From Aug 25th – Aug 28th Suffolk University’s Electrical Engineering NSF S-STEM Scholars visited Friedman Field Station, which is an educational field station owned and operated by Suffolk University under the direction of Dr. Carl Merrill.
This trip provides a chance for Boston public high school graduates to experience science and engineering in the field and to enjoy a pristine environment such as exists in Northern Maine. This trip can make an invaluable and life-long impression on these students about the importance of conservation and renewable energy in our country. It provides an opportunity for the EE Scholars to get to know each other and to develop a sense of community with one another.
Day 1
After a eight hour trip in a rental van driven by me, the PI of this program, we arrived at the Friedman Field Station at dinner time. The field station had been hosting Dr. Merrill’s Ecology class, which was starting the last week of the three week intensive course, consisting of lectures, experiments, field trips by Dr. Merrill and his assistant Dr. Tim Breton, as well as lectures by guest speakers. The course runs from 8:30 AM and ends at 8:30 PM, daily. After dinner in the field station’s dining hall, we were treated to a lecture by guest speaker Fred Hartman, an eminent wildlife biologist and wetland ecologist for 55 years.
Mr.. Hartman not only spoke about his experience protecting the US wildlife, and in particular, many different species of ducks, he also gave career advice that would not only be useful to future ecologists but also future engineers such as using all opportunities to learn, work hard and to contribute to your team’s work.
Day 2
We spent the morning whale watching with the Ecology class on the Ada C. Lore, schooner which sails out of Eastport, Maine into the Bay of Fundy in Canadian waters.
There we watched seagulls, porpoises, and a Minke whale feed on herrings that were jumping out of the water.
Movie of birds, porpoises, and Minke feeding on herring
We also spotted bald eagles and harbor seals.
Afterwards, we went into a crafts store and studied a model of FDR’s plan for a turbine that would run on tidal power. Although it was never realized, there are still some in Maine who have hopes to build a turbine albeit modified from FDR’s scheme:
We also visited the 100+ years old Raye’s Mustard Factory and which utilizes the cold grind process using its original stones:
From there we went on a hike in Shackford State Park where Dr. Merrill and Dr. Breton pointed out the unique features of its ecology.
We spent the afternoon measuring current velocities from a boat in Cobscook Bay with the help of Adam Hamdani, a recent graduate in Biology who was on hand to support the students. We used a Vernier flow meter connected to a Lego NXT used as a data logger .
Students found that the current speed at the greater depth (vaverage=.21m/s) was higher than at the shallower depth (vaverage=.10m/s). Since the power generated goes as the cube of the current speeds, a turbine at the deeper depth would be 8 times more powerful.
Students also studied the nacelle of the 10 KW Aerostar wind turbine installed at the field station to understand how it worked. We then collected data on wind velocities from two positions along turbine by strapping to the turbine NXT’s with Vernier anemometers with the help of Dan Morang, the field station Facilities Director (and principal at the Perry Elementary School in Perry, Maine). Unfortunately, the data came out corrupted. We repeated the experiment though on Day 3 and then obtained good data. We also saw the photovoltaic array installed near the turbine:
The evening was spent by playing basketball, volleyball, cards, enjoying the magnificent night sky and watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Day 3
The morning o f Day 3 was spent performing photovoltaic experiments and solar thermal experiments.
Two different photovoltaic set-ups were used. One involved three photovoltaic cells:
The other used an older photovoltaic array:
The students used voltmeters to study the voltage produced for different angles that the cells made with the ground and different directions that the cells faced. For the first set-up, students looked at the results in series and in parallel combinations. Students found that the newer photovoltaics were much more efficient than the older ones with one newer photovoltaic cell giving a maximum voltage of 17.9V whereas the older, larger much array (about 3-4 times the area of the newer cell) produced a maximum of 19.6 V. Students found a small dependence on angle with, for the new photovoltaic, the results ranging from 17.7 V for a 90 degree angle with the table and 17.9 V for a 30 degree angle; and for the older array, the results ranging from 19.2 V to 19.6 V for the different angles.
Students found that when the newer photovoltaic cells were arranged in series, their voltages added with a total of 53V for all three newer panels connected in series. For parallel combinations, the voltages remained the same.
