Category Archives: Engineering
University of Louisville Student Success Building will be new heart of engineering program – Building Design + Construction
A new Student Success Building will serve as the heart of the newly designed University of Louisvilles J.B. Speed School of Engineering. The 115,000-sf structure will greatly increase lab space and consolidate student services to one location.
Currently admissions counselors, academic counselors, tutors, student success coordinators, co-op counselors, and other support teams are located on different floors and in multiple buildings. The plan groups all the support teams into a single connected office suite. A central help desk at the main entrance will assist students to receive the most appropriate support services. Shared collaborative spaces will facilitate regular meetings among the different teams, and shared office support will streamline internal operations.
The new university building will serve as a valuable home base for students, especially during their first year. It will house classes, provide access to tutoring, enable meetings with academic and co-op counselors, host student success seminars, offer study spaces and meeting rooms for student groups, and feature an informal recreational area.
An engineering garage space will serve as a hub for hands-on learning and competition team activities. This area will provide ample room for students to work on projects, build prototypes, and conduct experiments. It will be equipped with specialized tools, machinery, and materials to support various engineering disciplines. The garage space will not only enhance students technical skills but also promote teamwork, collaboration, and problem-solving abilities. Engineering students will have the opportunity to participate in competitions, where they can apply their knowledge, learn from their peers, and showcase their innovations.
The second and third floors will house lab space for the universitys Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, where researchers will study solar power, green fuels, and materials. Construction is underway, with an expected completion date of summer 2025.
Owner and/or developer: University of Louisville Design architect: SmithGroup Architect of record: Luckett & Farley MEP engineer: Luckett & Farley Structural engineer: SmithGroup General contractor/construction manager: Whittenberg Construction
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Sanitary Engineer Vinton Bacon Cleaned House in Chicago – Engineering News-Record
On a Saturday morning in the summer of 1966, Vinton Bacon, general superintendent of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Chicago, pulled his car into a service station near his suburban home for gas and an oil check. The attendant found four sticks of dynamite wired to the cars engine. Only a faulty connection prevented them from exploding.
During the previous four years Bacon had attacked corrupt practices at the agency, earning the resentment, even hatred, of many politicians, district employees, contractors, union officials, suppliers, and a larcenous organization known in Chicago as The Syndicate, according to an ENR article. The agency managed wastewater and stormwater for Chicago and over 100 adjoining municipalities, serving five million residents, encompassing an area of 858 sq miles, with a workforce of 2,100.
During 1961, Chicago Tribune reporter George Bliss wrote a cascade of articles detailing how workers in the District were being paid for no-show jobs; about a gambling, drinking and sleeping club in one of the Districts plants; and a cover-up by the Districts personnel director. Bliss discovered and made public that the agencys payrolls were larded with more than 1,000 political and labor sponsored jobholders, while by law only 19 positions were exempt from civil service status. Bliss received the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting in 1962.
Additional reporting by Chicago newspapers and civic organizations turned up dishonest real estate deals, overpayment for electrical supplies, overpriced contracts going to friends of MSD officials, MSD engineers on the payrolls of contractors whose jobs they were supervising, unnecessary contracts, unfulfilled contracts, and responsible jobs in the hands of incompetents and criminals.
This intense exposure led Mayor Richard Daley to appoint a blue-ribbon panel of seven business, labor and civic leaders to find a new MSD general superintendent. He told the panel to offer the MSD board of trustees a slate of three candidates to choose from. After a five month search, during which they interviewed 60 candidates, the panel instead proposed one candidate instead of three: Bacon.
Bacon possessed a remarkable blend of academic stature, technical accomplishment, and managerial ability. After earning his civil engineering degree at the University of California at Berkeley, his first job was with the East Bay Municipal Utility District. At the Los Angeles County Sanitation District he conducted cost studies and analyzed treatment plant operations. During World War II he served with the U.S. Public Health Service, setting up training and contracting for typhus fever control programs in San Antonio. For six years he served as executive officer of the California State Water Pollution Control Board, doing applied research, developing statewide policy, coordinating the work of nine regional boards and testifying before state and congressional committees.
