Chattanooga Engineers Club

NEXT MEETING___________________________

Monday, Mar. 30, 2009 - Noon - Tennessee Aquarium

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to fix meals for 12,000 animals every day? Have you ever thought about what it takes to clean fish “bowls” containing over a million gallons of water? Discover for yourself! Dive into the inner workings of a world-class Aquarium on a fascinating guided journey that takes you behind the scenes, below the surface and beyond the edge. Explore a hidden maze of pipes and pumps as you go behind the scenes of the Tennessee Aquarium.

Join the Chattanooga Engineer’s Club (CEC) for a one hour tour of the Tennessee Aquarium’s new addition, the Ocean Journey (One Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37401). At 60,000 square feet and 700,000 gallons of water, Ocean Journey is half the size of the original River Journey building, but holds almost twice the amount of water. Scott McKenzie, Vice President of Special Projects, March Adams will be our tour guide. Meet Scott by the picnic tables, on the west side of the Aquarium, near the Ocean Journey building. Free parking is NOT available. CEC will not be serving lunch; therefore, please arrange lunch on your own.

Thirty persons maximum may participate. First-come first-served based upon reservation. Please RSVP before Noon on Wednesday, March 25^th, to Misty Walker by e-mail at mwalker@robbinsbohr.com or by phone at 423-756-4430 ext. 138. Thirteen spaces are already reserved. Only seventeen spaces remain. We may have space for guests; however, CEC members will receive preference. When you make a reservation, you will be notified by e-mail in the event that spaces are already full.

FUTURE MEETINGS________________________

Monday, Apr. 6 - Noon – DOUBLETREE HOTEL (407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402)

"Geo Thermal Wells used in new Hamilton County Schools to reduce energy demands" – Matt Williams, Professional Engineer and President, Campbell & Associates, will review the design criteria and reasons why the new Hamilton County Schools HVAC energy requirements are met entirely by wells drills into the earth around the school property. Each well provides about 1 ton or heating or cooling capacity. Certain homes and office buildings also use the thermal well design.

Monday, Apr. 13 - Noon - "Capstone Design"

Introductions by Dr. Kazemersky, Professor of Engineering at UTC. UTC students will present overviews of their Capstone Design Projects. The projects include (1) Design of an Intermodal Transportation Center, (2) Design and Fabrication of an Experiment on Inductive Charging for Electric Vehicles, (3) Conversion of a Saturn Vue to run on Hydrogen. (4) Design of a Hydrogen Fueling Station, and (5) Design of the Running Moc's 2009 Mini Baja Vehicle.

Meeting Place: DOUBLETREE HOTEL

Monday, Apr. 20 - Noon – New Technology that adsorbs heavy metal contaminates from our water and air

Speaker: David Vernetti, General Manager, Steward Advanced Materials

Meeting Place: will advise

Monday, Apr. 27 - Noon - An inside story of Thomas Edison's laboratory and early days of invention at Menlo Park - Kruesi Legacy

Speaker: Jim Frierson, ATTI

Meeting Place: will advise

PREVIOUS MEETING_______________________

Scott McKenzie, Senior Engineer for March Adams, described the complex foundation, material storage, and structure problems that his firm encountered when it did the engineering and design work for the Ocean Journey addition to the Tennessee Aquarium. HVAC, cooling, and humidity design was complicated by the rapid changing solar and glass heat loads. Water preparation equipment was designed to remove chlorine, florin, and waste products generated by the aquatic life.

McKenzie reviewed the tight property, storage, and utility load requirement, which complicated the engineering design. Some of the treated water storage is below the river water level. The Butterfly room required 80% humidity and + 5º, - 0º Fahrenheit, temperature control. Screening was added below the glass roof to prevent egress of butterflies outside the building if the glass roof fails. High pressure sprayed water was used to increase humidity to 80%.

ITEMS OF INTEREST_______________________

The Chattanooga Engineer's Club is relocating its meeting place to the DOUBLETREE HOTEL, CHATTANOOGA (407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402). The first meeting at the DOUBLETREE will be on Monday, April 6th. Free parking is available. The gated parking lot on the south side of the Hotel is open from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. There is additional free parking east of Chestnut Street in the paved parking pit. Looking for details on a local society meeting? Links to local engineering societies are available to you at: http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/engineer.

QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS______________

If you have any questions, items of interest to the Chattanooga Engineers Club, or suggestions for 2009 programs, please contact Joe Robbins by phone at 423-756-4430 or by e-mail at jrobbins@robbinsbohr.com. You can find membership application forms, references to future programs, and historical data, and other info at: http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org. To receive future meeting announcements by email, join the Chattanooga Technology Organization mailing list at: http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org/email