Category Archives: Engineering
After Champlain Towers, Nearby Condo Evacuation Poses an Engineering Inspection Mystery – Engineering News-Record
In the four long days since North Miami Beach, Fla., ordered the evacuation of Crestview Towers, an apartment tower roughlysix milesfrom Champlain Towers South, the reason for a delay in submittingthe condominium's engineering inspection has been anagging question.
Completed in January as part of Crestview Tower's response to the required 40-year recertification processbut not submitted to town officials until July 1the inspection reportdeemed the 10-story, concrete structure with a slab-on-grade foundation, and its electrical system, unsafe for occupancy. North Miami Beach officials ordered dismayed residents to evacuate on July 3.
But within days, the 156-unit condominium's board had carried out another inspection and on July 6 submitted it to the town. This inspection, said the condominium's attorney, found the building safe for occupancy during whatever repairs are needed.
The entire matter almost certainly will focus attention on engineering inspection reports, and more specifically, the interpretation of cracks and spalling in reinforced concrete buildings with flat slabs like Champlain Towers in nearby Surfside, Fla. As it stands now, the oneprepared forCrestview Towersin January is notably brief andseemingly based on visual inspection alone. There is no reason to believe it is different from others prepared for buildings in the area.
Gustavo Parra-Montesinos, a research engineer and professor of structural engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison contacted by ENR, said after a short review of the inspection report: "There's not much information in it."
The January assessment of the building's condition came at the same time thatthe condominium, like others in the area, sought to finance recent hurricane damage repairs to the building.Crestview Towers is currently mediating a disputed claim and lawsuit with Liberty Surplus Insurance Corp. for damage sustained by the building in September, 2017, from Hurricane Irma, according to federal court records. The insurer initially rejected the claims as being made too late, confusion about where the damage occurred and problems in gaining access to the apartments.
Crestview Towers' overall engineering inspection report in January was conducted by professional engineer Roberto Berreiro, and another licensedengineer carried out the actual structural evaluation, according to stamps on the report.
Spallingplagued numerous areas of the building, includingconcrete columns and beams, an overhead garage slab, balcony and at all emergency stairwells, the report stated. Corroding steel also was cited as a big problem.
The structure's general alignment was rated fair, and the section on cracks, in which the report specified various degrees of crack seriousness (hairline, fine, medium and wide), said simply "cracks observed" and "spalled concrete and rebar corrosion observed."
Barreiro did not reply to email and phone requests for comment.
A deeper understanding of the observed defects would require a review of the building's design, saidParra-Montesinos. As a researcher, he says he ideally would want to know more about the location of any observed cracks and their alignment as well as thedimensions. "It also depends on what reinforcement you have inside" the concrete, he adds.
A meaningful evaluation, Parra-Montesinos adds, would ask how close to the building code limits the building was designed, in order to know if there was unused capacity in the structure or its connections.
Whether the brief engineering inspection report format will be applied to all other area structures now is unclear.
The Crestview Towers association submitted its newengineering inspection report to North Miami Beach officials at 12 pm July 6. According to attorney Mariel Tollinchi, representing the owners association, the new report allows the immediate return of the residents.
Engineers retained by the association carried out the new report's structural evaluation over a full day, from 10 am until 9 pm or so, says Tollinchi. No destructive testing was performed and "none of the covered structural members could be visually inspected," she says.
What the report says is that repairs need to be made, and theres no reason the repairs cant be made with the residents back in the building," Tollinchisays. "The integrity of the building does not pose a threat to the residents.
The callfor heightened scrutiny of the state's multifamily buildings was spurred by the catastrophic Champlain Towers South collapse.
As of July 7, officials had confirmed that 46 people have died, with another 94 still missing, as a result of the June 24 partial collapse of the 40-year-old, 12-story condominium in Surfside, Fla. The same day,the search-and-rescue effort officially transitioned to a recovery operation, according to reports.
Statewide, numerous groups are urgently calling for more extensive and frequent safety inspections, especially in older buildings. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who ordered an audit of inspections performed for buildings in unincorporated Miami-Dade County for purposes of the 40-year recertification process, posted on Twitter that she wants municipalities to do their own aggressive review.
