Theyre noticeable to spectators in person and to viewers on TV: the unique 3D Regions Tradition tee markers in the shape of the banks iconic bike brand.

Forrest Satterfield created them in 2015 because, well, someone asked if it was possible. Thats what Satterfield likes to do take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.

When the Bruno Event Team (which coordinates the Tradition) first reached out to me, Id just received my first funding from an investor $25,000, Satterfield said. I had one 3D printer, one scanner, and I was running everything out of my apartment. I was terrified. I didnt know how I was going to pay the rent.

Six years later, Satterfield Technologies is flourishing, responding to a global pandemic by creating N95 face masks for front-line health care workers with a 3D printer.

Satterfield majored in biomedical engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where as an undergrad he learned to merge medicine, science and business. A key turning point was a class project focused on dune buggy races. He was tasked with creating a business model and made his first pitch atBarber Motorsports Park, where he came onto the radar of the Bruno Event Team that manages the Indy race there, as well as the Regions Tradition and the SEC Baseball Tournament.

Satterfield quickly pivoted, from business pitch to business partner for the Bruno team.

We havent turned down a project yet, Satterfield said. Our motto is: seek stories, solve problems.

When people ask for something unique, he produces.

For Birminghams Sidewalk Film Festival, Satterfield Technologies created the popcorn bucket trophies given to award winners. For the Tradition, he created a 360-degree immersive video one can use with a virtual reality device to get a feel for the Greystone Golf & Country Club course, where the PGA Tour Champions major is held each year.

Another project created a water filtration system, turning undrinkable water into clear, pristine liquid for safe consumption sans an actual filter.

And, at the onset of the global pandemic, Satterfield Technologies created the custom-fit, 3D-printed N95 masks for emergency room doctors and nurses.

Before, the masks came from overseas and the supply system was disconnected, he said. I wanted to dive into what made them work, strip away everything else, and it took about a month to develop. We were able to produce high-quality products in a 30-by-30 manufacturing room, and we believe they outperform all others on the market.

Satterfield Technologies calls itself a modular adaptive manufacturing company. While hes branched out in a dozen directions, the heart and soul of this small business remains the medical side.

Our main focus is on affordable medical devices, Satterfield said. Everything we do is through the lens of how it affects your health. So many things we use today have unintended negative consequences. Were changing that. By closing the gap, youre able to communicate between the hard science and the hard engineering. We solve the tough problems without sacrificing long-term health.

This story originally appeared on the Doing More Today website.

Excerpt from:

How an Alabama design and engineering company helped Regions Tradition go 3D on the tee - Alabama NewsCenter

Two UCLA mechanical and aerospace engineering students conducted a live interview today from Earth to space with aerospace engineering alumna and SpaceX Crew-2 mission pilot Megan McArthur 93 and mission commander Shane Kim Kimbrough.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour carrying four astronauts from three countries successfully launched on April 23 from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

The 20-minute Skype interview by Anil Nair and Anneliese Peterson from UCLAs Laser Spectroscopy and Gas Dynamics Laboratory was livestreamed on NASA TV. A recording showing the interaction between students at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the crew aboard the International Space Station can be viewed in this YouTube video.

We followed up with Nair and Peterson post-interview to get their thoughts on the out-of-this-world experience.

Q: How do you feel about speaking with McArthur and Kimbrough, the pilot and the mission commander of SpaceX Crew 2 respectively?Nair: I felt honored to have this unique opportunity to talk to Megan and Kim. Anneliese and I have both learned so much about space flight and travel in our classes, so it was great to hear about the astronauts experiences first-hand.

Q: Describe what it was like talking to people in space. How does it feel and sound differently or the same from calling someone on Earth?Peterson: Talking to the astronauts in space felt surprisingly similar to a regular video call, except that there was a slight delay because they had to uplink our audio from the ground to the Station. I loved how Megan wore a UCLA shirt for the occasion!

