Hopkins Power Plant tour / ASME welcome party

From Ben Cowart for ASME student members, but I believe any TCC students interested in mechanical engineering are welcome to attend and get recruited. (Student memberships are cheap.)

September 30, 2009

Topic: Tour of AB Hopkins Power Plant
Host: Triveni Singh, City of Tallahassee

Agenda

4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Registration
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Introductions, Announcements, and Recognitions
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Tour
6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. Dinner and Q&A
7:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Clean-up

The Tallahassee Sections welcomes back the student members, with a tour of the Hopkins Plant and cookout. Students, please RSVP to your student Club Advisor NLT Monday, September 28th, so that we can get an approximate head count for buying food. Thank you in advance to Triveni Singh and the Hopkins Plant for hosting this “Welcome Back” Students Event.

The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between US 90 West (W. Tennessee) and HWY 20, Blountstown Highway.

Safety and Dress Code:

This is an operating power plant, please do not wear shorts or loose fitting shirts. Shoes must be closed toe preferably leather. If you have a hard hat and safety glasses, please bring them, as the plant has a limited number.

Please contact Gillian if you plan to attend. They want an RSVP head count so they can plan for the right amount of food.

Detailed directions are in this article from 2008.

Hopkins Power Plant - ASME tour and cookout

UPDATE (9/16):

The tour will be on Wed, 9/30.

Details will appear in a new posting.

- - - - - -

E-mail from the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) local section had the following information about the planned tour and cookout at the Hopkins power plant. I expect we will get final details in a week or so.

You should go on this tour even if you have seen the plant during one of the city's regular October open house events. They give a better, more detailed, tour to engineers -- plus you can talk to FAMU-FSU students, some from TCC!

Date and time:

Thursday, 9/24, from 5 - 7:30

Sadly, this conflicts with my night class so I can't be there except maybe at the end. I haven't seen the final result of the "repowering" project, but maybe I can see that if they have the public open house in October.

Other details:

I don't have them, but clearly they plan to tour the Hopkins power plant, which is quite convenient to campus (5 miles west of Capital Circle SW, between HWY 20 and US 90 on Geddie Road). You can see more detailed directions and a Google map by following this link to info about a previous tour, and you can read information about the dress code for the tour by following this link.

In past years they wanted RSVP information by the preceding Monday (meaning by 9/21) so they could get enough food. Stay tuned for more details.

Tour of Florida DOT Structures Research Center

Plan ahead! Friday, October 10, at 2:45 pm.

We have scheduled a tour of the Florida Department of Transportation's Structures Research Center, which is located in Innovation Park at 2007 East Paul Dirac Dr. (See map info below.) It is kitty-corner across the street (south east) from the Mag Lab. Plan to leave TCC right after your class gets out so we can meet at the building by 2:45.

This will be a real treat for any Civil Engineers, but my student (who works there) says it should also interest electrical and mechanical engineers because of the instrumentation and equipment used to do the tests. This facility is used to "test to failure" (engineer-speak for "break") bridges. Example: take a 60' concrete beam that would normally be part of a bridge, and measure everything that happens as they break it. We can't actually witness one being broken (that happens this week), but we should be able to see the results and how it is done.

• Example from their web site, showing I-75 bridge beam to be tested
• pdf of report about test of I-75 bridge beam

The easiest route from TCC zigzags from Pensacola to Mabry (turn at Goodwill) to Roberts Road (turn left immediately after crossing the railroad tracks) to the back entrance for Innovation Park (right at the top of the hill, just before TurboCor), then left around the circle to Pottsdamer Road. Parking is off of Pottsdamer and there is additional parking across the street and to the south.

• Follow this link to a Google Map of the area

TCC should be in the upper left corner of the page and the Research Center (marked with an A) in the lower right corner of the view if your browser display is similar to mine. I've also embedded the map below, but you can't see TCC in the smaller view of the embedded map.


View Larger Map

HOPKINS POWER PLANT TOUR and ASME SLS ORLANDO MEETING

STUDENTS ---

Many of us have recently had the privilege of attending either the HOPKINS POWER PLANT TOUR or the ASME SLS (Student Leadership Seminar) in ORLANDO. What I request is that two (different) students step forward and write brief summaries of these events for publication in both the ENGINEERING CLUB BLOG and the ASME MONTHLY NEWSLETTER.

If you are willing to volunteer for this job, please email me ASAP (As Soon As Possible) with your choice of assignment and a proposed submittal date. I'll post the names of the two report-writers on the BLOG and via EMAIL as soon as I receive responses.

If selected, you should at least run a spell-check on your work, but I will proof-read and edit as necessary. So don't be fearful of giving it a "try."

