Destin Sandlin

Destin Sandlin

Photo of Destin Sandlin taken by his wife, January 2014
Born Destin Wilson Sandlin[1]
Residence Alabama
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Alabama
University of Alabama, Huntsville[1]
Occupation Rocket Engineer
YouTube Personality
Known for Educational YouTube videos[2]
Spouse(s) Tara Sandlin @destinsbride
Children 4

Destin Sandlin, born 1981, is an American engineer best known for his educational video series, Smarter Every Day (SED),[3][4] which he started in 2007 as an informal series of educational Youtube videos — and which he formally named Smarter Every Day in early 2011, with an episode titled Detonation vs Deflagration.

With more than 3 million subscribers, Sandlin was one of three Youtube channel hosts selected in early 2016, as part of a White House initiative to reach millennial audiences, to conduct a one-on-one interview with President Obama[5] after his final State of the Union address.[6]

Background

Sandlin attended the University of Alabama as an undergraduate, where he studied mechanical engineering. He later obtained a graduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.[1][7] While an undergraduate, he was awarded the University of Alabama's Outstanding Senior Award.[1] He is a full-time Missile Flight Test Engineer at Redstone Arsenal.[8][9]

A resident of Alabama, Destin is married with four children (two daughters and two sons);[10] is a practicing Christian[11] and credits his grandfather for having shaped his world view and for encouraging his love of science.

He credits his fascination with the scientific method and his job as a rocket engineer for having inspired him to make educational videos.

Smarter Every Day

Sandlin at Skepticon in November 2015.

Having begun posting education videos in 2007, Sandlin's first video reaching 1 million views came on July 10, 2009.[12] The video was about chicken head tracking using chickens that Destin bought for his father as a demonstration. Because of its popularity this video retroactively had Smarter Every Day added to its name. Mercedes-Benz capitalized on the popularity of this video in their "MAGIC BODY CONTROL TV commercial Chicken".[13]

Sandlin formally launched Smarter Every Day (SED) On Apr 24, 2011 with a video titled "Detonation vs Deflagration - Smarter Every Day 1,"[14] which became the title for subsequent videos and the sole focus of his YouTube channel.

Episodes of SED feature scientific experiments with Sandlin hosting or narrating. He has demonstrated experiments such as tracking the movement patterns of a chicken’s head, a do-it-yourself high-speed camera, and other content designed to educate viewers on a variety of scientific topics.[15] As of 2016, the channel has over 3.5 million subscribers and 253 million views.[16]

Destin closes each episode of SED with a reference to a Bible verse, typically Psalm 111:2, as featured on the doors to Cavendish Laboratory at the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge),[11][17] though many other verses have also been used.

Channel Statistics

Channel Subscribers 3 683 900+
Total Channel Views 265,802,300+
# of videos with >1M views 48
# of videos with <1M and >500K views 39
Total # of videos 239

[18][19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 http://eng.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/capstone_engineer_fall2003.pdf
  2. ↑ "SmarterEveryDay". YouTube.
  3. ↑ "Huntsville engineer's YouTube channel, 'Smarter Every Day,' in running for best entertaining, educational videos". AL.com.
  4. ↑ ""Smarter Every Day" teaches science lesson by blowing things up". cbsnews.com. 25 April 2011.
  5. ↑ Rachel Martin (January 17, 2016). "YouTube Star Talks Space With President Obama". NPR.
  6. ↑ P. Claire Dodson (January 12, 2016). "Meet The YouTubers Interviewing President Obama After The State Of The Union Address". Fast Company.
  7. ↑ "UAH - News". uah.edu.
  8. ↑ "Huntsville missile engineer in YouTube spotlight for Smarter Every Day channel". AL.com.
  9. ↑ "Test engineer making people Smarter Every Day". The Redstone Rocket.
  10. ↑ Sandlin, Destin. "WE HAD A BABY!! - Smarter Every Day 132". YouTube. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  11. 1 2 Belew, Duncan. "Interview with a Rocket Scientist and YouTube Science Educator". Where were you when you were twenty-four?. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Sandlin, Destin. "Chicken Head Tracking - Smarter Every Day". YouTube. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Mercedes-Benz TV: MAGIC BODY CONTROL TV commercial "Chicken"". YouTube. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  14. ↑ Sandlin, Destin. "Detonation vs Deflagration - Smarter Every Day 1". YouTube. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Storbeck, Devon. "Introducing Smarter Every Day, your July On The Rise winner". YouTube: Official Blog. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "SmarterEveryDay". YouTube.
  17. ↑ Rigden, John S.; Stuewer, Roger H (29 May 2009). The Physical Tourist: A Science Guide for the Traveler. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 1. ISBN 9783764389338. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "About". SocialBlade. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Videos". YouTube. Retrieved 15 March 2016.

External links

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