Thank You!

As this semester at IRE is coming to an end, the 3^rd Generation students would agree that it has been one of the biggest learning experiences of our student careers. Building relationships with the Generation 1 and Generation 2 students has really helped us get through this semester. They have always been willing to help us out whenever we have had questions. They have made this semester more enjoyable and brought many laughs to lighten the mood, day and night. As a group, we would just like to thank all those students for putting us under their wing and helping us through this learning experience. Many of them probably don’t think that they have made an impact on us, but they have. We have learned much from them, from helping us get used about the program, to teaching us technical information and demonstrating how to be more professional. It has been our pleasure to get to know this great group of people. To the Generation 1 students in particular, we would like to say, thank you, and wish the best of luck with your future. We know all of them are very talented and are going to make it far once they get into the “Real Engineering World.” Just don’t forget that the students that aren’t graduating wouldn’t mind a visit during the next semesters from you first gens.

Proofed By: Adam Geilser and Andy Lillesve

United Taconite Project

This semester myself and three others have a project with United Taconite. Our objective is to suggest new materials and/or a new design for filter concentrate chutes. These chutes currently build up with filter concentrate and cause costly downtime. We have met with the client a few times to discuss the scope of the project as well as design options. As a result, we have decided on a passive design with few or no moving parts due to the ease of maintenance. The main focus of the design is selecting the best material for the application.

To aid in the selection and to satisfy design grade requirements we designed and conducted an experiment to compare the coefficient of friction of different chute materials. Here, a hinged framework was built to hold the chute materials at an infinite range of angles. A known amount of filter concentrate was placed onto each material sample. The frame was then lifted until the concentrate slid off the sample material. At this point the angle was recorded. Using some basic principles of statics and Newton's second law we were able to solve for the coefficient of static friction. Finally, a chute material was selected.

In order to quantify the rate of build up, we set up a time-lapse camera at United Taconite to take pictures of the chutes at specific intervals over an eight hour time period. Using Photoshop, we overlaid a grid pattern into these pictures to give us a standard method to measure the amount of buildup. Knowing the amount of buildup and the time intervals we are now able to calculate the rate of build up.

We are in the final stages of the project now, which includes: finishing the final design, writing the technical report, and preparing the final design review. There is a lot of work left but I know we will get it done.

An End To The Beginning

The first semester of my IRE experience is coming to an end. During the past two weeks, tension has been high. The question in everyones mind has been, can I finish all my work on time? Even through all the stress and hard work, I have found myself in numerous conversations with other students about what we have learned this semester and what we can improve on for next semester. All of the conversations I have had started from the beginning, what we did, how we did it, how we felt about it then compared to how we feel now, what worked, and what did not work. Through this metacognitive process, I have realized that I am not the same as when I started. I have different styles of learning and a different understanding of what this experience is all about. I have made the transition into this style of learning. Looking forward from here, I feel that next semester will flow smoother and my learning processes will be refined even more. Behind all of the stress and pressure, I can feel the excitement and curiosity of what is in my future.

Proofed By: Emily Kilpatrick

The Next Step

Today is November 21, 2011. I started my college career August 24, 2006 at Itasca Community College. 5 years in the making and school is officially over for me in 17 days. The excitement is unbearable. Its felt like a decade has passed with the amount of time and energy spent in getting my engineering degree. While I am very excited to graduate and already have a job lined up, I'm still in aw; is this really happening to me, am I finally graduating? What does the working world have in store for me? Am I going to succeed, or is something else in store for me? While I ponder these questions I know one thing is certain. I am prepared for what ever life is going the throw at me. While college has been very important in developing me professional and technically, its time for the next stage in my life.

I will most certainly miss everyone at IRE. I want to thank my friends for all the good times we had. I also want the thank the faculty for everything as well. IRE certainly has been a very dynamic learning environment and I might not know what the future holds for me, or fully understand all the things that go into my next step but one thing is for sure I'm ready...

