Co-op Experiences at IRE

This year at IRE I was able to continue working with Itasca County where I held an internship last summer. I was given the responsibility to design County Road 16 located near Goodland, MN, from start to finish, while working with my team members at Itasca County in Grand Rapids every Thursday and Friday for my co-op experience. At first this project seemed overwhelming with so many tasks. I wasn't quite sure how or where to start. With help and guidance from my co-workers, I was able to get the project to roughly 95% complete (in-completion due to weather and pending permits). Since I will be returning to work full time with Itasca County this summer, I will be able to finish all remaining work as possible including permit approvals, field checks, and contract documents.

This type of experience is very unique to IRE and I know it would not be possible to have this sort of industry experience at any other university. I am very thankful to get the real world experience that I have been able to get here, and I know making these connections and having this background will be very helpful for me in my near future as I am beginning to apply for full time positions.

-Allie Jurvelin

IRE SAE Baja: First Year

The end of this semester marks the end of the first year of design and fabricating work on the first Iron Range Engineering vehicle for the SAE Baja competition. A lot of work was put into the design before fabrication could begin. The fall team created an original design on the CAD program SolidWorks. The designs were tested through SolidWorks Finite Element Analysis function to see if they would hold up as expected. In the spring, more analysis was done and some changes were made to the geometry. Elements of the design including bend radii and heights of certain members had to be adjusted to better accommodate the SAE rules and the properties of the metal to be used.

Original frame design done for the fall of 2013

Modified design over spring semester 2014

The spring team also made a model using the laser cutter to garner a better understanding of the sizing and positioning of the A-Arms to get the desired behaviors from the front and rear suspensions. The physical model was a good way for the team to experiment with different sizes to see the outcome. The team learned a lot about suspension geometry design and how it could potentially affect the vehicle width, ride height, camber, and other properties.

2 dimensional model made to test camber before suspension design was finalized.

Welding in progress.

Base of the frame near completion.

Vehicle at end of spring 2014.
Ready for more design, testing, and fabrication!

The teams over the last year learned a lot about vehicle design and are looking forward to driving and testing to find the points of further improvement before competition in the summer of 2015. 

Proofread by: Tyler Wass

Metsa Memorial Garden

Over the course of the school year, students make sure to be involved in outreach activities for the community.  Personally, I spent much of my time this summer volunteering at a community garden located in Virginia.  I found it very worthwhile to learn about the different plants in the garden and to also learn about the Metsa Memorial Gardens purpose for the community from the most dedicated volunteer, Marlyn Swanson.  This is a link to an article in the Mesabi Daily News to get a better understanding of the garden. http://www.virginiamn.com/opinion/letters/article_b5eb114e-4f39-11e3-b116-001a4bcf887a.html

These are just a handful of some of the pictures I took this summer. 

       

    

Proofread by: Kali O’Brien

IRE Internship Bootcamp

At the end of every spring semester Iron Range Engineering (IRE) puts on a two hour training season for the students that are graduating and going off for their first job, and the students that have got summer internships. 

The boot camp is a way for the students to ask questions about what to expect on the job, get information on do's and don'ts of the work place, and for the instructors to pass on helpful hints to help the students succeed in their job or internship.

This bootcamp has become a tradition at IRE.  While it is not required, it is an option that a lot of the students take advantage of.  The boot camp goes through what good traits of a student worker companies looks for, and what traits a student should stay away from while at work.  The instructors that put on the boot camp always have stories to go along with the good points and bad points to help make sure that what they are saying sticks in the students mind.

Going to the boot camp for the second time now, I have been able to learn something new each time. One of the biggest things that I learned is to always have a notebook and pencil or pen to take notes.  This has helped me to remember important information given when I have asked questions and I also used it to help me remember my coworkers name.  Another good thing I have learned from the boot camp is to show up to work and meetings five minutes before they start.  This has been very good to learn and is applied even to school and other aspects outside of school.  Through doing the boot camp I feel as if the information gained has been helpful for my internships and school.  A big part about IRE is that they are teaching us how to be continual learners and this boot camp is one of the many ways IRE helps to accomplish this.

