The passing of a great Thinker.

I was very sad to learn today that prominent scientist and prolific science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, has died. The current Age, due in large part to this man’s intelligence and candor, has seen the passing of another great mind.

Rest in Peace.

“I’m sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it were not for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I’m rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books.” ~ACC

Aeromedica

In my last post I wrote about an upcoming interview I had, and I’m happy to report that it went well! I was offered the position and report for work early tomorrow morning.

I’ll be working for a company that can only be described as awesome. Who would’ve guessed that there was a dream job out there that combined my love of all things mechanically airborne with my love for medicine and public health? Certainly not me – I mean, how often can one weave fast engines into a human interest story? But, while doing a random internet search for aerospace-related jobs in the U.S. I came across a press release from the FAA. It mentioned recent changes to air medical transport regulations in the U.S. and abroad, especially in and out of international airspace and combat zones. The report also noted several design issues concerning the fixed and light wing craft used, and that led me to do a bit of exploration into the subject on my own. What I found out was, the nation’s largest provider of air medical emergency transport services and systems to the U.S. and abroad is based less than an hour from my front door. After looking at the company’s profile and learning more about the aeromedical industry, I felt myself falling and looked into finding a job there I qualified for. The one I was most attracted to involved working with design specifications in the engineering department. I applied, and the rest is history.

The learning curve is going to be high. I will work mainly with helicopter specs (mostly AS350’s, EC135’s and 145’s) which are not my niche. But, I like the challenge this job will offer and I want to be in an environment that allows for growth. Plus, this company has a mission I can feel good about. To sum up, here is a quote from a farewell email I recently wrote to some of my former co-workers:

At the end of my interview I had a tour of the hangar; there I watched technicians install an overhead night-vision light relay into an AS350 helicopter being retrofitted for military use. I was told the copter would be used to transport injured persons to base hospitals in and out of combat zones, and they needed the special lighting to remain invisible from the ground while also being able to attend to the needs of the patient.

I think, had they not offered me the job right then, I would’ve quickly offered my time, free of charge.

Yeah. I feel like I got what I didn’t know I was looking for, but always wanted. I’m a happy girl.

Flight of the Torus

It’s quite hot outside today – 99°F by my last check. Although I enjoy warm weather, it can make one feel enervated from time to time In light of all of that, I decided to spend the afternoon putting my feet up and catching up on some reading I’d fallen behind on.

During my time off this summer, I’ve been taking a somewhat objective look at research possibilities after graduation. I’ve know for quite some time that my preferred program (Bioastronautics) is realizing a support crisis right now, due to low priority initiatives and a lack of funding. This is mostly due to the Shuttle program ending in 2010, with priority shifting away from the space life sciences to vehicle development and deployment. Getting to space takes precedence over living in space, for right now at least. Projections estimate that priorities will remain reversed for quite a number of years into the future – 15 or more, in fact. There are many exciting discoveries to be made, as clearly outlined in this interesting article published in the latest issue of Aerospace America; however, as the article also points out, there are several political hurdles to overcome in the next decade.

Keeping that bit of a reality check in mind, my thoughts turn to other interests I have in the areas of science, technology and public policy – namely, alternative energy and science policy. I’ve taken a particularly strong interest in nuclear fusion energy and international cooperation efforts toward nonproliferation. The idea of developing a virtually unlimited energy supply, coupled with the desire to use nuclear energy for peaceful applications, is an extremely attractive career option for me. In the future, with sufficient research and development, groundwork may be put into place for space applications, too.

Again, however, we are talking several years out before any significant developments are likely to be made. The plus side is that nuclear energy research is being heavily supported, at the domestic and international levels, and I have a strong desire to work on multilateral initiatives.

So, the deeper research has begun to see if this what I really want to pursue. I’ve been looking at published papers to see who is doing what and to update myself on what has already been done, and I’ve been brushing up on current technology – in particular, the lovely torus (the shape of the plasma chamber used inside tokamak fusion reactors).

I dare say, I’ve become fascinated.

Reporting Live from Green Building Techniques…Day One

I’ve just ended my first day in a three-day short-course on Green Building Techniques, given through the University of Colorado at Boulder. Our facilitator and main presenter is Dan Chiras, who, for many reasons, is fast becoming one of my personal heroes. He’s had a long and exceptional career, with roots in the biological sciences, and he is an expert in the fields of environmental science and green design. He is also living in a home he sustainably designed and built, and has lived off the electicity grid for over a decade.

Today’s lectures were nothing less than intense–A LOT of material was covered in our first session. We discussed topics on :

• The History of Green Building
• The Growing Popularity of Green Building (Guest Lecturer, Laura Bartels, GreenWeaver, Inc., Carbondale, CO )
• Why Build Green?: The end of cheap oil and natural gas
• Overview of Green Building Practices, Materials and Technologies: Part 1 (Site selection – Site restoration – Energy Efficiency – Renewable Energy – Healthy Building – Green Building Materials – Landscaping for Energy and Environment – Waste Recycling – Building a Healthy Home – Reducing Wood Use and Advanced Framing Techniques)
• Green Building Materials (Guest Lecturer, Jeff Scott, SolSource, Inc., Denver)
• Environmental Justice and Affordable Sustainability (Dignity Village, and The Intertribal Council on Utility Policy)

The class participants have arrived from all over the country to hear Chiras give this lecture; oddly enough, I’m the only one here from the engineering field (there were about 25 of us in today’s session). Most of the attendees are environmental designers, architects and builders, and several are would-be do-it-yourselfers who have dreams (or signed contracts!) to design and build green homes of their own. I fall into the latter category, as I’ve had big dreams of designing and building my own house for a long time. And this course is just encouraging me to dream bigger! Geez, just what I need! So far, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know a young couple from Colorado, who are renovating their existing home, an architect in Denver, who works in commercial government contracts, a young woman who just bought land in the mountains, and is looking to build her first home from the ground up , and a retired gentleman from South Carolina, who is just beginning the process of designing a vacation home for him and his wife in the mountains of North Carolina (who couldn’t find a contractor in his area that would touch a green design project–unbelievable!).

