Not exactly... I'm an endodontist. There's a bit of mechanical engineering there, and dentistry in general requires some understanding of material science. I've always been sort of a "gear head" anyway.
I was reminded about aluminum's poor performance under tension last year when my seatpost cracked while I was riding. I had made a small mark on the front (tension... duh!) for ease of adjustment. The mark was smooth so as not to be a stress riser (me smart!). Lesson learned! Luckily, I wasn't hurt too much, and was able to replace the (now shorter) post and ride to my train... looking like an idiot.

Long lever arm with stress riser... what could go wrong?



So that's where the creaking sound was coming from!