eWeek 2013

National Engineers Week (eWeek)

About eWeek at USC

Celebrate Awesome, February 17-23, 2013

The College of Engineering and Computing at the University of South Carolina will observe National Engineers Week the week of February 17-23, 2013. This year's eWeek theme is "Celebrate Awesome." Join us for several events taking place throughout the week and celebrate how awesome are our engineering and computing faculty, staff and students and their research. All events are free and open to the public.

Click here to download a PDF of the eWeek flier

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Special Events

Movie Screening, "SWITCH"
Tuesday, February 19, 6:30 pm, Room B201 (300 Main Street Building)

switch film SWITCH – energy movie, Dr. Travis Knight, director of our Nuclear Engineering program. Faculty will be on-hand to answer questions afterwards. Movie is appropriate for general audiences. Event is open to the public.

Learn more >

Career Center Presentation
Thursday, February 21, 2 pm, Faculty Lounge (Swearingen)

How to be a Star Employee
Sponsored by Eaton
Food will be provided. Register to attend this event on JobMate.

Panel Discussion, Energy
Thursday, February 21, 6:30 pm, Room B213 (300 Main Street Building)

Dr. Elwyn Roberts, Visiting Professor in Mechanical Engineering will lead a panel discussion on energy. Panel will include: Mr. Steve. Byrne (SCANA), Mr. Sumit Ray (Westinghouse), Dr. Bill Summers (SRNL) and Dr. JR Regalbuto (professor and endowed chair, USC). Event is open to the public.

Dr. Roberts will present highlights from his recent whitepaper on energy. You can email comments and questions to Dr. Roberts
U.S. Energy: Present State and Future Perspective (download whitepaper part 1 | whitepaper part 2)
Elwyn Roberts, PhD. MBA; Visiting Professor, USC

Abstract
Adequate energy supply to the United States is vital to the economic wellbeing of every citizen. This paper outlines the relationship between energy supply, energy use and climate change. In particular, increasing dependence on energy imports, and consequent threats to security of supply, from the 1970’s onwards, is highlighted. A path forward is presented for energy security and energy sustainability in the US while at the same time mitigating the impact of energy use on climate change. It is suggested that a national policy on energy be developed requiring unprecedented commitment.

Panel discussion is co-sponsored by the local chapter of the American Nuclear Society. A light meal will be served at 6:30 pm with panel discussion at 7 pm. You do not need to attend the meal to attend the panel discussion. Cost for the meal is $5, but free for students. Click here to RSVP by Tuesday, February 19 if you wish to have the meal.

Learn more >

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Lunch N Learn Seminar Series

Monday-Friday

The College is in the process of inviting speakers on various subjects from entrepreneurship and starts ups and more. Lunch will be provided. Because of seating restrictions, RSVPs are requested. Priority seating will be given to registrants. Click here to RSVP for seminars on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. Register on JobMate to attend Tuesday's seminar luncheon.

Monday: Bill Kirkland USC/Columbia Technology Incubator.
Time: 11 am to 12 noon
The Incubator recruits, nurtures, and deploys new technology-driven companies in a collaborative effort with The University of South Carolina and Midlands Technical College. It's an effort backed by the city of Columbia and a number of area governmental and private sponsors, as well as faculty, staff and students. Incubator businesses are at the forefront of developing new innovative technologies, and they can quickly create new high-wage jobs. They create products and services that can improve the quality of our lives. Come learn what the USC / Columbia Technology Incubator can do for you.

Tuesday: Transition to Work, Hosted by the Career Center and Sponsored by SCANA
Time: 12 noon to 1 pm
Learn about what to expect in your first job! This seminar will focus on helping students navigate the change from working in the classroom to working in a full-time job. Food will be provided courtesy of SCANA and the Career Center. Register to attend this seminar on JobMate.

Wednesday: Student Organization Competition sponsored by URS Corporation.
Time: 12 noon to 2 pm; teams need to report at 11:45 am
Competition is open to engineering and computing-based organizations registered as on-campus clubs or societies at the University of South Carolina. First Place: $750 | Runner-up: $250. The First Place winners will have the opportunity to tour the Savannah River Site in Aiken, SC with Savannah River Remediation (LLC of URS) – OR – the URS Nuclear Center in Fort Mill, SC near Charlotte, NC.

Congratulations to ASCE for their first place win the second year in a row and to SWE on their second place win!

Thursday, Introduce a Girl to Engineering and Computing Day
Time: 11 am to 12 noon
Panel discussion with female graduates of the College of Engineering and Computing including Melissa "Missy" Gentry ('94, Civil), assistant manager, City of Columbia and Dana Higgins ('93, Civil), engineer, Construction Management Division, City of Columbia, and others discussing what it is like to be a female engineer.

The members of the College are asked to wear pink this day in honor and support of all women in engineering and computing.