For Miami-Dades effort, the countys Dept. of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) is auditing its inventory of pending recertification. The department isprioritizing the status of multifamily apartments and condominiums" to ensure compliance milestones ae met and that repairs are made according torecommendations of the engineer providing the recertification report
According to the county, approximately 318 multi-family residential buildings are in the midst of recertification. Additionally, of 469 current enforcement cases in the countys Unsafe Structures process, RER has identified 24 cases involving buildings four stories or higher and prioritized those for inspection.
Some officials outside of Miami-Dade County indicate they may be following Levine Cava's suggestion for developing more aggressive reviews of multifamily buildings.
In West Palm Beach, the county seat of Palm Beach County, Mayor Keith A. James has directed staff to evaluate the viability of a 40-Year Building Safety Inspection Program for the City of West Palm Beach for future consideration, according to a statement.
Along with other jurisdictions in Palm Beach County, we are working with League of Cities to establish a countywide recertification program for older buildings, added Kathleen Walters, communications officer for West Palm Beach.
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Girl Scout STEM Festival: Connecting The Next Generation to Engineering – All Together – Society of Women Engineers
The Ask an Engineer both attracted 651 visitors!
On April 17th, 2021 the Girl Scouts of America hosted a STEM Festival that consisted of hands-on activities, live events, challenges, giveaways and booth experiences. The girls that registered for the event were able to complete Girl Scout badges and award requirements. They were also able to participate in behind the scenes presentations and Q&A sections with companies including Broadway, the FBI, NASA, and Instagram.
The SWE Strategic Partners Focus Group in the Outreach Committee hosted a booth called Ask an Engineer that consisted of two sections. The first section was a presentation describing SWEnext and different kinds of engineering, and the second section was a Q&A with a panel of SWE engineers from different fields of engineering.
This event was a great success, with the booth attracting 651 visitors! While the Hopin platform was brand new to the team, it proved to be a great venue for hosting our panel and Q&A session. The attendees were extremely active; hardly ever was there a pause in the chat for questions. They were interested in panelists career and college trajectories, and overall, seemed to be genuinely excited to learn about what it means to be an engineer.
Questions ranged from asking about the college search to different types of engineers and even some thought-provoking questions about instances when the panelists felt belittled for their gender.
Additionally, SWE volunteers were phenomenal. They were prepared to answer every question given to them with extensive detail and enthusiasm. Overall, this event was an exceptional success, and SWE hopes to partner with Girl Scouts USA to volunteer at this event in the future!
SWE Blog
SWE Blog provides up-to-date information and news about the Society and how our members are making a difference every day. Youll find stories about SWE members, engineering, technology, and other STEM-related topics.
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New Paper Investigates Engineering Design Constraints on the Bacterial Flagellum – Discovery Institute
Image credit: Illustra Media.
A new peer-reviewed paper in the journalBIO-Complexity, An Engineering Perspective on the Bacterial Flagellum: Part 1 Constructive View, comes out of the Engineering Research Group and Conference on Engineering in Living Systems that Steve Laufmannrecently wrote about. The author, Waldean Schulz, holds a PhD in computer science from Colorado State University, and is a signer of theScientific Dissent from Darwinismlist. What could a computer scientist say about the bacterial flagellum? Well, Schulz explains that his study examines the bacterial flagellum from an engineering viewpoint, which aims to concentrate on the the structure, proteins, control, and assembly of a typical flagellum, which is the organelle imparting motility to common bacteria.
This technique of examining biology through the eyes of engineering is not necessarily new systems biologists have been doing it for years. However, since engineering is a field that tries to determine how to better design technology, the field of intelligent design promises to yield new engineering-based insights into biology. Schulzs paper is a prime example of such a contribution. It produces what is arguably the most rigorous logical demonstration of the irreducible complexity of the flagellum produced to date.
Intelligent design is fundamentally a goal-directed approach to studying natural systems, where the various parts and components biological organisms are coordinated to work together in the top-down manner of engineering. Schulzs paper thus takes a constructive approach which requires a top-down specification. Heres how this approach works:
It starts with specifying the purpose of a bacterial motility organelle, the environment of a bacterium, its existing resources, its existing constitution, and its physical limits, all within the relevant aspects of physics and molecular chemistry. From that, the constructive approach derives the logically necessary functional requirements, the constraints, the assembly needs, and the hierarchical relationships within the functionality. The functionality must include a control subsystem, which needs to properly direct the operation of a propulsion subsystem. Those functional requirements and constraints then suggest a few and only a few viable implementation schemata for a bacterial propulsion system. The entailed details of one configuration schema are then set forth.
