Thursday, May 28, 2009
Self contained rechargeable lamps
LED light, battery, charger and small solar panel all in one neat package. Can be used for automotive uses, reduce electrical use from the auto batteries. Great for bicycle uses
Wireless communication for auto/commercial vehicles
Instead of using wires for communication (J1939, etc) some can use wireless protocols. For example, PTO controls on the cherry picker bucket, portable remote PTO controls, etc
Cylinder deactivation on commercial vehicles
- cylinder deactivation when there's no load
- active communication with transmission for smooth shifts
- maybe use the exhaust brakes over the cylinders and convert that to air pressure or to an air motor for charging batteries?
- full communication with electrical system, if there are enough electrical demands, use just enonugh power from the engine to power it, if not, do batteries need charging, if not do air tanks need topped off, if not deactivate cylinder by not squirting fuel
- active communication with transmission for smooth shifts
- maybe use the exhaust brakes over the cylinders and convert that to air pressure or to an air motor for charging batteries?
- full communication with electrical system, if there are enough electrical demands, use just enonugh power from the engine to power it, if not, do batteries need charging, if not do air tanks need topped off, if not deactivate cylinder by not squirting fuel
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Coal plant conversion to solar
How it works today
Simply, a coal plant heats up a tank of water until it turns into steam and that pressurized steam is used to turn a turbine which turns a generator to generate electricity. Currently coal power plants supply about 50% of the electricity in the US.
How it can work tomorrow
Instead of heating the water tank with coal fired burners, heat it with concentrated solar (simple mirrors are the cheapest). This is most efficiently done on plants that are being decomissioned anyway. Conversion of currently operational plants can be costly. The excess heat can also be used to generate a smaller amount of power by using a Stirling engine generator. On days where the sun is not very strong, the Stirling engine should still provide some power (all it needs is a difference in temperature, the larger the better). It is possible to use geothermal for the Stirling engine
The downside
Cost, there will be a cost associated in installing the mirrors and preparing the system to be heated by solar. Not all locations will be appropriate for this application, there may not be enough sunshine available. The plant will be able to supply power when the sun is hot enough to heat up the water.
Simply, a coal plant heats up a tank of water until it turns into steam and that pressurized steam is used to turn a turbine which turns a generator to generate electricity. Currently coal power plants supply about 50% of the electricity in the US.
How it can work tomorrow
Instead of heating the water tank with coal fired burners, heat it with concentrated solar (simple mirrors are the cheapest). This is most efficiently done on plants that are being decomissioned anyway. Conversion of currently operational plants can be costly. The excess heat can also be used to generate a smaller amount of power by using a Stirling engine generator. On days where the sun is not very strong, the Stirling engine should still provide some power (all it needs is a difference in temperature, the larger the better). It is possible to use geothermal for the Stirling engine
The downside
Cost, there will be a cost associated in installing the mirrors and preparing the system to be heated by solar. Not all locations will be appropriate for this application, there may not be enough sunshine available. The plant will be able to supply power when the sun is hot enough to heat up the water.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
SOLS 2006
I was hoping to post the blog day by day. I got too busy and had to do a hand written journal instead. Here's my account of SOLS/LDS 2006
Accomodation
The hotel is a brand new facility with a separate conference center and gaming center (ie casino). Outdoor hot tub and pool that seems to be usable all year long; even this weekend. There weren't very many Arizonian who were swimming, but visitors from the Northwest and Northeast thought the weather was nice and warm. There is a beautiful flaming fountain up front that could easily be mistaken for the heated pool; it's quite large
Only several miles from Scottsdale, the area was ruggedly beautiful. The sunsets and sunrises were outrageously colorful and the landscape reminded me of a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood Western movies.
Conclusion
Having attended a few other leadership conferences, I must say that this is the most useful one that I've been to. I may not feel as charged up and ready to tackle the world as some of the other ones I've been to (this feeling never lasts anyway). But I came away from the 2 day conference with more useful knowledge than any of the other ones. The knowledge I gained in addition to theencouragement from SAE International are the two things that will keep the SOLS/LDS attendees involved in SAE. Not only will we keep getting involved in SAE, but we'll be enthusiastic enough about it that we will be influencing other people to also be involved.
There's so much that I got from this conference that even describing the events as I have above took several pages, let along mentioning everything that I thought was beneficial from this conference. Please feel free to ask me specific questions and I'll be happy to ramble on.