Q: What came to mind when you first saw McArthur and Kimbrough?Peterson: When their video first popped up on the screen and I saw them floating in microgravity I finally processed how unique the opportunity to speak directly with astronauts truly is. Their missions are so tightly scheduled that the fact that they took time to talk with us is incredibly generous, and we will remember this for the rest of our lives.

Q: What is the major takeaway from this interview?Nair: The interview was very inspiring, and it made me excited to be a part of the amazing growth in the space industry that Kim mentioned! I look forward to developing rocket engine technologies to help send future astronauts into space.

Q: What is the one question you wish you had asked but didnt get a chance to ask and why?Nair: I wish I got to ask the astronauts what their favorite microgravity trick is, and if they could demonstrate it for us. It was really impressive to see them doing tricks like flipping upside down during the interview!

Q: Anything else youd like to share with our audience?Peterson: It was incredible to hear that our question about how to redesign the ISS had never been asked before. Now I know if I ever get to design a new Space Station in a future job, I should add more storage space!

Anil Nair in the Laser Spectroscopy and Gas Dynamics Lab at UCLA, where rocket engine diagnostics are developed.Besides a shared passion for aerospace, Nair and Peterson have both been active leaders in the Rocket Project at UCLA, the student club that builds and launches liquid bi-propellant rockets out in the Mojave Desert.

Nair, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering and on his way to becoming a triple Bruin engineer, is currently doing research on detonation rocket engines and 3D-printed rocket engines. One of his goals is helping develop cutting-edge propulsion technology to enable future space travel. He served as Rocket Project president in his senior year and helped build the schools first liquid-fueled rocket. In his free time, Nair enjoys playing bass guitar and running on the beautiful UCLA campus.

Anneliese Peterson doing final engine checkouts before a hot fire of a LOx-Ethanol engine.Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Peterson is the Rocket Project vice president and student ambassador tour guide for UCLA Samueli. A senior in aerospace engineering, Peterson is graduating this June and is considering working for Northrop Grumman at Space Park or SpaceX at Cape Canaveral as a launch engineer. Either way, Peterson plans to work as an engineer in the space industry. Shes even thought about her plans for retirement, hoping to teach physics or calculus. When shes not working with rockets, she loves painting, hiking and exploring Los Angeles.

Read more from the original source:

UCLA Engineering In-Flight Conversation with SpaceX Crew 2 aboard the International Space Station - UCLA Samueli School of Engineering Newsroom

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Last month, we looked at rapid fire developments (RFD) in terms of flashover. This term encompasses occurrences such as flashover, backdrafts, and/or smoke explosions, but our focus is on flashover. We are going to continue our look at such phenomena with how we can aggressively cool the environment and the contents.

As a reminder, a flashover is the simultaneous ignition of everything within a room. It occurs when hot gases rise to the ceiling and spread out across the walls. These hot gases are what we call black smoke unburned particles of combustion. As it spreads out across the ceiling and the walls, it starts to heat up the items found within the room such as the paint on the walls, the furnishings, clothing, mattress, flooring material, etc., until they all reach their ignition temperature. Once they are all at their ignition temperature, a rapid fire development occurs, with everything becoming a big ball of fire. We are looking at temperature ranges between 1,000-1,500F, which requires a good amount of water to effectively cool it.

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There are signs or indicators that are visible to us with our sight and with our tactile senses to warn us that flashover is impending. When these signs and indicators reveal themselves, firefighters must heed them and take aggressive action. These indicators are as follows:

Taking aggressive action against this particular RFD means to act in a smart way so that we gain the upper hand. There are two ways to effectively overcome and eliminate flashover: tactical ventilation and aggressive cooling with water.

Tactical ventilation will aid in the rapid removal of the unburned particles of combustion, the hot gases, the smoke and the heat. This can be accomplished in various methods with the most effective being vertical ventilation. As heat and smoke want to rise naturally, a vertical opening will allow them to rise and escape out of the structure. The key with vertical ventilation is placing the opening directly above the fire to create a direct chimney or travel path to the outside for the smoke and hot gases.

