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KINGSTON, R.I. Jan. 3, 2022 Thirteen University of Rhode Island mechanical engineering students are working with NASA and other prestigious universities on a project that could cut in half the travel time for a human mission to Mars.

The project involves nuclear thermal propulsion, which scientists and engineers say can get astronauts to Mars more quickly and safely than they can with current chemical propulsion and technology. The students are enrolled in Professor Bahram Nassersharifs senior capstone mechanical engineering class, which spends a year working on problems or projects from industry and then delivers design and/or production recommendations, prototypes and more.

When Nassersharif, distinguished university professor, capstone design director and professor and Nuclear Engineering Program director, first set up the project, he envisioned a four-student team.

I introduced the project at the start of the class in September and there was so much interest, I decided to create three separate teams, Nassersharif said. Since the very beginning, they have been very dedicated to the project. The three teams all work well together and with their colleagues on the teams at other universities. I am very impressed with their communication and organizational skills.

According to Nassersharif, the project involves a proposed nuclear thermal propulsion system with 19 fuel tubes partially filled with uranium metal. The uranium melts at a temperature of 2,070 degrees Fahrenheit. The work of the URI students centers on getting the fuel tubes to spin fast enough to spin the uranium liquid metal at startup, during the bulk of the journey, and at completion so that the liquid uranium stays attached to the walls of the tubes and does not escape. In other words, the students are working on a system that generates centrifugal force. To produce the necessary spinning, hydrogen would run through the walls of the rocket, cooling the fuel tubes. And as the hydrogen heats up, it becomes the propellant that exits out of the rockets nozzle and sends the spacecraft on its way.

Advantages of thermal nuclear propulsion

So what are the advantages of nuclear thermal propulsion over the current and best chemical rockets in use today?

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University College of Engineering, University of Michigan College of Engineering and the University of Alabama, Huntsville, are the other academic collaborators.

The URI students are focused on three parts of the project, all of which are integrated with the work of the other collaborators.

The URI teams made two presentations in class during the fall semester and will deliver two major design presentations during the spring semester, a build-test report and final design showcase, which will include a working model. Michael Houts, the nuclear research manager at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, participated in the fall presentations by Zoom.

URI students are performing important research related to the Centrifugal Nuclear Thermal Rocket (CNTR), and we are extremely glad they are part of the research team, Houts said recently. Their work is excellent, and they continue to make significant contributions to the advancement of the CNTR high performance space propulsion concept.

Student Jacob Murphy of Coventry said, The goal of his team is to develop, by the end of the spring semester, a prototype 3D model of the engine. Our entire group is only focused on the mechanical portion of the rocket.

Basically a nuclear reaction heats the uranium, which then heats the hydrogen, which then becomes the rockets propellant, said Connor Venagro, also a member of the 3D model team from Cranston.

Seeds of the project

The seeds of the project were sown when Nassersharif met NASAs Houts, the nuclear research manager at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, at a conference of the American Nuclear Society. One of Nassersharifs masters degree students, Miguel Lopez, talked with the professor and Houts about the project, and then they decided to develop a proposal. It was submitted to NASAs Rhode Island Space Grant Consortium at Brown University, which provided funding for the project. Houts is the NASA mentor to the URI students.

One of the great things about this project is that our students meet (remotely) with students from the other schools and they talk about their projects, which are different from URIs. But being able to share ideas helps connect all of the students to the wide ranging work being done on this, Nassersharif said.

The buzz among students in the classroom in URIs Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering was palpable one afternoon as they discussed the project and what it means to them.

Part of the problem with a chemical rocket (traditional rocket) is the amount of time it would take to propel it to Mars, said Marco DeFruscio, a mechanical engineering major from Providence. Being able to get to Mars in an efficient manner is the goal of this project. There is lots of competition to prove that we can get humans to Mars.

In the 1960s, NASA worked on nuclear propulsion for its rockets, but fears around putting astronauts next to a nuclear fuel source, and public controversies around nuclear power over the decades, made it difficult to proceed with that option, according to Zachary Hermanson of Woonsocket.

But this technology is very similar to what we use already in our submarines and surface ships, Hermanson said.

All of us in Team 1 have worked in the nuclear submarine arena, said North Kingstowns Rachael Bjorn, another member of team one.

Nassersharif added that some of the 13 students have taken at least one of 10 nuclear engineering courses offered by the University and several are physics, mathematics, and nuclear engineering minors.

Working with NASA has been a dream of mine since 9th grade when I did a National History Day Project on Neil Armstrong, Hermanson said.

Bjorn, who is a mechanical engineering-German double major, said her mom told her when she was young that she wanted to be able to say, My daughter, the rocket scientist.

