Posts tagged technology
CU-Boulder, USCS to lead E-vehicle studies
Oct 17th
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Boulder faculty will join with University of Colorado Colorado Springs faculty to teach courses in the design and implementation of electric vehicle drivetrains to new and retraining engineers.
The U.S. Department of Energy recently provided a five-year $954,000 grant to UCCS for the development of courses to prepare engineers for careers in developing new technologies for vehicles having electric drivetrains. The master’s-level courses will be taught by both UCCS and CU Boulder faculty members with expertise in batteries, battery controls, and power electronics.
The courses will be available through distance learning technologies such as online courses and, possibly, CISCO Telepresence, in addition to traditional in-person classrooms, making them available to people nationwide.
“There are thousands of engineers who have either been displaced as the U.S. auto industry shifted or who have an interest in learning about creating vehicles of the future,” Greg Plett, professor, UCCS College of Engineering and Applied Science, said. “This program offers them the opportunity to retrain without relocating.”
Plett, the principal investigator on the project, has spent his career working with battery controls and has close relationships to many Colorado-based companies who manufacture batteries or their controls as well as large corporations such as General Motors. Plett is working with General Motors’ engineers on new methods for battery controls in future extended range electric vehicles, beyond the Chevy Volt.
The GATE Center of Excellence in Innovative Drivetrains in Electric Automotive Technology Education will provide students the opportunity to earn a graduate certificate in electric drivetrain technology by taking four courses in battery dynamics, battery controls, power electronics and detailed courses in adjustable alternating current drives. Plans also call for creating options for students in master’s of science in electrical engineering programs at UCCS and CU-Boulder to pursue specialization in fields such as battery controls, taught by UCCS faculty, and vehicle power electronics taught by CU-Boulder faculty members.
CU-Boulder faculty will build upon strengths of the Colorado Power Electronics Center research and education programs, including a highly successful Professional Certification in Power Electronics already offered online by the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s distance education program (http://cuengineeringonline.colorado.edu/)
“This program combines the strengths of the faculty of two CU campuses for the benefit of students,” Plett said.
Plett also believes the collaboration of faculty will lead to new research in battery technology. Battery life and power outputs have long been considered hindrances to the development of electric vehicles including cars, trucks and mass transit vehicles.
Plett envisions that fellowships to reduce the cost of the graduate coursework will be available with 30 to 40 students enrolled annually beginning with the fall 2012 semester.
Working with Plett will be Scott Trimboli, assistant professor, UCCS College of Engineering, and Regan Zane, associate professor, Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, CU-Boulder, and Dragan Maksimovic, professor, Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, CU-Boulder.
For more about Plett, visit http://mocha-java.uccs.edu/. For more information about the UCCS College of Engineering and Applied Science, visit http://www.eas.uccs.edu/ .For more information about the CU-Boulder Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, visit http://ecee.colorado.edu/.
Television: An Introduction
Oct 16th
I am so old that I remember when people didn’t have televisions in their homes. Back in the Olden Days, we had radios and listened to radio stories while we “watched” them in our minds.
For example, as a kid I listened to and “watched” “The Lone Ranger,” “Straight Arrow,” “Tom Mix” and “Billy Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders.”
Google ’em, Dudes and Dudettes.
So, when I heard about television, how it was the “coming thing” and how it added pictures to radio, I naturally assumed that all my favorite radio programs would just automatically migrate to new-fangled television.
Well, of course, some of them did, but many of them didn’t.
Other favorites of my radio listening were “Inner Sanctum” and “Suspense.” Imagine my surprise when years later after I became older and developed an interest in reading and I would read stories by famous authors and recognize some of those same stories that I had listened to and “watched” on radio!
Yes, Dear Reader, Hollywood recycles stories. But then, so did Shakespeare. (Google him, Dudes and Dudettes.)
Anyway, when my parents bought our first television set, guess what. The pictures weren’t in color! They were in black and white! Imagine that. And we were so fascinated with this new-fangled technology that we sat in front of it and watched whatever was being broadcast until the station went off the air at the end of the night.
Yes, Dear Reader, in the Olden Days, TV stations weren’t on 24 hours a day and when they signed off, they showed a picture of a waving American flag and played “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
As a matter of fact, in the city where we lived, there were only three TV stations in operation, which broadcast television programs from the only three networks that existed at the time! (Google ’em, Dudes and Dudettes.)
And all those television signals come through the air from the stations’ broadcast towers right to our television set and the rabbit-ears antenna on top of our TV set. And we didn’t even have to pay for it! Our only expense for watching television in those days was what we paid for our television set! And TV sets were so large that they were just like furniture in the room!
That’s right. Back in those days, so-called “cable-TV” was used only for homes that couldn’t get over-the-air reception from the broadcast towers.
And, then, guess what. When cable-TV became popular and people were willing to pay for television broadcasts, some people were so naive as to believe that if they had to pay for television, there shouldn’t be any commercials!
But then television became so popular, more stations popped up in town, more networks came into existence, and even more commercials took over the programming.
In fact, back in those Olden Days, advertisers owned the programs! There was only one advertiser for an entire show! You could google it.
Another oddity back then was that a program lasted all year long! Yes,there would be 39 new episodes each year, followed by 13 repeats during the summer. Imagine that.
Then color showed up, and that meant that it became more expensive to buy a TV set. That also meant that it became more difficult to adjust the picture. And adjusting the picture meant actually getting up out of your chair, walking over to the TV set, and turning dials on the back of the set!
As a matter of fact, the first remote control that I ever owned was actually connected to the TV set by a wire! Can you imagine? Picture it in your mind.
Talk about ancient history!
Kids today just don’t appreciate how easy it is to watch television.
Back in the Olden Days, watching television was an experience. It was something we appreciated, because we had to make an effort to watch it.
And don’t even get me started about kids who have their own television set in their own bedroom! I didn’t own a TV set until I was an adult and had moved away from home!
Well, that’s enough for now. All this reminiscing has made me tired and it’s time for my nap.
Goodbye and good watching.
CU begins counseling online Boulder
Oct 6th