This must be coupled with aggressive cooling and application of water. This is where a handline, minimum 1 inches flowing a minimum of 150 gpm, should be used to effectively cool down the ceiling, walls, floors, and contents all at once. Having the proper nozzle is going to help with thisthis is where we could consider looking at smooth bore vs. automatic nozzles, but thats a topic for another time.

Aggressive cooling involves using a straight or solid stream of water from the nozzle. We do not want to use a fog pattern of any type when facing preflashover conditions. A straight or solid stream of water is going to allow us to effectively knock down the fire while at the same time reducing the heat inside from the extreme high temperatures to a much lower temperature. An example of this is with the UL FSRI tests conducted in February and March, where temperatures were recorded to have been reduced by about 1,300F with an aggressive attack with a smooth bore nozzle.

So how do we aggressively cool? We need to move the nozzle in a pattern that will hit the ceiling, the walls, and the floors all in a sequential and consistent fashion. Sweeping across the ceiling then straight down to the floor is one method, as well as sweeping the ceiling and also sweeping the floor. No matter what style chosen, it will involve movement, not a static application of water.

It also involves applying water to cool off the ceilings, walls, floors, and contents as we advance into the structure. This will require us to apply water to black fire, the unburned particles of combustion. Remember, they are contributing to the radiant heat against the ceiling, walls, floors, and contents. The black fire needs to be cooled a as well as the container that it is influencing. This will sound overly aggressive and will go against everything taught for the last number of years we never spray water at smoke. However, with the change in technology and with science, we need to spray water at the smoke to effectively cool it and render it weak in terms of contributing to a flashover.

Mark van der Feysthas been in the fire service since 1999 and is a firefighter with the Fort Gratiot (MI) Fire Department. He is an international instructor teaching in Canada, the United States, and India, and at FDIC. He is also the lead author ofResidential Fire Rescue(Fire Engineering Books & Video). He can be contacted at Mark@FireStarTraining.com.

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Read more from the original source:

Firefighting Basics: Aggressive Cooling and Preflashover Conditions - FireEngineering.com

Nigel Barnett has spent his childhood designing, building, destroying and tinkering. He started with LEGOs, moved on to DC motors and circuits, then computer hardware, 3D printing, and now, in high school, a solar car.

Someday he might take his love for building stuff to the International Space Station.

A 17-year-old senior at Seattles Raisbeck Aviation High School, Nigel is GeekWires Junior Geek of the Month for April. The monthly honor, presented by Northern Trust, recognizes talented young innovators, creators and entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest.

A STEM kid like many who have been nominated for Junior Geek, Nigel is particularly interested in the way stuff is built and moves. Learning moreabout physics and aerodynamics and engineering has only fueled that interest.

I find that learning new subjects is really cool because I get to look at everyday objects differently and I get to understand how they work better, Nigel said. Before, I didnt really know why you would have to have heat sinks or spreaders on technology components and fans. Now that weve gone through stuff about physics, Ive learned why thats important.

Nigel, who lives in Newcastle, Wash., has been taking Running Start classes through Bellevue College and will be attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with plans to study mechanical engineering, most likely with an aerospace or aeronautical focus.

At Raisbeck hes been involved in the schools Green Energy Team and among 20 or so students, he is the main structural designer of the teams solar car. While it might seem like a logical transition to join MITs solar efforts, Nigel is shifting his focus to maybe joining a rocketry team instead.

I dont know if its fair to say I have a career plan, he said. But I have some aspirations for becoming an engineer and hopefully becoming an astronaut afterwards. But thats pretty up there. Im more focused on becoming an engineer at this point.

He said he chose Raisbeck initially because he thought he wanted to be a pilot and become an astronaut that way, but he realized it would be more flexible and fit better with his interests to become an engineer.

A very common theme with astronauts Ive researched is an interest for science and an interest for exploration, Nigel said. I think I can really identify with those two character traits.

He added that it would be really cool to be able to look down on Earth from the International Space Station. He laughed at the idea that he could someday just spend a few hundred thousands dollars and ride up on a commercial spaceflight.

