Article Summary

This is a summary of an article from Popular Mechanics magazine about the future of the electric automobile by G.E. Anderson.
 In recent discussions of the future of the electric automobile, a controversial issues has been whether
 the technology for electric automobile is at a point where it is a feasible replacement for gasoline powered automobiles. On one hand, some argue that the range of electric automobiles has not increased very much over the last almost hundred years. From this perspective, the electric car is not at a point yet where it would be a realistic replacement for gasoline powered cars. On the other hand, however, others argue that the range of the electric automobiles that can be purchased today is substantial enough for a majority of consumers. In the words of Larry Dominique, one of the views main proponents, "a majority of consumers- around eighty percent- drive less that 100 miles per day." According to this view, the technology for electric automobiles is at a point where people could use them in their day-to-day lives. In sum, then, the issue is whether the technology for electrics car is still not at a point where they are feasible for people to use or if the technology has gotten to a point where they are a realistic replacement for gasoline powered cars.
My own view is that the technology for electric cars is still not to the point where they are a reasonable replacement for gasoline powered automobiles. Though I concede that there will need to be a replacement for gasoline powered automobiles in the near future, I still maintain that the electric cars you can buy today are the answer. For example, battery technology has not advanced far enough to make anything more than just short trips possible in electric cars. They also take a very long time to charge the batteries in electric automobiles. Although some might object that battery technology will improve and there will eventually be quick-charge technology, I would reply that battery technology can only improve so far and that quick-charging substantially reduces that life-span of the battery pack to the point where it has to be replaced altogether, and they are not cheap. This is an important issue because with the ever rising price of oil there will need to be replacement to petroleum based fuels in the near future. But with the way things look now the answer is not electric automobiles.

Jobs in engineering

Your skill yet? I think we all want that space in life that just seem to fit perfectly. Now I'm not just talking about the woman and the family aspect, but also on the side of the race. You know, what would you do for a living? This is a question that is often difficult than easy to answer. Well, not with a society lady, the only shops all day like Paris Hilton. If I had to choose a job to do over the next 40 years, what would it be? Well, I can give examples, some being ungrateful. What about a career in medicine, law, or maybe teaching? Then there are many jobs in mechanical engineering. Each area of engineering for the company's worth. Are you aware of all the jobs available for someone with an engineering degree? The lists go on and on.

Have you thought about jobs in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering? These fields are very prominent throughout the country. In fact, my wife is a chemical engineer and enjoys her work tremendously. One thing is clear to me when I finished school and was looking online is that all openings in several states. I speak of the chemical, process, quality, software and electrical engineering positions, not to mention all the mechanical and engineering works. There was literally no end to be worth in this area. It is not only a wonderful area to participate in the case of career options, but is also beneficial affects income. They know that many engineers begin? Otherwise, I think it's time, he jumped online and found. You do not need to practice medicine or to the right to a decent income.

The Professors of Mechanical Engineering Technology

The Mechanical Engineering Technology department at Oklahoma State University has several professors with many years worth of experience in their respective fields. Each professor in this department has a specific field that they specialize in and many of them have contributed research to their fields. These professors are:

Dr. James Bose, who is the head of the department. His interests are mainly in energy conservation and specifically ground-source heat pump technology. He has authored several design and installation manuals for ground-source heat pump systems. He works extensively with research agencies, manufacturers and contractors, and lectures extensively on energy conservation and the benefits of ground-source heat pump systems.
Dr. Richard Beier, who has acquired 18 years worth of industrial experience with Conoco Inc., the DuPont Company, and the Factory Mutual Research. He has performed research and published in the ares of petroleum reservoir engineering, radiation heat transfer, convection heat transfer, fire research, combustion, ground-source heat pumps, building cooling loads, and applications of fractals.
Ken Belanus, who has worked as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology at the University of Pittsburgh, Halliburton Energy Services, Tenneco Oil Company, and Texaco Inc. before coming to OSU. Currently he teaches statics, dynamics, strength of materials, instrumentation, heat transfer, finite element analysis, and senior design projects.
Dr. Young Bae Chang- his current research areas include air-floatation and guidance of thin films, fluid-structure interaction, flow-induced vibrations, and fluid power control. Some of his publications include: "Flow-Induced Vibrations of Free Edges of Thin Films" in the Journal of Fluids and Structures, "Aerodynamic Characteristics of Pressure-Pad Air Bar" in Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Applied Mechanics, and "Interaction of Fluttering Webs with Surrounding Air" in the TAPPI Journal.
Dr. Chulho Yang- has performed research and published in areas of linear/nonlinear mechanical system identification, vibration and acoustics, experimental embedded sensitivity analysis, structural health monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics of mechanical system, design optimization and automation. He teaches all of the design classes so he specializes in the topic I am most interested in.