To the people I've met at 2006 SAE SOLS/LDS:
I'm glad to see so many student members participating in SAE. Not only that, but each of you were enthusiastic about what you're doing, about SAE's benefits and values that I can not imagine how many people you will influence to be involved in SAE with your energy.
The other thing I'm also superbly glad about is the number of younger professionals who are involved in a leadership role in their local sections. Every one that I met were also as energetic about SAE as the students. I have faith that you will do well and that by working together we can show other engineers the value of SAE.
Wednesday, Jan 18 2006
After arriving at PDX 13 minutes before my plane is scheduled to take off and a 3 hour flight, I arrived at PHX. This year the event is held at a hotel/resort/casino in Scottsdale, AZ. At the registration booth, familiar faces and names greeted me. If you've been involved with the recent student competitions, Kaley Shellhammer should be familiar to you. For those who have been involved with student competitions in the 90s and early 00s, Shanin Hart should be familiar to you. The professional section officers should know Brian Taylor; at least by email.
After I got my cowboy hat (for those who went to 2005 Mini Baja series you should already have one), checked in to my room and freshened up a little, it was nearing 6:00pm local time. I was looking forward for some kind of food after having eaten nothing for the day. I was suspicios that something was not quite right when the bar at the reception area was not manned. Other people started to file in and it was not long after it became obvious that we were ready for an event that Brian Taylor announced that because of the time zone difference, reception would be at 7:00pm local time.
An hour went by quickly and we quickly reconvened to mingle, socialize and enjoy the hors D'ouevre. Each participant was given two drink tickets; "nothing sets the tongue loose like booze". It was not surprising to me how quickly many of us became comfortable with each other and find many common interests. There was still a bit of separation between the professional members and the students. There should be a rule that within any given group of minglers the ratio of student to members should be close to 50%. :-)
Dinner was great with recognition awards given to the outgoing SAE International Board members. I should mention that this weekend is also the SAE International board meeting; they're in a different hotel. For tonight's dinner they took the time to come to SOLS/LDS and meet with the "regulars".
I was able to catch both Ted Robertson and Greg Henderson and invited them both to the 2006 Mini Baja West in Portland (www.minibajawest.com). They both graciously accepted; given that they haven't had any plans for those days. After dinner was over, more than half of the participants were still hanging around to socialize and network. With that, the day was over for most people. A few stragglers brought their conversation to the hotel lobby and even in the elevator before they separate to their rooms.
Thursday, Jan 19 2006
The hotel is brand new, and each room is equipped with the "Sleep Number Bed". If you don't know what this is, it's the high tech air mattress. You can pump up the air chambers to make the bed harder or release the air to make it softer. Even though it was late, I can hear the air compressors from the rooms surrounding me. I have to admit that in the first 30-45 minutes I was playing with the bed also.
Breakfast was ready at 7:30am (or so it says, I did not get up that early after a late night on the laptop); consisting of fruits and pastries with some excellent coffee it was a perfect picker upper. For the first presentation, both the SOLS and the student members were in the same room. Mark Levin presented his view on how to make next year "The BEST Year Your Organization Ever Had". With some group excercises, emphasis on empathy of the members, engaging a diverse generational needs and many tips on having a committee that gets the job done, his presentation was spot on. His suggestions may be "common sense" but they're uncommonly thought of and their importance need to be iterated.
After a deli style lunch, Kathleen O'Connor lead both groups for a hands on AWIM activity and a short presentation on what AWIM is. Talking to many people afterwards, most who didn't know what AWIM was became interested in it and they're excited to tell other people about it and to get involved. This renewed my spirit and I will be planning a March AWIM workshop for our section.
The group was then split into two groups; SOLS participants and the student members (Leadership Development). Corrine Smereka's presentation on team building was reported to be excellent as well as Tracy Fedkoe's Career Resources talk. Unfortunately I had to attend the SOLS presentation.
Jon Steffey did a presentation on "Section Website & Electronic Communications" where he mentioned the resources available to the sections for website development and electronic communications. Some of the resources available include a section specific forum, template based website hosted by SAE international, and many others. Jason Wilkening from our section have touted some of these features but it hasn't taken off. Maybe between him and I we can utilize more of these resources.
