Category Archives: Suffolk Presentations

Suffolk Sawyer Library Visit

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On October 5th, we attended a tour around the Suffolk Sawyer Library, which is located on 73 Tremont St on the 2nd floor. The library is composed of three distinctive floors, each having their own unique sound level. The 2nd floor is the loudest mostly due to the traffic of students entering and leaving the library. The 3rd floor is a modest sound level. There are conversations but at a very low level. The 4th floor is considered the study floor since it is extremely quiet (the majority of times). The 2nd floor, being the main floor, has many services to provide to students. On the 2nd floor, you can find the circulation desk, the reference desk, printing stations, and photocopying/scanning stations. In the circulation desk students can rent out textbooks or electronic devices, such as a PC laptop or a Macbook), and even chargers for their electronic devices. At the reference desk, you can ask one of the librarians a question regarding how to research a topic. Adjacent to the reference desk you will find bookshelves full with reference books. This is the ideal place where any student should start their research for any topic. There are also study tables, and a lounge towards the back of the floor. The 3rd and 4th floor is made up of the same services except the circulation desk and the reference desk. Each floor has printing and photocopying/scanning stations, study rooms, study tables, lounges, and the obvious books, many books!

 

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After our tutor guide, Lindsey finished discussing the layout of the library and the many services available to students she walked us to a big computer lab on the 3rd floor of the library. In the computer lab, she demonstrated how we could access many of the data from the library via the Suffolk Library online database. In this database, we have access to search for books, magazines, articles, eJournals and more. When searching for information we can search the topic but we will get thousands of results due to the great depth of the online database. As a result we can filter our search to meet certain parameters. We can redefine our search by filtering by Source Type, Publisher, Geography, and more. This amazing feature allows us to narrow down on our topic and learn more in depth information rather than general information. If students cannot find sufficient information on their topic they can request the library to order journals and books from other institutions on their topic. In addition, the online database allows students to reserve study rooms throughout the 3 floors of the library.

 

It is evident that the Suffolk Sawyer Library is here to support all students throughout their four years at Suffolk University. In order to succeed, all students should take advantage of all the resources that the Suffolk Sawyer Library provides.

Saquib Butt’s Presentation

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On October 1st, Saquib Butt, a Suffolk EE Alumni, came in and gave us a presentation of his work with photovoltaic at Boston Scientific, where he currently works. Boston Scientific is not an engineering firm instead it’s a medical equipment company. He has the role of project manager at the company, where he oversees large-scale projects and figures out the logistics of various project. His most recent project involved the installation of solar panels throughout the whole MLB campus of Boston Scientific. Through this initiative the company was able to save slightly more than 30% on energy and reduced their carbon footprint on the environment. As he stated the cost of everything was free since the installers picked up the bill. The installers would receive state and federal grants as a result and Boston Scientific would receive Carbon Tax Reductions from the government when doing their taxes. The company would begin to see the benefits of this installation appear in a few years when their energy consumption truly decreases. Saquib Butt also talked about his prior project on solar panels on a different building. As you can see in the picture only the left side of the building is covered with solar panels as of right now. He stated that it is important to have photovoltaic cells point south because it would absorb the most sunlight. All the panels are at a slight angle, which solves the problem of snow accumulation during the winter. The angle would cause gravity to pull the snow down and photovoltaic cells produce a small amount of heat that would melt a thin layer of snow. He told us that Boston Scientific is thinking about installing solar panels on the right side of the building as well since there is a lot of surface area to mount solar panels.

 

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After his presentation, we had a Q & A session and we received a few tips on college, internships, getting a job. He believed that it is vital to do internships in order to expose your self to a true engineering environment. In these internships we have the opportunity to network and make good connections with future employers. In addition, we have the chance to apply the concepts we have learned in the class to real world problems. He also connected to us in a personal way by saying that their were times during college that he didn’t know what he was doing or never he understand the material, but its vital to keep working hard. In conclusion, his presentation was informative and full of important advice.

Tom Vales’ Presentation

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Engineering is based on the idea that we can create inventions that are either just cool to display or creating inventions that benefit our society. But what is most important to some is the act of reverse engineering and fingering out how things actually work. This is exactly what our presenter Tom Vales did with a few of his inventions. He took old inventions and modernized them and presented his updated product to the class. He presented to us the Mendocino Motor, Rocking Armature Motor, and the Stirling Engine, which he recreated. He also showed us his home made Tesla Coil and a Violet Ray Machine.

 

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The first cool gadget he presented to us was the Mendocino motor. The wooden base is composed of 5 magnets. Four of which are used for levitating the actual shaft, which has 2 magnets on it. The center magnet gives the rotor the magnetic field it needs in order to fully function. On the shaft there are 4 small solar cells on located on the sides of the coil. When the light hits the solar cell the rotor rotates approximately 90 degrees. Since the light source is beaming the solar cells continuously the rotor keeps spinning. As Tom Vales explained, this cool gadget doesn’t have any real application in the real world because if anything were to be connected to it, it would result in the rotor being unbalanced and making contact with the other parts.

 

 

The second item he demoed was the Rocking Armature motor. When he switched a flip, the arm would extended and retract constantly. During this motion, the arm was connected to a wheel, which resulted in the wheel spinning. This motion was maintained by a battery that provided the necessary current in order to make it functional.

 

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The third item he presented to us was the Sterling Engine, which runs of steam. He filled the coffee cup with hot water since it releases some steam and placed the sterling engine above it. The steam would lift up a small weight and then drop it continuously. This resulted in the wheel spinning continuously with only a small percentage of the energy lost. Energy is so well conserved because the coefficient of friction between the weight and the “glass” covering is very low.

 

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One of the most interesting things he showed us was the violet ray machine, which was known to supposedly cure all diseases. People thought that through the use of this machine and placing it in the infected body part it would resolve the problem. They had many different shaped inserts for the violet ray machine which was suppose to be used based on the body part that was going to be healed.

 

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My favorite presentation of the day was his homemade Tesla Coil. The tesla coil is named after Nikola Tesla who was an extraordinary inventor. He developed AC current, wireless transmission and more! The way the tesla coil worked was by increasing the voltage out of the wall socket and passing that current through the coil. At the top of the bucket their was a needle which released small strings of lightening. With this small electricity in the air, Tom Vales was able to turn on various fluorescent tubes through the wireless transmission of that electricity. The fluorescent tubes were filled with different noble gases which resulted in the tube lighting up in different colors. These lights did not have to make contact with the coil to turn on. Once they were in close proximity of the tesla coil they would light up.