Jason Schott - Breaking Borders

Hello All,

My name’s Jason Schott and I recently finished my 2^nd year of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Western University. This summer I will be travelling to Hangzhou, China to take part in a research project in the field of environmental engineering. During my 10-week stay, I will be doing a pilot study on wastewater treatment at Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT). My portion of the project will conclude at the end of July, after which I will be travelling from China directly to Singapore. Starting at the beginning of August, I will begin a student exchange at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). I’m planning to study Civil (Structural) Engineering for two semesters at NTU in Singapore. After completing this student exchange, I will be returning to Western for my fourth year.

Both of these opportunities were available to me through Western’s connections - China because of agreements through our Chemical Engineering department and Singapore because of Western International. I am taking advantage of just some of Western’s Engineering Plus opportunities since they are so openly available to me.

My research assignment is starting on Wednesday and I begin my flight to China today. I chose to start my research at ZJUT in late May; this was so I could take some time to travel with my family. I kicked off the beginning of May by relaxing in my hometown Kitchener, Ontario. Seeing family and friends is always time well spent. I was even lucky enough to see my favorite band ‘The Royal Streets’ perform before they went off on an east coast tour.  I then travelled to Vancouver where I enjoyed a week off before embarking on a family vacation to Alaska. We took a 7-day cruise which went through Glacier Bay and three other port cities, and got to meet up with my cousin in one of these towns. He drove a few hours from Whitehorse, Yukon down to Skagway, Alaska and he brought his adorable kids with him. The photo below is with my parents, sister and cousin with his two kids in Skagway, AK.

  

This photo of the glacier and waterfall was taken in Juneau, Alaska. The town mainly consisted of local pubs and gift shops but there is some awesome scenery to be found once you travel outside the port.

The photo of the bridge was on a train ride from Fraser, British Columbia to Skagway, Alaska. The ride was filled with breathtaking views of the serene landscape. You were allowed to stand outside of the train as it sped over shaky tracks alongside a sharp cliff, which was both fun and humbling. This bridge is actually well known! It was built back in 1901 and had been extremely difficult to build due to its location on the mountain. It’s a steel cantilevered bridge and is no longer operational but remains standing as a landmark. The concrete foundation and steel framing seemed strong, but the rocks it was built on seemed ready to pluck off.

A quick background on me. I was born & raised in Kitchener, Ontario and will capitalize on any chance I get to play golf, hockey or snowboard. In the past 2 years I have travelled to Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore - so it’s pretty clear that I’ll also capitalize on any chance I get to travel. I’ve also done some travelling in Canada. Last summer I spent a few months working at a pristine golf course in Vancouver called Point Grey Golf & Country Club. And before returning home, I played a few rounds of golf with friends in Kananaskis, Alberta.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and you can expect me to write about my experiences in social activities, my work and other good stuff I come across throughout the upcoming months.

Cheers,

Jason

 

Zhejiang University - Arrival in Shanghai

Upon arrival in Shanghai, the first thing that struck me was the humidity and heat. I was used to the dry heat of Ontario, and it had reached 30 degrees in Ottawa. However, Shanghai reached 35 degrees, but with the humidity, it was close to 40. Customs were cleared faster than anywhere else I’ve ever been, and not a single question was asked. Our baggage was already off the plane and waiting on the carrousel when we showed up.

In total it only took 45 minutes to go through the formalities and get a bus ticket to Hangzhou. Along the way, there was plenty of stuff to see. What I found most interesting was that there were trees that lined the highway all the way from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The middle divider was filled with hedges that were trimmed equal height the entire distance. The amount of work carried out by the Chinese people to maintain their highways was truly astounding.

Most of the buildings we saw on the way seemed abandoned, or haven’t been used for a very long time. Most were large 3 storey condo buildings, which had little furniture that could be seen through the windows. Some were covered up by billboards that were painted against the façade of the building facing the highway. As well, there was a significant number of billboards that were put up along the highway, advertising everything from phone companies, to insurance, and escort services.

Even though I’m not a Civil Engineer, I was amazed by the infrastructure in place and the effort that was put into building it. There was an elevated Maglev system running along the highway, as well as many high bridges over rivers to allow for the waterways to be used by large shipping cargo ships travelling to the ports in China. The highway system was very well constructed, with many on-ramps and off-ramps going over the highway below

Once we got to Hangzhou, we met outside of the Huanglong Stadium close by to the University. Lie Wei and Qiao Xiang got us a taxi to the International Student Dormitory, where we will be staying over the course of our stay. We had dinner near the dormitory, and overall the food was quite good.