The course is certainly designed for the self-starter looking to bring green building techniques into their home; also pointed out, however, were several segues into commercial applications and professional considerations. As an engineering student focusing (in the larger scope) on space, environmental and biological systems, I am totally geeked over how applicable these techniques are in the areas of sustainable life support systems and habitats–the subjects of energy, air quality, lighting, waste/water treatment, and heating and cooling are all extremenly relevant to the design of well-contained, durable and healthy environments, whether built on this planet or circling above it.

More from the from the scene, as it happens, tomorrow…

From Bones to Batteries

(aka, what I spend time thinking about when there are more important, even urgent, matters to attend to)

Systems Biology and Emergent Properties

During the course of this semester, I’ve had the pleasure of learning about recent advances made in the field of Biological Engineering. Many efforts are being made to link the fields of traditional science and engineering, with the hope that innovation and scientific discovery will be found where they meet. One promising junction is systems biology, or the study of how the order of living biological systems (from the macroscale down to the nanoscale) determines an organism’s function. Biological systems are all around and in us: the cells in our bodies are organized to function together as a heart, or a lung, and these organs in turn function together to allow us to breathe and use oxygen; individuals within a species together make up a population, that in turn functions as an entity within an ecological niche, which in turn builds an ecosystem…the levels of organization go as high as our solar system, and beyond.

The fascinating discovery seen within these layers of life is how, as one progresses up through the levels of organization from the least to the most complex systems, properties begin to emerge that aren’t seen at lower levels. This is the idea of emergent properties.

For example, when scientists observe nerve cells under the microscope, there are many parts of the cell one can distinguish. Each cell as an individual , however, remains fairly uninteresting. But, if one gathers together many cells and forms a specific tissue, say brain tissue, suddenly those uninteresting cells, collectively, exhibit new behavior. As a result of higher organization humans can experience thoughts, memories and emotions. Systems biologists ask, what biologcal mechanisms are responsible for emergent properties?

As one whose higher education has its foundations in biology and chemistry, and who now has transitioned into engineering and space systems, I’ve become really interested in learning about how this field can improve space science and engineering. A researcher by the name of Dr. Angela Belcher at MIT has pioneered some very interesting studies into the use of biological components (viruses, proteins), which already exist in every living thing, for the manufacturing of materials essential to us. For example, using cells that are already “programmed” (via their DNA instructions) to make bone tissue to instead make silicon composites for use in solar cells. The mechanism for manufacturing is already there, but by introducing the raw materials necessary to make other composites the cells become factories of a different economy, if you will.

The reasons I find this research so novel are: 1) as a global community our energy needs require new, innovative solutions; 2) naturally occurring systems are by design clean, efficient and self-sustaining, and thereby impose minimal environmental impact (they have to be to have survived these many billions of years); 3) by mimicking the mechanisms that already occur in nature we are following a well-established and time-tested model. There are many factors to consider here, that is for sure, but I think there really is something to all of this.

Even more interesting is the scale at which most biological systems fundamentally operate: nano. This means that as the “nano-age” continues to unfold even more opportunities for scientific discovery will emerge.

A Distant Wind Blows

It’s a gorgeous fall day outside today–clear blue skies, bright yellow, red and green trees, temps just above freezing your bum off, and lots of strong gusts to remind us of the raging battle between the late autumn and early winter air. I just took a look out of the window (right now I’m in one of the computer labs at the Engineering Center) and in the middle of the courtyard I saw what looked like a dust cyclone! It was fun to watch the dried leaves and loose earth dance and swirl around each other. I love this time of year, I find it enchanting.

The cooling temperatures also signal the upcoming close of this semester. Four more weeks and we’re done. This semester has been a really busy one. As if I didn’t already have enough to do, last week I began to volunteer on a Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) project.

The module is at the top, surrounded by the gold-colored fuel tanks below. The LSAM (or lunar lander) is one many of parts that comprise NASA’s latest exploration vehicle in the Constellation program, whose goal is to move forward in the Vision for lunar and Mars exploration in this and the next decade. The other main components are the Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV), which docks with the lander, and the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles. The following photos are courtesy of NASA’s web pages (if you click on the images, the link will open another window and take you to a high-res photo)–

In the picture above, the LSAM is aboard the ARES V cargo vehicle, preparing for its rendezvous with the Orion CEV in orbit around the moon.

Once Orion and the lander are in synchronous orbit around the moon and the CEV is docked, the crew transfers to the lander which lands on and re-launches from the moon’s surface. In essence, the LSAM functions as a temporary surface habitat.

Several graduate students in the aerospace program are building their version of the LSAM as a pet-project and asked for student volunteers interested in learning more. I thought this would be a great way to see a bit of space life support engineering in action. When I arrived, the team members were in the middle of an emergency design change, so there wasn’t much to do besides ask questions and assemble small pieces of PVC (amazingly, I got PVC-certified 2 years ago, which basically means I know how to spread chemical solvent evenly around a joint and no longer pass out from the ungodly-awful smell of the fumes). Since I’m the newbie on the project, several things are over my head right now. For starters, there isn’t a specific design we’re working from, only a few specific dimensions, and the module is the largest I’ve seen. Also, when I left for the day, adjustments were being made to the support frame inside the airlock and only two-thirds of the main structure had been pieced together. The other third is a conceptual zygote, if you will, so I don’t know what it will look like yet. Hopefully this week’s building session will be a bit more interactive.