Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition

Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) is a student design competition that is sponsored by NASA and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.  RASC-AL was formed to provide university-level engineering students with the opportunity to design projects based on NASA engineering challenges as well as offer NASA access to new research and design projects by students.

RASC-AL is open to undergraduate and graduate university-level students studying fields with applications to human space exploration (i.e., aerospace, bio-medical, electrical, and mechanical engineering; and life, physical, and computer sciences).  RASC-AL projects allow students to incorporate their coursework into real aerospace design concepts and work together in a team environment. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.

Through RASC-AL, student teams and their faculty advisors will work to develop mission architectures to employ innovative solutions in response to one of the 3 following themes:

• Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Flexible Mission Architecture Designs
• Human-Focused Mars Mission Systems and Technologies
• Human Lunar Access and Initial Exploration

BRAND NEW WAY TO PARTICIPATE IN 2013!

Teams can choose to participate in RASC-AL in one of two different ways:

1. By developing a complete, integrated, end-to-end architecture addressing one of the three themes listed above (the traditional option); OR
2. By performing a thorough system design of a supporting element such as a mobility system, habitat or lander (the advanced concept option).

In 2013, up to eighteen will be chosen to compete at the RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Each team will receive a travel stipend to help defray the cost of attending the RASC-AL Forum. The teams with the top two winning papers will be invited to present their design projects to industry experts at a major Aerospace conference, such as Space 2013 (additional travel stipends provided).

Interested in RASC-AL?  Click here for more details.

Online Book: Motors and Drives

Motors and Drives – A Practical Technology Guide by Dave Polka.
Publisher: ISA

Subject Area: Mechanics & Mechanical Engineering

Description: This practical reference introduces engineering concepts of motors and drives in a way that can be easily understood by both engineers unfamiliar with the technology and technicians who are technically literate but not accustomed to complex theory and mathematics.

It features simple explanations, summaries, review questions, glossaries, and reference tables for formulas and conversions.  Design engineers, automation and control specialists, maintenance technicians, and students will find this to be an invaluable resource both as a tutorial and desk reference.

Read the book online as part of the Knovel Library.  Access to this resource is limited to UVa faculty and students only from this URL.

RideForward Final Design Presentations

The RideForward program has an annual project of designing and converting a conventional vehicle to electric drive, and installing a photovoltaic system (PV) that will offset the electrical requirements of the vehicle.  This year, we are converting a Ford Ranger pickup that Facilities Management was retiring (which will be returned to Facilities when it is converted), and we are putting up a 1.2 kW PV system on the roof of the bus shelter in front of the Emmet Ivy parking garage.  We have finished our designs and ordered our parts, which will be assembled during the spring semester.  We will be doing presentations of the final designs for the drive train, auxiliary systems, energy storage, the PV, and a small research project of a golf cart conversion, this Wednesday, 12/9, at 2:30 in Thornton D221.

 All are welcome.

 Jim Durand
MAE Research Associate & Adjunct

Database of the Week: Mechanical and Transportation Engineering Abstracts

CSA Mechanical & Transportation Engineering Abstracts provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the serials literature in mechanical and transportation engineering and their complementary fields, including forensic engineering, management and marketing of engineering services, engineering education, theoretical mechanics and dynamics, and mathematics and computation.  This database provides in depth, comprehensive coverage of the international engineering literature as well as numerous non-serial publications.  Many of the more recent records in the database include fields containing cited references, corresponding authorés e-mail address, and publisher contact information.  Sources covered include over 3,000 periodicals, conference proceedings, technical reports, trade journal/newsletter items, patents, books, and press releases.

For additional information, please see the CSA Mechanical and Transportation Engineering Abstracts database Factsheet or begin searching the database at CSA Illumina.

The CSA Mechanical and Transportation Engineering Abstracts database is one of many information resources brought to you by the Brown Science and Engineering Library!  Ask for a demonstration of this database or about other resources that can help you work faster, smarter and better!

(Use of this database from this address restricted to University of Virginia users only.  Please contact a librarian for assistance, if you are having trouble connecting.)