Remember, ultimately, as a professional you will "get paid" for writing reports. Science involves the dissemination of information. And, although I'm asking for a descriptive summary, not an analytical report, this can be a start to your writing experience.

--- DJ

SM 243
850-201-8120 (Office)
850-201-8119 (FAX)
jonesd@tcc.fl.edu

POWER PLANT TOUR & COOKOUT

REMINDER!!!!!

The Tallahassee Section ASME welcomes back the student members with a tour of the City of Tallahassee's Hopkins Plant, and cookout. Menu will be hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.

The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between Us 90 (West Tennessee Street) and HWY 20 (Blountstown Highway).

Date: Thursday, September 18th from 5:30 PM to 9 PM.

RSVP: Monday, 9/15/08 (to get an approximate head count for buying food)

STUDENTS - Please request RSVP by MONDAY 9/15 to your student Club Adviser:

(DOUG JONES ===> EMAIL: jonesd@tcc.fl.edu
Send me your name and your email address.
Subject line: HOPKINS TOUR )


Thank you in advance to Triveni Singh and the Hopkins Plant for hosting
this “Welcome Back” Students Event.


PS There is another post on this blog addressing the dress required to tour a power plant:
http://engineeringtcc.blogspot.com/2008/09/dress-code-for-power-plant-tour-thurs.html


[ The heart of this message is an email that I received from the TALLAHASSEE SECTION ASME which I modified to contain information specific to the TCC ENGINEERING CLUB. ]

-- DJ

DRESS CODE for POWER PLANT TOUR THURS. SEPT. 18.

Safety and Dress Code:

The Hopkins Power Plant is an operating power plant.

Please do not wear shorts or loose fitting shirts.

Shoes must be closed toe preferably leather.

If you have a hard hat and safety glasses, please bring them, as the plant has a limited number.

Sept. 18 Tour of Power Plant and Cookout

Doug left out one important thing from the e-mail:

Students, please RSVP to your student Club Advisor no later than Monday, September 15th, so that we can get an approximate head count for buying food. Menu will be hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.

The Plant is located about 5 miles west of Capital Circle SW on 1125 Geddie Road, between US 90 West (W. Tennessee) and HWY 20 (Blountstown Highway, which you join by heading west on Pensacola from TCC). It is easier to reach the plant from Pensacola/ Blountstown Highway. You have to go over a nasty railroad crossing if you come down from Tennessee St.

Follow this link to bring up a Google Map with a tag at the plant entrance, or use the embedded map below. The map linked above is a little bit better because it is centered so you should be able to see TCC (and Appleyard Dr) on the right side with the power plant location on the left side.


View Larger Map

SEPTEMBER ASME TOUR and COOKOUT

Please "click" on the flyer to enlarge it.

BUDWEISER / JACKSONVILLE TOUR

On Sat morning March 1, at 8:15am the TCC Ford 350 12-person van departed TCC for Budweiser in Jacksonville. Your driver was Doug Jones, and his “cargo” comprised 6 FAMU/FSU students and 2 TCC students.

We arrived at the Bud Brewery at 11:30 and caught the tour immediately – perfect timing. The formal tour ended at 12:25 in the “Hospitality Room” where persons over 21 enjoyed complementary beverages. Your Driver drank Root Beer! At this time we were joined by the plant’s environmental engineer who spent about ½ hour describing some of the more technical aspects of the plant and answering our questions.

We lunched at a quaint establishment on Jacksonville’s famous Riverside and returned to Tallahassee, arriving at about 6:45pm.

I have only a few photos, as my camera’s battery ran low; however, I expect to receive more pictures from others on the tour. I post mine now and the others as I receive them.

DJ.

EMERGENCY NOTICE ...

TOUR OF BUDWEISER PLANT IN JACKSONVILLE, FL
SAT 03/01/2008
DEPART: 8AM
RETURN: SAT AFTERNOON/EVENING.

===============================

IF YOU HAVE SIGNED-UP TO GO (OR IF YOU DIDN'T SIGN UP, BUT YOU NOW WANT TO GO) ON THE JACKSONVILLE FIELD TRIP (BUDWEISER PLANT), PLEASE CONTACT DOUG JONES AT ONCE. I MUST GET THE NAMES SUBMITTED BY YESTERDAY AT 4:30 PM.... BUT NOBODY RESPONDED TO MY EMAIL.

EMAIL ME AT
jonesd@tcc.fl.edu

OR CALL ME AT 850-201-8120.


WE'LL LEAVE AT 8AM (REVISED TIME) FROM THE FACULTY PARKING LOT BEHIND (TO THE IMMEDIATE NORTH OF) THE SCIENCE & MATH BUILDING.

WE'LL TRAVEL IN THE TCC FORD 350 13-PERSON VAN.

AND WE'LL RETURN THE SAME DAY (SAT).

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP