Articles tagged as: engineering
Russell Part Of Expert Task Force Commissioned To Review Vulnerability Of Electrical Power System In The United States
Don Russell
Dr. B. Don Russell, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, was a member of an expert task force commissioned to review the vulnerability of the electrical power system in the United States.
The task force, which was formed in 2005, along with the National Research Council and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), recently released its report, “Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System.”
The report, which was presented to the Department of Homeland Security, stated that concern exists that an orchestrated terrorist plan could significantly disrupt the economy, safety and defense of the United States by attacking the electric grid.
“In a worst case scenario, it is not the power disruption alone, but coordinated attacks that hit the power system simultaneous to other large-scale attacks that are the concern because it hinders our ability to function and communicate,” Russell said. “If the power system is down at the same time as a coordinated attack, the magnitude of the problem is enormous.”
The committee was tasked with identifying any and all vulnerabilities and suggesting approaches that could be reasonably taken to mitigate the effects of a terrorist attack.
Russell is the past chair of the Electric Power and Energy Engineering section of the NAE and past president of the Power and Energy Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
He is an expert on monitoring and protection of electric power systems and is the recipient of the IEEE Halperin Award, the highest recognition for electric power engineering given by IEEE. Dr. Russell holds the rank of Distinguished Professor and is Regents Professor of the Texas A&M University System. He is director of the Power System Automation Laboratory and has been a member of the faculty of Texas A&M for 37 years.
Dr. Russell is internationally recognized for his development of automated techniques for detecting arcing faults and failures on electric power systems. His recent work has emphasized predictive diagnostic tools for detecting failing power system equipment before catastrophic failure. This will allow utilities to repair systems before an outage occurs. His work is currently being extended to detect power system failures that cause wildfires, an area of great importance given the increasing drought conditions in the U.S.
For more on the report visit: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12050
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About 12 Impacts of the 12th Man: 12 Impacts of the 12th Man is an ongoing series throughout the year highlighting the significant contributions of Texas A&M University students, faculty, staff and former students on their community, state, nation and world. To learn more about the series and see additional impacts, visit http://12thman.tamu.edu.
Poll: Americans Support Renewable Energy, But Not Paying For It
A Texas A&M University National Energy Opinion Poll shows that most Americans are in favor of policies supporting the development of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, but not if it means increasing the price of gasoline.
According to the national survey, conducted by the Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy (ISTPP) at the Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service in cooperation with the Texas A&M Energy Institute, 59 percent of Americans support increased funding for research and development of renewable energy sources and 60 percent support tax cuts for companies to develop renewable energy technologies. Additionally, 78 percent of the public strongly favors better fuel efficiency for cars and trucks. However, 68.3 percent of those surveyed are against increasing the price of gasoline to encourage energy savings.
The survey also found that Americans are concerned about the national security impacts of foreign oil, with 43.2 percent saying they believe that dependence on foreign oil threatens national security “a great deal” with an additional 36.5 percent saying that oil dependence threatens security to “some” extent.
Of the respondents, 64.8 percent feel that it is “very important” for the U.S. to reduce its dependence on foreign oil.Furthermore, 60.6 percent acknowledge that the U.S. is “likely” to “extremely likely” to face a critical energy shortage in the next 10 years.
The national survey of U.S. adults over the age of 18 was administered online from May 11-May 26, 2012, and includes 1,525 respondents.
The survey also measured opinions about hydraulic fracturing, a process that is increasing domestic oil and gas production, reducing dependence on foreign sources. The public reports limited understanding about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, with only 21.4 percent reporting significant knowledge. However, the public’s overall concern about hydraulic fracturing/fracking is moderate and respondents made no distinction no matter which term was used.
According to ISTPP Director Arnold Vedlitz, “there seems to be no advantage or disadvantage to any group for using either term.“
Vedlitz says that Americans are not significantly polarized about potential solutions to energy issues, including hydraulic fracturing.
“The public is relatively neutral regarding support for strict government regulation on natural gas,” he said.
Initial analyses of the survey results seem to indicate that Americans need information on energy issues, particularly regarding the questions surrounding government regulation. While a minority responded “false” to the poll statement, “This energy source is sufficiently regulated by the government,” in all six examples of energy sources, most responded “unsure.”