We’ll be taking a few days to get used to the time difference, and will be touring the campus and our labs sometime this week.

Mitchell House - More than a tourist

Hello,

                My name is Mitchell House, and I have recently completed my second year of Green Process Engineering.  I am travelling to Zhejiang University this summer, located outside Shanghai in the province of Hangzhou. My research project will be related to Organocatalysis, a process involving small organic molecules that will act as catalysts for organic transformations, leading to less waste, greater simplicity and low toxicity related to the large scale production of many popular organic products. This research area interests me greatly, as the Green Process program was designed to address the issues related to this research project.

                I was born in 1993 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I lived in a suburban area half an hour from the downtown area, and lacked the racial diversity found in the more densely populated areas. Nevertheless, I was always interested in global events, and the various cultures found around the world. I travelled a lot before I came to University, travelling across Canada, various States, France, Italy, Egypt, Turkey and various places around Ontario. This helped me gain some insight and first-hand knowledge of the situation that other cultures lived in, however I was more of a tourist, and didn’t feel immersed enough in the cultural experience. I am looking forward to gaining some insight into the Chinese culture by experiencing the cultural norms and traditions by living in the country for 3 months. I look forward to being able to share these experiences with everyone at Western.

 

 

Sam Cui - Working to Make Energy Clean, Sustainable, and Inexpensive

I am confident that the future of energy will be cleaner, more sustainable, and inexpensive. Renewable power will play a major part in this transformation. However, currently energy from renewable sources is plagued with problems such as cost, environmental impact, and it's intermittent nature. I am currently working towards overcoming these three major problems.

I am addressing the first problem - cost - by working with a interdisciplinary research team at Western University in designing a low cost roll-to-roll system that uses inexpensive, earth abundant materials to produce dye-sensitized solar cells. This is a much less costly and energy intensive method than current silicon wafer cell technologies. 

Additionally, at Western University, I am pursuing a dual degree in Green Process Engineering and Honour Business Administration. My program gives me the tools to design chemical processes that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly. I apply the skills and principles I learn from the classroom directly into my research. 

Finally, I address the the third problem, which is the intermittency of renewables such as solar and wind, this summer working as a Research Intern at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany. My research project involves figuring out how electrical grids need to be altered to accommodate intermittent renewable sources as they continue to supply power to an increasing proportion of the electrical grid.

I am currently making an impact in these three areas within the renewable energy field. 

To give a bit more information about myself, I am a 20 year old vegan male who is also interested in international development and animal rights. I play rugby and snowboard alpine recreationally. As a wine and beer enthusiast, I am looking forward to trying different products from various regions in Germany. 

Western Engineering Rugby Team

I am very excited to go to Germany this summer to contribute to the field of renewable energy, and to share my experiences with you!

Regards,

Sam 

WETT Wins GNCTR 2013

After months of hard work and dedication, the Western Engineering Toboggan Team has captured the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, CSCE Cup at the 2013 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR), awarded to the 1st overall team at the competition. WETT's victory is the team's best finish ever and comes off one of the best years at GNCTR 2012, where WETT took home 5 technical awards for its toboggan design. WETT was also awarded with the Holcim corporate award for Most Sustainable Toboggan Design, and a cheque for $2,000. Finally, WETT flawlessly executed the Giant Slalom course at GNCTR 2013 and took home an award recognizing that top achievement. 

Our team has been working tirelessly on this project since the summer months and the results are showing that the decication and hard work has paid off. From the start of the year, WETT wanted to improve race day performance, focus on sustainable construction, and improve the reliability of all systems. This was done through testing the toboggan extensively before the competition, implementing innovative design techniques, and constructing the toboggan in-house to ensure a high level of quality control. 

