Chattanooga Engineers Club

www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org

New Location, Free Parking, Great Food, Great Programs

NEXT MEETING___________________________

Monday, Apr. 13, 2009 - Noon - DOUBLETREE HOTEL (407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402)

Dr. Kazemersky, Professor of Engineering at UTC will introduce 5 UTC Engineering students. Those students will present overviews of their Capstone Design Projects: (1) Design of an Intermodal Transportation Center, (2) Design and Fabrication of an Experiment on Inductive Charging of 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.

FUTURE MEETINGS________________________

Monday, Apr. 20 - Noon – “New Technology that adsorbs heavy metal contaminates from our water and air” – David Vernetti will review methods of removing heavy metal contamination in our water and air. In some cases, the contamination has existed for a long time, but most of us are unaware of the problem. Steward Advanced Materials, in Chattanooga, manufactures chemical additives which help remediate and treat water to adsorb contaminates.

Speaker: David Vernetti, General Manager, Steward Advanced Materials

Meeting Place: DOUBLETREE HOTEL

Monday, Apr. 27 - Noon – Jim Frierson, great-grandson of John Kruesi, will present the Kruesi Legacy and an inside story of Thomas Edison's laboratory and Edison’s early days of invention at Menlo Park. John Kruesi was Edison’s head machinist through his Newark and Menlo Park periods. Mr. Kruesi translated Edison’s numerous rough sketches into working devices. Mr. Kruesi was a key player in Edison’s success as an inventor.

Frierson will lead the club members through the exciting days of Thomas Edison’s inventive life and discuss details of Edison’s inventions and Kruesi’s work.

Speaker: Jim Frierson, ATTI

Meeting Place: DOUBLETREE HOTEL

PREVIOUS MEETING_______________________

Matt Williams, Professional Engineer, Campbell & Associates, reviewed the reasons that a building designer selects a geo-thermal HVAC system. 

Geo-thermal systems use constant ground temperature of 60ºF as a heat sink instead of 0-90ºF air.  An EER up to 28-30 is possible. 

Good geo-thermal design requires 1 well for 1.5-2 ton load.  Well depths are typically 300 ft.  Hard rock is more conductive and preferred over sandy or softer rock formations.  Oversized well piping is used to reduce head and pump load.

Matt suggested the premium cost for the geo-thermal 250,000 ft.² system for Signal Mountain High School is $1,000,000.

Hybrid geo-thermal systems are sized for the heating load and are selected to reduce the initial capital cost.  Open loop geo-thermal systems utilize flowing well water to provide the heat sink.

T5 light fixtures, occupancy sensors, and light controls are energy savings devices.  Proper roof and window design are factors in reducing energy loads.

In summary, Matt stated that operating power cost for a geo-thermal system is 6 cents / ft² / month.  This energy efficient utility cost is about 50% less than the cost of a standard HVAC system.

ITEMS OF INTEREST_______________________

The Chattanooga Engineer's Club has relocated its meeting place to the DOUBLETREE HOTEL, CHATTANOOGA (407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402).  Free parking is available in the gated parking lot on the south side of the Hotel. The gate will be open from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. There is additional free parking east of the Hotel on 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.

APRIL SHOWCASE PICNIC – Presented by UTC Engineering and Computer Science

ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING ORGANIZATIONS: Come join us on Reading Day (April 21) to see the ASCE Steel Bridge and the SAE Mini Baja Car.  The event will be held at the West Pavilion of the Tennessee River Park (4301 Amnicola Hwy) from 11a.m. -1:30 p.m.

Student admission is free. Professionals will be asked to provide a
minimal donation (requested $10 per person).

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 e-mail at jrobbins@robbinsbohr.com or by phone at 423-756-4430. 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 Chattanooga Technology Organization mailing list at: http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org/email