Nick Petek did a short presentation on "Sections 101" for those section officers who have not been involved; it was also useful to the more experienced section officers as a reminder of the basic things we need to do.
After a short break, two presenters on J.D. Powers communicated the preliminary results of the 2005 full survey done for SAE International. Oregon Section barely made it as having enough responses to be deemed statistically worthy (33 respondents).
When the news have been presented by the J.D Powers team, Nick Petek took the podium again with his presentation on "Section Board Strategic Plan and Key Improvement Areas".
The day has gone by quickly; with a large number of the students and members interacting during lunch and the break times. Before the last of presentations of the day, Brian Taylor came and mentioned that reception tonight will really be at 6:00pm.
This time, there was no free drinks to be had so some of the students and members went to the casino to socialize. Dinner started at 6:30; what's unique about tonight is that this is also the Arizona Section Meeting with an engineer from Garrett Industries (now Honeywell) explaining the new turbo charger they came up with. This technology will not be ready for production for another year or two...or three. It was a treat to be able to see the future technology before it's unveiled even to the industry.
When dinner is over, some people talked about how much money they're going to lose/win at the casino, what game(s) they'll be playing, and what strategies they'll be using to beat the house. Some others talked about ...what else... the hot tub. Even a few were hanging out at the lobby, "waiting for other people" to go out to the casino. That's where I was at; apparently this group got ditched by their associates and we ended trading stories on baja, formula and Aerodesign. It was late enough that when we parted company we all went to bed.
Friday, Jan 20 2006
After breakfast, both SOLS and LDS participants are separated into two rooms. Kaley Shellhammer did a presentation on CDS (Collegiate Design Series) Team Management and Shanin Hart did a presentation on SAE's Power Track. Both are presentations I wish I could have attended. Another reason for me to start designing the Mind-Body Splitter/Combiner so I can be in two places at the same time.
For SOLS participants, Barb Midzail's motivating and encouraging presentation of "How to Engage and Involve Your Student Chapters" highlighted her career and SAE experience as well as giving us suggestions on what she did to invigorate the SAE student chapter at her school and get the support and sponsorship from the schools and local industry.
Tracy Fedkoe continued the theme of student involvement with a presentation on how to host a section career resource night. She told some success stories from a few different sections and did a round table where everyone told of their section's experiences.
After a short break, Mark Pope handed everyone a copy of the plan report (the "YES" report) and have each table come up with different ideas for each section of the plan. We all shared the different events we do to be able to say YES to many of the questions in the plan. Every aspect was covered but especially so were student involvement ideas, AWIM activities, how to get more members to participate and a few others.
Lunch of grilled chicken and hamburgers followed along with a group photo. Robin, our official 2006 SAE SOLS/LDS photographer was inundated with as many as 6 cameras that I could count. The original plan was to have a picture without our cowboy hats and with our hats. Everyone got in the spirit of the West anyway and everyone showed up with their hats already on...so much for pictures without hat hair.
With the event nearing its end, Corrine Smereka did a presentation on (drum roll please...) "Powerful Presentations" for both SOLS and LDS participants. This is an important presentation, if not the most important for most of us. Many engineers are not usually comfortable with doing presentations. The trend is changing in the recent years with more and more schools recognizing this shortfall and providing at least a rudimentary class for their engineering students. Corrine's presentation was great not just in her delivery (would you expect less from a lecture called "Powerful Presentations"?) but in content. She identified the mistakes most of us make and how to resolve them along with some tips to improve an already decent presentation.
Last but not least, Brian and Shanin hosted the round table discussion (with Kaley taking dilligent notes...where was she when I was in school?). Any topic was open to discussion, some asked questions for suggestions on specific topics from other sections, some questions were directed toward SAE International's available resources, and many other great topics were brought up.
Accomodation
The hotel is a brand new facility with a separate conference center and gaming center (ie casino). Outdoor hot tub and pool that seems to be usable all year long; even this weekend. There weren't very many Arizonian who were swimming, but visitors from the Northwest and Northeast thought the weather was nice and warm. There is a beautiful flaming fountain up front that could easily be mistaken for the heated pool; it's quite large
Only several miles from Scottsdale, the area was ruggedly beautiful. The sunsets and sunrises were outrageously colorful and the landscape reminded me of a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood Western movies.