This approach is very similar to Paul Nelsons ideas about design triangulation: you identify some function that is needed, and if the system was intelligently designed then you can back-engineer other components and parts that will be needed for that function to be fulfilled. After all, engineers regularly specify and design systems top-down, but they construct those systems bottom-up. Thus an engineering analysis of the flagellum seems the best way to understand it.
Schulz introduces engineering methodologies to study the flagellum, which flow naturally from of an ID paradigm. He writes:
A common engineering methodology, called the Waterfall Model, first produces a formal Functional Requirements Specification document. Then a design is proposed in a System Design Specification, which must comport with the Requirements Spec. Typically this methodology is often accompanied by a Testing Specification, which measures how well the subsequently constructed system satisfies the requirements. This methodology was and is successfully applied at Intel, Image Guided Technologies, and Stryker. A similar specification method can be used by a patent agent or attorney in helping inventors clarify in detail what they have invented for a patent application.
When applying this method, one examines overall purpose for the proposed system, the usage environment, necessary functionality, available materials, tools needed for construction, and various parameters and constraints (dimensions, form, cost, materials, energy needs, timing, costs, and other conditions).After doing this, a design is proposed that logically comports with those requirements.
Schulz then applies this method to the flagellum, asking What are the requirements for bacterial motility?In doing this, he notes, the constructive approach becomes in effect the engineering documentation that must be written as if a clever bioengineer were tasked to devise a motility system for a bacterium lacking a motive organelle. He answers various questions outlined by the Waterfall Model:
Schulz thus determines that the system requires a propulsion subsystem to accomplish motion. It also requires some form of primitive redirection subsystem, working in concert with or integrated with the propulsion subsystem to help the bacterium find nutrients. There must also be a collateral control subsystem which can sense favorable or unfavorable substances. He outlines logic controls of this system including signals that indicate the bacterium should proceed full speed ahead or flee and redirect.
The response time for these signals and the motility speeds they induce must also be appropriate to fulfill the needed functions. However, the speeds should be appropriate. For example, A substantially faster speed would be wasteful of energy, and The energy cost to operate the propulsion subsystem must be less than the energy obtained by navigating to and consuming nutrients. And there are also assembly constraints including that The material resources and energy requirements to build a propulsion system must be low enough to justify its construction that is, to justify the benefit of motion to find new nutrients for metabolism.
He notes that all of these resulting requirements present us with an irreducibly complex system:
[T]he goal is to specify only a minimal set of requirements, assuring that all the requirements of the subsystem are essential. That would imply that the specified sensory-propulsion-redirection system is effectively irreducible. That is, if some part is missing or defective, then, at best, there would be noticeably diminished motility, if any.
Schulz then proposes a design for the bacterial flagellum to fulfill these requirements of flagellar motility. Some of the following requirements must be met:
There must also be various assembly requirements. Construction materials could include a variety of potential biomolecules, including sugars, RNA, DNA, nucleotide bases, or proteins. The answer is clear: an obvious generic requirement of using available fabrication tools, templates, and control effectively rules out the use of other materials, such as sugars or non-protein polymers.
There are a variety of potential basic designs for propulsion. One is a jet-like nozzle (which would require a bladder and many more parts). Another is a rhythmic flexing (which would require a long, flexible body and much more). Still another is a leg-like appendage (which would require appendages), or a snake-like caterpillar crawl (again requiring a long flexible body), or a helical propeller. Schulz explores what would be necessary for a helical propeller the actual design of bacterial flagella. He discusses various needed parts including an armature or mounting structure, a motor rotor, a drive shaft of appropriate length, a helical propeller, and possibly adaptors to bind those components together. Further, he notes, there need to be bearings and seals between the rotary components and static components. Heres a larger description of the needs:
The static subassembly requires the following components: the semi-rigid cell membrane(s) for rigid mounting, a motor stator, multiple sealed bearings where the rotary subassembly penetrates cell membranes, and an energy conduction pathway.
The stator together with the motor rotor produces torque. The stator must be rigidly attached to some or all of the bacteriums inner and outer membranes and the peptidoglycan layer. The rigid attachment transfers necessary counter-torque to the cell body as well as providing stability for the rotary subassembly. For each membrane or layer the drive shaft penetrates, there must be a bearing. Each bearing must (a) stabilize the drive shaft, (b) provide a low-friction contact with the drive shaft, and (c) provide a seal to prevent movement of molecules past where the shaft penetrates its host membrane or layer.
Schulz finally develops a dependency network for these requirement showing their interdependency relationships which addresses all of the above constraints, including the purpose, environment, required functions, constraints, and the logically implied static, structural requirements. Its quite a detailed diagram here it is its a bit large so click here for a full-resolution version:
In an impressive table, Schulz lists all of the different components and properties of the flagellum and the rationale for their inclusion. He notes that although there are a couple of different ways to build the system, In either case, the specified bacterial motility system would be irreducibly complex and that the intricate coherence of all of the parts, systems, and design requirements of the flagellum is essentially irreducible. He concludes:
Current evolutionary biology proposes that the flagellum could have been engineered naturalistically by cumulative mutations, by horizontal gene transfer, by gene duplication, by co-option of existing organelles, by self-organization, or by some combination thereof. See the summary and references by Finn Pond. Yet to date, no scenario in substantive detail exists for how such an intricate propulsion system could have evolved naturalistically piece by piece. Can any partial implementation of a motility system be even slightly advantageous to a bacterium? Examples of a partial system might lack sensors, lack decision logic, lack control messages, lack a rotor or stator, lack sealed bearings, lack a rod, lack a propeller, or lack redirection means. Would such partial systems be preserved long enough for additional cooperating components to evolve?
That is the key question which will be explored in future papers that Schulz aims to publish. Based upon the intricate coherence and irreducible complexity of the numerous parts and properties of the flagellum, the answers to these questions would seem to be no.
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An Engineer Working To Find A Cause For Condo Collapse Says It Will Be A Long Process – NPR
Workers walk past the collapsed and demolished Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Fla., on Tuesday. Lynne Sladky/AP hide caption
Workers walk past the collapsed and demolished Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Fla., on Tuesday.
Structural engineers trying to learn what caused the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., are expecting a long-term investigation.
Allyn Kilsheimer, an engineer working for the city, tells Morning Edition that it's not clear how long it will take to find a cause or multiple causes, if that's the case. There hasn't been anything uncovered so far that points to a reason for the condo's partial collapse on June 24, he says. Engineers have been at the site since June 25.
"Right now, we're limited in what we can do in a way because we're not going to interfere with the rescue folks that are down on the pile," Kilsheimer says. "So we're working with all of the other things we can, and when they're finished with their job, then we'll be able to get on-site to do some additional testing and observations."
While rescue workers search, structural engineers have been running models and performing other work, he says. And because the site is considered a crime scene by Miami-Dade police, engineers are not sampling materials there. "[Police] need to do their thing first, so that just means it takes a little bit longer to get to what we want to do," he says.
The number of confirmed deaths is now 46, and rescue crews are still searching the rubble for as many as 94 missing people.
Here are excerpts of the Morning Edition conversation, edited for clarity and length:
Realistically, how long will it take to figure out what the cause of this disaster was?
There's no way to give you an answer to that. The bottom line is there's thousands of things we're looking at. There's all kinds of engineering calculations we're doing, models of everything. And then when we get involved in a collapse unless it's something like the Pentagon or the World Trade Center or Oklahoma City, and those you know what the trigger was that caused the collapse. Here we don't know what the trigger is. So we essentially are looking at all the things that could possibly go wrong in a building design or construction and then we eliminate them as we can, one at a time, factually from an engineering standpoint, not from an opinion standpoint.
We try to do everything factually, and when we get to the end, we may or may not know a trigger. My experience is there may be more than one thing and it may be contributed to by other things, and so we have to evaluate that. So if something wasn't done perfectly, and it was OK, when the trigger happened, if that would have been done correctly, would that have stopped the triggers. So it's a very long, involved engineering process.
Do you have a sense that Florida's building codes or code enforcement will have to change significantly at all depending on what you find?
I think the answer is the current Florida building code is one of the best in the country based on our experience. But until we know what actually occurred here we won't know if we're going to suggest that they might make additional changes to it.
Now that the remaining portion of the Champlain Towers South building has been demolished, does that make it easier or harder to do your job?
It just makes it a little bit slower. The bottom line is we have an additional debris pile that we want to look through and it just makes ... more things that we have to do. The bottom line is we will be able to do everything we have to do, it just takes time to do it.
Milton Guevara and Scott Saloway produced and edited the audio story. Heidi Glenn produced it for the web.