After Bacon was given the post of general superintendent in November 1962, he discovered he was being handicapped. When he tried to fire the MSD personnel chief for incompetence, Bacon found he did not have the authority to hire or fire his high-level staff members. After he pushed back, the board gave him the authority he needed. During his first three years Bacon shrank the patronage employees on the payroll from 900 to 150. He also instituted rules that slashed absenteeism by more than 30%. Contractors who failed to meet deadlines paid about $400,000 in fines (about $4 million in 2024 dollars).
In June 1966, Bacon discovered irregularities in the results of an MSD exam given to operating engineers. An investigation by an independent consultant found statistical and physical evidence of fraud. Thirty nine answer papers had been removed and replaced by other answer papers with more right answers, and the answers of four candidates with passing scores had been changed to give them failing scores. The bomb in Bacons car was found the same day news broke that the state attorney general was opening an investigation into the test rigging.
Later that same day Bacon told reporters he would be in his office the following morning and planned to continue his vigorous investigation of the rigged exams. I am not running from any investigation because someone tried to kill me, he said. A deed like this certainly indicates that were on to something that has some people badly shaken up. Police were assigned to guard Bacon, his home, and his family, including his college student daughter.
Two months after the car bomb attempt, Bacon received a letter threatening his life. He speculated that the second threat may have been triggered by his announcement that he had found evidence of fraud in the results of an earlier MSD exam for crane oilers given in 1964.
On another front the District, under Bacons prodding, filed a $10.5-million, six-count damage lawsuit against a sewer contractor for faulty work on a project completed in 1962.
In November 1966, Chicago voters showed their strong support for Bacons fight against corruption, electing all four Republican candidates on a reform slate for MSD trustee positions, defeating four Democratic incumbents who had frequently been opposed to Bacons efforts.
Bacons courageous work resulted in his being named ENRs Man of the Year (now known as the ENR Award of Excellence) in 1967. Later that year, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner signed a law giving Bacon power to appoint the agencys purchasing agent, personnel chief, attorney, clerk and director of research and development, taking these powers away from the trustees. But battles between Bacon and the old guard persisted, culminating in their firing him in 1970.
Bacons obituary in the Chicago Tribune in 1997 quoted his son Donn: An Illinois State Senate commission found that his firing had been unjust and improperly carried out. He was further vindicated when several of the trustees responsible for his firing were indicted on criminal charges.
Bacon went on to teach civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
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Sanitary Engineer Vinton Bacon Cleaned House in Chicago - Engineering News-Record
W&L Engineering Professor Publishes Paper in Science Advances – The Columns
By Brian Laubscher July 17, 2024
Mengying Liu, assistant professor of engineering at Washington and Lee University, recently published an article in the latest edition of the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.
The paper, Role of slip in hydrogen-assisted crack initiation in Ni-base alloy 725 is based on Lius doctoral thesis work at Texas A&M University. She is the first and corresponding author of the article, co-authored by the chair of her doctoral thesis committee, Michael J. Demkowicz, and fellow TAMU Ph.D. student Lai Jiang. The articles experimental works and preliminary analysis were conducted at Texas A&M, with Liu providing further data analysis and manuscript preparation and revision while at W&L.
With in situ test in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), not only can we capture the moment when the crack initiates but later use these SEM images from beginning to end for quantitative analysis, said Liu.
The experiments, which involved situ tensile straining in SEM, investigated the role of hydrogen and slip in crack initiation in the nickel-based alloy 725 a corrosion-resistant, high-strength alloy. The research revealed no tendency for hydrogen to enhance localized slip and no necessity of slip for crack initiation.
This information is essential because when metallic materials are exposed to a hydrogen-rich environment, they can lose their ductility and undergo sudden and unexpected brittle-type failure. Prior research observed cracks along slip bands, but inferred the role of slip in crack initiation only after cracks had already propagated. Whether the slip causes crack initiation or the initiation causes slip, or if colocation is merely incidental, remains unknown. Liu and her research team used their experimental data to answer previously unknown questions that can provide reliable lifetime predictions of components operating in hydrogen-rich environments and for the development of novel hydrogen embrittlement-resistant alloys.
Its been a long journey since we started our first experiment in 2019, said Liu. After seeing the first crack not initiate at the location with the highest localized slip, quantitatively, we did intensive quantitative analysis of all these slips, before and after we observe cracks, with various hydrogen content.
