Chattanooga Engineers Club
P.O. Box 4031
Chattanooga, TN 37405
www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org

April 16 – UTC Senior Engineering Capstone Project - The Great Moon Buggy Race challenges university and high school teams to design, construct and race a human powered vehicle under a set of constraints akin to the actual NASA lunar project. The main requirements include: Must be human powered, must stow into a 4ft x 4ft x 4ft volume, must be carried a distance of 20 feet by the two passengers (one male and one female), and must navigate simulated lunar terrain (an “off-road” obstacle course). This UTC senior mechanical engineering capstone project was undertaken by a relatively small team comprised of seniors John Barker, John Beverly, Cory Richardson, Tommy Gray, Curtis McCullough and junior Netty Halcomb under the direction of Dr. Ron Goulet. The team has spent about 800 hours in the last month refining the design, milling, drilling, welding, fitting, re-designing, re-milling, re-drilling, re-welding, re-re-designing, etc. The UTC Moon Buggy will be demonstrated in Miller Plaza, weather permitting, and assuming the vehicle survives the competition in Huntsville.

Lunch will be available for $11 beginning at 11:30 am, and will be from the outstanding Cellar Buffet. Location: Tallan Cellar Restaurant, 200 West ML King Blvd, Chattanooga, TN 37402. Note: Parking is no longer available at the Days Inn Hotel due to extensive on-going renovations at the Inn. Use on street meters or park in the rear of the Tallan Building or in one of the commercial lots nearby.

Professional Development units (PDUs) are available for most technical programs at CEC meetings.

FUTURE MEETINGS

April 23 – Dr. Cecelia Wigal and her UTC design students will describe some of the communication and mobility aids they have developed to assist children with special needs.

April 30 – Field trip to the UT SimCenter for a tour of the facility and a presentation from Dr. Henry McDonald on the research capabilities and activities of the SimCenter which houses one of the fastest parallel computing systems in the Southeast.

PREVIOUS WEEK PROGRAM

April 9 – The UTC Steel Bridge team demonstrated their entry in the annual competition sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers in Miller Plaza. The students made a brief presentation in the Cellar Restaurant while the members had lunch. The bridge team placed well in the competition.

---

ITEMS OF INTEREST

April 18 – The Kruesi Award Luncheon. Awards go to Chattanooga area companies that exemplify business ingenuity. To register for the Spirit of Innovation Awards Luncheon, log on to www.chattanoogachamber.com, click on Chamber Events and go to April 18 and then to Spirit of Innovation Awards Luncheon. Reservations may also be made by calling 423-763-4366 or emailing msenn@chattanoogachamber.com.

Kirk Neubauer of Worley Parsons is establishing a study group for the Electrical Engineering PE Exam in April 2007. The group will meet to go over problems and refresh concepts in EE. To join the group contact Kirk Neubauer, Electrical Engineer, E.I.T., WorleyParsons, Phone: (423) 757-8036 (x.136) Email: kirk.neubauer@worleyparsons.com

Fire Eye Productions, Inc. has made available many video recordings of events in our community by creating the Local Webcast Network. Several Chattanooga Engineers Club programs are included; you may be on there too! Go to www.localwebcastnetwork.com, click the free registration, enter your name, email address, and password, and then activate using the confirmation email. We are inviting them to return soon, so more Chattanoogans can see our great programs.

Speaking Opportunities! Volunteers needed to address speaker requests from elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and youth groups to visit classrooms, assemblies, and group meetings. High school student groups may schedule tours of CSTCC to visit mechanical, electrical, civil, chemical technology classes and other locations of the campus. Contact Jackie Rutledge at (423)697-2698 or lulu.copeland@chattanoogastate.edu.

QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS? If you have any questions or suggestions about program items please contact Ron Bailey at 423-425-5536 or by email at Ronald-Bailey@utc.edu. You can find membership application forms, references to future programs, historical data, and other info at http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org. To receive future meeting announcements by email, join the Cha. Technology Organization mailing list at http://mail.chattanooga.net/mailman/listinfo/chatech.