Last week in class we enjoyed a presentation by Mr. Tom
Vales. He is an inventor, scientist, and Suffolk University Professor. Mr.
Vales brought with him many cool gadgets and performed demonstrations of these
for our class where we got to see actual science and innovation in action!

The first thing that Mr. Vales shared with us was called the
Peltier Device.  This is depicted below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This device looks almost like a fan and runs simply because
one cup has hot water and the other has cold.

Next up was the Sterling Engine aka the hot air engine. This was invented by Reverend
Sterling in 1816 for steam engines. This device was also used in submarines because
it served as a quiet power source. Mr. Vales also shared that in Maine the
Sterling Engine is even used to generate energy for some parts of the state.
When used as an energy source it is 80% efficient which is remarkable. This
device runs on a temperature differential and as  you can see is very handy and versatile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Vales also talked about the traditional BBQ lighter and
how it is a mechanism composed of quartz crystal and 2 wires. It is actually
called the Piezoelectric BBQ lighter so you can share that tidbit with all of
your friends and family that at your next cookout!
Another interesting demonstration was  seeing the Mendocino Motor in action. It is
basically a floating magnet that’s shaft sits on a magnetic field. When light
shines on the device it will spin. Mr. Vales shared with us that although many
say that this device has no real practical use or function it actually does
because it is a fantastic teaching tool to teach about solar energy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final demonstration, and my personal favorite was the
Tesla Coil. This device is what gave us the power grid so it is a pretty
profound invention. This was just a small Tesla coil but they can be extremely
large as well. All the coil is, is bent copper magnet wire around a hollow
bucket which is connected to on oscillator. One neat thing about the energy
given off by the coil is that if something is held up to the spark by a person
they will not get shocked. This is because the energy can’t effect the skin
because it does not run through it just over it. But, if you were to touch the
actual spark with your hand you would get burned! Mr. Vales held objects like a
glass tube filled with neon and nuclear vapor up to the spark coming out of the
coil and it would light up. I really liked when he help up the plasma dome to
the coil and this demonstration is depicted below: