Circle of Denmark who has published a book featuring his best magic tricks.

Receptive audience
On the face of it, measuring technology and magic have little in common, but Jakob Rasmussen has nonetheless experimented with introducing a little magic into his measuring techniques and tolerances course for an introductory class of students. Here he uses tricks, for example, to illustrate to his students the importance of adopting a thorough approach to the subject.

However, he gave careful thought to the matter before launching into his experiment.

“I thought long and hard about how best to incorporate magic into the course and about what kind of tricks to use. Naturally, I was excited to see how the students and other teaching staff would react,” explains Jakob Ramussen.

Fortunately, the idea took hold.
“I found the students incredibly receptive because they weren’t expecting to see me perform magic. Some of them actually stood up so they could get a better look at what I was doing. I must admit, I’ve never experienced that before in my time at DTU.”

In actual fact, Jakob Rasmussen does not see a big difference between performing magic in front of an audience and teaching a group of students. In either case it is important to reach the people on the back row so they feel he is there for them and not simply in love with the sound of his own voice.

Heavy theory
Jakob Rasmussen hopes that his magic tricks can stimulate student interest in measuring technology. Personally, he finds the subject both exciting and indispensable, but he is aware that it has a reputation for being a little heavy.

“Precision is the most important aspect of measuring technology and there is only one approach if you want to get things right. The students must therefore familiarize themselves with a great deal of theory before they can begin experimenting with measuring tools and that can frighten people away,” he concedes.

Precisely because of the extensive amounts of required theory, Jakob Rasmussen holds off on performing magic until the students are about halfway through the study programme. Academic content remains the priority.

Exactly which magic elements he intends to incorporate in the future, Jakob Ramussen refuses to divulge, but there is no doubt that he has a trick or two up his sleeve.