NEXT MEETING – MONDAY, August 8 (noon to
1:00 pm) ____________________________
(Cellar Restaurant at 2 Union
Square in the basement of the Tallan Building at M.L. King and Carter
Street)
Monday, August 8: "Low-Cost
Battery-Less Sensors On High Voltage Conductors" - Joe Graziano, Tennessee
Valley Authority
Joe Graziano, a program manager in TVA’s
Research & Technology Application organization, will discuss the development
and testing of low-cost, battery-less sensors to measure temperature and current
through high-voltage conductors. Graziano says information from such
sensors can be retrieved from less than 200 feet away via a radio-frequency
system. Other battery-less sensors are being developed to detect
contamination, disconnect and other status measurements.
Invocation: Jack
Anderson
Menu: A buffet lunch for $11 will
be available for attendees beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will include a
salad, roast beef, green beans, pineapple casserole, a roll, and apple
cobbler. Reservations are not required, and guests are welcome. For
more information, call Judy Driggans at 751-7616 or Stephen Smith at
843-1815.
Parking: Free parking (for those
who leave a notice on their dash indicating they are with the Chattanooga
Engineers Club) is available for attendees at the Days Inn on Carter
Street. There is also a parking garage behind the Tallan
Building.
PREVIOUS MEETING
__________________________________________________________
Monday,
August 1: "Nuclear Reactor Systems for Space Propulsion and Power -
Project Prometheus" - Ron Porter, NASA Marshall Space Flight
Center
Ron Porter talked to us about three ways to use nuclear
power in space: 1) as a power source on a moon or another planet, 2) in
nuclear thermal propulsion, and 3) in nuclear electric propulsion. New
propulsion technologies are needed to meet NASA's most ambitious exploration
goals. NASA does their nuclear systems development and testing without
using real nuclear materials. They use thermal simulators that closely
mimic heat from fission.
Because of its high performance potential, nuclear
thermal propulsion could be utilized for manned missions and cargo transport to
the moon or mars, unmanned explorations of the outer planets, and earth orbit
transfers of satellites. Nuclear propulsion can provide a greater specific
impulse (Isp) to reduce the time for a manned mission to Mars from 600 days to
about 200 days.
Nuclear propellant weighs less than chemical
propellant. So, if you have to transport it to a station in space, the
cost savings in simply carrying it many times can help pay development costs of
nuclear propulsion systems. There are 4 basic types of nuclear thermal
propulsion: 1) Solid Core Nuclear Rocket, 2) Liquid Core Nuclear Rocket,
3) Open-cycle Gas Core Nuclear Rocket, and 4) Closed-cycle Gas Core Nuclear
Rocket. He showed a 1968 film of a full power test that lasted 12.5
minutes in a Nevada desert of Phoebus 2A, a powerful nuclear reactor in the
rover program.
Ron Porter helped us see how nuclear systems
fit in with NASA’s vision and mission. NASA’s vision is to improve life
here, to extend life to there, to find life beyond. NASA’s Mission is to
understand and protect our home planet, to explore the universe and search for
life, and to inspire the next generation of explorers as only NASA
can.
FUTURE MEETINGS
________________________________________________________
(noon in the Tallan
Cellar Restaurant at 2 Union Square, unless another location is indicated)
Monday, August 15: "Tennessee
Riverwalk--Engineering Hurdles and Highlights" - Mike Howard, Hamilton County
Engineer
Monday, August 22: "Power Systems
Developments in China" - Dr. Mo-Shing Chen, University of Texas at
Arlington
This will be a joint meeting with the IEEE Power Engineering
Society.
Monday, August 29: "Where Did All
Those Old Tires Go?" - Fred Weinhold, GreenMan Technologies, Inc.
Also, a 5 minute update on the DARPA project at UTC will be given by Dr.
Novobilski.
Monday, September 5: No Meeting - Labor
Day
Friday, September 9: Joint
Meeting with the Student Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society at UTC
Location: UTC University Center, Lunch will be Pizza for
$5
Monday, September 12: "New
Technology being used in the Trucking Industry" Marty Fletcher,
U.S.XPRESS, INC.
Monday, September 19: “21st
Century Nuclear Power Plant” Dan Ingersoll, ORNL
QUESTIONS,
SUGGESTIONS?
_________________________________________________
If you have any
questions or suggestions about program items please contact Judy Driggans at
423-751-7616 or by email at jdriggans@comcast.net. You can find
references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site: www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org.