Reading Artifacts

Critical Reading

Preview: A bunch of panels laid out in rows.

First Impression: So many solar panels can be laid out in such a confined area.

Close Reading

Key Ideas: Solar panels are laid out pointed toward the sun to obtain optimal energy. The more solar panels there are, the more energy that can be absorbed and stored for later use.

Connections: Solar panels are like sponges of energy. They first intake the solar rays and through its technology in the panels the energy is converted into useable energy for homes and buildings.

Questions: With the amount of solar panels shown, how much energy can be produced from just one day of sunlight? Is this an optimal way of using solar panels to obtain energy?

Summary: With sunlight being the main source of energy for these panels, it is very important that these panels have an open area where the sunlight can be absorbed. The panels are laid out in rows to best intake the suns rays so the energy can be converted for later usage.

Critical Response

Key Question: Which type of solar panel is used to produce the most energy?

Detail Analysis: With different types of solar panels out there, suppliers give people choices to make about which panel they want. Each panel probably has a different energy intake and production.

Interpretation: Due to different types of panels giving off different amounts of energy, for optimal energy production engineers should find ways to enhance the process. The higher the production of energy absorbed by the panels the more energy that will be produced that can be used.

Synthesis: Chemical engineers are finding ways to optimize the usage of one solar panel. If their research is able to find a type of solar panel that is at a 90% or above conversion rate of energy then the solar panel will be very productive for the future.

Final Synthesis: Even with different types of solar panels, there are engineers out there that are working on optimizing each solar cell to convert energy absorbed into useable energy for the future. Once engineers are able to convert the solar rays that are absorbed to 100% energy conversion then more homes and companies can rely on solar energy. For now only a part of solar energy can be relied on because not 100% of the energy is converted fully. 

This artifact can teach people about chemical engineers because as of right now there are many chemical engineers doing research to find out how each solar cell in a solar panel can be enhanced for optimal usage. Chemical engineers are very in to finding new ways of obtaining renewable energy. Solar panels are a way to take the rays thats are given to the world naturally and convert that ray into energy. There are many chemical engineers that are not only trying to find new sources of renewable energy with solar panels, but also in biomass, large bodies of water, and wind.

Citation:

NSU Launches Sustainable Solar Energy Project at John U Lloyd Beach State Park. N.d. Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale-Davie. Web. 28 Feb 2013. <http://nsunews.nova.edu/nsu-launches-sustainable-solar-energy-project-john-lloyd-beach-state-park-2/solar-panels-1/>.

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is another type of renewable energy that engineers take into account. Geothermal energy is special in the sense that the energy is obtained from the heat from the earth's core. Many big named companies are using geothermal energy as a way of producing renewable energy for our planet. A new thing that I learned about geothermal energy is over the years water seaps into the earths crust. The water under the crust will later be heated from the core and then changed into use as energy. Below is a attacthed video describing how exactly geothermal energy is created. Is it possible to only rely on geothermal energy for the future or do we need to find other ways to use renewable energy?

Citaion:

N.d. YoutubeWeb. 27 Feb 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl-oxDZDfqI>.

Hydroelectric Power

With so many different types of renewable energy out there, hydroelectric power is one of the many very accessible energy sources on this planet. This planet has many big bodies of water which makes it great to collect energy through dams. I learned that near large bodies of water dams are built to flow water into the dams so that energy can be collected. It is quite unique that something like water can be converted into energy. With so many large bodies of water why can we not have more renewable energy from these generators and dams? Below is a video explaining in detail how a hydroelectric dam works.

Citation: N.d. YoutubeWeb. 26 Feb 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cEL7yc8R42k>.

Wind Energy

Here is a video I found quite interesting on youtube. The video talks about how wind can be converted into energy that we can use in the future. What I learned after watching this video is that energy is actually quite hard to store up. I never knew that once the energy is captured from the turbines that if it is not stored it is gone. Luckily there are engineers out there who are able to find new ways of storing the energy in specialized batteries. It is great to know that there are engineers out there that are going towards using a natural resource that is already out there to harness its energy. Being able to use renewable energy is very key for us in the future because this will lower the carbon foot prints that we exert on our planet. Do you think that having more wind turbines set up all over the world is a better thing for the future? 

