[Rhodes22-list] Winter Semester, 2004 @ SVSU - The Nerdy Adventure Continues!

[Steve Alm]

Wow, Roger.

It sounds like you've integrated your coursework AND your professors into a
very solid plan.  What a coup to coauthor with Dr. Schilling?!  He's gotta
be tickled pink to have a student like you!  Your goals are ambitious and
well-thought out.  Here's hoping that you can parlay all of this into a new,
well deserved career in biowaste energy recovery.  This is the kind of thing
that can really benefit our society as well as serve you as a vehicle for
gainful employment.    You go, dude!  Good luck!

Slim


On 11/28/03 10:15 AM, "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402 at centurytel.net> wrote:

> Hi Everybody,
> 
> Well, as you can tell by the subject title, this post is not about sailing.
> If anyone is bothered by the idea that I would use this forum to tell my
> sailing friends about what is going on in my life; then, simply hit delete now
> and move on rather than do more complaining about modifying the list's
> charter.
> 
> I finally have my class schedule in place for the Winter Semester, 2004 at
> Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU).  My classes are going to be:
> 
> ME380 (3 credit hours)  Manufacturing Processes & Systems  (Mon & Wed 11:30 AM
> - 12:50 PM)
> 
> ME451 (3 credit hours)  Machine Design  (Tue & Thur 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM)
> 
> ME480 (3 credit hours)  Senior Design I  (Tue & Thur 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM + Thur
> 1:00 PM - 3:50 PM)
> 
> ME497 (3 credit hours)  Sr. Research Project, Sponsor: Dr. Christopher
> Schilling + The Michigan Corn Grower's Association,
>             Research Project Title: "Biowaste Energy Recovery", Expect To
> Publish A Paper In A Peer Reviewed Journal,
>             Days & Times At My Convenience As Long As Total => 9 hours/week
> 
> MSTP531 (3 credit hours)  Entrepreneurship Seminar, (Wed 4:00 PM - 6:50 PM)
> 
> This is a much easier class schedule than the 17 credit hours I'm currently
> struggling with.  There are no lab classes like the two I have this semester.
> Although labs are only 1 credit hour apiece, they meet for 3 hours/week and
> require a lot of preparation + writing lengthy technical reports.  The time
> and effort required for these labs is all out of proportion to 1 credit hour.
> In effect, my class load this semester is like taking 21 credit hours of
> nonlab classes, which is really heavy.  Next semester's daily schedule will
> also be much easier than my current class schedule from a time spent on campus
> point of view.  I currently have classes until 10:00 PM, three nights/week
> followed by a 45+ minute drive home.  Next semester, my latest class will get
> out at 6:50 PM on Wednesdays.  The rest of the week, I will be finished with
> my classes by late afternoon.
> 
> ME380, ME451, & ME480 are all on the normal mechanical engineering schedule of
> required classes.  However, the other two classes had to be petitioned in for
> credit in my major.  You see, I have a plan; both for graduation as well as
> what I might potentially do after getting my BSME degree.
> 
> Note ME497, the Sr. Research Project.  My research sponsor, Dr. Schilling,
> teaches the "Principles of Engineering Materials" class that I am currently
> taking.  Dr. Schilling and I have become pretty good friends over the
> semester.  Dr. Schilling is into research into new biologically-derived
> polymers and recovery of energy from biological waste materials.  A lot of his
> work is externally funded by the Michigan Corn Grower's Association.  I
> leveraged my expertise in chemical engineering and process development into an
> idea for recovery of energy from the waste material that is left over after
> corn is fermented to make alcohol.  This bio-sludge is currently dried at
> great expense and then sold at a loss as an animal feed called Distiller's Dry
> Grain (DDG).  It turns out that DDG has a lot of energy in it and may be more
> valuable as an alternative fuel to help offset the energy requirements of the
> alcohol process.  The research project next semester will involve a detailed
> process design, mass and energy balance modeling, economic modeling, vender,
> literature and patent searches.  Dr. Schilling and I expect to coauthor and
> publish a paper by the end of the semester.  So, that will look pretty good on
> the old resume even if nothing else comes of this project.  Most of the work
> will be in the library and on the computer.  As long as I put in at least 9
> hours/week on this project and keep Dr. Schilling informed of my progress &/or
> any problems, I can pretty much come and go as I please.
> 
> Note MSTP531, the Entrepreneurship Seminar.  This is a graduate school level