Conclusion
Having attended a few other leadership conferences, I must say that this is the most useful one that I've been to. I may not feel as charged up and ready to tackle the world as some of the other ones I've been to (this feeling never lasts anyway). But I came away from the 2 day conference with more useful knowledge than any of the other ones. The knowledge I gained in addition to theencouragement from SAE International are the two things that will keep the SOLS/LDS attendees involved in SAE. Not only will we keep getting involved in SAE, but we'll be enthusiastic enough about it that we will be influencing other people to also be involved.
There's so much that I got from this conference that even describing the events as I have above took several pages, let along mentioning everything that I thought was beneficial from this conference. Please feel free to ask me specific questions and I'll be happy to ramble on.
To the people I've met at 2006 SAE SOLS/LDS:
I'm glad to see so many student members participating in SAE. Not only that, but each of you were enthusiastic about what you're doing, about SAE's benefits and values that I can not imagine how many people you will influence to be involved in SAE with your energy.
The other thing I'm also superbly glad about is the number of younger professionals who are involved in a leadership role in their local sections. Every one that I met were also as energetic about SAE as the students. I have faith that you will do well and that by working together we can show other engineers the value of SAE.
Wednesday, Jan 18 2006
After arriving at PDX 13 minutes before my plane is scheduled to take off and a 3 hour flight, I arrived at PHX. This year the event is held at a hotel/resort/casino in Scottsdale, AZ. At the registration booth, familiar faces and names greeted me. If you've been involved with the recent student competitions, Kaley Shellhammer should be familiar to you. For those who have been involved with student competitions in the 90s and early 00s, Shanin Hart should be familiar to you. The professional section officers should know Brian Taylor; at least by email.
After I got my cowboy hat (for those who went to 2005 Mini Baja series you should already have one), checked in to my room and freshened up a little, it was nearing 6:00pm local time. I was looking forward for some kind of food after having eaten nothing for the day. I was suspicios that something was not quite right when the bar at the reception area was not manned. Other people started to file in and it was not long after it became obvious that we were ready for an event that Brian Taylor announced that because of the time zone difference, reception would be at 7:00pm local time.
An hour went by quickly and we quickly reconvened to mingle, socialize and enjoy the hors D'ouevre. Each participant was given two drink tickets; "nothing sets the tongue loose like booze". It was not surprising to me how quickly many of us became comfortable with each other and find many common interests. There was still a bit of separation between the professional members and the students. There should be a rule that within any given group of minglers the ratio of student to members should be close to 50%. :-)
Dinner was great with recognition awards given to the outgoing SAE International Board members. I should mention that this weekend is also the SAE International board meeting; they're in a different hotel. For tonight's dinner they took the time to come to SOLS/LDS and meet with the "regulars".
I was able to catch both Ted Robertson and Greg Henderson and invited them both to the 2006 Mini Baja West in Portland (www.minibajawest.com). They both graciously accepted; given that they haven't had any plans for those days. After dinner was over, more than half of the participants were still hanging around to socialize and network. With that, the day was over for most people. A few stragglers brought their conversation to the hotel lobby and even in the elevator before they separate to their rooms.
Thursday, Jan 19 2006
The hotel is brand new, and each room is equipped with the "Sleep Number Bed". If you don't know what this is, it's the high tech air mattress. You can pump up the air chambers to make the bed harder or release the air to make it softer. Even though it was late, I can hear the air compressors from the rooms surrounding me. I have to admit that in the first 30-45 minutes I was playing with the bed also.
Breakfast was ready at 7:30am (or so it says, I did not get up that early after a late night on the laptop); consisting of fruits and pastries with some excellent coffee it was a perfect picker upper. For the first presentation, both the SOLS and the student members were in the same room. Mark Levin presented his view on how to make next year "The BEST Year Your Organization Ever Had". With some group excercises, emphasis on empathy of the members, engaging a diverse generational needs and many tips on having a committee that gets the job done, his presentation was spot on. His suggestions may be "common sense" but they're uncommonly thought of and their importance need to be iterated.
After a deli style lunch, Kathleen O'Connor lead both groups for a hands on AWIM activity and a short presentation on what AWIM is. Talking to many people afterwards, most who didn't know what AWIM was became interested in it and they're excited to tell other people about it and to get involved. This renewed my spirit and I will be planning a March AWIM workshop for our section.