These are most of the professors in the Mechanical Engineering Technology department.

When Does the Narwhal Bacon?

I always knew that one day my skills as a Redditor would be put to good use. All the time that I should have been studying or working on homework but instead spent it surfing Reddit was not a waste and it has prepared me for this moment for this class-required blog post. So take that society! For those unfortunate few who have not had the chance to experience Reddit I high recommend taking a look. Once you look past all the pictures of cats and reposts you will find a thriving community. Reddit is made up of a countless number of what are called "subreddits" and theses "subreddits" cover just anything you can think of. Members of Reddit post to these "subreddits" and other members can either up vote or down vote a post. You can also comment on posts and have "discussions" with one another. But most of the time it ends up being a long string of puns, which are usually hilarious. You also have the ability to up vote or down vote comments and they are listed in accordance to the number of up votes they get. Recently the President of the United States, Barack Obama, did what is called an AMA where people, are able to ask questions and whoever is doing the AMA, usually famous people, answer these questions. There were so many people that viewed this that it crashed to website for a short period of time. I have been a "lurker" on Reddit for many years and have been a member for over year now. I'll let you know that I personally have 27 link karma and 2 comment karma, which I am very proud of.

I could talk for hours about Reddit, which shows how much of a personal life I have, but that is not the point of this blog post. The particular "subreddit" that most closely relates to my field of study is r/engineering. And here is a link http://www.reddit.com/r/engineering. Here people can post questions they have about engineering or have discussions or anything interesting that is relative to the field. One post is a link to a website called techcrunch.com and the article has to do with a new electric motorcycle created by a company called Lit Motors. It is called the C-1 and according to them it is "untippable" It is the world's first gyroscopically stabilized, two-wheeled, electric vehicle. The initial price is going to be around $24,000 and it is set to release in 2014. It is expected to top 100 mph, has an estimated range of up to 200 miles, and will go from 0-60 in around 6 seconds, which is faster than most cars.

I hope I have been able to give you some insight into the world of Reddit and if you have some time to kill, a lot of free time, or no personal life I recommend you take a look. A word of warning: it is very addicting and easy to get caught up in it, especially if you have the Reddit Enhancement Suit with never ending Reddit turned on.

P.S. AT MIDNIGHT

"Waste Not, Want Not"

The article that my group was assigned to read was "Waste Not, Want Not" by Bill McKibben. In this article McKibben discusses the idea of waste and not just waste as in trash. He talks about how we waste all kinds like resources, money, time, and human potential. Some statistics that he provides are pretty startling; for example Americans discard enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet every three months. Another one he provides s that we toss fourteen percent of the food that we buy at the store. These were just a few of the examples that the author provides that help to show that our wasteful habits are having a major effect on our planet and on us. The author believes that the only way we can possibly fix the predicament we are in is to return to the idea of "Yankee frugality" where we could not imagine wasting money on ourselves and make do without. Other than that the author really does not provide any other potential ideas on how we can solve the problem caused by our wasteful ways.

Now after reading this article there were a number of questions that could come up that are hinted at but not necessarily commented on in the article. These questions include:
-Are humans wasteful by nature or is it a modern problem?
-What can be done to cut down on waste?
-How can Americans get back into being "famously thrifty"? As the author of the article claimed.
-Where do we start cutting back?
-What will be the catalyst that starts this change?
-What will be the result if we do not change?
-What has and can the government do about this situation?
-What effect does population have on the amount of waste produced?
These are just a few examples of potential questions that one might have after reading this article. In engineering, one of the main goals is to cut down on waste: time, materials, labor just to name a few. Engineers want to stream line their processes as much as possible in order to save, most importantly of all, money. The more you cut down on time, materials, and labor the more money you can make.