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An Engineer Working To Find A Cause For Condo Collapse Says It Will Be A Long Process - NPR
University of Calgary hits pause on bachelor’s program in oil and gas engineering – CBC.ca
For more than two decades, the bachelor's program in oil and gas engineering at the University of Calgary was popular with students seeking a career in energy and maybe a job in one of the office towers downtown.
But after a long downturn in the oilpatch, enrolment at historic lowsand the energy landscape changing, the university's engineering school is suspending admission ofnew students to theundergraduate program. Existing students will still be able to complete their degree.
"It's really been a great program for us; it typically used to be a high-demand program," said Prof. Arin Sen, head of the department of chemical and petroleum engineering."It wasn't a decision that we came to lightly."
The university saidit has no plans to abandon oil and gas studies. Sen said there are still various paths for engineering students to pursue careers inoil andgas, including a minor in petroleum engineering or graduate studiesamong any number ofoptions.
"We've had partnerships with that sector for four decades ... and we're going to continue doing that."
The news comes during a period of change in the broader energy sector, including the growth of renewable technologies, government commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions and uncertainty about long-term demand for fossil fuels.
In Canada, the oil and gas sector is also trying to emerge from a long downturn that resulted in thousands of layoffs. Meanwhile, energy demand continues to increase worldwide.
The oil and gas engineering undergraduate program at the university's Schulich School of Engineeringwas one of several routes students could follow to a career in the petroleum sector, including chemical, mechanical, civil engineering and others.
Typically, about40 new students would enter the program annually, but it graduated fewer than 10 last year.
The university began a review of the program and following consultations with students, alumni, faculty and industry received provincial approval to suspend it.
Sen said oil and gas isn't going away any time soon, but added it's also clear people are looking at other forms of energynot just in Alberta, but globally.
He pointed to activity in areas such ashydrogen, geothermal and renewable energy. The provincial government is also exploring small modular nuclear reactors.
Sen said resources will be allocated to exploringways to better support students who want to work in the province's evolving energy industry, including oil and gas.
The energy engineering program, which has an oil and gas component but also exposes students to renewable energy and sustainability, has been an area of growth.
Engineering is not the only department feeling a shift in student interests.
The U of C has also seen a five-year decrease inthe number of undergrads with a concentration in petroleum geology, which is offered by the department of geoscience.
But the faculty of science has seen growing interest and demand toward programs like energy science, said spokespersonGloria Visser-Niven.
The faculty is responding with courses in energy transformation and distribution, mature energy fields like hydroelectricity and nuclear energy, and renewable energy, she said.
It's also consultingwith the engineering school ondeveloping a new energy science minor program with arange of renewable energy courses and research opportunities.
"Energy education continues to evolve in response to global market forces and societal demand for lower carbon energy sources," Visser-Niven said in an email.
WATCH| Why student interest in petroleum courses is waning:
At Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., where many engineering graduates have found work in the petroleum industry over the years, there's also greater interest in renewable energy like solar, wind and tidal power.
"We're also looking at ... focusing a bit more carefully on greener technologies and these sorts of things," said Dennis Peters, Memorial University's acting dean of the faculty of engineering and applied science.
"That's where the world is going and we're recognizing the environment we're in."
According to PetroLMI, which studies labour force data across the oil and gas sector, theindustry is expected to hire a net total of 19,800 people over the next three years.
It forecasts that engineers and geoscientists will make up about seven percent of that number. That includespetroleum, civil, mechanical, mining and chemical engineers.
David Langille, who received a master's degree in petroleum engineering at the U of C, is the incoming chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Canadian Educational Foundation, a group promoting energy literacy thatoffers scholarships to engineering students.
He said young engineers today are thinking about the future and the energy transition.
"New engineers, aspiring engineers, aspiring geoscientists, are definitely trying to future-proof themselves a little bit more," Langille said.
"They're thinking, 'OK, hey, I'm a petroleum engineer now, but where else am I going to be able to work this in [to] the energy system in the future?"
Amanda Quinn wants a career in energy and sees opportunities across the spectrum.
She's entering her final year in the U of C's energy engineering program and is now on an internship at a company working on desalination technology to help provide drinking water.
Quinn, who has two sisters in oil and gas, hopes the conversation about the energy transition becomes less polarized and focused on stereotypes, and more focused on solutions.
"There's so much more technology that we can develop in the future in regards to harnessing energy," she said.