Lius work is supported by W&L through the Summer Lenfest Grantand theClass of 1956 Provosts Faculty Development Endowment.
Publishing in a prestigious journal like Science Advances is significant and would not be possible without collaboration from my co-authors and the support I have received from W&L, Liu said.
Liu has been a member of the W&L faculty since graduating from Texas A&M with a Doctor of Philosophy in 2021. She also holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Tianjin University (China).
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W&L Engineering Professor Publishes Paper in Science Advances - The Columns
56-gram drone gets ant-inspired AI eyes to navigate autonomously – Interesting Engineering
Researchers have developed an autonomous navigation system for small, light drones inspired by insects.
A team at TU Delft was motivated by biological discoveries on how ants use their ability to see their surroundings and calculate their steps to navigate safely back home.
According to engineers, robots may go vast distances using this method and return home with minimal computation and memory (0.65 kiloByte per 100 m).
In the future, tiny autonomous robots could find a wide range of uses, from monitoring stock in warehouses to finding gas leaks in industrial sites, said researchers in a statement.
Tiny robots, weighing from ten to a few hundred grams, hold significant potential for real-world applications. Their lightweight design ensures safety, even in accidental collisions, and their small size allows them to navigate narrow areas. If produced affordably, they can be deployed in large numbers, efficiently covering vast areas like greenhouses for early pest or disease detection.
However, autonomous operation is challenging due to limited resources compared to larger drones. Navigation is particularly problematic. While GPS can aid outdoor navigation, it is ineffective indoors and inaccurate in cluttered environments. Indoor wireless beacons are costly and impractical in scenarios like search-and-rescue.
According to researchers, most AI for autonomous navigation is designed for large robots, using heavy, power-intensive sensors like LiDAR, which are unsuitable for tiny robots. Vision-based approaches, though power-efficient, require creating detailed 3D maps, demanding substantial processing power and memory beyond the capacity of small robots.
Researchers turned to nature and took inspiration from insects for tiny robot navigation, using minimal resources. Insects combine odometry (tracking motion) with visually guided behaviors (view memory).
In the snapshot model, insects like ants periodically capture snapshots of their surroundings. When near a snapshot, they compare current visuals, minimizing differences to navigate precisely back to the snapshot and correct odometry drift.
The DU Helft team modified previously developed techniques to develop a bio-inspired approach. This strategy combines visual homing, which directs orientation in relation to visual cues in the environment, with odometry, which measures the distance traveled along a specific direction.
The researchers tested their method in several indoor conditions using a 56-gram Crazyflie Brushless drone with a panoramic camera, microcontroller, and 192 kB of memory.
Initially, the robot took off and flew toward its target, stopping periodically to take pictures of its surroundings. The drone employed visual homing to travel the same path back, regularly making course corrections for drift by comparing its current location with waypoint photos.
The approach was incredibly memory-efficient because of the pictures high compression and precise spacing. All visual processing happened on a tiny computer called a micro-controller, which can be found in many cheap electronic devices.
According to the team, the proposed strategy is less versatile than state-of-the-art methods, lacking mapping capability but enabling a return to the starting point, which is adequate for many applications.
Drones might fly out, collect data, and then return to the base station for applications like crop monitoring in greenhouses and warehouse stock tracking. Images pertinent to the objective could be saved on a little SD card and processed later by a server. However, they wouldnt require them to use simple navigation.
The details of the teams study were published in the journal Science Robotics.
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Jijo Malayil Jijo is an automotive and business journalist based in India. Armed with a BA in History (Honors) from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, and a PG diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi, he has worked for news agencies, national newspapers, and automotive magazines. In his spare time, he likes to go off-roading, engage in political discourse, travel, and teach languages.
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56-gram drone gets ant-inspired AI eyes to navigate autonomously - Interesting Engineering
The Art and Science of AI Prompt Engineering | by Gabe | Jul, 2024 – Medium
Balancing Creativity and Technical Expertise Photo Credit:https://www.weblineindia.com/blog/prompt-engineering-in-software-development/
AI prompt engineering is a burgeoning field within artificial intelligence focused on the development and optimization of inputs (or prompts) to elicit specific, desired outputs from AI models. The discipline combines elements of natural language processing, machine learning, and user experience design. The goal is to effectively communicate the intended task to the AI model, ensuring it produces useful and relevant results. Prompt engineering is especially critical for working with sophisticated language models like GPT-4, which can generate text based on the inputs they receive.
