February 2015 ABe-Notes
Bravo! 2015
Bravo!
The University instituted the Bravo Award with the Fall 2013 semester. Faculty and staff can nominate fellow faculty and staff for effort that helps to move the university forward. Our newest award winners are:
- Kathy Moore
- Steve Swain
- Stan Harlow
Congratulations!
February 2015 Breaking New Ground News
Author: | Steve Swain |
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Indiana AgrAbility staff and volunteers exhibited at the 2015 Fort Wayne Farm Show in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Fort Wayne Farm Show boasts that it is one of the largest indoor farm shows with an attendance of over 38,000 in three days. The display included the NAP tabletop and popup displays along with brochures, Tool Box Assistive Technology cards, Arthritis and Agriculture brochures, back impairment brochures, and information for veterans with disabilities and beginning farmers.
Steve Swain, the Indiana AgrAbility rural rehabilitation specialist, staffed a display at the 2015 Indiana Horticulture Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana. The three-day conference was attended by over 800 farmers and exhibitors representing produce growers, fruit growers, wine makers, and agritourism sites. The display featured Arthritis and Agriculture brochures, back impairment brochures, veteran information, Indiana AgrAbility brochures, and Tool Box cards.
February 2015 Maha Fluid Power Research Center News
Author: | Meike Ernst |
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Maha Director Presents in the Faculty Colloquium Series
On February 2nd, Dr. Monika Ivantysynova presented an overview of the past, present, and future research directions of the Maha Fluid Power Center as part of the Faculty Colloquium Series. This series celebrates the contributions of Purdue faculty to the advancement of the university, its research and its students. Dr. Ivantysynova’s presentation is entitled “From Gutenberg to “Cloud Printing” and from Bramah to ?” because it takes the audience on a journey through the developments that have been made at Maha, which are aimed at bringing hydraulics out of the past, away from outdated inefficient hydraulic system structures with valves that produce unacceptably high throttling losses and toward a future of displacement controlled architectures that allow for substantial energy savings. Dr. Ivantysynova refers to the multitude of valves used in current hydraulic circuits as “typewriters-” pieces of technology that should have been phased out a long time ago, artifacts that, in terms of the resulting system efficiency, are not up to the standards of what engineers could design today.
To demonstrate the advantages of displacement controlled systems, Dr. Ivantysynova discussed Maha projects such as the wheel loader that was modified to operate using a displacement controlled circuit at the center. Switching from the original architecture to displacement control changed the dominant source of energy losses from valve throttling losses to losses resulting from leakages and friction within the positive displacement machines pumping the fluid. This led into a discussion of the work being done at Maha to improve axial piston machine efficiency through design modifications of the lubricating interfaces, and Dr. Ivantysynova’s hope for a future with water instead of oil as the working fluid in hydraulic systems in light of the mechanical and environmental advantages it offers.
The Second Visiting Scholars’ Meeting and Lab Tour
Author: | Jiqin Ni |
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The ABE Visiting Scholar Committee hosted the second meeting and lab tour for visiting scholars and post docs on February 3, 2015. Twenty people, including 17 visiting scholars, one post doc, and two graduate students participated in the activity. At the start of the meeting, Mr. Garett Pignotti, President of the ABE Graduate Student Association, introduced the ABE/GSA Industrial Research Symposium that will be held on February 26. His brief talk was followed by three presentations. Dr. Klein Ileleji, Mr. Mike Manning, and Mr. Paul Jones were invited to give a speech and introduce the Extension in USA and their specific local, national, and international Extension programs.
During the lunch break and social time, Dr. Albert Heber and Extension staff Steve Swain, Kylie Hendress, and Cindy Chastain made self-introductions, interacted with the meeting attendees, and answered their questions. The group then travelled to the Maha Fluid Power Research Center, where Dr. Andrea Vacca, Mr. Tim Opperwall, and Mr. Mike Sprengel in the Center introduced the lab research activities and provided a guided tour to the group. All the visiting scholars and post docs who have responded to a feedback survey, thought that the activity helped their understanding about ABE research.
Contact Us
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