Crunch Time!

T-minus 16 days until our grades are determined. Are we as a group nervous?...worried? Yeah, I think we are. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. This is the time that we, as individuals, can shine and prove how much we have learned and grown in our first symmester. Each of our projects have started to take over our lives, and now we have switched gears and started to foucs on learning core competencies associated with our projects. With deadlines that need to be met and deliverables that need to be produced, we have little free time. Austin and I's project has pretty much been cut off where we are now to allow us time to polish a power point for our presentations at Mankato on Thursday. This is our chance to show others how effective our system really is. After those presentations, we have to start work on our tech report to explain to others what we have done and how we have done it. In addition to that, May 10-13 we have our oral/written exams, which is the major component of our final grade. Busy times like these are where individuals learns what efficiency really is.

Proofed by Dan

The Different Values of Iron Range Engineering

The Iron Range Engineering Program has at least two kinds of values. Those values that we promote as our greatest good and the value provided by our work.

The values our program promotes are:

1) Better understand and communicate existing knowledge
2) Discover and disseminate new knowledge
3) Develop the individual and their opportunities
4) Give back to our region

The value we offer through our work includes:
1) Delivery of better prepared engineering graduates to the workforce
2) Help regional industries maintain/improve their global competiveness
3) Develop intellectual property for economic development

These are our main types of values.

Today in the design review for Spring Creek, I said that I wanted to show that my knowledge of body stresses was a 2 rather than a 1 on the IRE grading scale. To prepare for this I did a couple of things. The first being that in my personal journal, I wrote everything that I had remembered about body stresses from previous projects I had done. Once I had finished the entry, I got a mechanics of materials book and my learning log, and re-wrote everything. By looking at the body stress concepts, I was able to focus on what I needed to re-visit, and what I needed to learn. I researched these topics and wrote about them in my own words in my learning log. I also used another student to help edify me on a topic that was still unclear to me. Again, I wrote the main discussion points in my learning log in my own words.
During the design review, I was able to prove my knowledge by having a discussion with the two faculty members present. This was conducted in a manner that really probed my conceptual knowledge of the body stresses. I thought this was excellent because it really helped to prove that I had an understanding of this competency. On the other hand, this few things I was uncertain on were very obvious during the review. However, I was granted the “two” because I demonstrated a significant amount of knowledge during all the questions, and the example drawing that was used.
I was very happy with how this whole process went. I felt like what the faculty had to say about my knowledge on body stresses was correct based upon the discussion we had. I really liked how they offered help when I got stuck at one point for several reasons. In my case, my “help” was when the word torsion was said, and after I heard it, I immediately was able to converse about what I knew about the subject. This allowed me to show that I really did know about torsion, and that it had just slipped my mind. Secondly, this allowed my group members to show that they also had knowledge about body stresses as well.
Overall, I thought the whole “proof” of my 2 in body stresses went extremely well. Not only did it allow me to get one step closer to my grade, but it also gave me confidence in my own knowledge.

Proofed by Ron

Minnesota Twins

Friday afternoon 4/16 was the afternoon most of us had been waiting for the last month. We finally got to go to the Twins game at the Target Field!! This was a recruiting event so between IRE students and faculty, friends, ICC students and faculty, and next year's IRE students there were around 100 of us that went. Early Friday afternoon all IRE students drove down to Grand Rapids and got on two charter buses with the ICC student's. When we arrived everyone got matching 2010 Twins shirts that were designed by one of the IRE students, Deric Phillips. From there we took off to the Twin Cities. Driving in, the field was just as amazing as we had all remembered it when we got a tour of the stadium a few months prior. We even arrived in Minneapolis with a few hours to spare. So everyone broke up into groups and went their separate ways. Most people went out to eat at numerous places while many stayed around the stadium and oo'd and aww'd at all its wonders. The first pitch was thrown by Scott Baker at 7:10. There seemed to be no bad seats in the stadium, as of how the architecture of the building was made. It was a great three and half hours of baseball, with much excitement and a great crowd! We beat Kansas City that night 10-3. Everyone had a great time and the stadium was amazing! I hope and believe this was a great recruiting event that can happen for many years to come.