For the solar thermal experiments, the students spray-painted two white cups and one black cup. We poured 400 ml of water into one white cup, 400 ml of water into one black cup, and 400 ml of cooking oil into one white cup. We then left the cups out in the sun for an hour with an inserted Vernier temperature probe connected to an NXT used as a data logger. Here are the results obtained by the students:
Students computed the energy absorbed by the liquids using the formula Q = m*c* ΔT.
Here are their results:
Heat Energy of water in a white cup
Q= (0.4 kg)*(4.179 kJ/Kg*K)*(7.1278 K)
Q= 11,914.78 J
Heat Energy of water in a black cup
Q= (0.4 kg)*(4.179 kJ/Kg*K)*(10.064 K)
Q= 16,822.98 J
Heat Energy of cooking oil in a white cup
Q= (0.4 kg)*(1.670 kJ/Kg*K)*(8.8361 K)
Q= 5,902.515 J
They showed that the black cup absorbed the most heat and that water absorbs more heat than oil, as was predicted from theory.
The afternoon of Day 3 was spent hiking with Ecology class in West Quoddy Head State Park Bog and the spruce-moose/forest rocky coast of Maine.
We learned about bogs and their formations as well as the interesting plant life that grows in the bogs including insectivore plants.
We also took a trip to Lubec and learned about the fisheries that once existed there. We also saw the bridge to Canada:
In the early evening we repeated measuring both the bay current measurements and the wind speed measurements. We found that the bay current was much reduced with speeds of about .05 m/s for both deeper and shallower currents.
For the wind speeds, we found that the wind speed was higher for the reading at the higher elevation, with an average speed of 1.7 m/s than at the lower elevation where the average wind speed was 1.2 m/s. That would imply that a turbine at the upper elevation would have (1.7/1.2)3 ≈3 times the power as a turbine at the lower location.
Later in the evening the students analyzed their findings and wrote them up in a short report.
Day 4
Day 4 was spent driving back to Boston. At home, students filled out surveys and wrote summaries of their experiences of the trip (the Internet connection at the field station could be better so we did these in Boston).
Here are some excerpts from the students’ summaries:
Akkele Brown: Going to the Suffolk field station in Maine was really exciting and a phenomenal experience. At first I was a little nervous but on our way I felt a lot better when I made friends with my fellow engineers….On the third and final day we did more exciting experiments, one was a comparison with two different small solar panels to see how much volts they produce. We also use small anemometers to record the wind speed and did calculations to determine the energy. Also we calculated the energy being produce by a small lake using the flow meters. In general it was a wonderful trip and as a freshmen starting college I learned a lot especially on engineering it really was beneficial.
Eric Mena: For four days and three nights, I was opened up to a whole new experience at Suffolk field station up in Maine. I’ll be honest, when I first got there, I didn’t really like it. Besides coming down with a cold the day of, I thought that the great outdoors was no place for a city college student like me. I didn’t really know anybody except a fellow freshman. Well, all that changed once we were all together our first night….We went hiking and saw unique plants, flowers and animals. I got to do my first experiments and my first lab report with the help of my fellow engineers. The highlight of the trip I would say was whale watching. It was incredible how we got to catch a glimpse of Mother Nature at its best….This Maine trip showed me that being an electrical engineer at Suffolk University wouldn’t be easy, but will be worth all four hard working years especially with friends being there for to help out.
Diego Mendoza: The trip to Maine was more fun than what I expected it to be. I am not an outdoor person and my family does not travel a lot this is why I was worried at first when the Dr. Shtaz offered me to go camping in Maine with the new freshman class. I was not sure if this was the way I wanted to spend my last week of vacation. After going to the trip I was more than happy with my decision of going. I was able to be closer with nature and use natural resources to do experiments and measure how much power we can obtain out of different sources. I also enjoyed our bonding experience with he freshman class, although they were shy at first they were able to open up by the end of the trip. This was a great opportunity for them because they now know students before school starts. In my opinion knowing people the first day of class improves their perspective of college because now they have friends around if they ever get lost directional or academically.
Nam Pham: I had a lot of fun learning about the wildlife and hanging out with everyone.
Jean Villalona: The day we arrived we had to attend a lecture for the ecology class. I wasn’t interested in the lecture since it was about waterfowls but Fred Hartman was very entertaining which got my attention and in the end I learned a few things about ducks. The second day we went whale watching, which was an amazing experience to see that massive animal with my own eyes….Overall, the trip was an amazing experience and a great way to get to know everyone else that’s on the scholarship.