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The Art and Science of AI Prompt Engineering | by Gabe | Jul, 2024 - Medium
Missouri governor hopeful Ashcroft knocked off balance by complaint about use of engineer – Missouri Independent
The first words of Jay Ashcrofts opening message for visitors to his gubernatorial campaign website jump out in bold: I am an engineer.
Ashcroft earned a law degree from St. Louis University and bachelor and masters degrees in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The Missouri secretary of state is licensed as an attorney and last year officially joined the legal team defending his ballot language for a reproductive rights initiative to restore legal abortion in Missouri. He has never been licensed as a professional engineer.
Its his training in the engineering field, however, that hes selling hard in his campaign.
But Ashcrofts use of the title, and whether he is using it honestly, or even perhaps illegally, has become a flash point for the campaign just weeks before the Aug. 6 primary. A complaint to the state licensing board for engineers, from a supporter of one of his opponents, objects to his use of the term and cites a state law limiting use of the word.
It is also the newest attack line being used to chew away at Ashcrofts once-impressive polling lead in the eight-way Republican primary for governor.
Its silly politics, Ashcroft said in an interview with The Independent.
But with three weeks to go before the primary, Ashcroft is explaining why he can call himself an engineer, not his policy plans. At least 11 times during the Republican gubernatorial debate last week with two of his rivals, Ashcroft used the title engineer to describe himself and the quality of his plans for Missouri.
And Ashcroft calls his policy plan a Red Print, wordplay that substitutes the shorthand for the Republican Party in the word blueprint with its inclusion of the shorthand reference to the Democratic Party.
I am a typical engineer, Ashcroft said during the debate. Im not your typical politician. I dont want to talk to people, I want to get stuff done. I want to act in the best interest of the people. I dont want to just talk about it when Im running for election. I want to do it when it matters and move conservative policy forward.
The complaint, filed June 27 and first reported by KSDK-TV in St. Louis, was by a Rolla engineer who contributed $520 in March to Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoes campaign. The engineer did not respond to telephone messages and emails to discuss the complaint.
Mike Hafner, an adviser to Kehoes campaign, said the campaign did not contact the engineer or ask for the complaint to be filed.
After graduating from Missouri S&T, Ashcroft worked for four years at Systems & Electronics Inc., now Leonardo DRS, and was enrolled with the licensing board as an engineering intern at that time.
Later, he taught mechanical engineering and engineering technology at St. Louis Community College.
I am not a licensed, professional engineer, Ashcroft said, but said he has both the resume and legal right to use the term.
Under revisions to the licensing law made in 2007, no one without a license can call themselves an engineer while offering to design buildings, structures, products, machines, processes, and systems that can affect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
But the licensing board will not discipline someone referring to themself as an engineer as long as that is clearly not indicating or implying that such person is holding himself or herself out as being a professional engineer.
The undergraduate engineering management program Ashcroft completed at Missouri S&T is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
If a person graduates from a program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET, then yes, this person typically uses the title of engineer, said Amanda Grace Taylor, director of communications for the board.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers issued a position paper on the question of titles in 2022. Titles like professional engineer should be protected and used only by licensed individuals, the paper states.
But the title engineer has a broader meaning as well, which the public understands to be someone who has acquired special knowledge and ability in the engineering field. Someone who graduated from a board-accredited program, the paper states, should not be prohibited from using the title Engineer.
Regardless of whether he is licensed or not, Ashcroft said his use of the title for his campaign is legal.
if you actually look at the statute, he said, the statute specifically says that I made the requirements.
As Ashcroft became more strident in defending his use of the title engineer, during the debate last week, he aimed his response in a new direction, questioning the need for the state licensing board that received a complaint he is using the title illegally.
Ashcroft suggested that all professional licensing was government overreach when asked are you an engineer by the debate moderator.
He listed his education and employment, then went further:
Why in the world are Republicans asking whether or not the government has to give us permission to go out and work legally? Ashcroft said. Im an engineer, but its none of the governments business. We need to get rid of this red tape. We need to allow people to live their lives the way they see fit, instead of kowtowing to faceless bureaucrats.