The single biggest key for our success was that we were able to test the toboggan 11 times full scale on Boler Mountain and UC Hill. Those results provided extremely valuable feedback that allowed our design to be refined and perfected.  Coming up with a good design is one thing, but actually making it work is another thing entirely. Other keys to our success were a post-tensioned box section concrete ski design, with 60 MPa 28-day compressive strength, and running surface profiles constructed from a high density polyeurathane foam formwork. Our rider arrangment was 1-2-2, instead of the typical 5x1 layout, which allowed more manueverability, low risk of fish tailing, and a increased stabilty from the weight distribution. Our steering used 2 front skis connected with a tied rod and cast-in-place connections and our brakes used bent sheet steel with welded angle iron, torsion springs, and locking disks to prevent spring-back. The toboggan was padded with foam and the sides were covered with snow-fence for safety. 

The offical weight of our toboggan at the Technial Exhibit was 299.95lbs, which was just about perfect, given that the total weight could not exceed 300lbs without penalty. Our team successfully completed three runs on race day, achieving a top speed of 30 km/h, which was 5 km/h short of the winning speed. WETT finished 2nd overall in theoretical toboggan design and 3rd overall on race day performance, combining with our Viking theme and spirit for a 1st overall finish. 

The success of our team could not be achieved without the contributions from our support system. Our executive team and general members did an absolutely phenomenal job, both on and off the hill, and the contributions from the faculty and staff of Western Engineering were vital to our team. In addition, the guidance and wisdom from Western Engineering Alumni tobogganers were equally as important in providing leadership and support. Finally, our corporate sponsors, Western Engineering, and the Undergraduate Engineering Society at Western allowed us to make this dream a reality.

As a member of the GNCTR 2014 organizing committee and WETT Captain, I am beyond excited to have WETT be the defending, hosting champions at next year's competition, which is to be held in London. We are eagerly looking forward to welcoming engineering students from across Canada to Western and give them a GNCTR experience like no other.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this happen. You've been able to give me and our team a truely phenomenal student experience.

WETTER IS BETTER!! It's official. 

Rob Volcko
WETT Captain 2012-13

WETT and GNCTR 2013 next week

With the start of the 2013 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR) just 7 days away, the Western Engineering Toboggan Team (WETT) has been hard at work tying up all our loose ends. 

We had a successful day at Boler Mountain last Monday, where we were able to get in 8 full scale test runs over the course of 2 hours. Completing the test runs was a high priority for WETT this year because it allowed our team to see how the toboggan performed under race day conditions, which has typically been difficult to test with adverse weather conditions and time constriants. Our top speed was 42 km/h on Boler Mountain's tubing hill. The tests showed that our steering worked well, but our brakes needed a small modification to be successful. 

After making the necessary modifications, WETT unveiled the toboggan to the Faculty of Engineering on Tuesday, January 8th. Speeches were given by WETT executive members and another test run was performed on UC Hill. That test run further showed that our steering was functional, even in different snow conditions, and that the brake modification was implemented correctly. These are very encouraging results for GNCTR. Our team is riding a wave of confidence to the competition, which is being held in Vancouver BC.

The toboggan was shipped last thursday in a home made crate and is expected to arrive in Vancouver at the start of next week. The team will by flying out in one week, on the morning of January 23rd at approximately 9am. We are due to arrive in Vancouver at 1:15pm, taking a three hour time change into account. WETT is sending 30 members to Vancouver, our largest team ever, including 4 first year and 6 second year students. There are 22 other registered teams at GNCTR 2013 with approximately 450 student competitors. 

WETT is coming of a strong year at last year's competition and is eager to make this year it's best ever. Look forward to more updates from the competition starting next week!

WETTER IS BETTER!

 

Rob Volcko

WETT Captain 2012/2013

Western Engineering Toboggan Team 2013

The Western Engineering Toboggan Team has been hard at work over the last few months with the design and construction of our 2012/2013 toboggan. Both the concrete and superstructure teams have been putting in countless hours in the shop and the lab to get the final preparations ready for the first week of January. 

The planning phase for WETT's toboggan started over the summer months, with a new focus put on scheduling, quality control, and organization. The design of the toboggan started in September, with concrete testing and mathematical modelling as the primary areas of focus. Construction of our toboggan started in October and was finished before the winter break, thanks in part to several key build days in November.