Friday: Jeff Brewer, High-Tech Entrepreneurship
Time: 11 am to 12 noon
Jeff (1984, BS, Electrical Engineering) is a technology entrepreneur, having created and sold three companies in the last 20 years in Columbia. He sold the first – The Database Group – after only three years in business, already boasting large corporations such as SCANA and Waste Management as clients. Two years later, he helped launch Agilera, where he served as chief information officer and vice president of operations. After a few years of constant travel, he left the company to start Business Vitals. After being CEO at Business Vitals for 10 years and growing the company’s client base to corporations in 35 states and 10 countries, he sold the company to EarthLink in 2011, and currently serves as vice president of IT solutions and security.

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Open House for K-12

Saturday, February 23, 2013
10 am to 2 pm
College of Engineering and Computing

Event will be held rain or shine!

Join us for our third annual Open House for K-12 at the College of Engineering and Computing. As in the past, we will have hands-on exhibits, outside vendors, and helicopter landings - and yes, the cornstarch pool! Make sure you stop by the information table and complete a survey card for a chance to win a Gamecock Gift Pack!

NOTE: Main Street between the railroad tracks and Catawba Street – AND – Catawba Street between Main Street and Sumter Street will be closed during the event. The USC Vehicle Management and Parking Services Office recommends visitors use the Horizon Garage located one block north of the College at Main and Wheat Streets for parking.

We've confirmed that Cocky will be stopping by Open House from 11 am to 12 noon!

Want a preview of the event? Click here to download a PDF of the program and maps!

LECTURES, SEMINARS, AND MORE (All take place in Amoco Hall in Swearingen throughout the event.)

10 am: Women in Engineering and Science Trivia Game
Sponsored and hosted by the USC Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers

11 am: Jeremiah “J.J.” Shepherd presents a talk on interactive gaming
J.J. gave a similar talk at the January 2013 TedX Columbia event. A Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, he is the creator of 3D PacMan, Human Pong and other games, but he is mostly known around Columbia for his famously ugly jackets and as the notorious BoomBox Guy.

12 pm: Edison Lecture Series encore presentation: Dr. Travis W. Knight, “Television and Surveillance,” sponsored by Time Warner Cable
If you missed the 2012 Edison Lecture Series for middle and high school students, here is your opportunity to hear Dr. Knight’s presentation and learn more about the Series which occurs during USC’s Fall Break each October.

1 pm: Special movie screening: SWITCH: Discover the Future of Energy
Every energy resource – fossil, nuclear and renewable – is undergoing profound changes. And overall, we’re gradually shifting from coal and oil to the energies of tomorrow. SWITCH travels the world to discover how it most likely will happen. SWITCH is about changing the way we use energy to realize the many economic and environmental benefits of efficiency.

This movie is appropriate for all ages. Movie runs 98 minutes.

COLLEGE EXHIBITS (confirmed)
GROUP RESEARCH
Energy Research:
• Advanced Radiation Detectors, Dr. Krishna Mandal (Electrical Engineering)
• American Nuclear Society (ANS): Geiger counter demonstration and info about nuclear energy
• Electricity and our environment, Dr. Jochen Lauterbach (Chemical Engineering) and the Electric Co-ops
• Fuel Cells, Drs. Frank Chen and Xinyu Huang (Mechanical Engineering)
• Photovoltaic solar cells, Dr. Krishna Mandal (Electrical Engineering)
• Stirling and Steam Engines, Dr. Mark Uline (Chemical Engineering)

Robotics Research:
• Automated lights with music, Dr. Ed Gatzke (Chemical Engineering)
• FIRST Robotics Team 2815 Los Pollos Locos and College mentor team GamecockFIRSTers
• Graffiti bot and remote control battle bots, Dr. Gatzke
• Industrial controls experiment (control valve automation), Dr. Gatzke
• LEGO® NXT battle (remote controlled) robots, Dr. Gatzke
• iRobot Create Robots (automated robotic research), South Carolina Autonomous Robotics Research (SCARR) lab, Dr. Jason O’Kane (Computer Science and Engineering)
• VEX Robotics College Competition Team

Research and Competition Vehicles and Boats
• Mini Baja team competition car
• Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge competition teams, MAIN (37). This and last year’s canoes can be seen in the Structures Lab.
• Electric Car Conversion project: see our progress converting a 1972 MGB into an electric car, Dr. Roger Dougal (Electrical Engineering)
• Scooter Car: electric/fuel cell hybrid, Dr. Ken Reifsnider (Mechanical Engineering)
• Solar boat team competition boat

DEPARTMENT-SPECIFIC RESEARCH/EXHIBITS
Biomedical Engineering:
All exhibits are at the 1200 Catawba Building on the corner of Main and Catawba Streets.
• “Labryinths” to simulate drug delivery mechanisms
• Tours of our newly renovated labs located in the 1200 Catawba building
• Q&A sessions
• Squishy circuits kit – hands-on activity
• LittleBits Starter Kit V0.3