The group was then split into two groups; SOLS participants and the student members (Leadership Development). Corrine Smereka's presentation on team building was reported to be excellent as well as Tracy Fedkoe's Career Resources talk. Unfortunately I had to attend the SOLS presentation.
Jon Steffey did a presentation on "Section Website & Electronic Communications" where he mentioned the resources available to the sections for website development and electronic communications. Some of the resources available include a section specific forum, template based website hosted by SAE international, and many others. Jason Wilkening from our section have touted some of these features but it hasn't taken off. Maybe between him and I we can utilize more of these resources.
Nick Petek did a short presentation on "Sections 101" for those section officers who have not been involved; it was also useful to the more experienced section officers as a reminder of the basic things we need to do.
After a short break, two presenters on J.D. Powers communicated the preliminary results of the 2005 full survey done for SAE International. Oregon Section barely made it as having enough responses to be deemed statistically worthy (33 respondents).
When the news have been presented by the J.D Powers team, Nick Petek took the podium again with his presentation on "Section Board Strategic Plan and Key Improvement Areas".
The day has gone by quickly; with a large number of the students and members interacting during lunch and the break times. Before the last of presentations of the day, Brian Taylor came and mentioned that reception tonight will really be at 6:00pm.
This time, there was no free drinks to be had so some of the students and members went to the casino to socialize. Dinner started at 6:30; what's unique about tonight is that this is also the Arizona Section Meeting with an engineer from Garrett Industries (now Honeywell) explaining the new turbo charger they came up with. This technology will not be ready for production for another year or two...or three. It was a treat to be able to see the future technology before it's unveiled even to the industry.
When dinner is over, some people talked about how much money they're going to lose/win at the casino, what game(s) they'll be playing, and what strategies they'll be using to beat the house. Some others talked about ...what else... the hot tub. Even a few were hanging out at the lobby, "waiting for other people" to go out to the casino. That's where I was at; apparently this group got ditched by their associates and we ended trading stories on baja, formula and Aerodesign. It was late enough that when we parted company we all went to bed.
Friday, Jan 20 2006
After breakfast, both SOLS and LDS participants are separated into two rooms. Kaley Shellhammer did a presentation on CDS (Collegiate Design Series) Team Management and Shanin Hart did a presentation on SAE's Power Track. Both are presentations I wish I could have attended. Another reason for me to start designing the Mind-Body Splitter/Combiner so I can be in two places at the same time.
For SOLS participants, Barb Midzail's motivating and encouraging presentation of "How to Engage and Involve Your Student Chapters" highlighted her career and SAE experience as well as giving us suggestions on what she did to invigorate the SAE student chapter at her school and get the support and sponsorship from the schools and local industry.
Tracy Fedkoe continued the theme of student involvement with a presentation on how to host a section career resource night. She told some success stories from a few different sections and did a round table where everyone told of their section's experiences.
After a short break, Mark Pope handed everyone a copy of the plan report (the "YES" report) and have each table come up with different ideas for each section of the plan. We all shared the different events we do to be able to say YES to many of the questions in the plan. Every aspect was covered but especially so were student involvement ideas, AWIM activities, how to get more members to participate and a few others.
Lunch of grilled chicken and hamburgers followed along with a group photo. Robin, our official 2006 SAE SOLS/LDS photographer was inundated with as many as 6 cameras that I could count. The original plan was to have a picture without our cowboy hats and with our hats. Everyone got in the spirit of the West anyway and everyone showed up with their hats already on...so much for pictures without hat hair.
With the event nearing its end, Corrine Smereka did a presentation on (drum roll please...) "Powerful Presentations" for both SOLS and LDS participants. This is an important presentation, if not the most important for most of us. Many engineers are not usually comfortable with doing presentations. The trend is changing in the recent years with more and more schools recognizing this shortfall and providing at least a rudimentary class for their engineering students. Corrine's presentation was great not just in her delivery (would you expect less from a lecture called "Powerful Presentations"?) but in content. She identified the mistakes most of us make and how to resolve them along with some tips to improve an already decent presentation.
Last but not least, Brian and Shanin hosted the round table discussion (with Kaley taking dilligent notes...where was she when I was in school?). Any topic was open to discussion, some asked questions for suggestions on specific topics from other sections, some questions were directed toward SAE International's available resources, and many other great topics were brought up.
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