Chattanooga
Engineers Club Newsletter
http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/
NEXT
MEETING ____________________
Monday
August 2 –
Dan Ingersoll – Oak Ridge National Lab
“Small Modular Reactors and the Second Nuclear Era”.
Daniel
Ingersoll, will explain how the new breed of small modular reactors (SMRs) could provide a unique niche in the
nuclear power industry, as
a new generation of large nuclear reactor plants are beginning to be ordered
with the U.S. on the verge of new nuclear construction. The SMRs are
deliberately small, i.e. they are constrained by design features to have
relatively small power capacities, generally below 300 MWe. These reactors can
be fully fabricated in a factory and shipped to the plant site by truck or rail
for installation into the plant. Plants of large capacity can be achieved
by installing several reactor modules; hence economy-of-scale is replaced with
economy-of-replication. These deliberately small reactor designs offer
customers with a wider range of capacity choices and provide enhanced siting
and operational flexibilities. A status of SMR designs, their promises,
and their challenges will be discussed.
Dr. Daniel Ingersoll is a Senior Program
Manager for the Nuclear Technology Programs Office at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. In has 33 years at ORNL and currently is assisting DOE to develop a
new program for development and demonstration of small modular reactors.
Dr. Ingersoll received a BS degree in Physics from Miami University in 1973 and
a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1977. He is a
Fellow of the American Nuclear Society
DUES
INCREASE RECOMMENDED
The executive
Committee met on July 13th and recommended that membership
dues for Retired Members be increased from $30 to $40 per year.
This action was taken to help compensate for Club expenditures that have
exceeded income for the last two years. Last year, we increased the 2010
dues of Full and Associate members from $50 to $60 per year. But
additional funds are needed to overcome our deficit. This recommendation
will be advertised for two weeks, and then voted on by members present on the
third week.
FUTURE
MEETINGS ____________________
Monday
August 9 –
Leon Tolbert – Oak Ridge National Lab
“Power
Electronics for Hybrid Electric Vehicles”- research on power
electronics, electric machinery, and packaging for hybrid electric vehicles and
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The goals in terms of power density and
cost for power train components will be discussed as well as current research
projects.
Leon
M. Tolbert received his B.S, M.S., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from
Georgia Tech. He is a licensed professional engineer in Tennessee and a
professor at the University of Tennessee since 1999.
Monday
August 16 –
Dale Bradshaw – Consultant to the National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association
“Smart
Grid Developments”
Monday
August 23 –
EPB Speaker TBD – Chattanooga EPB’s Fiber to Home
Monday
August 30 –
Matt McKee - Komatsu Plant Tour, Assemble at noon at plant
Entrance, Lunch
arrangements TBD
PREVIOUS
MEETING____________________
Monday
July 26 – John
Van Winkle, P.E. – Chattanooga City Traffic Engineer,
Presented
“Photo Enforcement for Stop Lights and Speed Limits”
Mr.
Van Winkle discussed photo enforcement of traffic regulations in
Chattanooga. His opening slides documented the locations of over 10,000
accidents that occur in the City of Chattanooga annually. With no
citations or warning issued but cameras installed, accidents reduced from 45
per month to 10, a 78% reduction. The Hixson “S” curves
camera systems were implemented with the first enforcement warnings issued July
16, 2007. With the camera systems, vehicle crash rates (number of
accidents divided by the average number of cars passing the cameras) were
reduced by two thirds with no fatalities. The system made the
“S” curves safer. Also, the need for police officers to
engage in risky pursuits to pull speeders over was eliminated on the dangerous
curves. Section 24-273 of the city charter was amended to direct all
excess revenues from the traffic camera citations to be spent to improve public
safety and driver education. Revenue from the systems currently funds
$300 of the $350 fee for driver education for 16 to 18 year olds. With
statistical proof of driver behavior modification, the program has been
expanded to include six city red-light camera installations and a mobile traffic
van.
John
is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Tennessee and holds a BS
in Civil Engineering and an MS in Traffic Engineering from the University of
Tennessee. He has over 33 years of experience in the traffic engineering,
including service as City Traffic Engineer since 1991. We are looking
forward to a future presentation on the effects of round-a-bouts on Chattanooga
traffic safety.
CHATTANOOGA
ENGINEERS CLUB — CORPORATE SPONSORS_____________
We gratefully acknowledge the corporate sponsorships listed
below.
2010 — Robbins & Bohr, LLC
2009 — Coca—Cola
2008 — Alstom
2008 — Chattanooga State
MEETING
LOGISTICS_______________________
The
Chattanooga Engineer's Club meets at the DOUBLETREE HOTEL,
407 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN 37402. Free parking may be
available in the gated parking lot on the south side of the Hotel. Plan
to arrive before 11:30 a.m., if you intend to park in the limited space
available. Late arrivals may need to pay for parking on the street or in
a nearby public parking garage.
QUESTIONS
and SUGGESTIONS______________
If
you have any questions, items that would be of interest to the Chattanooga
Engineers Club, or suggestions for future programs, please contact Ralph
Boroughs by e-mail at rdboroughs@gmail.com or by
phone at 423-227-0412. 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.
Links
to local engineering societies are available to you at: http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/engineer/
For
a calendar of local technology related events see: http://chatc.org/