NEXT MEETING
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Cellar Restaurant at
Union Square
Monday, January 14 - 12:00
noon
TOPIC: A GPS-based Representation
of TVA's Transmission System
- Tiffany Gibby, TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority is developing several
applications using Geographic Positioning System technologies. One current
project is to develop a GPS-based representation of its transmission
system. A computer simulation of the system can greatly improve many
processes, especially emergency restoration, by showing aerial photographs and
video of right-of-way corridors. The application incorporates layers of
information - crew areas, lakes and waterways, topographic and road maps,
endangered species areas, and others - on top of which the transmission system
can be shown relative to other geographic information. Tiffany Gibby of
TVA's Transmission Operations & Maintenance will demonstrate the early
stages of this application.
Invocation: Jack Anderson
Fellowship:
Almeda Frazier
Entrée du jour: Beef Pot
Roast
OUR PREVIOUS MEETING
_____________________________________
- As noted by Tiffany
Gibby
Diamond Chemical Vapor Deposition Technology was the topic of Dale
Bradshaw, presentation. Dale is Senior Manager of TVA's Power Delivery
Technologies. He explained that investment in power transmission has been
declining over the years while investment in generation has seen a recent
increase. Transmission assets in the US weren't originally intended to be
used as an electricity superhighway but rather as a generation point to user
point conduit. Now, the requirements of increased power flow across TVA's
service area are stressing the system. New technologies are being
investigated to increase reliable electric capacity on TVA's transmission system
at the most reasonable cost. One of these is a process called Chemical
Vapor Deposition (CVD) of Diamonds. This technology is expected to provide
high-current circuit switching for large loads, operate at high voltages without
additional step-down transformation, reduce the cost of power electronic devices
at least 50%, and decrease the AC-DC conversion cost.
FUTURE MONDAY MEETINGS
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Jan. 21 - No
meeting in observance of Martin Luther King Day
Jan. 28
Topic: The Design and Function of the Spallation Neutron Source
Facility in Oak Ridge. Tony Chargin, Director of the Conventional Facilities,
Division for the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source Facility.
Feb. 4 Speaker:
Bill Tittle, Director of Hamilton County Emergency Services.
Feb. 11 Speaker:
Arvid Pasto, Director of ORNL's High Temperature Materials
Laboratory
Feb 18 Event:
Engineers Week Kickoff Luncheon - UTC
Feb. 25 Topic:
Biotechnology and Mouse Genetics. Barry Berven, ORNL Life Sciences
Division
March 11 Topic:
Superconductivity. Bob Hawsey, Director of ORNL's Superconductivity
Section.
March 25 Topic:
National Transportation Research Center Overview. Dick Ziegler, Director of
ORNL's Transportation Technologies Program.
WHERE WE USUALLY MEET
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All of our presentation
meetings are held at the Cellar Restaurant at Union Square Downtown, Chattanooga
from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Our meeting room and luncheon service are open by
11:30 a.m. Lunch buffet is available for $10 per person. No reservation is
required. Free parking is available for these occasions at the Days Inn Motel
(on Carter St. and MLK Blvd), courtesy of the Days Inn management. When you park
there, be sure to place a note on you dashboard indicating you are attending the
engineers club meeting.
OUR WEB SITE
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If you have not done
so lately, check out our web site at
www.chattanooga.net/engineer/CEC
. Our webmaster, Ed Chapin has been working diligently to make this an
interesting and useful site. He welcomes your suggestions, compliments and help.