Chemical Engineering:
• Cornstarch Pool. This event will occur rain or shine. (video with cartwheel on pool)

Civil and Environmental Engineering:
• Ballistics Impact Testing Apparatus
• Fall Detection Monitoring Systems, Dr. Juan Caicedo
• Geotechnical Engineering demonstration (soil liquefaction), Drs. Juan Caicedo and Chunyang Liu
• Hydraulics and Structures guided lab tours assisted by the USC Chapter of Theta Tau engineering professional fraternity
• Railway engineering display, Dr. Dimitris Rizos

Computer Science and Engineering:
• 3D PacMan, Ph.D. candidate, Jeremiah Shepherd
• Computer Games – hands-on and demos, Dr. Jijun Tang
• Human Pong, Jeremiah Shepherd

Electrical Engineering
• Interative displays: Hand crank power generator, muscle wire exhibit, capacitor charge/discharge, spark generator, relay flasher and H-bridge demo.
• Lab tour: Photonics and Microelectronics Lab. Lab, located near the corner of Main and Catawba Streets, has a separate entrance from the rest of the 300 Main building. Dr. Asif Khan, director.

Mechanical Engineering
• Demonstration of 3D printers – the Cube 3D
• Helicopter Landings, Dr. Abdel Bayoumi, Condition-Based Maintenance Research Center (CBM). We don’t have an exact time these will be coming and going so keep an eye on the sky and listen for the helicopters that will be landing and leaving Blatt PE Field off of Sumter Street. Come grab a seat and pose for a photo in the Longbow Apache (AH-64D) and the Lakota (UH-72) (British helicopter in honor of our Dean)! Landings are weather specific. NOTE: In case of inclement weather, they will be cancelled.
• Soda Bottle Water Rockets
• Tour of the Condition-Based Maintenance Research Center (CBM) located at the corner of Catawba and Sumter Streets.

College of Engineering and Computing
• Segway Rides

College Student Organizations
• American Nuclear Society (ANS): Geiger counter demonstration and info about nuclear energy
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE): Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge Teams
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): Gear train apparatus
• Engineers Without Borders (EWB): information on their current project in Ecuador building a way to bring water from the mountains down to the communities (donations accepted to help fund their work)
• Society of Women Engineers (SWE): A bracelet making activity (each bead will correspond to either a famous woman or invention of a famous woman in engineering and science, etc.)

FOOD AND BEVERAGE SALES (all proceeds benefit the individual USC CEC student organizations)
• American Nuclear Society: atom shaped cookies
• Biomedical Engineering Society: baked goodies and t-shirts. Cost range: $1-2/goodies; $15/t-shirts.
• Carolina Railway Enthusiasts USC student chapter: pizza provided by Nick’s House of Pizza. Cost range: $3/slice; $5/2 slices. Drinks, $1. Add 50¢ for credit card transactions.
• Eta Kappa Nu (KHN) electrical and computer engineering honor society: baked goods. Cost range: $2-3.
• Society of Women Engineers: gear shaped cookies and chocolate dipped pretzels (these will be decorated with SWE colors). Cost range: $2-3.
• Theta Tau professional engineering faternity: hot dogs and hamburgers grilled fresh at the event.

OTHER EXHIBITORS:
• URS Corporation, event title sponsor
• College of Engineering and Computing
• USC Office of Continuing Education and Conferences (USC summer camp information)
• Project Lead the Way of South Carolina – come ride the hovercraft!
• Challenger Learning Center – flight simulator
• Edventure Children’s Museum – Slime Factory and other exhibits
• Engineering for Kids
• Provost Academy
• SCANA
• School of the Minds, STEM-based homeschool co-op
• South Carolina Science Academy

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eWeek at USC is sponsored by URS Corporation

Events

Feb

18

Lunch N Learn Seminar: William "Bill" Kirkland, USC/Columbia Technology Incubator, Faculty Lounge (SWGN)

Feb

19

Lunch N Learn Seminar: Transition to Work, sponsored by SCANA, Faculty Lounge (SWGN)

Special Movie Screening: 6:30 pm, B201 (MAIN)

Feb

20

Student Organization Competition: sponsored by URS Corporation, Faculty Lounge (SWGN).

Feb

21

Introduce a Girl to Engineering and Computing Day: wear pink in honor and support of women in engineering and computing

Lunch N Learn Seminar: Panel discussion with female engineers from the City of Columbia, Faculty Lounge (SWGN)

Career Center Presentation: "How to be a Star Employee

Special Panel Discussion: Energy 6:30 pm, B213 (MAIN)

Feb

22

Lunch N Learn Seminar: Jeff Brewer, High-Tech Entrepreneurship, Faculty Lounge (SWGN)

Feb

23

eWeek Open House for K-12: 10 am to 2 pm. See details at left. We will be hosting the event rain or shine!

2012 Image Gallery

Click thumbnails to enlarge