Other key findings from the survey:
- The public holds various views about which energy sources to focus on now to increase domestic electricity generation. When ranking electricity sources, 37.1 percent preferred solar, 20.8 percent wind, 18.3 percent natural gas, 8.6 percent nuclear, 7.9 percent hydroelectric, and 7.3 percent coal. As for favoring increased use of these energy sources, 79.4 percent do for solar, 76 percent wind, 64.6 percent hydroelectric, 51.7 percent natural gas, 30.9 percent nuclear, and 21.5 percent coal.
- The public shows less support for policies focused on more traditional fuel sources. 51.8 percent support government requirements to reduce electric companies’ dependence on coal. 47.8 percent support requiring electric-generating companies to build more natural gas-powered plants. The public is also less enthusiastic about giving tax cuts to energy companies to increase oil and gas exploration in the U.S. with 38.7 percent in favor.
Analysis of the poll results continues and additional findings will be released as they are completed.
About the poll:
The Texas A&M National Energy Opinion Poll examines the public’s opinions on:
- Concerns regarding various issues resulting from energy generation
- Perceptions of risks and benefits associated with energy sources
- Sources of information about energy issues
- Level of trust attributed to sources of information
- Knowledge about energy sources and their environmental impacts
- Assessment of the importance of energy to national security
- Understanding of policy options and need for regulation
- Willingness to pay for or alter behaviors to implement policy options
- Degree of competence assigned to groups that recommend policy options and make policy decisions
The Texas A&M University National Energy Opinion Poll was designed and conducted by ISTPP in cooperation with the Texas A&M Energy Institute, and funded in part by the Crisman Institute in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University.
For more on the study, visit: http://growingtexas.tamu.edu/WaterAndEnergyInTexas and click on Dr. Vedlitz’s presentation.
Harvesting Personal Power
Researching The Properties Of Piezoelectrics So That Electronic Devices Can Power Themselves
Imagine a self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running.
It’s not as farfetched as it may seem thanks to the recent work of Tahir Cagin, a professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Using materials known as piezoelectrics, Cagin, whose research focuses on nanotechnology, has made a significant discovery in the area of power harvesting, a field that aims to develop self-powered devices that do not require replaceable power supplies, such as batteries.
Specifically, Cagin and his partners from the University of Houston have found that a certain type of piezoelectric material can convert energy at a 100 percent increase when manufactured at a very small size — in this case, around 21 nanometers in thickness.
What’s more, when materials are constructed bigger or smaller than this specific size, they show a significant decrease in their energy-converting capacity, he says.
His findings, which were detailed in Physical Review B, the journal of the American Physical Society, could have potentially profound effects for low-powered electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, personal communicators and a host of other computer-related devices, which everyone from the average consumer to law enforcement officers and even soldiers in the battlefield use.
Key to this technology, Cagin explains, are piezoelectrics. Derived from the Greek word “piezein,” which means “to press,” piezoelectrics are materials (usually crystals or ceramics) that generate voltage when a form of mechanical stress is applied. Conversely, their physical properties change when an electric field is applied.
Discovered by French scientists in the 1880s, piezoelectrics aren’t a new concept. They were first used in sonar devices during World War I. Today they can be found in microphones and quartz watches.
Cigarette lighters in automobiles also contain piezoelectrics. Pressing down the lighter button causes impact on a piezoelectric crystal, which in turn produces enough voltage to create a spark and ignite the gas.
On a grander scale, some nightclubs in Europe feature dance floors built with piezoelectrics that absorb and convert the energy from footsteps in order to help power lights in the club. And a Hong Kong gym is reportedly using the technology to convert energy from exercisers to help power its lights and music.
Although advances in those applications continue to progress, piezoelectric work at the nanoscale is a relatively new endeavor with different and complex aspects to consider, Cagin says.
Tahir Cagin
For example, imagine going from working with a material the size and shape of a telephone pole to dealing with that same material the size of a hair, he says. When such a significant change in scale occurs, materials react differently. In this case, something the size of a hair is much more pliable and susceptible to change from its surrounding environment. These types of changes have to be taken into consideration when conducting research at this scale, he says.
