Engineering Ambassadors Take San Diego! - Lola Buonomo

ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) invited Engineering Ambassadors to speak at the 2013 ASME International ME Education Leadership Summit. With all the demand and interest in Engineering Ambassadors, it is quickly turning into a national network. The purpose of this trip was to help ASME understand exactly what our program does and how we fulfill their aspirations to improve diversity in mechanical engineering. In order to turn Engineering Ambassadors into a true national network, we need support of the structure and scale. We gave a ten minute presentation on the program and a ten minute sample outreach presentation. We feel it is better to show not tell. So for ASME to truly understand Engineering Ambassadors we brought them back to their high school physics class for an EA presentation on robotics. We were speaking to a fairly large group comprised of Mechanical Engineering Department Heads, CEOs, and ASME officers. In the weeks of preparation leading to the event I was sure I would be nervous standing up there giving this talk. But something happened between the hours of preparation and practice runs. I finally realized I was talking about something I loved. I didn’t have to memorize facts or fake any enthusiasm. This organization is what I am passionate about and all I am doing is sharing that with others. Once I had this realization I was excited to speak in front of everyone. Getting up there and giving the presentation was just icing on the cake.

Kathleen and I embarked on this adventure together with some five star treatment as we walked on the tar mat to get to our airplane. (That’s how big our State College airport is.) Some many hours later we touched down in San Diego ready for this trip of a lifetime. Prepared only to attend meetings and give presentations of the Engineering Ambassadors program, we had no idea what we were really in store for. Everyone was so positive and interested in the organization and the work we were doing. I immediately felt our mission growing and reaching more schools across the nation. It was an extremely rewarding experience!

Aside from the presentations, Kathleen and I had the chance to spend every other waking minute outside! From finding trees to climb to beaches to play on I felt like a kid again. We walked everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Even the 3 mile walk from dinner on the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier back to our hotel with Dr. Karen Thole, Christine Haas, and many more ASME members. This was such an amazing experience and I am so lucky I got to spend it with my best friend. I’ve put together a little video montage of our trip to show just how incredible it really was. Enjoy!

Taking Over the Construction Industry: One Female Engineer At a Time - Abby Kreider

I’m sure you have all looked across the skyline of any city and seen a tower crane.  A good sign of a booming construction economy, these cranes symbolize the lifeblood of my future career as a construction engineer.  I am a senior in the Architectural Engineering major at Penn State University with a concentration in the Construction Management option and I manage construction sites like the one lying under these cranes you see on a daily basis.

In the summer after my junior year, I interned with Barton Malow Company as a Project Engineer in Richmond, VA on a emergency department renovation at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s teaching hospital. The job was a four phase project that is currently taking place while having the emergency room operational at full capacity and was essentially a logistical nightmare.  The only entrance to our site was in the same small alley way in which the ambulances brought patients to the emergency room as you can see in the picture below.

These logistical challenges, although annoying and difficult, ended up being a positive learning experience and added to the many positive take-aways that I have from this summer.   It is important to throw yourself into any and all challenges in an internship.  How many times in your life will you be able to go and work somewhere for 3 months just to gain experience?  Internships are great opportunities and I highly recommend taking advantage of any and all opportunities.  What have you got to lose?  If nothing else, you will learn that is something you didn’t want to do and you can check it off of your list!

Another important point about internship experience is forming relationships and getting involved outside of the actual internship.  While in Richmond for the summer, not only did I establish working relationships but also personal friendships as well.  Below is a picture of a Habitat for Humanity build we did with some of the other interns as well as the young professionals we worked with.  We did several group activities throughout the summer within the company but also outside.  The internship is what you make it so enjoy your summer of learning and growing!  Put yourself out there!

Metal Is Cool! (And So Is Engineering!) - Fawn Romanko

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Have you ever wondered how a car engine is manufactured?  Maybe you've been curious about how your metal charm necklace was created.  Both of these are actually made very similarly using metal casting!

A great class offered to Penn State Industrial engineering students is IE 311: Principles of Solidification Processing.  This classes gives IE students the opportunity to learn about metal casting processes.  The class has a hands-on lab to facilitate learning.  You even get to pour molten metal!

           

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A cool metal casting process we learned about recently is called Lost Foam Casting.  The first step of this process is to draw your design on styrofoam and cut out the mold.  Then, you must paint the mold with ceramic paint.  This helps create a smooth surface on the mold.  The picture to the right shows a house number plaque mold.  Next, the mold is placed upright in a bucket.  The bucket is then filled with dry, loose sand.

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Next comes the fun part -- it's time to pour the molten metal!  It is important to be properly dressed in a protective suit to ensure safety.

            

Once the metal is poured into the bucket, the styrofoam is burned out, and the metal takes on the shape of the mold.  Below is the completed house number plaque.

            

This is just one of the many metal casting processes we learn in IE 311.  As you can see, we have a lot of fun!

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