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

http://hintjewelry.blogspot.com

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!

           

www.cnczone.com

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!

www.cnczone.com

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			www.cnczone.com

 

Coding for a Cure - Matt Glick

Being a Captain for the World’s Largest Student Run Philanthropy has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I am currently the Lead THINK Developer for THON 2013 and that allows me to use my coding experience and leaderships skills to help fight for a cure for pediatric cancer.

I am a Computer Engineering major here at Penn State and have been involved with THON since my freshman year. When I first came to Penn State I had no idea what THON was, but before long I was going on canning trips, sending THONvelopes and asking for online don12ations. And then when January rolled around and my organization had to choose dancers (someone who doesn’t sit or sleep for 46 hours in a testament to the Four Diamonds Children) I was honored to be chosen. I saw my first THON while walking through the human tunnel and into the Bryce Jordan Center.

After my first THON I knew I had to get involved. I applied to be Technology Captain in the spring and held the position throughout my sophomore year. I was then chosen again last spring as the Lead THINK Develeper and have since been working to develop and maintain a website called THINK (THON’s Information Network).

THON has given me a chance to combine my programming skills, my leadership skills and my push to make the world around me a better place. I am an Engineer and I have changed the life of a child.

Standing 46 Hours in the BJC for THON - Jacki Guillemette

Most Penn State students can agree that the fall semester is dedicated to football season and the spring semester is dedicated to THON. More than 15,000 PSU students participate in the 46 hour dance marathon that raises money for the Four Diamonds Fund to help the battle against pediatric cancer. Students spend a large part of the school year raising money for the cause and preparing for the highly anticipated THON weekend which occurred February 15-18 for THON 2013.

This year I had the honor of dancing in THON 2013. Dancers are the people who spend the entire 46 hours of THON on their feet without sitting or sleeping as a symbol of standing up for and taking the pain away from the children suffering from cancer so that they can have a weekend of fun and childhood. It is an extremely challenging endeavor because it is very exhausting not sleeping for so long and about halfway through the weekend, your legs and feet ache a tremendous amount. Despite the exhaustion and pain however, being able to stand for such an amazing cause is so rewarding and seeing all of the children makes everything more than worth it. It is also made a lot easier by having friends and family visit constantly and having a moraler there all of the time to help take care of you is super helpful.

Although a large part of THON is fundraising, another large part of it is being there for the families who have been affected by pediatric cancer. The organization that I danced for (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) found out a few days before THON weekend started that we got a new THON family. It was fantastic news because we now had a Four Diamonds Family that was going to attend THON and meet us and wanted to stay in touch with us. My dance partner (Jess Menold, also an Engineering Ambassador) got to meet our THON child, David, and his family on Saturday and they are such strong, amazing people. We got to spend time dancing and talking and it was so wonderful to get to know them and have them there with us.

THON 2013 total

During the final 4 hours, some families get to tell their stories and explain what THON has meant for them. After everyone gets to sit down at 4pm on Sunday, the THON total is revealed. This is positively one of the most exhilarating moments you will ever experience if you helped fundraise for THON. It’s the moment you find out just how much money PSU students were able to raise for the families to cover costs of treatments and for research to help find a cure. When the numbers are brought up and you see the number was higher than the year before, you can’t help but scream, cry, and jump with joy, no matter how much your feet hurt. This year was a record-breaking total of $12,374,034.46 which is a remarkable amount of money and a perfect ending to my last THON as a Penn State student.

What Do Engineers Do? - Sarah Krishner (Sophomore, Bioengineering)

Pintrest.  Just saying the word makes you think of crafts, clothes, recipes and animals exploding all over your computer screen.  But have you ever taken the time to look at your Pin Board and think about the design, or consider changing certain aspects to make it more user-friendly?  Tracy Chou has, and she is one of the many people behind the new verb “pinning.”

You know how there was a big deal about that thing landing on Mars a few weeks ago?  Well that “thing” is the Mars Curiosity Rover, and it’s right now being used to analyze whether or not the planet could support life. Brian Schratz and Ray Baker are a part of the team which made sure it was actually able to land.

A man was in a motorcycle crash leaving him completely paralyzed.  That is, until seven years later when he used his mind to control a robotic arm and touched the hand of his girlfriend for the first time since the crash.  This was the result of many years of research led by Dr. Michael Boninger.

What could all of these people named possibly have in common?  They are making a difference obviously, but something that may be surprising is they are all engineers.  A common misconception is that engineers sit at desks and look at numbers all day.  FALSE.  Engineers are traveling the world, founding companies, becoming doctors or lawyers, you name it.  That is what is so perfect about engineering: you can do whatever you want with it!  Save the world, create iPhone Apps, work for your favorite food company, literally whatever you want.  Whether it’s defeating diseases, taking us to other planets, or helping share our interests, engineers impact every part of our lives and are solving the world’s problems every day.   

Living Options (Kathleen Prilutski - Sophomore, Mechanical Engineering)

After I accepted my offer to Penn State, I started looking at the areas that freshmen typically live. As a wannabe engineer, I knew that I wanted to have a place that was about studying but I still wanted to have fun. I was in no way living in a completely boring place where people just studied all day. I had to avoid any boring dorms AT ALL COSTS. By looking online at Penn State’s dorms, I found that there were special living options for engineering freshmen in East, Pollock, and West Dorms.

Like Goldilocks, I “tried out” all the different living options in my head. 

In East, I could live in the Freshman Year in Science and Engineering (FISE) House and get the entire “freshman experience” and still live on a floor designated for science majors.

 

In Pollock, I could live in the EASI (Engineering Applied Science and Interest) House, a.k.a.  a cool place where people who like math and science live.

In West, I looked at the Engineering House. I could live with people of all engineering majors of all years. I was interested so I clicked more links to find out more.  There are social activities and three study lounges. Personally, I was completely sold on the social and study aspects of E-House.

I went on to live in E-House for two years! Looking back, E-House gave me some of the greatest times that I’ve ever had. From studying with some feisty engineers when I needed help to getting pushed really fast in wheeled chairs in E-House’s long hallways my friends, E-House was a fantastic place for me as I got to study when I needed to and got to go have tons of fun in my free time.