Anodizing

Last week several of the students conducted a lab to anodize some aluminum parts.

The process involved a degreasing bath at 150°+ for 5 minutes. Then, the parts were rinsed and dipped in a de-oxidizing tub at 110° for 3 minutes. This prepped the aluminum parts to successfully accept the anodizing process. Next, the aluminum parts were connected to the positive lead of a 3 amp source and dunked in 70° acid/water tank for 2 hours. Now the parts had an oxidation layer on them, with a honeycomb structure, which was quickly dunked in a dye tank for 15 minutes at 140°. The dye leeched into the "porous" oxidation layer, before a quick transfer to 210° bath of chemical to seal the pores shut. This finalized the anodizing process and helped to keep the color in. Lastly, the parts were rubbed with a mineral oil and set out to cool and dry.

The parts below are aluminum pieces off of a Honda dirt bike, anodized and dyed red.

Freedom

While our most recent visitor, Dr. Thomas Litzinger, was here, an interesting observation was made by a student while discussing the IRE model.
"Freedom is the best and the worst thing that we have at Iron Range Engineering."
This has been becoming more and more apparent as the semester comes to a close. At the beginning of Generation 3's first semester, we thought that time was on our side, we couldn't have been more wrong. Time is a fickle mistress, pretending to fulfill our dreams, all the while plotting the demise of the unmotivated student. This is another valuable teaching tool that IRE provides, time realization and management skills, it's time to realize how the world survives outside of academia. Let's hope that next semester's learning curve is considerably less steep.

Proofed by Ron Ulseth (student)

Crunch Time

With Thanksgiving a little over a week away, the realization comes that the semester will soon be over. But before this can happen there are a few important dates. Wednesday, November 23 is the day that all competencies are to be complete. Also, on this date the first draft of the project technical paper is to be submitted. This means that many of us have work to do tying up loose ends and finishing oral exams. During this time the coffee comsumption will increase dramatically, the midnight oil will be burned, and the tensions will rise as many students spend the majority of their day at the school. Client presentations, Final Design Review and exit interviews will follow shortly after.

The semester wraps up on December 9, with the senior graduation taking place at Giants Ridge on December 8 and Mankato commencement on December 10.

At Iron Range Engineering, students are required to do a certain number of volunteer hours that contribute to the community. This is part of the professional development learning that helps I.R.E. students learn about responsibilities outside the workplace. The Wind Turbine Team worked on fulfilling their community outreach (volunteer hours) in October. They spent the afternoon working at a community event called Community Connect. This event was for people who are less fortunate and need some assistance. The members of the group did jobs like greeting, serving lunch, registration, and exit interviews.

This ended up being a very rewarding day for the members and made them feel great satisfaction that they helped others in their community.

D2 Presentations

This past Thursday, IRE students gave formal presentations as project teams to other IRE students, faculty, and staff. These presentations gave project teams the opportunity to improve their professional/public speaking skills and to update others in IRE on the progress of their projects.

Through the course of the semester, IRE students have given several presentations in various formats. All of these presentations have helped to improve each student’s individual public speaking skills. Each project group will present formally one more time in front of the IRE community at the final design reviews. This is where the students will be able to show how much they have improved their public speaking skills since the start of the school year.

Proofed by Grant Roy

MAX Scholar Visit

This past Thursday and Friday a group of students and 3 faculty members visited IRE from Minnesota State University Mankato from the MAX Scholarship program. Four students from IRE are involved in this program and participate in weekly meetings with the Mankato students. The MAX scholarship is a diversity scholarship funded through the National Science Foundation.

The first night here IRE students and MAX scholars went bowling and visited about the program. The next day involved a mine tour of Minorca, a lunch with all IRE students, a speech about IRE from Ron, and debates within the scholar group.

Everyone had a good time visiting and meeting new people, or re-meeting for a second time, and the Mankato students finally got to experience the Iron Range.

Proofed By: Emily Kilpatrick