Proofed by: Alex Learmont

Spring Creek

Last week Deric, Christy, and I went to Spring Creek Outfitters to conduct an experiment for our project. Spring Creek is a local manufacturer of canoe and kayak accessories. Here we examined how different loading conditions effected the waterline of our given canoe. This is important to us because different waterlines create different wetted surface areas, which results in various drag forces. We also developed a way to measure the wetted surface area of the canoe. Using a waterline we found, we taped sheets of paper onto the bottom of the canoe. We were then able to add up the area of each sheet of paper to find the surface area of the canoe. Though this method may sound crude, we used the data we found to verify the results found using Pro-engineer (a 3-d modeling software). Now we know that Pro-e can be used to accurately find the surface area of any loading condition we may need to examine. We all had a lot of fun working in the field to verify work we did in the classroom. This is what IRE is all about.

Proofed by Deric

Tell your Story

Thursday my group (Brianna and I) had our design review with our program directors. We started to talk about the information we should be displaying in our power point presentations. He suggested to us that we design our presentation around what we would present at our last design review in front of the rest of the students. That way every design review we have from now until then we will have practiced many times and will become very good at knowing the information. He told us to start gathering bits and pieces to tell our story so we can give this to just about anyone and not lose them in a fog, so they understand what we've been working on this semester.

In our Pulp/ Paper class we went over different sized tree length and round wood sizes. This built some context for different debarker applications and chipper specifications. Kraft pulping, chemical recovery, and energy production were also covered in class today. Our instructor gave us a material balance exercise that involved a filter section and drier section you would see in a paper mill. The exercise overall was very basic, but it was a good cob web cleaning exercise for something that we don't deal with every day.

Attributes of a Good Design Review

After several iterations of design reviews, Dan and Ron have a list of attributes of a good design review from an instructor's point of view. (We would welcome a post on good attributes from a team's point of view!)

In regards to presentation, the following are the different components that, in total, make up a complete package:

Title Slide

Project Objectives

Background

Functional Block Diagram

Methodologies

Math/Analysis

Technologies Used

Economics Budget

Design Matrices

Other

Results/Design Info

When it comes to style we like groups who are professional and prepared. To be professional: use good grammar, dress appropriately, address colleagues with respect, share the presentation among the team members, don't be defensive etc. To be prepared, we recommend rehearsing your presentation and having all of the needed materials at hand.

Roadside Cleanup

This Tuesday, we went up to Gheen and spent a couple hours picking up trash on a 2 mile section of highway 53. In Preparation for this event, we watched a safety video describing the dangers and proper safety precautions for this activity. Luckily, our time spent picking up trash was productive and uneventful--unless you count ripping trash bags. As a celebration for a job well done, we ate dinner at The Landing, which is a good restaurant that sits on the edge of Lake Vermilion. We enjoyed good food and a nice view; it was a great way to wrap up the day.

Proofed by Dannyl Huju

Design Reviews

Yesterday Tyler and I had our design review of our cement troweler project with Dan and Ron. The first 45-50 minutes were spent presenting a power point of where we were at with the project. Along the way, they would prod us with questions and concerns they had with the design. Each design review we present the powerpoint, which allows us to hone our presentation skills--answering questions under pressure that the consumer or others might have at our final presentation. The next 45 minutes were spent discussing and proving our learning that has taken place from the project. We are able to show how we have learned important topics and showcase our work at that time. The faculty will also give us more avenues of learning to take. Each design review from now to the end of the school year will have a portion showing the design and a portion that demonstrates our learning; it could be compared to a test or grading session.

Proofed by Dan and Tyler

Just Another Manic Monday

After a shortened week and a lot of information crammed into this time, Monday started off in the same fashion. After whole group discussions with Ron on learning methods, and Moe Benda on the upcoming skills and knowledge competition that MRCTC is hosting, the rest of the day was spent on the various group projects. Each group is scrambling to get caught up, as there is a short five weeks remaining to not only finish projects but also learn the multiple competencies needed before finals week. This week includes round two of design reviews which should show the projects progress made in the direction suggested in last week’s design reviews. Upcoming this week is the start of the Pulp and Paper classes that will take place through the rest of the year to provide an understanding of the paper making process.

Proofed By: Erin