"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Category: Engineering
Continuity of Operations Plan
10/03/19
“How can a facility cope in the face of a disaster?”
Calamities strike all the time, whether it be in the form of a natural disaster or a power outage. To build resilience, institutions should develop a Continuity of Operations Plan, which details how to operate a facility during such events.
Asset Resilience Prioritization
10/02/19
“How should we prioritize assets for resilience?”
Many institutions and communities all over the world have to deal with limited resources. And this applies to the world of resilience. Sometimes we will not be able to have enough backup power in the case of a large-scale power outage. As a result, different assets will have to be given different levels of priority of power. This Asset Resilience Prioritization is one of the most important parts of resilience planning and is necessary for every planner.
Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value
10/01/19
“How can we quantify how effective an air filter is?”
Air filters come in all sorts of varieties. However, sometimes we may need to work on a project or be exposed to conditions that require a desired level of protection. For this reason, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers have developed the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, commonly referred to as the MERV scale, which quantifies the level of minimum particle size that can be filtered. The scale starts at 1 (for particle sizes greater than 10.0 μm) to 20 (for particle sizes less than 0.3 μm).
Transmission Bottlenecks
09/30/19
“What are bottlenecks to electricity transmission?”
Electrons moves along transmission lines analogous to cars through a freeway. And like cars, if there is too much trying to get through at the same time, it leads to complete obstruction. These transmission bottlenecks are the bane of every utility, and will become a hindrance for renewable energy as peak electricity production hours often leads to a sudden surge of new electrons.
How Levees Can Perpetuate Climate Inequality
09/28/19
“How can levees perpetuate climate inequality?”
Levees are used by civil engineers to prevent rivers from overflowing. However, this can cause the flood to become worse at the other end of the levee, and harm an area further down which does not have the capabilities to defend themselves. This is How Levees Can Perpetuate Climate Inequality.
Image credit scx1.b-cdn.net
Thermoelectric Power
06/16/19
“How is the majority of electrical energy made?”
Energy is the backbone of modern infrastructure. Whether it be for making our coffee or powering our stock-markets. And the majority of this runs on the earliest version of this technology, in which water or another fluid is heated and evaporated to run a turbine to make Thermoelectric Power.
Biosafety Cabinets
09/25/19
“How do exhaust systems for biology labs work?”
Chemical fume hoods are vital for exhausting noxious fumes from scientific labs. However, biology labs have needs that are more sensitive. Since they are dealing with live organisms, fumes from their lab spaces cannot mix with others and exhaust air will need to be more filtered. For this reason, Specially designed Biosafety Cabinets will have to be used.
Image credit http://www.labconco.com
Porosity
09/24/19
“How can we measure how porous an object is?”
If an object is porous it means that it has empty space in it. The measure of this empty space is known as the Porosity, and can be found on a sliding scale from zero percent to one hundred percent.
Image credit https://i.ytimg.com
Single-use Plastics
09/23/19
“What exactly are single-use plastic and why are they so bad?”
Plastic is a very useful material. It’s flexible, fairly non-reactive, and strong, making it applicable for single-use grocery bags. However, the fact that Single-use Plastics are not recyclable and biodegradable means that they will end up in a land-fill and release toxic chemicals into the environment. To solve this crisis, a new generation of thinkers will have to come up with innovative policy and technical solutions. This could be anyone, from a regular Joe to someone whose name rhymes with Narina.
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