Written By: Adam Benes

Proof Read By: James Simpson

Regional SME Conference

On April 22^nd and 23^rd SME members from Iron Range Engineering attended the SME regional conference at the Duluth Exposition and Convention Center (DECC).  On the 22^nd, we attended the breakfast for student members, sponsored by many of the area mines.  This allowed us to meet SME student members from other area schools, along with representatives from area mines.  Two students from Iron Range Engineering received awards from SME at this time.  Later that day we attended the opening reports from the SME president, and learned about products offered at the trade show.  Some students volunteered to monitor the doors in the smaller breakout sessions.  A few other students, including myself, came back the next day to help monitor the doors again.  I helped out with the Frac sand mining sessions, and learned about the processes, environmental, and legal impacts of mining for Frac sands. In conclusion, as a group we got to meet other students and industrial representatives, learn about the current conditions of mining, see new projects, and in addition for myself, Frac Sand mining. 

Tyler Wass

Proofread by Mitchl Buck 

This semester at IRE a design team got to do a unique project. Saginaw Power and Automation is a startup company based in Saginaw MN. They provided the project of doing an arc flash analysis on their newly bought building. The unique part about this project was that it was not a design project but rather a process. The team instead of designing a system to perform a task was given a set procedure to learn and perform. To begin the team had to do in depth research on the topic of arc flash analysis and generally apply it because the building was not yet open. After the building was open two weeks before spring break the team could finally enter and start collecting data and stop working on the hypothetical. Next was the tricky part, the team had to understanding and performing the analysis. Eventually, with some help from their mentor and client the team managed to correctly perform this task and understand what it was they were doing. This project was very rewarding because many new concepts had to be learned in order to achieve the desired results. It is also very rewarding because there are not many electrical engineers around northern Minnesota that can perform an arc flash analysis.

IRE Semester Events in Review

As the semester comes to a close, a quick reflection on the many events is in order, along with some thanks to the facilitators who went the extra mile to make IRE special. These events include snow shoeing, engineering intramural basketball, spring break, and the Vertical Endeavors trip to Duluth. The first of the events included snow shoeing with the most interesting man alive (Jim Boyd). This was a nice and much needed break from everyday school work. The picture below is from the highest point reached, with some of the Minntac wind mills visible in the far background. The second event consisted of a weekly drive to Itasca Community College for about a month and a half for engineering intramural basketball. Although I won’t say too much about our record, the league provided a great activity for incoming Gen 8 students to connect with fellow IRE students. The biggest event of the semester included an IRE spring break trip to Fort Myers, FL. This event included a week’s worth of 80 degree weather, which was a nice change after a long MN winter. Activates for the week included golf, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, a Twins game, and some great food. The pictures below are from the Twins spring training facility. A big thanks to our two facilitators Andy Lillesve and Matthew Korpela for attending this with us along with Michael Lynch for the free stay at his aunt’s condo. The last and most recent event included a trip to Duluth and Vertical Endeavors. Rock climbing proved to be an enjoyable activity with many sore muscles the following day. Jim Boyd deserves a big thank you for setting up the trip and a thank you to Andy Lillesve for participating. 

By: Luke Meech

Reviewed by Michael Lynch

IRE Chess Tournament

On May 1st, Todd Hanson took home the gold in the first ever IRE chess tournament. A total of 22 students participated in the tournament ensuring a high level of competition.  Future chess tournaments will be held each semester at IRE.

The top three finishers included:

1. Todd Hanson

2. Nathan Quinn

3. Jim McCluskey

2nd Place winner Nathan Quinn (shown left) and Champion Todd Hanson (shown right)

Many spectators gathered to eat and watch the final matchup between Todd and Nate

Programmable Logic Controllers at IRE

Students at Iron Range Engineering are now learning process controls with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs.) A PLC is a computer used in industry to control pumps, motors, lighting, sensors, and essentially anything electromechanical. Currently, students now have the opportunity to apply the theories and concepts learned in courses such as digital logic and circuits to the control the systems used in industries such as mining, manufacturing or processing. The addition of PLCs to Iron Range Engineering’s laboratory equipment will become an integral part of further design projects and experiments.

As shown in the picture below, iron range engineering student Luke Bounds is wiring and programing the PLC to control the water level, temperature, and flow rate of a 2 tank water system. In the process Luke learned the fundamentals of relays, ladder logic, sensors, motor controls, and PLC troubleshooting.