In the first week of January 2013, WETT will be completing a full scale test run at Boler Mountain on Monday, followed by the offical Toboggan Unveiling Ceremony at 3:30pm in the CMLP Atrium on Tuesday, January 8th. This ceremony will include speeches from WETT exec members, as well as an exhibition test run down UC at 4:30pm, weather permitting. Then, on Thursday, WETT's toboggan and crate will be shipped to Vancouver, BC, for the 2013 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race, hosted by the University of British Columbia. WETT will be sending 30 members of our 110 member team to compete amongst 400+ students from 20+ other universities and colleges across Canada. GNCTR 2013 runs from January 23rd-27th 2013. 

WETT is coming off its best year ever from GNCTR 2012, taking home 5 technical awards for Best Concrete Mix Design, Best Concrete Reinforcement Design, Best Technial Exhibit, Best Technial Report, and Best Overal Toboggan Design. We are hoping to build off our successes and have a top 3 finish at GNCTR 2013, placing us among the elite Canadian Engineering schools.  

Seen below are pictures from our November 16th Build Day, where our team constructed the final concrete running surface for our toboggan. 

Any questions about WETT or the Unveiling Ceremony can be directed to Rob Volcko at wett.captains@gmail.com.Hope to see you at Unveiling! And look forward to updates from GNCTR!!

- Rob Volcko
WETT Captain

 

Day three of Canadian Federation of Engineering Students' Congress with Laura Perry, Steele Gibson, Kathryn Wilkinson, and Michael Zawalsky

It's day three and the Western delegation to the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students' Congress is having a great time at the activities and learning lots that can be brought back to the Undergraduate Engineering Society. Today was filled of great speakers and topics. The two favorites were the lunch and learn with Statoil and the talk from Larry Smith. 

Two members of Statoil talked all about their company as we enjoyed a delicious lunch of fajitas from the Delta Hotel in Kitchener. David Ralph, Manager of Operations Offshore and Erin Davies, Environmental Engineer, informed all the students of the achievements and successes of Statoil. The size of their company, their environmental consideration, and their business views, all make Statoil into a very interesting company. Since it is a conference incorporating all Canadian engineering students, it was great for the non-Albertan students to learn more about an oil company. The many view points in the room also allowed for a very diverse and successful question period. 

Larry Smith, an economics professor at Waterloo, was a very charismatic, impactful and enthusiastic speaker. He had the entire room glued to his every word. Throwing many great jokes into his speech and making lots of jabs at civil engineers, he spoke about the need for creativity in engineering. Society is demanding new and creative solutions to every problem, and engineers need to embrace this fact and continue creating instead of implementing old technologies. Whether it's the discipline of civil, software, or chemical, Smith spoke his opinion on the great need of new creative, unique solutions and products. Finishing with a sad but also inspiring story of the dreadful train wreck of 1942 in Almonte, On; Smith exclaimed that new technologies are now making the world a safer place. It is the only speaker of the three days that has received a standing ovation from the crowd. We hope to see many more inspiring speakers such as Smith.

Half way through the conference, we are all thrilled to learn and develop skills to bring back to Western. Tomorrow marks the start of Plenary, where Kathryn Kim, VP External, will vote on behalf of Western for minor amendments of motions, nominations for new positions on the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students. We are all very excited for the remaining days, and can't wait to learn more from other engineering societies.

 

St. Petersburg and Helsinki: Summary from Canada!!!

At last, I’m back home in Canada!!! My last three weeks in Europe flew by and this post will summarize those weeks and the entire trip. During the last two weeks in Russia, I spent my time working with a graduate student at SUAI who was performing research on superconducting circuits applied to designing a motor. This was quite fun since I got the chance to create a nitrogen bath and see how super cooling takes place in the lab. Then I spent my final week abroad in Helsinki, Finland, which gave me an excellent opportunity to make comparisons between that city and St. Petersburg. Now I am wrapped in a sense of elation to be back in Canada where I am enjoying the atmosphere of my home and friendly neighborhood!!!

 Performing the Experiment

As mentioned I had the opportunity to spend time in a lab with a Russian graduate student. The focus of this students work was superconducting circuits within electric motors, but it was technically a secret project so little detail was given how it actually worked. However, I was present for the creation of a nitrogen bath where the motor was submerged until it reached a superconducting temperature and then tested. A multi-meter was used to measure current and voltage – these measurements were recorded and graphed in order to determine a specific trend. Again, this project was classified so they never really discussed what trend they were looking for.

 

Nitrogen Kegs!!!

Pouring the Nitrogen!!!