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University of Calgary hits pause on bachelor's program in oil and gas engineering - CBC.ca
Informa Markets Engineering West and California Manufacturers & Technology Association Team Up to Showcase Innovation – Medical Device and…
Informa Markets Engineering West is partnering with theCalifornia Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA)to showcasemanufacturing modernization and innovation in California. Taking place August 10-12 at the Anaheim Convention Center, the event featuresestablished manufacturing show brandsMedical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West,WestPack, Automation Technology Expo (ATX) West,Design & Manufacturing (D&M) West, andPlastec West.
With total output from manufacturing in California reaching $288 billion per year, manufacturing plays a key role in California's economy. "Californias productivity growth has occurred over the last decade with largely the same amount of manufacturing workers, which shows tremendous efficiency and modernization within the sector," stated Lance Hastings, president of CMTA, in a news release. "The hard work of manufacturing employees and the production innovation of 30,000 manufacturing companies makes California a global leader in our domestic and international supply chain. CMTA is happy to support the Informa Markets Engineering West event, which has become the premier trade show for manufacturing innovation and supply chain networking.
CMTA's roster of members includes decision-makers, executives, engineers, and more from leading manufacturers such as:
"We could not be more excited to announce our partnership with CMTA and reconnect the community for the first time in the state of California since the dawn of the pandemic. We are all working toward the same goal of progressing the modernization and future of the manufacturing sector by bringing quality attendees and exhibitors together, thus facilitating the much-needed in-person connection between manufacturers and suppliers that has not been possible over the past year and a half," added Hayley Haggarty, group event director, Informa Markets Engineering West, in the statement.
As with all Informa events, Informa Markets Engineering's West event will be run according to official government and local authority guidance in the first instance, as well as any venue or location-specific regulations. In addition, all Informa events worldwide, irrespective of format or location, will follow onsite safety measures calledInforma AllSecure. These guidelines will help to ensure you maximize your time with us while feeling confident and safe.
To schedule a meeting with CMTA and inquire about membership opportunities, please register to attend the event here and reach out to Sarah Johnson, Director of Member Engagement and Business Development CMTA, at [emailprotected].
Stay connected across the Informa Markets Engineering's West event with #IMEWest and #DiscoverEngineerBuild
Also running alongside the event will be the second annual Informa Markets Engineering Cannabis Packaging Conference and Exhibition, formerly known as the Cannabis Packaging Summit.
Visitor and press registration are open.
MD+DI is published by Informa Markets Engineering.
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University of Calgary suspends admission for oil and gas engineering program – CTV Toronto
CALGARY -- The University of Calgary has suspended admission for its oil and gas engineering bachelor program amidst a downturn in Canadas energy sector and a transition towards a more renewable future.
In fact, enrollment for the program has hit an all-time low with only about 10 students registered over the course of the last two years.
Those existing students will still be able to complete their studies, but Prof. Arin Sen, head of the department of chemical and petroleum engineering said the university has no intention to abandon oil and gas studies.
This wasnt a decision that we made lightly and we certainly had a lot of engagement, but we had a lot of decline in the demand, Sen said.
Thats obviously something that we need to take into consideration and the other is that there's a changing energy landscape that we see here in Alberta, and even beyond Alberta you can see changes globally going on.
Sen added that the goal is to now focus on how to better train students and give students further access to knowledge, especially in the world of digital technologies.
We need to give students a chance to learn about what geothermal means, what hydrogen energy means, wind and solar, and then package that together, so when students graduate from here, they are actually stronger and will be able to better perform once they go into whichever segment of the energy industry that they end up.
The university has plans to allocate further resources to better support students wanting to work in the energy sector, including oil and gas.
The news of a suspension does not come as a surprise for Nima Macci, a former chemical engineering student who was chair of the 2021 Alberta Student Energy Conference.
She says energy firms have already rebranded themselves to students over the years and many of her colleagues are noticing a shift in the energy landscape.
Through the conference, what we saw was a lot of anxiety, kind of being associated with the idea of going back into oil and gas, or being pigeonholed into one career, especially in an industry that had kind of a precarious future, Macci said.
For the longest time we've seen oil and gas as the primary source of energy. Nowhere do I see oil and gas ever becoming obsolete in any form, but we do need to diversify and it's shifting the conversation to incorporate companies like clean tech firms, renewable energy sources as well which I think is a great opportunity.
