Construction at Discovery Park

In a previous blog I mentioned about how the UNT main campus was going through various construction projects throughout the campus and how Discovery Park was nice and quiet without any construction going on.  There has actually been construction going on at Discovery Park.  Unlike the main campus in which the construction can clearly be seen, the construction at Discovery Park is being done behind closed doors. That means you can hear a lot of banging and hammering, but not see anything.  The construction projects happening at Discovery Park are two new research labs which are being built for the Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department and will be used by faculty and graduate students.

The two labs will be about 3,900 square feet and will be placed where the construction engineering testing lab used to be located.  The old construction lab was large and two stories high.  The construction group currently designing the classrooms have built walls and a second floor in the old construction lab to allow for the two new labs to connect to Discovery Park’s second floor.

I usually glance inside the new classrooms on Monday and Wednesdays since my class on combustion science is near it.  From what I can see the rooms are pretty big, but still require a lot of construction.  The two research labs are expected to be completed by May.

Since the opening of the program in 2007, the mechanical and energy engineering program has progressed into a larger program drawing in more students, faculty, and labs.  The construction of the two labs will only help to attract more faculty, staff, and of course students to further aid in the mechanical and energy engineering program becoming the best program!

Fight the Good Fight

Ya Boy Archie Wright!

Looking Back at Spring Break

            Last week was spring break for the students, faculty, and staff at UNT. During this time everyone finally received the much needed break that was needed to go to the beach, go back home, work on projects, etc.  Spring break is pretty much the halfway point of the semester in college.  It’s hard to believe that school is almost halfway over but it is.  The semester has gone by pretty fast even though so much has happened.  Late January and early February marked bad winter storms that left us out of school for almost a week.  Throughout February school was finally getting down to business and professors were finally getting back on track.  The week before spring break was a time when professor gave out midterms.  It seems that all professors make a pact to place the homework, quizzes, and test on the same week before spring break.  I myself had one test on Monday, 3 different homework assignments, a quiz, and a test that took me almost 3 ½ hours to complete all due on Wednesday.  As you can picture sleep was limited as well as hanging out with friends.

            After that was all over I was able to finally relax for a change.  For spring break I went back home, rested up, went to Louisiana to visit my grandpa, and bring my grandma back to Houston.  During my time at home I was also able to practice the piano for a little bit, watch television, and play video games with brothers.

 

            To everyone out there, I hope you had a safe and fun-filled Spring Break and are ready get finish the semester out strong.

 

Fight the Good Fight

Ya Boy Archie Wright!

“In this House we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics!”

So I said in my blog, “Why Mechanical Engineers Know How to Get Free Gas”, that I would explain why mechanical engineering majors are trying to break the first two laws of thermodynamics.  When talking about thermodynamics I am always reminded of an episode on “The Simpsons”.  During the episode the teachers go on strike leaving Bart and Lisa to stay at home.  While discussing the situation with Marge, Homer tells her about the perpetual motion machine that Lisa created that keeps going faster and faster.  At the end of the scene Homer calls Lisa into his bedroom and shouts, “In this House we obey the Laws of Thermodynamics!”

I remember as a kid when first seeing this episode I did not know what thermodynamics was.  Being a mechanical engineering major I have taken two classes on thermodynamics and am currently taking a combustion science class so I have a pretty good understanding of what it is.

The Laws of thermodynamics govern how natural phenomena and machines in this world can operate.  There are about four laws but I will only cover the two most important which happens to be the first and second.

The first law of thermodynamics is the conservation of energy which means energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only stored.  An example of breaking the first law of thermodynamics would be putting gas into a car that runs solely on gas and allowing the car to still run even after all the gas is gone.  This means you are creating energy out of nothing and thus are breaking the first law of thermodynamics.

The second law of thermodynamics is the law of entropy which can get pretty advanced.  In the simplest explanation, the second law implies that you cannot achieve an efficiency of greater than 100%.  If you do you are breaking the second laws of thermodynamics.  

So those are the two most important laws of thermodynamics.  The ultimate goal of mechanical engineers is to break these two laws.  If these two laws were to ever be broken, the field of mechanical engineering would pretty much cease to exist in fields that use machines to do work such as automobile engines.

