Link info from Internship Presentation

Here are some of the links used in the presentation:

• NSF REU programs
  
  
• Dept of Energy Internships
  
  
• TCC Internship Office
  
  
• The "create your own" cover letter example
  
  

... and some other links about specific internships ...

• Magnet Lab
  
  
• REU at FAMU
  
  
• REU at College of Engineering
  
  
• Bing Energy
  
  
• The SMART program with the Dept of Defense
  
  

Notes from the 11 July meeting

We had a very productive meeting this afternoon, even though part of the group thought it was at 2 and the rest showed up at the normal time of 3:30. Such is life.

Two things went on simultaneously. I spent much of the time winding a coil and making a small coil gun actually work (estimated muzzle velocity of 2 m/s). Now we actually know what we are doing, and Emma did a great job taking apart some more cameras and figuring out how the other type works.

The other half was devoted to design work on the Solar Cart charging control system, with the help if Ivan Baggett, a local EE who owns his own company, Bagotronix. From what I could see, that went really well and we owe him a lot of thanks.

Anyone interested in learning more about the controllers he designs and the tools he uses can find some links from his company web site. Thanks again to Ivan and whoever networked with him.

PS -
I rather stupidly managed to wait until I was writing this at 11pm to think what a good idea it might be to have him talk to us about the challenges of running a small company. I know some of my recent alumni are interested in being their own boss. Would the Business club be interested?

VISIT THE ENGINEERING CLUB FORUM

Here is a link to the new forum for the club.
http://www.tccengineeringclub.com/forum/index.php

You will want to visit the forum often, as that is
where many interesting Engineering Club topics
will be reported, including Aaron's report on the
last meeting (02/15/08) and the status of all the
club's on-going activities.

DJ.

Gators -vs- Noles Meeting

We had a great turnout for our 3rd annual presentation by representatives from the University of Florida and the FAMU-FSU Colleges of Engineering.

Ms. Karen Bray, the transfer advisor from UF, gave a short presentation showing videos of some student projects and an overview of the different programs offered at UF. She also distributed information about those programs and answered questions about the transfer process, scholarships, and their transfer mentor program.

Prof. Shih, the chairman of the Mechanical Engineering program at FAMU-FSU, also addressed the same questions and described the differences between the programs available at UF and the ones available at the FAMU-FSU college. Both emphasized the importance of picking a field because you enjoy working hard on those kinds of problems, not because of pay levels of today's job market. There are easier majors if you just want to make money.

There were also a number of comments from others present, both current FSU students and an FSU engineering alumnus (Doug Windham) who is now on the TCC math faculty.

SUMMARY of SGA MEETING // 9-26-07

MIGUEL MARQUINA [MARQU977@tccemail.fl.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 6:57 PM
To:
DOUG JONES

I wanted to report what happened at the SGA meeting today. I would also like for someone to send mass emails to everyone in the club that way we are all informed as a club. For anyone who is interested there are two major events going on.

The first is the relay for life, early registration begins Thursday, Sept27,2007. The ACS would like everyone to register by Oct23,2007 which they are offering any club to register before then to qualify to enter a drawing to cover all registration fees. If there are any further questions, contact Ms. Smith 850-321-5952.

The second is the Aids walk this will take place Oct 14,2007 at Tom Brown Park from 2-5:00pm and there will be a walk that will be 1.5 miles but it's not mandatory.

Next, I made it to the paper! My story and proposal is in the paper! It can be found in the Talon.

I have the registration papers for both events so let me know if anyone is interested or if we want to get known as a club.

Thank you and have a blessed day.
y.

Program info

I have several bits of information related to topics brought up at our last meeting.

Solar Power Project

Aaron has pushed this one step further with an idea to design, install, and test the use of solar electric assist for one of the golf carts used for maintenance or hospitality transport around campus. Part of the project would document the existing energy use of a cart, so the energy demands would be understood and so we would have a reference point to measure the benefit of the solar assist. In addition to being as visible around campus as a kinetic sculpture installed at the SM building, it could even be used in the Springtime Tallahassee parade. A group met on Friday, 7 September, to work on the details.

Rocket Engines

Terry Zimmerman (on the faculty at North Florida CC, and sponsor of their Sentinel Rocket Club) is hosting a workshop by Jimmy Yawn on reloading used Estes-brand rocket motors. The reload propellant is made from simple chemicals, but this will be a "work at your own risk" workshop, not a club activity. In principle, we should be able to reload some used motors and test launch them the same day using the club's launch site in Madison County.