“When materials are brought down to the nanoscale dimension, their properties for some performance characteristics dramatically change,” says Cagin, who is a past recipient of the prestigious Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology. “One such example is with piezoelectric materials. We have demonstrated that when you go to a particular length scale — between 20 and 23 nanometers — you actually improve the energy-harvesting capacity by 100 percent.
“We’re studying basic laws of nature such as physics and we’re trying to apply that in terms of developing better engineering materials, better performing engineering materials. We’re looking at chemical constitutions and physical compositions. And then we’re looking at how to manipulate these structures so that we can improve the performance of these materials.”
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About 12 Impacts of the 12th Man: 12 Impacts of the 12th Man is an ongoing series throughout the year highlighting the significant contributions of Texas A&M University students, faculty, staff and former students on their community, state, nation and world. To learn more about the series and see additional impacts, visit http://12thman.tamu.edu.
Media contact: Ryan A. Garcia at (979) 847-5833
Texas A&M at Qatar Celebrates 10 Years of Engineering Excellence
Texas A&M University at Qatar celebrated its 10-year anniversary of engineering a world of difference at a gala event Sunday night at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). The event honored Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF), QF and Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU) VIPs and executive staff from Texas A&M University’s main campus in College Station, Texas. The university has been offering engineering degree programs in Qatar since 2003.
The event served to mark a milestone decade in Qatar and an opportunity to promote its mission of developing leaders of character who are dedicated to serving the greater good by presenting a resolution to Her Highness that supports her newly launched Educate a Child initiative. The resolution outlined Texas A&M at Qatar’s dedication to partner with Educate a Child to engage Aggie engineering students in developing solutions for practical problems that hinder access to education through engineering design projects. The Educate a Child initiative seeks to deliver quality primary education to millions of children across the world and address challenges that keep 61 million children out of school because of extreme poverty, conflict, natural disaster, prejudice or any factor that can make them hard to reach by conventional means. The university is the first to offer public support for the newly launched initiative.
In reply to the presentation of the resolution, Her Highness said, “This resolution… sums up the essence of all that education City is about: equipping our young people with the skills and the knowledge to be global citizens and enabling them to make the world a better place.”
For more on this story, click here.
Texas A&M Helps “Engineer” The Educational Pipeline In Texas With Innovative Outreach Programs
Among the most effective ways for Texas A&M University to help build the educational pipeline in Texas is through outreach, which is especially critical in the high need STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math).
One proponent of the outreach and recruitment model is Joseph Morgan, professor of engineering technology and director of the Mobile Integrated Solutions Laboratory ESET (electronic systems engineering technology) program. Morgan noticed that over the last few years the number of undergraduate students in electrical and mechanical engineering and computer science was in decline.
“We all knew we had a national and state need for professionals who were proficient in the STEM fields and that we weren’t training enough of them,” says Morgan.
“We realized that it was imperative to do more outreach at the high school level,” Morgan adds. “In this department, we wanted to engage students in the world of electronics and software development so they would be prepared to meet the complex technical challenges of society and ultimately make a real contribution to the state of Texas and beyond.”
Jay Porter, professor of engineering technology and program director for ESET, agrees. “All of us recognize that students need to see the value in being able to produce things, be innovative and build products in the United States – this is a national need that must be met.”
Jay Porter
Four years ago, students in the electronic systems program (formerly known as electronics and telecommunications) came up with the phrase: “There is a crisis at Texas A&M and we’re it.” But as Morgan explains, “The phrase is ironic; because crisis was spelled ‘krisys,’ and referred to the code name for the overwhelmingly successful robotics workshop that was developed by the undergraduate students.”
In a Krisys Robotics Workshop, students are divided into teams of four (three high school students paired with a sophomore engineering student) and within a week, not only build and assemble a small three-wheeled “robot/vehicle” but then populate the control/ driver circuit board, install it on the mechanical robot and design the program that allows the vehicle to navigate and race on a circuitous path. As daunting as that sounds, the workshops not only inspire and motivate the student team members, but the racing competition that caps the experience brings out the competitive spirit of all participants.
“What’s really exciting about Krisys,” says Porter, “is that we discovered that when college sophomores are mentoring high school students, those high school students not only learn more, but also say to themselves: ‘Hey, in two or three years I can be YOU!’ And that epitomizes how we think outreach and recruiting should be done. The challenge, of course, is to reach these kids even earlier in the education pipeline — in grade school and middle school — so they take the right courses to prepare for a STEM major.”