Besides the vagueness of the superconducting motor experiment, there was an interesting magnetic levitation display. This display was comprised an oval magnetic track and a car containing a ferromagnetic ceramic. When this car is held over top a certain distance from the track and super-cooled, the ferromagnetic ceramics hold the magnetic field at it current position; thus making the car levitate above the track. The interesting thing though is that it can move forward and backwards – with a simple push the car will begin circling the track continuously with air resistance being the only form of friction. After the ceramics begin to warm up, the car gently falls back onto the track where it stops at rest. And at last, it was time to leave St. Petersburg and head on over to Helsinki, Finland.

 

The Magnetic Levitation Demo

Magnetic Levitation!

It took me four hours on a fast-train to arrive in Helsinki. Interesting fact: the Allegro fast train between Russia and Finland is equipped to run on two different power types since the voltage standards between the two countries vary. Upon arriving in Helsinki, the first thing I did was taste the tap water. The tap water in St. Petersburg is filled with lead and chlorine so it’s not entirely safe to drink. There is something very satisfying about having access to clean water from the tap. Anyways, I digress.

 

View from the Speeding Train

Train Station in Helsinki

Finland has a population of 5 million - 500,000 of which live in Helsinki. This makes it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world!!! It is beautiful city whose skyline is dominated by two grand cathedrals that are best viewed from the harbor. I spent a week in Helsinki during which I received a great tour of Aalto University’s art and design faculty and viewed many of the city’s most interesting attractions.

 

Helsinki from the Water

Harbour in Helsinki

Coffee and Meringue!

Last night in Helsinki!!!

Aalto University was established in 2010 as a conglomeration of multiple universities that specialized in engineering, economics, and the arts. I had the opportunity of touring the art and design faculty where they teach many artistic trades such as glass blowing, painting, tapestry knitting, furniture design, and industrial design. Aalto art students learn everything from the hands on basics in bachelors to the advanced theoretical material in masters – most students in Finland end up completing their masters since it has become a necessity in the workplace. Although this tour wasn’t entirely engineering related, it was quite appropriate for understanding Finnish culture.  Finland is especially known for its design culture – Helsinki is the World Design Capital for 2012.

A Design Workshop at Aalto! 

I was going to create a large summary about my trip…but I feel this blog is already been long winded. So in short, this externship has been an incredible opportunity for me to experience Europe with an engineering and cultural purpose. I want to thank Western University and the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation for their collaboration in making this externship program possible. Russia and Finland are truly unique and inspiring places to visit - I recommend this opportunity to anyone aspiring to travel to Europe and gain some excellent international connections for the future. 

Church of Our Savior Built on Spilt Blood

St. Petersburg - Week 7

Week 7 has once again involved some unique experiences that I will never forget! First off, I had the opportunity to visit a laboratory at SUAI here in St. Petersburg that was performing research on superconducting electromotive engines! Afterwards the week went pretty smoothly with Russian language classes and visiting the city center a few times….oh and I got to shoot an AK-47.

 

The laboratory was incredibly interesting as I got to see first hand how graduate students in Russia perform research! I got to apply what I learned in magnetics regarding three phase circuits and used some basic knowledge of calculus to create a model in MatLab that demonstrated a superconducting motor’s performance under various conditions. By altering load resistance and motor rpm, a few beautiful graphs were made – I will eventually write a small report on this.

A messy laboratory and multi-meter...

 

Now I asked myself, what could be more exciting than being in a laboratory full of hardworking electrical engineers? My question was answered when I had visited a shooting range and got to fire off some rounds of an AK-47! For engineering application sake, this was the finest product of mechanical engineering I have ever had the opportunity of operating. In fact, most Russians consider it a hallmark of Russian engineering and the greatest assault rifle of all time! However, it is important to note that the gun I fired was a sport friendly and was fired in a strictly controlled environment. I was actually quite nervous before shooting – it was incredibly loud and sounded like it had the kick of an excited horse at noon. I was sure that I would leave with some nice bruises in the shoulder after shooting; however, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was quite comfortable to handle and I barely felt the recoil. The first three shots were practice of course and the next seven hit the target…I think.

A French student shooting a few rounds! Needless to say I was impressed. 

Week 8 is almost over as well…but I won’t spoil the surprise of what I did this week yet. Thanks for reading and check in later for more interesting stories of what Russia has to offer!!!