The workshop is scheduled for the morning of Saturday, 6 October, on the NFCC campus. Interested parties can get the details at our next meeting on 21 September. I will not post any other details on the blog because Terry does not want this open to the general public.

Walking on Water

I was able to track down a detailed article about it in a science writer's blog, which included links to a YouTube video of it being done by "El Hormiguero" in Barcelona, Spain. Based on what I found on the TV show's web site, the guy in the white jacket is Flipy, who plays a mad scientist on this TV show. IMDB says the TV program is not available on DVD.



The tank is over waist deep (3.5 ft) and I'd estimate at least 4 ft wide and 10 ft long. That is more than 5 cubic yards, which explains the concrete mixer in the background. A typical concrete truck carries around 5 yards, so they were able to prepare the "oobleck" in that truck and then pour it into the tank. The water alone weighs more than 5 tons, so the tank would require some careful engineering. I don't even want to think about cleanup, but the TV show's promoters likely took care of that.

Possible Future Competition Project

Terry Zimmerman contacted me about possible participation in the Annual CanSat Competition sponsored by the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. If you read the Mission requirements, you will see that the idea is to build a small version of a space probe. Bonus points are awarded if the probe can carry out some activities, such as collecting a soil sample, typical of a Mars lander. Terry's group over at North Florida CC has some rockets that could carry the payload, but not the expertise to build the electronics needed for the project. Google shows that one hobbyist company sells a package that does some of what is needed (probably from last year's competition) for $220. However, like other engineering design competitions, buying is not the objective and just building it is only part of the task. If some of our first-year students are interested, this might make a good 2-year project, using this year to do some experimental work to get ready for next year's competition.

Civil Engineering for K thru 1st grade:

My dad sent me a copy of the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) newsletter from last month. Along with info about their efforts on improving infrastructure while the Minnesota I-35W bridge collapse still has the public's attention, there was a link to an educational project targeted at really young children. Check out Curious George: Let's Build!

ENGINEERING CLUB // NEWS

1. BRIEF REPORT: On Fri., 8/24/07, I attended the ASME LUNCHEON MEETING. It was held at the OLE TIMES BUFFET near the intersection of North Monroe and Tharpe St., 11:45 till 1:00 pm. There were two TCC faculty-types present -- Beth Mann-Pace and I represented the College. Unfortunately, none of our current club members were able to make it. However, George Heller and Chris Loftis, both now at FAMU/FSU and previously officers in our Club were in attendance. There were about 20-25 people present in all.

We had a private room of adequate size; the food was good; and the presentation (12:20 -- 1:00),
The Plasma Torch Waste to Energy Project,
was very informative and interesting. I'm attaching a link to the Tallahassee Section ASME web page. If you go there and click on "Meeting Notices" and then on "Click Here For A Copy Of Ben's Presentation," you should get a pdf copy of Ben Cowart's presentation.

There are several photos in the slide-show which are not captioned. Let me try to do that here:

• slide#2 -- 4 pictures (top left; clockwise) current diverse power sources in TLH: Solar Panels; Lake Talquin Dam; Waste; ( ** I missed this one ** ).
• slide#10, #11, #12 -- a comparable 35MW plant in Japan.
• slide#13 -- a torch at the Japanese plant.
• slide#14 -- slag stream: the waste from the torch process (see slide#9).
• slide#15 -- you can cool the slag and make bricks out of it. It's all vitrified, so nothing bad can leach from it.
  

Here is your link:

http://www.sections.asme.org/tallahassee/


2. REMINDER: On the first day of class, Mon. 8/27/07, the Club will be greeting students in the breeze-way of the SM Building, handing out ENGINEERING CLUB pencils, and helping students find their science and math classrooms. Mrs. Lina Williams is spearheading this project. If you have any time to help out during the day, please contact Mrs. Williams at williaml@tcc.fl.edu.

3. REMINDER: Friday, 8/31/07, 2:30 pm SM 260 -- our first meeting of the semester. There are a lot of plans to be made. Please attend. Also, if you know of anyone who may be interested in the Club, please invite them. You might want to post some response to this blog if you'll be at the meeting, so that we can get some idea of how many PIZZAs to order!