So if anyone who thinks they can build a machine capable breaking the first two laws of thermodynamics, Good Luck!

Fight the Good Fight

Ya Boy Archie Wright!

Life Outside of College

On Sunday I got back from a weekend retreat that I left for on Thursday night.  I found that the hardest part of being away from school was trying not to worry about schoolwork.  The next hardest part was not worrying about the time because they took away my watch, cell phone, and blocked any form of outside communication. Overall the whole weekend was spiritually uplifting and life changing for me.  It made me realize things about myself that I never did realize before.  Being twenty-one years old it is sometimes natural to think that I know everything.  This retreat has shown me that I too still have a lot of learning to do.  It also encouraged me to change some of the habits that I have right now.

After being in college for four years I can truly say education does not only come from inside the classroom, but from the outside as well.  College is not only a time to be educated about your field of study, but to also be educated about one’s self.  This can range from your type of political views, social beliefs, religious beliefs, and much more.  During the retreat I happened to meet one such person who was in college and converting to my religion.

           Overall these past four years of college have left a strong impression on me.  It has also helped me to develop into the man I am and shown me the man I want to be.  I hope it will have the same effect on you…

Fight the Good Fight

Ya Boy Archie Wright!

Why Mechanical Engineers Know How to Get Free Gas

I filled up my truck yesterday and it cost me almost 3.29 a gallon which is shocking since I put $5 in last week at about 3.10 a gallon.  The nation’s gas prices are rising pretty high and are projected to be around $5.00 during the summer time.  My professor even told my class that Apple has created a phone app that allows you to find where the cheapest gas is.

At this point a lot of people are wondering how they can get cheaper gas.  The answer to that question is to study mechanical engineering.  As a mechanical engineer in the fluid mechanics class you do learn about the phenomenon of siphoning gas.

Warning: Siphoning Gas is extremely Illegal and Very Dangerous.  Don’t be stupid, Pay for your gas.

Ok just kidding about the siphoning gas, but even though siphoning gas is illegal, the process of siphoning has a lot of scientific and engineering aspects behind it.  To explain siphoning in the simplest manner, siphoning is the process of moving fluid from a higher area to a lower one by creating a pressure difference.  The pressure difference causes the fluid to move up the tube to balance the pressure.  Gravity then pulls the fluid down to an area of lower height.

Siphoning is an interesting study and actually has a lot of common applications including its use in toilets to flush.  In fact a few weeks ago one of my professors had us pour water down a toilet to measure and observe how siphoning works in toilets.  As a mechanical engineer you do study a broad number of topics including structure analysis, heating and cooling systems, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, and much more.

So in regards to getting cheaper gas as a mechanical engineer the best alternative is to try and break the first two laws of thermodynamics and not criminal law in siphoning gas.  I’ll explain it to you next time.

Fight the Good Fight (and Don’t Steal Gas)

Ya Boy Archie Wright!

How Spiderman can Protect the Cops

During the Super Bowl, other than the game it is always interesting to look at the different movie trailer commercials that come on.  Two of the movie commercials I saw during the Super Bowl were the movie previews for the new Thor and Captain America movies which are set to be released in the summer of 2011. 

Superheroes usually follow the same method of defending justice, fighting crime, and helping law enforcement.  Even though superheroes do not exist in real life some of their traits are trying to be developed and used.  One such superhero is Spiderman.  You're probably asking what superhero trait of Spiderman is trying to be used.  The answer is his spider web.  Even though it might seem strange to believe a spider's web material is very strong.
Spider webs are composed of a monofilament fiber which has a very high strength and ability to stretch without being broken.  A spider's web can also absorb more energy without breaking than any other material currently known.  When comparing a spider's web material to the Kevlar used in bullet proof vests by law enforcement agents and military personnel, the spider's web material can absorb between 3 to 10 times the amount of energy as Kevlar. 

Some success has come about in creating artificial spider webs but research is still being conducted by chemists and material science engineers to try and make artificial spider webs on a broader scale. Hopefully in the near future material science engineers will be able to create artificial spider webs on a broad scale and provide protection for the our real life superheroes.

Fight the Good Fight
Ya Boy Archie Wright!