Mitch Jacobsen graduated from the University of Calgarys oil and gas engineering program in 2015, but has since made a drastic shift in his career plans.
He started out as a water strategist in the oil and gas sector, looking for creative ways to conserve water, but realized a new opportunity in the beverage industry.
When I looked at packaging on beverages I wanted to find the most sustainable packaging, in terms of water usage fossil fuel usage carbon emissions, and that's really how we got into it.
Jacobsen stepped away from his oil and gas career in January of 2020 and founded Rviita Energy Tea.
He says his background in oil and gas engineering prompted him to create juice products made out of linear low density polyethylene and an environmentally-friendly 100 per cent recyclable aluminum and plastic layer.
I think the future of the oil and gas industry is really more moving towards those sustainable technologies, Jacobsen said.
We produce some of the cleanest oil and gas in the world so I hope this program at UofC comes back in the future because it creates so many new jobs and opportunities and it educates the next generation of engineers that need to take sustainability initiatives.
Other students like Amanda Quinn, who is currently enrolled in the UofC energy engineering program agree that petroleum engineering is still a very useful degree that her colleagues should have the option to enrol in.
Totake away petroleum engineering means you're taking away the opportunity for people to get their master's in petroleum engineering and potentially their doctorate too, Quinn said.
We need the experts on petroleum engineering to be there to help us with the transition of it, because they might know the best way of how, how we attain oil, how we process it, and how we refine it more efficiently.
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University of Calgary suspends admission for oil and gas engineering program - CTV Toronto
LSU engineer researching how to catch oil and gas leaks faster – Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
An LSU engineering professor is working to leverage new fiber optic technology to more quickly detect oil and gas leaks, potentially saving industrial firms and municipalities millions in cleanup costs.
According to an LSU announcement, LSU petroleum engineering assistant professor Jyotsna Sharma, funded by a $750,000 Department of Energy grant, is researching how quantum-enhanced fiber-optic sensors can better catch changes pointing to small leaks along underwater and underground oil and gas pipelines.
Current commercial techniques are limited by background noise, either from pump and fluid handling or ocean waves.
We believe that the recent developments in quantum information science can lead to a paradigm shift in the field with the potential for a large impact for oil and gas applications through improvements in monitoring technology for earlier identification and warning, Sharma says.
After performing initial tests at the lab, Sharmas research team will test the new techniques under real-life conditions at a 5,000-ft.-deep high-pressure test well operated by LSU.
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LSU engineer researching how to catch oil and gas leaks faster - Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
Engineer your career – The Hindu
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are two of the fastest-growing technologies pervading all sectors. From automated cars to chatbots, mobile phones, and other electronic devices, they have numerous applications. Consequently, the demand for AI and ML engineers with specific skills is growing rapidly. Certain technical and non-technical skills are common for both AI and ML engineers:
Technical skills
Programming languages: A strong grasp of programming languages such as Python, Java, R, and C++ is vital. These are easy to learn and tend to have a wider scope. Python, in fact, is considered the lingua franca of ML.
Linear algebra, Calculus, Statistics: One must have a thorough understanding of concepts such as Matrices, Vectors, Derivatives, and Integrals and a firm grasp of statistical concepts such as Mean, Standard Deviations, and Gaussian Distributions, along with probability theory for algorithms such as Naive Bayes, Gaussian Mixture Models, and Hidden Markov Models.
Signal processing techniques: AI and ML engineers must know how to solve problems using Signal Processing. Additional knowledge of Advanced Signal Processing Algorithms such as Wavelets, Shearlets, Curvelets, and Bandlets is a bonus.
Applied Maths and algorithms: Apart form being well-versed in applied Maths, knowledge of algorithm theory can help in understanding crucial subjects such as Gradient Descent, Convex Optimisation, Lagrange, Quadratic Programming, Partial Differential Equations, and Summations.
Neural network architectures: Used for coding tasks that are arduous for human effort, this has been extremely useful in areas such as translation, speech recognition, and image classification, and so on.
Non-technical skills
Communication: Explaining complex topics to people who arent from the industry requires clear communication skills. Additionally, engineers often work in teams that include non-technical personnel from sales and marketing departments. Unless they can communicate the relevance of what they are working on, it will be tough for the product to gain traction in the market.
Domain expertise: Business owners expect industry-specific solutions from these emerging technologies. Therefore, AI/ML engineers must thoroughly understand the domain they will be working in. For example, creating AI or ML solutions for a genetic engineering firm requires a basic understanding of fundamental genetic engineering concepts.
