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.