The statement drew a quick rebuke from the Democratic Governors Association, which called it a completely dangerous suggestion that could potentially create countless unsafe hazards.
Hafner, the adviser to Kehoe, also said Ashcrofts statement is a dangerous idea. Kehoe, who is leading the latest polls, did not attend the debate at Parkway West High School.
As a fake engineer Im sure Jay Ashcroft would like to use crayons and an etch-a-sketch to design our roads, bridges and buildings, but we believe there should be some level of oversight when it comes to keeping Missourians safe, Hafner said.
Missouri has regulated the engineering profession since 1941 and the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Professional Landscape Architects is one of 39 licensing boards housed in the Division of Professional Registration.
The boards examine the skills of professionals from accountants and barbers to tattoo artists and veterinarians. Each has the ability to discipline licensed professionals and prosecute people who offer services without a license.
Professional licensing is essential to protecting the safety and health of Missourians, said state Rep. Jeff Coleman, a Republican from Grain Valley who chairs the House Professional Registration and Licensing Committee. Coleman has not endorsed any candidate in the GOP primary for governor.
There may be some unnecessary regulations and lawmakers watch for that, Coleman said.
We have to have licensing in order to make sure that the people that are dealing with our folks, regardless of whether its engineering or medical or financial, that you have to have a license to prove that you are qualified to be able to do those things, to make sure that you are not hurting those citizens, said Coleman, who is a licensed financial adviser. Thats what the licensing process is all about, to make sure that you have the knowledge and the ability to take care of who youre trying to help.
One of Missouris most deadly disasters was an engineering failure, Coleman said, recalling the 1981 collapse of two skywalks at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City that killed 114 people and injured scores of others.
Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, Jay Ashcrofts father and later U.S. attorney general during the George W. Bush administration, accused the engineers of gross negligence in a license action in 1984 as the elder Ashcroft was running for governor.
That was an engineering problem, and we cant have those types of issues happening because you didnt get your license and cant prove to us that you know what youre doing, Coleman said.
In a statement to The Independent on Friday, Ashcrofts campaign said he didnt propose abolishing professional licensing.
The regulatory regime in Missouri stifles economic growth and as governor, Jay will take a close look at all regulatory and bureaucratic policies and consider ways of modernizing them to grow our economy, said Jason Roe, a consultant working for Ashcrofts campaign.
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igus invests in the future of engineering at Arden Academy event – Process & Control Today
17/07/2024 igus UK Ltd
igus attended an event hosted by Arden Academy in Solihull alongside big industry names such asSiemens,KUKAandMarvelous Manufacturingas well as local career experts, providing advice to students on their next steps.
The event was facilitated by Tom Flude, Co-founder ofEngineers Insightand the day began with his delivery of an assembly to over three hundred students aged 11 to 12 to emphasise how rewarding and interesting industry manufacturing can be. There is a considerable skills shortage within Engineering and The engineering industry is headed towards a shortfall of one million engineers by 2030.[1]In light of this, the event gave top manufacturing and engineering companies the chance to impress upon the students the importance of careers in the industry and showcase the versatility in the roles on offer.
For many students, the world of engineering seems one dimensional and the range of careers that are within the industry get overlooked as a result. Co-founder ofEngineers Insight, Tom Flude, was keen to expand students understanding of the industry and provide them with the knowledge to seek out the career that is right for them. saying, Engineering is not just toolboxes and overalls, its a fantastic career at the forefront of technology. And it pays more than the UK average wage Something that peaked the interests of the young listeners.
iguswere keen to support the event and inspire the next generation, bringing a show-stealing combination of products. Travelling Sales Engineer for igus, Ashley Ward, engaged in conversations on 3D printed gears and the extensive range of industries whereigusproducts can be found.igushave a product range in the thousands, catering to mainstream and niche industries alike. Sales Engineer Ashley Ward says, If everyone knew everythingigusare capable of providing to improve peoples applications and address pain points, we could make no end of difference to their operations.
Theigusteam encouraged interactions with the irc (igus Robot Control) system and fielded questions on where in industry it would be used. Theigus Robot Control systemenables simple and intuitive robot programming and control and an easier entry into automation for businesses looking to implement automation into their processes.