Krisys Workshops have become a focal point for a variety of outstanding outreach programs across campus, including the College of Education and Human Development’s Youth Adventure Program; the Women Exploring Engineering Summer Camp; the E-12 Summer Camp program targeting twelve Texas high schools based on demographics, TEA performance ratings and other criteria; The Summer Transfer Engineering Workshops (STEW) aimed at community college students and others.
Joseph Morgan
These programs have been responsible for helping the university attract more students to engineering, especially talented, high-performing minority and female students.
“In addition to providing real value to the outreach and recruiting efforts of the College of Engineering, the Krisys workshops have spawned innovation and entrepreneurship, which is really what the curriculum in electronic systems is built on,” says Porter.
“In our product innovation and development initiative, our students come together to design educational products for middle and high school students. Currently, they have sold Krisys kits to three high schools; our hope is that by making programs like these available to Texas school districts, we’ll be improving the number and quality of the students who enroll in the STEM fields at Texas A&M,” Porter states.
Based on the success of the Krisys robot workshops, the electronic systems program responded to two NASA solicitations that focused on outreach and recruiting.
The first proposal that was funded called for Morgan and Wei Zhan, associate professor in ESET and co-principal investigator, to develop and deliver a ten-week workshop to students in three different high schools. The project is part of the NASA HUNCH (High Schools United with NASA for the Creation of Hardware) program. Texas A&M teamed with the Project Management Institute (PMI) Clear Lake-Galveston chapter to develop the curriculum and then deliver it to the six HUNCH project teams at Conroe, Cy-Ranch, and Cy-Woods High Schools.
Matt Leonard, Texas A&M class of 1986 and a senior project manager with NASA has been a major catalyst for Texas A&M/NASA interactions. Leonard states, “Unless Texas A&M gets great students, the industry isn’t interested. The joint project is one way to reach out to the top high school students and get them interested in Texas A&M and engineering.”
In the second NASA-funded project, a team of four undergraduates are working on their ESET Capstone Design project to design, develop, deliver, and document a new wireless-based power monitoring and control system to be used in the Deep Space Habitat (DSH) mockup at NASA-JSC. As part of their project, the team members are mentoring high school students in the understanding and use of PMI-recommended project management tools and processes.
When the high schools students see that ESET undergraduates are using the same tools and processes to plan, manage, and control their projects, they become highly motivated to emulate the college students. Again, college students directly interfacing with high school students has been a key element of this unique and highly successful outreach project sponsored by the NASA HUNCH program.
As a result of the TAMU/PMI-CLG/NASA collaboration, these high school students will have an opportunity to sit for the Certified Associate Project Manager examination administered by PMI which is the first step in seeking professional certification. Both NASA and PMI are looking for ways to replicate this overall outreach concept at other universities on a regional or national level.
In yet another opportunity for STEM outreach and recruiting, the ESET program learned that Clear Springs High School had been selected to develop a microgravity plant growth chamber that might eventually fly on the International Space Station. The high school team, under the direction of Ms. Allison Westover, needed technical assistance in the areas of electronic hardware and embedded software design and development.
When Porter and Morgan learned of this need through Leonard, they decided this would be an excellent opportunity for the program to give back to the community while adding a new aspect to its recruiting of top-notch high school students.
Eight sophomore students in Morgan’s digital design course have volunteered to mentor Ms. Westover’s team and help them successfully field and test their system, designed to fly as part of NanoRacks’ NanoLab program.
“We hope to continue and expand our STEM outreach efforts through the support and partnering of organizations like NASA and PMI,” says Porter.
“What better way to recruit new students to Texas A&M than to let them interact and learn from current undergraduate students?” asks Porter. “Whether it is robotic workshops, project management tools and processes, or designing space-worthy lab projects, we have definitely found an innovative way to help build the STEM pipeline and improved our outreach and recruiting efforts for the university, the Dwight Look College of Engineering and our own electronic systems program.”
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Media Contact: Lynn Paris, News & Information Services at (979) 845-6746 or Joseph Morgan or Jay Porter