> class that is open by invitation only.  I had to go thru an interview with the
> professor, Dr. Thomas Kullgren, in order to get an invitation to take the
> class.  One of the prerequirements for this interview was the preparation of
> an idea for a new start-up business that will become the basis for the study
> in the class.  My business plan was to form an engineering consulting and
> construction company that would custom engineer systems like the energy
> recovery from biowaste process described above, purchase off-the-shelf
> pieces/parts from other venders, perhaps design and build a few special
> pieces/parts in house, assemble and sell these systems as package, turn-key
> solutions to industry.  The literature, patent, and vender searches I will be
> doing in my ME497 Sr. Research Project will fundamentally support the work
> going in this class.  By the end of the Winter, 2004 Semester, I should have a
> pretty good idea whether this plan is a potentially viable start-up business
> or not.  Whether this particular plan is a good one or not, I will still be
> better off for having gone thru the decision making process as part of this
> entrepreneurship seminar.
> 
> Note ME480, Senior Design I.  This class is considered the "Capstone Design
> Class" of the entire mechanical engineering program at SVSU.  In this class,
> the students are divided into teams that are supposed to come up with an idea
> for some mechanical gadget that is not currently on the market and do a
> detailed engineering design.  In ME481, Senior Design II, which I will be
> taking in the summer, the same teams have to build a working prototype of
> their device.  The idea behind these two classes is that senior students are
> supposed to demonstrate their mastery of all the tools and expertise which
> they will need as professional mechanical engineers.  I've already found a
> partner for the Senior Design series.  Her name is Christa and she's a
> transfer student from Kettering University in Flint. MI.  Christa is in a
> couple of my classes this semester and also plans to graduate in August, 2004.
> The biggest challenge in the Senior Design series is coming up with a project
> to work on.  In past semesters, some of the projects have been gadgets to make
> life easier for handicapped people.  Dr. Brooks Byam teaches the ME480 - 481
> series and is also the faculty advisor to the SVSU Formula Car Racing Team.  A
> lot of the previous projects have been associated with designing and building
> components for the race car.  These projects are OK, but Biowaste Energy
> Recovery is much more interesting to both Christa and I.  I've spoken to Dr.
> Byam about my idea for a process to recover energy from biowaste.  We've
> agreed the entire process would be too big a project for this class.  However,
> the process as I've envisioned it, will require some sort of final dryer to
> get the last of the moisture out of the biowaste just prior to burning the
> biowaste to produce energy.  Our project will be to do the engineering design
> of this dryer.  The literature, vender, and patent searches plus mass and
> energy balance modeling from my ME497 Sr. Research Project will fundamentally
> support this effort.  If all goes well, in ME481 Senior Design II, this next
> summer, Christa and I will build and operate a working scale-model prototype
> dryer that will generate scalable drying kinetics data for these biowaste
> materials.  So, I've even managed to adapt one of the required courses in my
> major to serve my own needs and agenda.  Actually, the dryer should be a
> wonderful Senior Design project.  After all, it's a machine with moving parts
> that have to process a difficult to handle semi-solid sludge.  There will be
> heat transfer issues, material handling issues, materials of construction
> issues, possibly corrosion and high temperature operation issues - in other
> words, a real challenge and a great project!  Dr. Byam also appreciated the
> fact that Christa and I will be coming into his class with our project already
> scoped out as opposed to the majority of senior students that struggle with
> this issue for most of the semester.
> 
> So, there you have the nucleus of my end-game plan.  9 out of 15 credit hours
> in the Winter 2004 Semester will be associated with my plan to potentially
> form a new business.  As you might imagine, the SVSU faculty are excited about
> the idea that one of their students might create a new start-up business based
> upon work done in their classes.  They are all behind me 200%!  I don't know
> where all this is going to end up by next August.  But, it won't be boring!
> 
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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