The focus was not only on robotics. Automation and Technical Sales Engineer, Ed Kucewicz noted, It was a great opportunity for us to really make our mark in education, delivering a mixture of product knowledge with engaging activities that proved to the workforce of the future that the manufacturing and engineering industry is versatile, providing something for everyone. Giving their unique experiences within the industry, theigusteam discussed their career paths to get to marketing and sales and the education routes they took to get where they are. Demonstrating their commitment to the future of engineering, theigusteam discussed the ins and outs of the industry and the difference that can be made by working to fix the skills shortage in industry, all to help students to make an informed decision on their next steps within further education.
There will have been over four hundred children today that, even for a few minutes, will have thought about a future in Manufacturing. If we've managed to convince just one percent to do it, then it's been successful. Tom Flude,Engineers Insight.
As the horizon for education expands, the uptick in apprenticeships suggests a new way of gaining qualifications, an alternative to the university experience. Atigus,seven percent of the workforce is currently made up of apprentices and the recruitment process for further apprentices is always expanding. Gaining invaluable experience in any field while making a wage sets you ahead of a large proportion of university students that accumulate student debt and graduate knowledgeable but inexperienced in their field. By giving students the understanding of what they need to do to meet their goals, the younger generation are better equipped going forwards whether it be the traditional University route or apprenticeships that pave the way.
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Civil engineer lab innovations advance Air Force readiness – Eglin Air Force Base
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. The Air Force Civil Engineer Center CE laboratory is leveraging innovation to give engineers a fighting edge to prepare and keep installations mission ready.
The lab, part of the AFCEC Readiness Directorate at Tyndall AFB, is responsible for researching, developing, testing and evaluating a portfolio of installation and contingency engineering technologies for Department of the Air Force civil engineer use.
Our CE lab has a lot of different groups that are all doing different work and we are trying to feed all of that to the Airmen and get things out into the field as quickly as possible, said Dr. Robert Diltz, the labs airbase recovery subject matter expert. We are fielding new technologies multiple times throughout the year. There has been significant investment for the procurement of new material, systems, equipment and vehicles weve developed over the last several years since becoming part of AFCEC, which we have been able to move to Airmens hands.
The Air Force restructured the research, development, test and evaluation lab and acquisition mission in 2013 to bring all capabilities back to one location at Tyndall. Since then, the lab has successfully acquired 10 product patents and currently has a new patent pending.
The development process begins when the lab requirements branch identifies a gap or need. The team creates an annual capability report to identify program focus areas. The report is provided to the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center after being shared with major commands and other stakeholders to collect more CE development needs.
Our projects always look at resiliency and the civil engineering gaps that need to be covered in order to better posture the Air Force and give commanders the ability to generate sorties in a fight, said David Roman-Castro, hardened infrastructure technical lead for the Readiness Directorate Airbase Protection Program.
Airfield damage repair, or ADR, is one of the labs ongoing programs that continually improves the Air Forces ability to rapidly assess, mitigate and recover damaged airfields. The program has paved the way with solutions such as small, unmanned aircraft systems, manned or unmanned rapid explosive hazard mitigation for unexploded ordnance removal and explosive ordnance disposal, and fully autonomous heavy equipment to navigate and perform saw cutting for the rapid airfield damage repair process.
Alternative repair materials formulated at the lab using indigenousmaterial and waste resources to refine concrete have also helped evolve runway repair. Lab scientists developed a material for capping airfield craters called CSA-set, which uses calcium sulfoaluminate and maximizes use of locally available materials to optimize logistics for expeditionary airfield repair in austere locations. This procedure allows a significantly smaller footprint to be sent to these locations.
Everything ADR tests and implements is aimed at reducing repair time and the amount of material and equipment required to make our airfields passable rapidly after sustaining damage, Diltz said. These methods accomplish that, while meeting or exceeding requirements, reducing our carbon-footprint and increasing safety for our engineers and Airmen.
The airbaseprotection program supports investing in critical operations functions and protecting assets to ensure the ability to deter conflict. One of its projects, expedient small asset protection, built shelter systems designed to protect fighter aircraft and support equipment from adversary and environmental threats. Two types of the shelter systems are deployed in select Pacific Air Forces locations, including Andersen AFB, Guam, where they proved successful against Typhoon Mawars environmental threats.
