11 Holiday Gift Ideas for Any Engineer
The holidays are an exceptional time of the year, during which we surprise our loved ones with memorable gifts. Engineers are thought to be a special kind of person with out-of-the-ordinary dreams and views on the world, but even though it is a generalization, there is truth to it as with people in every profession. When it comes to finding the right gifts for engineers, we tend to come up with something techy, but is that enough? Let’s begin the quest to buy the engineer’s dream gift!
Gift Guidelines
Being an engineer is luckily not a gender-specific job anymore, unlike in the 20th century, therefore it is more difficult to predetermine the basic rules of gifting. There are still a few rules of thumb to follow:
Engineers are ordinary people, similar to anybody else. They eat, pray and love! Get to know the person before buying a present, because a simple profession-based gift might end up being considered rude or only a joke.
Engineers have studied long enough to get used to books. Ask around what genre your loved one prefers and buy one or more books. A few examples a little later.
Engineers, as probably any other member of your family, would consider an event a great gift. Go somewhere together, or maybe with a group of friends. From a simple dinner to organized walks or even a trip to a distant location are all wonderful ideas.
Make the gift yourself! If your budget is low, you should consider creating something that can represent your love and thoughts toward this awesome other person.
In our list of gift ideas, we are going to look mostly at techy stuff. Let’s see what are the best new items to collect!
1. The Oculus Quest 2
Facebook’s Oculus Rift has split into two tracts, the tethered Oculus Rift S and the mobile Oculus Quest. The updated Oculus Quest 2 was released in 2020 and features higher resolution graphics, a more comfortable fit, and the ability to tether to your computer to completely replace the Oculus Rift S with this Oculus Link Cable.
It’s white, sci-fi design gets all the attention quickly. It allows you to immediately jump into the world of virtual reality while not being constrained to your computer room. More than 100 games can be played with VR experience, including:
National Geographic’s Explore VR
Journey of the Gods
Cloudlands, FitXR - a virtual fitness studio
Down the Rabbit Hole - an arcadic twist on the classic Alice-story
The Wizards - a first-person magic shooter.
Don’t forget that the gifted will required a powerful PC and games are bought separately.
2. Theragun Prime
If your loved one has spent too much time sitting in the home office environment, it is easy to get muscle issues. Cramped shoulders, back, waist, and the most easy-to-be-stressed body part, our neck, are common to be hurting.
If he or she lifts weights, runs, does Crossfit, or exercises often, this would also be perfect to massage their muscles.
Theragun Prime is a state-of-the-art massage revolver capable of handling tightness, stiffness, and soreness in the muscle. Get your engineer on board, and have them experience the extreme pleasure of not hurting anywhere.
3. The New PlayStation 5
SONY’s console, PlayStation, has been competitive in the gaming industry since 1994, but ever since the PS3, it has been at the forefront of the console debates.
Everybody is waiting for its new addition to be shipped to stores in early November 2020. All the major video game developers are cooking something fantastic, so they would not miss the hype. Not only is it a gaming system, the PS5 also acts as a complete entertainment system that can tie into live TV, streaming services, and anything else in their app store.
It is an expensive, yet ideal gift that will be relevant for years.
Also, here’s a list of some of the most anticipated game releases for the PS5.
4. LifeFuels Smart Bottle
As fitness and health are again an important part of our lifestyle, drinking water is also getting more exposure. Staying hydrated is critical to losing weight and for maintaining it too. LifeFuels’ smart bottle and its connected mobile app help the gifted to get the right amount of water, at the right time, boosted with vitamins, antioxidants, and electrolytes.
The bottle includes flavor pods that automatically dispense into the water. The smart part is it connects to a mobile app that’s used for automated tracking, adjusting the flavor/strength, and flavor recipes.
5. Nonda ZUS Smart Vehicle Health Monitor
The Nonda ZUS is a smart vehicle monitor and a small device connected to the car through the computer code reader. Especially if your loved one is driving an older car (assuming it’s modern enough to include a built-in computer), this device is extremely helpful in saving money and providing feedback on the engine’s and other car parts’ health.
Don’t use your insurance company’s offering, use this one instead. This will provide you with more detailed information and it will not share your status unless you choose to.
6. Courant Catch 3 Qi
Let us guess: your engineer friend or relative has at least one high-end mobile device, like the latest iPhone or Android phone. If that is true, then this little piece of equipment will definitely come in handy, as it provides super-fast, wireless charging and pairs as a storage for your wallet, keys, and anything else you often carry in your pockets.
Great for a desk, a night stand, a counter, or a work bench.
7. DraftPour Beer Dispenser
Imagine a party at home where your engineer friend or you, as the host, can serve cool beer that looks and feels like a draft at a bar. Place any beer bottle or can into the dispenser and run the tap to create micro-foam bubbles that create a perfect, smooth beer draft.
8. Canvia - Digital Art Canvas & Smart Digital Frame
Again from the more expensive range, Canvia is a high-end, impressive digital frame. Imagine having a classic renaissance piece of art on your wall one week, then switching it to the impressionist master, Monet’s Boulevard Des Capucines, and the next week to a fantastic family photo. This digital frame can provide all in high-quality without any compromise.
9. Breville CS10001 Joule Sous Vide
If your loved one is not the best chef in the kitchen but is interested in becoming one - here is the solution. Using this sous vide machine, any meat or vegetables can be ‘sous vide’-ed, also known as cooked for a longer time period (hours) on lower heat to become crumbly, juicy, and much tastier compared to oven-cooked ones. Cook your steak to restaurant style perfection.
Or better yet… Buy one for yourself instead, and cook for your friend.
10. Gift Cards
We admit it’s lazy business, although, it is much better to hand out a gift card than to wrap up something that is not just expensive but will never again be used. Give them a gift card to their favorite restaurant, a hardware store, Best Buy, a Spartan Race, or anything they’re interested in or have talked about in the past.
11. The Art of Doing Science and Engineering
If you do get a book related to their profession as a gift, it better be something that can be displayed proudly. This hardcover book by Richard Hamming comes highly recommended by many prominent engineers including Palmer Lucky.
Jarrett Linowes
Mechanical Engineer
omniamfg@gmail.com
Did I miss anything you are interested in? Send me an email or comment below!