Rapid prototyping: Launching products quickly in the market is every businesss goal today. Rapid prototyping helps form different techniques to develop a scale model and allows engineers to quickly develop a prototype and test it out.
Besides these, there are a few skills that are specific to Machine Learning engineers only. They are:
Natural Language Processing (NLP): It is a fundamental part of ML, and studies how machines understand and interpret human language. There are several libraries such as Gensim and NLTK that provide the NLPS foundation and contain different functions to help computers understand our language. This is accomplished by breaking down the text according to its syntax, extracting important phrases, removing unnecessary words, and so on.
Reinforcement learning: It is the primary reason behind the sudden improvements in deep learning, and has the potential to revolutionise Robotics in the foreseeable future.
The growing demand for these technologies means that individuals who spend time learning these skills will be able to carve out a successful career.
The writer is the President Judge India (Global Delivery) at The Judge Group.
Originally posted here:
Ask the Engineers: What’s the best way to prepare for a useful retirement? – Professional Engineering
'Whats the best way to prepare for a useful retirement (in my case, volunteering in the heritage engineering sector)?' (Credit: Shutterstock)
Are you stuck in a career rut or planning your next move? In each issue, we're putting your burning questions to our panel of seasoned engineers.
In Issue 4, Bob Rainbow asked: "Whats the best way to prepare for a useful retirement (in my case, volunteering in the heritage engineering sector)?"
Have a plan. What were your favourite parts of your job, what gave you the most joy? Make a list to see how you can find a way to spend time doing this. Volunteering is an excellent way to achieve this. Maybe think about getting a social-media platform up and running to learn a few new skills and then maybe post a few videos about your knowledge or current projects/passions. Some of the most engaging people on social media are in their eighties, talking about their passions, such as the work they are doing on things as diverse as vintage racing cars, aeroplanes, canal barges, bridges or castles.
Dave Hughes
Before I retired I made a timetable with five slots a day for seven days a week. I told myself that if I couldnt fill each slot with something I wanted (or needed) to do then I shouldnt be retiring. It helped set my budget and gave me a mix of activity, creative, teach/volunteer and learning. Be useful by all means, but remember to have fun!
Tim
Sounds like youve already got a plan! Remember that you are doing it for enjoyment! Youve worked hard all your career to earn this time. Keep your mind active, and always be prepared to share your experience and lessons learned with those around you. I know that there is a lot of knowledge youve collected over the years that can still be passed on, even in retirement.
Andrew MacGillivray
Having just reached the age of 55, I am now thinking about how many years I want to work before retiring, and looking at the things that interest me now (classic motorsports) and how I can get involved in a voluntary fashion as I get closer to retirement. Of course with every retirement there is always the list of works to do around the house.
Ian Oldfield
I would suggest fully maintaining IMechE networks and local involvement. Other personal satellite engineering activities can then be brought to the Region or Centre for presentations or visits. Some further expertise can then also flow the other way, into the external activity win-win, as they say...
Ian Weslake-Hill
Although I am still a few years from retirement (hopefully), I am already thinking about how to remain active, intellectually, physically and work related. I think volunteering is definitely something I would consider, along with a new area of study possibly a language or musical instrument.
Robert Davidson
At 29, Im no authority on the subject but I would completely agree with volunteering. There are some amazing things going on with retired engineers at the heart. I volunteer with an excellent team at the charity Remap and would recommend it to any engineer looking to use their skills into retirement.
Will Henson
The best way is to try to reduce working hours first, particularly if there is a handover period. Use the time to build your interest in those things you want to do in retirement... its the actions that have no cost that are worth the most.
Pete Barnett
Volunteer for your local committee. Take up a hobby. Do an Open University course there are many free ones. Whatever you do, do not flop out and relax! How many times have you heard successful people say they have never been so busy?!
Brian McMahon
While you are working, think this one through carefully and do your research, and try things out. When you retire a huge part of your life and reason for living will suddenly disappear. You need to fill that gap in a fulfilling way.
Michael Reid
Find a role that interests you, that you will enjoy and means you are contributing something. It is harder to put up with the not-so-nice aspects of a job when you are not being paid to do it.
Richard Bossom
Get to grips with the future factory: sign up now for ourAdvanced Manufacturingbriefings(19-23 July), part of theEngineering Futuresseries.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
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