Compass November 2013 - pspe.org Nov-Dec 2013.pdf · THE COMPASS Volume 48. Number 2 November/December 2013 ... President’s Message By: Michael Fischer, P.E. The Valley Forge Chapter

VALLEY FORGE CHAPTER

PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS P.O. BOX 585 WORCESTER, PA 19490-0585

NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

THE COMPASS Volume 48. Number 2 November/December 2013

(Read the COMPASS online at www.pspe.org/valleyforge)

President’s Message By: Michael Fischer, P.E. The Valley Forge Chapter kicked off its meeting itinerary for the chapter year with a tour of the new Einstein Medical Center Montgomery in October. The state-of-the-art facility was extremely impressive both architecturally and technologically. In November, we hosted a very interesting presentation on the multi-well gravity drain system that was installed at the Village of Valley Forge property in King of Prussia (new Wegman’s property). This meeting was very well attended and I would highly recommend this presentation, particularly for those in the stormwater management field. We will hold our annual Day at the Races in early December, which is a casual and fun event at PARX Race Track. Also, we will be co-hosting a joint event with the Villanova Student Chapter sometime in mid-January (date TBD). I hope to continue to see new faces at our upcoming meetings. Our goal as a chapter and as a society as a whole is to provide educational opportunities for our members across all disciplines in addition to keeping members updated on current legislative news concerning the engineering profession. We are always open to new meeting ideas, so if anyone would like to present a topic at one of our dinner meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. Upcoming Events (visit www.pspe.org/valleyforge for more details) December 8: Day at the Races hosted by NSPE Pres-Elect Harve Hnatiuk,

12:00 PM @ PARX East Casino & Racetrack, Bensalem, PA. January (date TBD): Joint meeting with Villanova Student Chapter; meeting to be held on campus February: MATHCOUNTS Competition February 22: Engineers Week Banquet, Springfield Country Club, Springfield, PA







3D Printers: How Do They Work?

At first, 3D printing was known as stereolithography, a process invented in 1986 by Chuck Hull of 3D Systems. Variations of this process are still used. It begins, like all 3D printing, with software that takes a series of digital slices through a computer model of an object. The shape of each slice is used selectively to harden a layer of light-sensitive liquid, usually with ultraviolet light, to form the required shape. After each layer has been made, the build tray lowers by a fraction, another layer of liquid is added and the process is repeated until the object is complete.

Many other approaches have since been developed. Laser-sintering involves zapping layers of powdered plastic or metal with a laser to harden the powder in some places, but not others. Other machines use an electron beam in a similar way. An alternative process melts a metallic powder as it is deposited. This can be used to repair worn parts, such as turbine blades. Some machines operate a bit like 2D inkjet printers, jetting light-sensitive liquid materials to form layers and then hardening them. Some machines can print a dozen different materials in a single pass of the print head. One of the most popular techniques is fused deposition modeling (FDM), which is akin to a computer-controlled glue gun (pictured below). A heated nozzle extrudes a filament of thermoplastic, which sets as it cools. Multiple heads can extrude different colors. FDM is the mechanism used in many of the small 3D printers used by hobbyists, some of which now cost less than $1,000. More capable 3D printers cost tens of thousands of dollars, and big industrial systems, like the laser-sintering machines capable of printing aerospace parts in titanium, cost as much as $1m.

(http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21584449-how-3d-printers-work)




MATH RIDDLE OF THE MONTH

7 tennis balls are identical in every way, except one of them weighs slightly less

than the other 6. How can you identify the lightweight ball with no more than

two separate weighings using a balance scale?

Answer: Place 3 balls on each side of the balance scale. If the 2 sides balance out, you have found the lightest ball (the one set aside). If the two sides do not balance out, the lightest ball is clearly one of the 3 balls on the less weighted side. Now for your second weighing, place 1 each of your remaining 3 balls on either side of the scale. If the two side balance out, the lightest ball is the one set aside. If not, the lightest

ball is obviously the one on the less weighted side.




NAME THAT BOARD MEMBER

Which VFC Board of Directors member is driving the 12-row combine below on his farm in southeastern Nebraska?

Send your guess to [email protected] and first correct response will receive $10 off the dinner fee at our next membership meeting.




2013-14 CHAPTER OFFICERS & BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Michael Fischer, P.E. Chapter Director Tony Dougherty, P.E. President-Elect Dan Humes, P.E. Chapter Director Chad Camburn, P.E. Vice President Bruce Rhoades, P.E. Chapter Director Kurt Leininger, P.E. Treasurer Jim Thompson, P.E. Chapter Director Phil Gonski, P.E. Secretary Lindsay Musselman, E.I.T. Chapter Director Nate Zipay, E.I.T. Past-President Randy Cleaver, P.E. State Director Paul Dugan, P.E. Committees Committee Primary Secondary Audit: Kurt Leininger Dan Humes Awards: Bruce Rhoades Tony Dougherty By-Laws: Nate Zipay Paul Dugan Engineers Week: Tony Dougherty Randy Cleaver Ethics: Michael Fischer Bruce Rhoades Legislative/Gov’t: Paul Dugan Chad Camburn Mathcounts: Lindsay Musselman Dan Humes Membership: Lindsay Musselman Jim Thompson Nominating: Randy Cleaver (Chair), Dan Humes Chad Camburn Programs: Bruce Rhoades Michael Fischer Publications: Michael Fischer Dan Humes Scholarship: Chad Camburn Nate Zipay Science Fair: Tony Dougherty Jim Thompson Web Site: Mike Fischer Phil Gonski Practice Division Primary PEPP (Private Practice) Paul Dugan PEC (Construction) Tony Dougherty PEG (Government) Paul Dugan PEI (Industry) Lindsay Musselman PEE(Education) Bruce Rhoades You can now follow our Chapter on LinkedIn and Facebook. Check us out!!




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Documents

Compass November 2013 - pspe.org Nov-Dec 2013.pdf · THE COMPASS Volume 48. Number 2 November/December 2013 ... President’s Message By: Michael Fischer, P.E. The Valley Forge Chapter