4. NEWS: Your Chair Person, Komlan; Vice Chair, Miguel; and Secretary, Ann, will be joining 7 folks from the FAMU/FSU ASME club Fri., Sat., and Sun., 9/7, 9/8, and 9/9, for the ASME SLS (Student Leadership Seminar) at the Univ. of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I am driving the TCC van/bus(?)

5. NEWS: Please check the official TCC ENGINEERING CLUB website at
http://www.tcc.fl.edu/index.php/tcc/about_tcc/student_affairs/departments/campus_life/student_activities_clubs_entertainment/student_organizations_clubs_teams/enginering_club
(PS For all you programmers out there -- I didn't invent that link!)

I have recently updated that page, and I've put the Club's calendar into action. So if you have any calendar items, please give them to me for posting.



DJ

NOTES on ENGINEERING CLUB MEETING of FRI 7/13/07

• The meeting was called to order shortly after 12:00 Noon by Chairman Komlan Amesse.
• Introductions of attendees were made.
• New Officers were recognized:
  • Vice-Chair (and SGA rep.) -- Miguel Marquina;
  • Secretary -- Ann Wolfgang.
    
• Today's pizza was courtesy of Domino's, and Doug Jones read into the record a letter that he transmitted to Mr. Drew Walker, the manager of the local Domino's, thanking him for the sponsorship of our club.
• We agreed to take part in the Cancer Walk in Oct., but we want to get a club banner before that time, and we'll display the banner in the Walk.
• Also we discussed club t-shirts.
• Regarding an ENGINEERING CLUB study room -- Dean Frank Brown will discuss this with Vice President Barbara Sloan in the near future. Dr. Brown is well aware of our desire to secure such room.
• Lina Williams is coordinating "First Day of Classes" activities for the Club:
  • She needs to get volunteers to take "shifts" outside the SM building on the opening day of classes.
  • We want to get Engineering Club pencils to hand out the first day of classes.
• Mrs. Williams is also coordinating a sequence of fund-raising workshops of (Engineering Club) students -- on -- students. The workshops will concentrate on problem areas in math, mainly algebra.
• The next meeting will be Friday, August 31, at 2:30 pm in SM 260.

NOTES on ENGINEERING CLUB MEETING of TUE 6/19/07

ENGINEERING CLUB
MEETING OF 6-19-2007 (TUE)
3PM SM260
NOTES: D.JONES.

• INTRODUCTIONS


• AGENDA
  
  
  
  • Domino’s Pizza will (future tense) supply us with pizza & drinks. We’ll give them a certificate of appreciation, or some suitable plaque.
  
  
  • Komlan needs volunteers for various committees.
  
  
  • The Senior Section ASME is organizing a plant visitation to Turbocor. The tour will be July 13 (Fri) at 2pm. We have been invited to participate. Jones will be asking for sign-up names and information soon.
  
  
  • T-Shirt Update: Jones is working with Dylan at Deepsouthsigns on the shirts. At this meeting it was decided to see about getting both Polos and T’s.
  
  
  • Parking Deck Update: Clearing of the North Parking area is underway.
  
  
  • Fundraising Update: Amesse will send Dr. Carr wording on criteria for Engineering Scholarship, which will be presented to the Foundation in enlisting their expertise in establishing a scholarship fund.
  
  
  • Club Room Update: Jones has been reminding Dean Brown of our needs. Hopefully we can get something temp. by Fall. Permanent may take a year, depending upon when the Writing Center moves out of the AC Bldg.
  
  
  • Web Page Update: O’Connor is working on it http://www.tccengineeringclub.com/ . Put a link to the e-club blog on it! And a calendar.
  
  
  • Instead of Fall class visitations by club members to advertise the club, it was decided to set up a table at the front of the SM Bldg sometime during the first week or so of classes – with promotional material such as Engineering Club pencils. There will be a sign-up sheet.
  
  
  • Our next meeting will be Fri., 7/13/2007 at 12 noon. As Loftis and Carr pointed out we’ll need to secure at least a Vice Chair and a SGA rep. at that time. Other officers (esp. a Sec!) would be helpful (Jones is an advisor, not a Sec!) Jones will put an invitation on the Blog for Officer Candidates. After this meeting we’ll go to the Turbocor tour.
  
  
  • We’ll probably have the FSU vs GATOR Engineering meeting on or about the 3rd Fri. in Sept. (as per usual).
  
  
  • Meeting adjourned at about 4:30 pm.