And when this actually does happen, I can say I had a hand in that, Bjorn said.

Working on this project is very cool, said Danny Kruzick of South Windsor, Connecticut. Like most kids, I wanted to be an astronaut. The science of space and the engineering to get to space are two demanding disciplines. Its not guesswork.

Collin Treacy of Ballston Spa, New York, an applied mathematics and mechanical engineering student, said the course incorporates everything he and his fellow students have learned during their first three years in the mechanical engineering program. This project brings together physics, chemistry, engineering and math.

Honghao Zhen of Westerly, Rhode Island, knows that such a course is important because it gives me a start in the space industry and it could lead to careers with NASA or aerospace firms. We have spent many late nights together in virtual and in-person meetings. We have even looked at old textbooks for background.

Murphy and Venagro said among the most enjoyable parts of the project are working with students at the other schools and interns at NASA.

This rocket is an entirely new concept, Venagro said.

Read more:

URI engineering students work with NASA on nuclear thermal propulsion for human mission to Mars - URI Today

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has students learn about ethics. Photo by Ellie Hawkins.

An engineers job doesnt have to stop at completing projects. The supplies that they source, the time estimated, the well-being of others and so much more are the ethical factors involved.

Students gathered on Monday for a presentation by Bradley professor Krishnanand Maillacheruvu about ethics in the civil engineering field.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)s code of ethics asks members for their professionalism and integrity while keeping the safety and welfare of the public in mind.

Bradleys ASCE program held the event as a way for members to be exposed to different avenues of civil engineering and construction.

Maillacheruvu taught the present group of students about all principles of the code while being given real-life examples.

For example, when sourcing for a project, finding product locally would be better for the environment than somewhere further away, because transporting the goods would put more pollution into the environment. This generally isnt the cheaper option, but its more environmentally conscious.

Colin Watson, a junior electrical engineering major, attended because he has a general interest in ethics and wants to dive more into all aspects of engineering.

Id say [I gained] a general perspective on different disciplines and how they approach these types of problems, Watson said. It was kind of interesting to see how civil engineers approach problems that all engineers deal with.

The main principles of the ASCE code of ethics, as presented by Maillacheruvu, are as follows: create safe, resilient and sustainable infrastructure; treat all persons with respect, dignity, and fairness in a manner that fosters equitable participation without regard to personal identity; downsides the current and anticipated needs of society; and utilize their knowledge and skills to enhance the quality of life for humanity.

Maillacheruvu went on to explain that many of these principles relate to creating infrastructure that is green or conscious of climate change, treating others in the field with kindness and doing things the right way, even if it doesnt feel like the easiest way to accomplish a goal.

The ASCE program has its first general meeting of the semester on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in BECC 2254. Meetings are on the first Monday of every month, and feature more information on upcoming events as well as more information about the club itself.

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All about ethics: Engineering professor talks welfare and integrity The Bradley Scout - The Scout

CU Boulder Professor Emeritus Karl Gustafson has high expectations for the quantum engineering researcher who will soon hold the faculty chair recently endowed in his name.

I hope that someone might have a fundamental breakthrough in some way other than just writing papers, he said. It's too easy to write papers, but very hard to actually build a piece of hardware, like a quantum computer or do something else in quantum.

Karl Gustafson

Recently created by an anonymous donor, the Karl Gustafson Endowed Chair of Quantum Engineering will be embedded in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering. It is intended for a faculty member with multidisciplinary research and teaching interests, who is focused on the hardware side of quantum computing and devices.

This gift, honoring Professor Gustafson for his distinguished career, will further enable CU Boulder and the College of Engineering and Applied Science to lead the way in quantum discoveries and application, Acting Dean Keith Molenaar said. We are deeply grateful to the donor and pleased that Karls legacy will be tied to the multidisciplinary impact of this faculty chair.

Gustafson said he was initially surprised when the donor a former student of his reached out to him about making a gift in his name.

It is quite an honor. Its an honor for me; it's an honor for the university, he said. It's kind of a very pleasant capstone on my career.

While he worked closely with the donor to outline the terms of the gift, it was Gustafson who insisted on the word multidisciplinary, as its the term that most accurately describes his own career.

Gustafson retired in 2020 after a 52-year career in the Department of Mathematics and holds three degrees from CU Boulder in engineering physics, applied mathematics and business finance. Shortly before a major stroke in 2016 prevented him from traveling and publishing, he gave three significant keynote addresses around the world one in each of those fields.