I think its a bit better if you understand everything thats happening, or maybe youre contributing, he said. That makes it really special.

Nigel got a head start last summer on working with MIT when he joined a group research opportunity through MIT Beaver Summer Institute to help develop a contact tracing application to monitor the spread of COVID-19. Hes been into 3D printing since the 8th grade when he first saw a 3D printing demo at a Microsoft Store in Seattle. Using his skills, he joined an online group that was printing face shields to help with the shortage of that personal protective equipment during the height of the pandemic.

Nigels mom Hazel Bhang Barnett said her sons geekiness speaks for itself.

Nigel hasnt won any renowned competitions, awards, or patents, but students like Nigel help project teams function, share hard-earned, self-taught know-how for the greater good, and persevere till the end despite setbacks, she told GeekWire.

GeekWire will feature a new Junior Geek of the Month in profiles meant to capture how they are looking to make a positive impact on the world through their geeky pursuits. In addition, theyll receive special recognition from our project partner, Northern Trust.

Do you know an exceptional Junior Geek between the ages of 12 to 20 who is going to change the world?Submit anomination.

Nominees must be residents of the Pacific Northwest, and parental information must be included for those nominees under the age of 18. Jr. Geeks may nominate themselves but please be sure to include your parent or guardians contact information.

Read about our previous Junior Geek of the Month winners.

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Junior Geek of the Month: Nigel Barnett will pursue engineering at MIT, and later, his astronaut dream - GeekWire

NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory has the lead in origami space engineering. Origami, with its folds, compresses materials and packs them in the smallest of volumes. In the words of Robert Salazar, an intern at the laboratory, origami offers the potential to take a vast structure and get it to fit within the rocket, therefore greatly magnifying what we are capable of building in space.

Not only is origami used for compression, but its also used for robotic exploration. Starshade, an occulter in NASAs Exoplanet Exploration Program, the New Worlds Mission, prevents starlight from interfering with exoplanet pictures that the telescope takes. Its unfolding resembles a flower blooming; the petals spread out from the stem, which disconnects from the occulter and transforms into an independent telescope. Jeremy Kasdin, the principal investigator, expects that the mission will allow us to directly image Earth-size, rocky exoplanets. Origami makes this expansion possible without investing the energy and resources to have a human astronaut manually perform the mission.

As seen in the Starshade occulter, origami is one of the simplest and most elegant sets of directions scientists can relay to robots. While robots can perform actions humans are incapable of, human instincts cannot be programmed into them. However, the mechanical nature of material folding makes directions far more accurate and precise for robots to understand. Origami serves as a common language robots can easily interpret in space. Self-folding robots, developed by Samuel Felton, an assistant professor at Northeastern University, and his team, are one of the first adopters of this language. Electricity passes through the circuit board like blood running through veins, and the robot walks away after bending its body parts. Dr. Felton believes such robots could be deployed in space missions in the far future.

Origami space engineering teaches us that difficult problems often have simple solutions. Science celebrates discoveries and breaking new ground. Less spotlight is shone on rediscoveries; what we already possess can be given a new lease on life if we believe in its potential. In space, the final frontier, origami engineering serves as a humble reminder for scientists that a kind gaze at our individual potential can unleash the ultimate frontier within all of us.

Works Cited

Callahan, Molly. New Professor Creates Self-Folding, Origami Robots. News@Northeastern, 24 Oct. 2016.

Chang, Kenneth. Origami Inspires Rise of Self-Folding Robot. The New York Times, 7 Aug. 2014.

Good, Andrew. What Looks Good on Paper May Look Good in Space. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 22 Sept. 2017.

Lee, Elizabeth. Ancient Origami Art Becomes Engineers Dream in Space. Voice of America, 26 Oct. 2017.

Rodriguez, Joshua. Flower Power: NASA Reveals Spring Starshade Animation. Exoplanet Exploration, 24 Sept. 2020.

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Origami in Space Engineering: Rediscovering the Meaning of Discovery - The New York Times