Those two types are in the acquisition phase, Roman-Castro said. We also developed a third variant, deployed to another PACAF location that meets requirements but has a higher wind resistance, increased structural capability, better terrain adaptability, and a reduced footprint and manufacturing cost.
The firefighting research program is also looking for ways to help the environment while increasing aircraft protection with water mist fire suppression systems.
Since the Department of Defense is moving away from extinguishing foams, we are trying to find a technology that is environmentally friendly, provides safety and gives the increased ability to put out a fuel fire to keep our aircraft protected, said Brian Skibba, AFCEC Airbase Technologies Branch chief.
The system in testing atomizes high-pressure water into tiny mist droplets to create a cooling effect and disperses oxygen to quickly suffocate a fuel fire. The first experiment showed great success in achieving the desired results, Skibba said.
The lab recently applied for a patent for a new hardened cement product that is suited for multiple uses, but especially for 3D-printed construction. The lab opened the first functional 3D-printed building in the Air Force at Tyndall. The team led the effort to fabricate the hurricane-resilient building to replace its robotics range control facility that was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Multiple lab teams are further evaluating the printed building technology with a recently constructed 3D printed barracks hut designed for expeditionary military construction to include energy efficiency research and blast protection.
These projects are just a handful of innovative processes and products we are exploring and developing to equip our engineers and Airmen with the capabilities to generate readiness in support of reoptimizing the Air Force for the Great Power Competition and power projection, Skibba said.
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Leaders in Action engineer family legacy – UND Blogs and E-Newsletters
Among Ryan and John Bergums accomplishments: One twin is president, the other is VP of American Society of Civil Engineers UND chapter
John and Ryan Bergum have a lot in common: They are civil engineering majors, they maintain 4.00 GPAs and they enjoy archery and fishing. They are also twins.
Coming from a family of engineers, its no surprise that the duo would choose to carry on the family legacy. I really like problem solving, Ryan said, And growing up, seeing what my dad worked on sparked my interest.
Engineering runs in the family, said John. Problem solving all that kind of stuff. I interned with Apex Engineering in high school and got to be a part of the Washington Avenue project in my hometown. From then on, I really liked civil engineering.
Our family influenced us to go to UND, but out of all the campuses we toured UND was the best.
Read and watch more about the Bergum brothers successes at UND.
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Leaders in Action engineer family legacy - UND Blogs and E-Newsletters
UH engineers conquer game of drones, place 3rd nationally in competition – University of Hawaii System
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A team of University of Hawaii at Mnoa College of Engineering students finished 3rd among U.S. teams (tied with 2017 for best ever performance) and 15th overall in an international drone competition.
Seven of the UH Drone Technologies teams 36 members traveled to Maryland in late June 2024 for the 22nd annual Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition. The event included a design presentation and a mission demonstration, which consisted of autonomous flying, avoiding obstacles, detecting objects and an airdrop.
More than 50 teams entered, and 36 qualified for the competition, including teams from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, India, Czech Republic, Norway, Italy, Canada and the U.S.
Im extremely proud of the team. Weve worked really hard to get to that point, said Leiolani Malagon Bracamontes Rodriguez, a senior mechanical engineering major and the teams project manager. Everyone knew exactly what we had to do, and what their goal and what their assignments were.
This was the UH Drone Technologies teams fifth year competing. Its previous best finish came in 2017, when the team placed 3rd in the nation and 6th overall. The competition provides students with valuable hands-on experience in the rapidly evolving field of drone technology.
Alex Tokunaga, a junior mechanical engineering student and hardware systems lead, is currently interning with Phillips Tank and Structure.
The experiences that Ive had on this team really helped out with my internship because you learn how to work with other people, whether its different disciplines or within your own field, and that communication and those soft skills you learn really do help, Tokunaga said.
Team advisor and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair Wayne Shiroma emphasized that the interdisciplinary nature of the project, combined with fundraising and sponsor interactions, offers students a comprehensive preview of industry experiences.
This experience provided our students with an unparalleled opportunity to apply their engineering knowledge to real-world challenges in drone technology, Shiroma said. Beyond the technical aspects, they gain crucial skills in teamwork, project management, and communication, all while competing on an international stage. Participating in this competition served as a springboard for their future careers, giving them a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving field of unmanned aerial systems.
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