Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Engineering Club Meeting 10/7/2011

There will be an Engineering Club meeting on Friday, 7 October, at 2:30 in the SM-260 conference room that is just to the left of the Science and Math office.

Our guests will be several students from the College of Engineering at FSU and/or FAMU representing different majors in the college. They will be talking about what students in their major do and what it takes to succeed in engineering. I understand that all majors (Civil and Environmental, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, and Industrial) will be represented.

I know that the mechanical engineering student will bring a few robots from the STRIDe Lab where she works.

Each will give a short talk about the kinds of projects you might work on in their field and the skills you need from your basic courses (chemistry, physics, and calculus) to get off to a good start.

Rumor has it that there will be some food available.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Public Open House at Hopkins Power Plant

FSU isn't playing football, so this weekend is when they schedule things like the Flying Circus of Physics at FSU (Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm) and an open house at the Hopkins Power Plant (Sunday from 1 to 5 pm).

If you read this announcement you should notice that cameras are no longer allowed inside the power plant during the tour. You also need real shoes on your feet to go on the tour.

I learned about the power plant open house because I heard from TAEVA (Tallahassee Area Electric Vehicle Association) that they are going to have some electric vehicles on display there. That collection might include one or two that are "shade tree mechanic" conversions. The city also usually has their rescue people there showing how they cut you out of a car wreck along with other demos.

A map of the FSU Physics area and other info about the Flying Circus is available here. Some of the lab spaces include demos that we don't have the equipment to do at TCC, most available to play with "hands on".

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Info about National Concrete Canoe results

FYI, my Dad sent me a link to the American Society of Civil Engineers 2011 Concrete Canoe results.

The article includes a nice photo gallery showing the different canoes entered in the competition as well as the winners.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Concrete Canoe -- TCC Alumni program

Tuesday, May 31, at 2:30 in SM-116

Although this is not an "official" Engineering Club meeting because it is summer, you are all invited to attend a presentation by several TCC alumni who are now at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

The main presentation will be about the design and construction of a concrete canoe by a team of civil engineers, but they and their friends studying other fields of engineering will also talk in general about what is needed to succeed after transferring from TCC to FSU or FAMU.

The presentation will be informal, so I think those of you with work or class conflicts could still show up at 3:30 and ask questions.

Background Info:

Two TCC alumni were part of a team that participated in the national "concrete canoe" competition last spring. Among other things, they will be bringing a mockup showing how the canoe was designed and samples of the extremely lightweight concrete they designed.

The presentation is in the SM116 classroom at 2:30 pm on Tuesday, May 31. I expect their presentation will last about an hour, but they say it will continue informally as long as there are questions. The only constraint is that we have to clean up and leave before a 5:00 class uses that room.

Although the team is made up of civil engineers, they are planning to have friends from mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering present next Tuesday to provide a broader perspective on the skills needed to survive and become an engineer.