Citation:

Energy 101:Wind Turbines. N.d. YoutubeWeb. 21 Feb 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsZITSeQFR0>.

Observing Community

Quite recently I was able to attend an engineer event for chemical engineers. The event included many students and a group of five engineering professors specifically chemical engineers. This event was held to give a glimpse to students about the life of a chemical engineer could be like and what type of research these professors are doing right now.

            The event started off with each professor introduced themselves and explaining the type of research that they are currently working on. As a student siting in my seat and listening to each professor articulate about his passions of finding renewable energy and new types of medicine were really fascinating. I slowly began to see how dedicated each of these professors were to their research and to the community of chemical engineers. Later in the event, after the presentations, all the students got a chance to meet up with any professor that they wanted to talk with. As I was waiting to go and chat with professor Lunt, I slowly observed how chemical engineers interact with their own peers and to students.

            I could tell from my observations, when chemical engineers talk about their research to other chemical engineers a lot of what they talk about is details on their finds. The community of chemical engineers is very studious, dedicated to their work, and hardworking. Each professor is unique in how they view the world of chemical engineering, but at the end of the day each chemical engineer is always trying to find ways to better the world.

            After observing the chemical engineer community, I was quite intrigued at how they do things. Some of the cultural conclusions that could be drawn about a chemical engineer is that all they do is wear a lab coat and just work in a lab twenty four seven. That is not necessarily true, even though chemical engineers who do research in labs may have to abide by those rules, there is a bigger picture that they need to fulfill. A good portion of the time when a chemical engineer works they are writing reports on their findings. There are a lot of things that chemical engineers do that do not get broadcasted to the public. So for most of what the general public sees is a clear-cut chemist who works in a lab all day. 

Solar Energy

Here is a little video explaining what solar energy is! Chemical engineers now are trying to  find more efficient and cost effective ways to harness energy form the sun. Through this video I learned that making solar energy more economical is very difficult. Solar energy is powerful enough to give enough energy for the entire planet since solar rays that penetrate our earth daily and its energy is saved. The thing is trying to make it economical for everyone, that is the major problem chemical engineers face today. Through learning a little more about what solar energy is. I wonder how long it will really take to finally have more cities and homes rely on just solar energy and less on fossil fuels? Tell me what you think!

Exploring Writing Process

This week I explored a different writing process than what our class has been learning. Professor Lunt is a chemical engineer and he does research on transparent solar cells. He is currently trying to find efficient and economical ways to use the transparent solar cells. Through his findings in research he needs to express his work in writing to allow people to know what is going on.

I interviewed professor Lunt and asked him what types of writing does he do. As a chemical engineering researcher, professor Lunt has to do a lot of different types of writing to report the research he has conducted. The different types of writing are professional manuscripts, reports, and also scientific writing. Each type of writing that professor Lunt does has a purpose and target audience (Lunt). The professional manuscripts that he writes needs to show what his research has been able to do and express the importance of the science behind it. The reports he writes up need to show people who are giving out grants why it is important to give grants to his research specifically. If professor Lunt does not write well enough to explain the importance of his research, the necessary grants that are need will not be given towards his research.

When writing a professional manuscript professor Lunt needs to be very precise about the details he puts into his writing. The manuscript has to be condensed down to only the important information that is needed to showcase the research that he is currently doing (Lunt). The writing process for professor Lunt takes time to gather the necessary research, then he must write up the manuscript and have it revised a couple of times. This ensures that the manuscript is professional and only details what is important. Usually the readers of the manuscripts are professionals, engineers, or researchers that are interested in his research.

When looking at different writing processes that are done by people there are always a specific audience that the writer tries to accommodate. Professor Lunt’s writing process is no different. He writes more scientific papers while being very concise with the information he puts into paper to make sure people know exactly what he means. Some of the other writing processes that our class has explored take a different approach. The writers of South Park use different ideas and then build of the one idea to create a show. The use of different ideas from different people is a totally different writing process than ones done by professor Lunt for his research. 

