 |
|
River runners for a day
HYDRAULIC FORCES:
Supreme whitewater rafting is just a two-and-a-half-hour drive
from Berkeley. In June, engineering graduate students made the
most of a summer day on the lower part of the South Fork of
the American River. Matt Sherburne (MSE, in back) guided, and
paddlers are, from left, Scott Robertson (MSE), Jay Foulk (ME)
and Gabe Harley (MSE). Sherburne has been guiding on the American
for years and is trained in swiftwater rescue. On this day,
the ride was wild. “The flow rate on the river is generally
about 1,500 cubic feet per second (cfs),” Sherburne explains.
“This day it was about 4,300 cfs, so it made for a big,
fast, water ride. This was because of the large snow pack we
had and the cool spring weather. It was everybody’s first
time down except for the guides and we all had a really good
time.” (Photo Credit: Hotshot Imaging)
|
In high school, EECS/Pre-Med freshman Kavitha Ratnam was the only girl
in her computer science class. There were 40 students. “The boys
would always belittle me,” she says. “They’d ask me
what I was doing there because it was a higher level class.” Around
her are other female engineering freshmen. Some nod in agreement, others
register shock and surprise. “Wow, that really happened to you?”
one asks. “I can’t believe it.”
It’s Monday night in the Foothill/ Hillside dorms, and these
women got WiSE: they’re members of the Women in Science and Engineering
Theme Program. They live in the same dorm. They go to the same WiSE
seminars every Monday night featuring helpful speakers and presentations.
They often have the same classes. Most important, they share the same
interests: math, science, and engineering. [FULL STORY]
Cal’s Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team rolls
out its baby: a scaled-down version of a formula-style race car, complete
with fat tires, roll bar, sponsor decals, and a motor that thrums.
The team formed just three years ago, and their car was just an idea.
Now, on the empty streets at the Richmond Field Station, the idea goes
from zero to 60 in less than four seconds. “Oh, it’s amazing
to drive,” says Nihal Murthy, an ME senior, after taking it for
a spin (literally, at times). “It does 1.5 Gs turning. It’s
like a really fast Go-Kart.”
This summer, the Cal team competed in its first national competition
at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan. They had to finish several race
courses and produce and present a technical report, which included a
business plan. The team failed to complete all the race courses and
came in 88 out of 132 teams.
“This year, we’re going to finish all the races, drop the
car’s weight, and engineer it better,” says Nika Calderon,
an ME junior. That means working on the cooling system, say team members,
and improving the packaging, or how all the systems fit within the frame
of the car. [FULL STORY]
The hot and humid southern shores of Lake Ponchartrain bustle with
engineers and contractors. Helicopters drop sandbags into breaches in
the canal floodwalls, and a line of dump trucks loaded with aggregate
stretches as far as the eye can see. One contractor shores up the road
leading to the worksite, while another builds a temporary bridge for
a crane to access a breach in the levee. Crammed between the lake on
one side and floodwaters on the other, the worksite is about one-tenth
the size required for an operation of this magnitude.
That is the scene described by Major General Don Riley (M.S.’80
CEE), stationed in Baton Rouge since August 28, the day before Hurricane
Katrina hit. Riley is director of Civil Works for the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers (USACE), the nation’s primary agency for planning
and building public works. In that capacity, he also commands the USACE’s
Emergency Operations Task Force. When Forefront spoke with
Riley in mid-September, he expected to be there through the month, living
and sleeping on a barge in the Mississippi River.
Well, trying to sleep, that is. [FULL STORY]
|
|