The Department of Physics is enormously proud that Professor Gustafson is one of our alumni, and deeply grateful to the donor for endowing this chair position in Quantum Engineering in Karls honor, said Michael Ritzwoller, the chair of physics. Karls illustrious career spanned mathematical physics, applied mathematics, and engineering both within and outside academia, and we hope the endowed chair holder can follow in his giant footsteps.

Gustafson advised more than 20 PhD students across science and engineering disciplines, and published more than 300 papers and more than a dozen books in topics ranging from computational fluid dynamics to financial engineering. His ties to CU Engineering include serving as a founding member of the multimillion-dollar NSF Optoelectronic Computing Systems Center from 1988 to 2000.

He has also long been interested in quantum mechanics and computation and keeps up-to-date on developments in the field even in retirement.

My impression is that we may not get quantum computation for a while. It's a very hard problem, Gustafson said. The software exists, the algorithms exist, all kinds of theory, thousands of papers. But no one can really build a quantum computer. You'll read a lot of hype about people claiming they have. But they'll only be able to do 20 or 30 qubits, and that's not a very big computer.

However, Gustafson said quantum is a fascinating field partly because of that search for the unknown. He thinks back to the Einstein-Bohr debates, which pitted a stubborn analytical person against a mystic. Gustafson said Bohr usually defeated Einstein in the thought experiments because he explained what we didnt know and claimed that we may never know.

I tend to hope that Einstein was right, Gustafson said. I tend to believe there's an underlying reality that we can maybe discover.

Read the original:

Honoree hopes new endowment will lead to quantum breakthrough - CU Boulder Today

Design of critical infrastructure to support a sustainable water and power future for the Western US

EDMONTON, Alberta and NEW YORK and DENVER, Feb. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TSX, NYSE:STN

Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, has been awarded a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide a full suite of architectural, engineering, professional, and technical services for the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), a federal agency under the US Department of the Interior.

Stantecs work will support Reclamations mission to assist in meeting the increasing water and power demands of the Western US while protecting the environment. In alignment with the US infrastructure bill, which prioritizes water, dam, and hydropower security, Stantec will support a variety of projects, including dams, canals, fish passage, hydropower facilities, hydraulic structures, pipelines, new buildings, bridges, water treatment plants, and additional water infrastructure. Work under this IDIQ contract may be performed throughout Reclamations footprint, which spans 17 Western States (extending from California, north to the Canadian border, east to North Dakota, and south to Texas).

Under the US$45-million contract, Stantec will work closely with Reclamations Technical Services Centerthe organizations resource center for engineering, scientific, and technical expertiseon a variety of projects within the civil, geotechnical, mechanical, electrical, water and environmental science, engineering, risk analysis, dam safety, and security professional service areas.

Reclamation is the largest wholesaler of water in the country, delivering water to more than 31 million people and providing irrigation for 60% of the nations vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts. Additionally, Reclamation is the second largest producer of hydropower in the US, operating 53 hydroelectric powerplants that have produced an average of 40 billion kilowatt-hours annually over the last decade. Hydropower is a critical component of the energy transition, the move from carbon-based fuels to renewable energy sources.

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Reclamation is a leader in meeting water and power demand, and were incredibly excited to support their continued mission to deliver a sustainable and reliable water supply to the Western US, while protecting the environment, said Stu Lerner, Stantecs chief operating officer. We look forward to building on our longstanding history collaborating with Reclamation on the delivery of high-quality, successful projects to help meet increasing water needs and balance the multitude of competing uses of water in the West.

Stantec has a long history of supporting Reclamation as a trusted partner on major water resources, ecosystem restoration, and hydropower projects, such the San Joaquin River Restoration Program in Central California and the Grand Coulee Power Plant Rehabilitation and Upgrade in Washington. Over the last 20 years, Stantec has delivered more than 190 on-call/task orders and contracts for Reclamation. This work has spanned a broad scope of architectural/engineering services, accounting for more than US$165 million in gross revenue.

About StantecCommunities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. Thats why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.

We care about the communities we servebecause theyre our communities too. This allows us to assess what's needed and connect our expertise, to appreciate nuances and envision what's never been considered, to bring together diverse perspectives so we can collaborate toward a shared success.

Were designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers, innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe.

Stantec trades on the TSX and the NYSE under the symbol STN. Visit us at stantec.com or find us on social media.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the services described above. Forward-looking statements also include any other statements that do not refer to historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is a risk that the services described above may be delayed, cancelled, suspended or terminated. This could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made in this news release. Except as may be required by law, Stantec undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are provided herein for the purpose of giving information about the services referred to above and their expected impact. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

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Stantec awarded contract to provide suite of architectural and engineering services for the Bureau of Reclamation - Yahoo Finance