Citation:

Bulovic Group: Richard Lunt. N.d. n.p. Web. 10 Feb 2013. <http://eecs-newsletter.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/RichardLunt_DSC9083ss.png>.

Lunt, Richard. Personal Interview. 06 02 2013.

What is Chemical Engineering?

Chemical engineering has many spectrums of fields that it encompasses. That is what makes this field so interesting to me.  A new thing that I learned about my field is that chemical engineers have a hand in the foods everyday people eat. I never really knew that chemical engineers would be apart of such a vital ingredient in our diets. It is quite interesting to see how chemical engineers are able to manipulate chemicals to form a better structure to help sustain food for a longer storage life. Without chemical engineers in the field of food it would make it very difficult for foods now to be made in mass quantities and to have a good storage life.

What I have learned is that chemical engineering plays a huge part in society whether people know it or not. It may seem like chemical engineers just work with chemicals that do not pertain to foods at all, but I learned that they are a intricate part of society today. With so many fields on chemical engineers that are possible it really gets you thinking "Why do chemical engineers choose their certain path as a chemical engineer?" I find it very interesting how some chemical engineers now are finding new and improved ways to make food more sustainable through their research in chemical engineering.

Citation:

Chemical Engineers - Career Profile. N.d. YoutubeWeb. 7 Feb 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePS-EN0YcBw>.

Considering Delivery And Style

There are many types of audiences that writers try to target in their writing. For this blog I found a trade journal, a scholarly article written by a professional, and a blog to help give you a better understanding of what target audience chemical engineers write to. The trade journal was named “Environmental Technologies are Chemical Engineering Challenges” and the scholarly article was named “Us Epa/academia collaboration for a green engineering textbook for chemical engineering.” After reading through both of the works, I got a general sense that the writers wanted to appeal to all general chemical engineers out there. The blog on the other hand was targeted more to the bloggers specific field of chemical engineering. The blogger concentrated more on processing and chemical engineering.

Through further investigation the scholarly article’s target audience were college students that want to purse their degree in chemical engineering. While the trade journal took the approach of appealing to chemical engineers who are working in the field now. The article did not state specifically their audience, but as I was reading I began to understand the hints that the journal gave. The scholarly article on the other hand was targeting the audience of universities, colleges, and teachers alike. The article wanted schools and teachers to buy the textbook so it could begin to teach future chemical engineering students. Both of the articles were able to get their points across to appeal to their target audience. The blogger's audience that he wanted to appeal towards were chemical engineers specifically in the field of oil and gasoline. Most of his blogging targeted to appeal to that audience. 

There is always a purpose behind writing and whom the writer is trying to appeal to. Both these articles were no different. The purpose of writing the trade journal was to explain to chemical engineers now about what is really going on with environmental technology and how they should face the difficulties of harnessing the technology. The scholarly article was a little more difficult for me to understand the purpose behind the writing, but after rereading it, I was able to see what the purpose of the article was. The purpose for the article was to make sure that students studying to be chemical engineers would begin to get a better understanding of green energy. The book that was released in fall of 2001 was a great way to build a foundation for students to really think about what new ways of going green for the future. The purpose of the blog was to give a better understanding of the chemical engineering field to readers who want to see what chemical engineers do on a daily basis. The blog does a really good job of showcasing what is going on in the world of chemical engineering. I found that after reading these types of writing, I can finally understand why writing to a specific audience and having a purpose for writing is so important. 

Citation: Shonnard, David R., et al. "US EPA/academia Collaboration for a Green Engineering Textbook for Chemical Engineering." Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy 5.3-4 (2003): 226-31. ABI/INFORM 

Complete; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 6 Feb. 2013."Environmental Technologies are Chemical Engineering Challenge." Chemical & Engineering News 74.34 (1996): 14-.ABI/INFORM Complete; ProQuest 
Research Library. Web. 6 Feb. 2013.

Green Engineering: Environmentally Conscious Design of Chemical Processes / Edition 1. 2001. Barnes and NoblesWeb. 6 Feb 2013. <http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Green-Engineering/David-T-Allen/e/9780130619082>.