Welcome to theartfulscientist. Enjoy your stay as I talk about my life as a fire protection engineering student and one who studies fire dynamics. These posts range from day to day excitement to my developmental life and provide a window into my world.
Welp, I’ve been accepted to start my M.S. and eventually start my Ph.D. at Worcester Polytechnic Institute this fall! I will be studying fire protection engineering, a continuation of my bachelor’s degree. The school is populated with just under 4,000 students and it is a private engineering school. Not only does this school house one of the top fire protection engineering programs in the US, but the faculty and their work align closely with my values and passions in life.
The big move will look something like this in 8 weeks:
Some cool info about the school includes the fact that Robert Goddard went there and graduated in 1908 - he was the gradnfather of modern rocketry with the first liquid fueled rocket. Also, the fire protection engineering department has about 150 masters of science students and 4 (!) doctoral students. This is quite the opportunity I smell.
What I did during the summer of 2008
So far this summer I’m being funded by UHD as a last request to make a catalog of fire models for various textbooks. The work is very refreshing and I love to work when I learn much more than I expected. Another cool side effect of this work is that I can include the FDS models and example writeups on my website, free for anyone else in the world to see and learn from. The technical writeup is located here and it gets updated automatically anytime I change a single word in there. Eventually it will have links to FDS files for FDS users and students around the world to download and use on their own - I love technology.
FDS MESH Size Calculator tool
Finally, to finish off a nice post about fire protection engineering and FDS: I updated my FDS Mesh Size calculator on my other website to include some awesome and never-before-done functionality! It now takes in x, y, and z dimensions and an expected heat release rate and gives the user three MESH lines (coarse, moderate, and fine) to guide them on making an FDS file that has an adequately resolved MESH.
I know I post out-there stuff like this on my blog here sometimes, but this is what is on my mind and taking up my mental cycles and daily days. Jump in and read the linked pages or play with the tools of my creation!
The group (me, Marcos, Rick, and Kim) made it home alive and well last Wednesday from the Houston-Canada-Houston motorcycle trip. It was a lovely, yet determined motorcycle trip that included my Honda Nighthawk 750, Marcos’ Triumph Bonneville, and the two ST’s (1100 and 1300) from Kim and Rick.
The route of the trip looked (very roughly) something like this:
Too many stories happened to put into one blog post, but here are some points for added excitement to the pictures!:
Even a dead bike on the side of the interstate didn’t stop Kim and the crew. She dumped the bike in Rockford, Illinois and bought a new one on the way home to finish the trip!
There is some amazing food in this country in shacks in the middle of nowhere. Country Girl’s Kitchen will get you the biggest whitefish fillet that I have ever seen in my life plus what seemed like 8 other courses for $7.99. And how can I forget the huge and tasty chicken jerk wrap made from scratch by a South American living in Canada for the last 28 years. I need to fast for a few days in memory of these meals.
Highest price of gas paid for - $4.29 in Michigan.
Two unexpected coolest towns on the trip: St. Louis, Missouri and Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
The women in Canada are disproportionately beautiful and I must go back.
We met a motorcyclist who was on day 28 of his trip from Cuernavaca, Mexico and had done over 8,000 miles with his buddies through Florida, DC, Maine, Canada, and was on his way home when he ran into us at the same hotel in St. Louis.
No speeding tickets for us law abiding beatniks. Although I did get one on my way to San Antonio two days later. Ahem.
I went camping this past weekend with the crew from the Montrose Motorcycle Riding Club, and the ride and cabin were awesome! Not to mention the lovely weather. I just wanted to share this video with everyone.
On Tuesday, I travelled to the outskirts of San Antonio: Schertz, TX, to be exact. There was held an SFPE event upon which smoke control testing was to be demonstrated. Attending something like this is worth a million words. I never knew much about smoke control systems, but now, I was able to see them in action.
The researchers in jump suits heated up smoke candles to produce over 100,000 cubic feet of smoke in order to form an upper smoke layer in the newly-built 350,000 square foot furniture warehouse. Three minutes of smoke-filling, then the vents are activated. The vents serve a primary purpose of controlling fire spread by removing superheated gases from the warehouse in the event of a fire. They also serve to clear the warehouse of smoke to help with tactical firefighting operations.
Another cool side effect of this work is that I can include the FDS models and example writeups on my website, free for anyone else in the world to see and learn from. The technical writeup is located here and it gets updated automatically anytime I change a single word in there. Eventually it will have links to FDS files for FDS users and students around the world to download and use on their own - I love technology.
