New Technologies By UTC

Blog 3
New technology
Erik Weber

As I have stated in my other two blogs, innovation is a key element to success of any person, company, or country.  It is what drives us all forward and without it, without new ideas and out of the box thinking, advancements would stop.  And as I have said before, if you’re not moving forwards, you’re moving backwards, which is never good, unless, you’re Marty McFly. Recent technologies come to surface very often, big and small.  In this blog I will talk about recent technologies by United Technologies Corp. (UTC).

Right off the bat, Carrier, a climate control company owned by UTC, invented one product that makes many of our lives way better.  In 1902, in an attempt to fix a humidity problem Dr. Willis H. Carrier, inventor and founder of Carrier, stumbled upon modern air conditioning.  That’s old news though, one recent invention by UTC is the Sikorsky S-97 Raider.¹ 

The S-97 is a co-axial compound helicopter.  The co-axial stands for two helicopter rotors mounted one above the other, and spinning in the opposite direction.¹  This idea isn’t entirely new, however it does have a lot of benefits.  First off, it allows a helicopter to have a higher payload for the same engine power; a tail rotor typically wastes some available engine power. This is more efficient, which is always a good thing.  A second benefit is a reduction in noise; since most of the loud “slapping” noise is associated with the interaction between the tail rotor and main rotor in conventional helicopters, co-axial helicopters avoid this.   Coaxial helicopters usually have a smaller footprint as well, this is a benefit when space is lacking. 

The main benefit of the new Raider by Sikorsky is how it avoids dis-symmetry of lift.  According to copters.com, dis-symmetry of lift is the difference in lift that exists between the advancing half of the rotor disk and the retreating half. It is caused by the fact that in directional flight the aircraft relative wind is added to the rotational relative wind on the advancing blade, and subtracted on the retreating blade.  Basically, there is more thrust on the forward spinning side of the rotor than on the backwards spinning side.  With coaxial helicopters like the S-97 Raider, dis-symmetry of lift is solved. 

UTC is also a contributor to the new line of Boeing commercial jets.  In fact, UTC has some sort of product on just about everything that flies.  They were just awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop a “greener”, advanced nacelle for the CLEEN II Initiative.²  A nacelle is the streamline housing or tank that encompasses the turbo engines which mount to the wings of most commercial jets.  The FAA wants UTC to develop a nacelle that will reduce engine fuel consumption and noise. 

United Technologies Corporation is a fine example of continued innovation in America.  As I have stated before, I believe innovation is in direct relationship with success.   Having creative minds is very important in the advancement of a country. 

Resources:

¹http://www.utc.com/News/Pages/Sikorsky-S-97-Raider-Helicopter-Achieves-Successful-First-Flight.aspx
²http://news.utcaerospacesystems.com/2015-09-08-FAA-Selects-UTC-Aerospace-Systems-to-Develop-        Greener-Advanced-Nacelle-Technologies-for-Its-CLEEN-II-Initiative

Whats Happening In The Mechanical Engineering World

Blog 2
A Review
Erik Weber

As stated in my previous entry, innovation plays a part in shaping the success of a country.  In my mind, you are either moving forward or backwards in today’s world.  There is a constant need for advancements in every aspect of our technically driven lives.  Not only does a country need to be focused on innovative, creative, and inventive ideas, but every business that makes up a country is responsible to do its part as well.  We are all familiar with the phrase that you are only as strong as your weakest link. 

This entry will focus on one company, in my biased mind, that has done its part, and perhaps more, in contributing to the advancement of the United States of America.  This would be United Technologies Corporation or UTC for short.  Some of you may be familiar with UTC, it’s an international, $65 billion, 200,000 plus employees strong empire that has a footprint in numerous industries.  As listed at http://www.utc.com/Our-Businesses/Pages/At-A-Glance.aspx it can be seen that UTC divvies up into 5 main categories: Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Otis, Sikorsky, and Climate, controls and security.  One interesting fact, the escalators at the Fargo Scheels are Otis brand.  Also, UTC products were incorporated in the Apollo 11 moon landing.  There isn’t enough space in this blog to completely define United Technologies, however there is a list of some of the companies owned by UTC at http://www.utc.com/Our-Businesses/Pages/Our-Products-And-Brands.aspx. 

In recent news, UTC made a deal with Lockheed Martin Corp. to sell its Sikorsky aircraft business.  If the deal goes through as planned by the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2016, Lockheed will make the purchase for $9 billion.  UTC president and chief executive, Gregory Hayes, said this deal will allow UTC to better focus on high technology systems, services to aerospace and building industry clients.¹ I believe this will be a good choice. 

I have been offered the opportunity to do a co-op at UTC Aerospace Systems in Jamestown, ND.  So I started looking into UTC, at first glance, Sikorsky stuck out as their most unique brand and although it’s awesome to own a helicopter line, I think it makes sense to sell Sikorsky.  If the goes through, I think it will help UTC focus even more on the vast array of products they already produce.  But if the deal goes south, well, then, I can say I work for a company that makes awesome stuff! 

Another recent news article stated that UTC is issuing a share repurchase or stock buyback in an attempt to help raise share prices.² Basically, they are investing in themselves to help climb out of a 20% drop in share prices.  This drop is due to a multitude of things, Otis sales are down in China, Europe has been stagnant financially, cost of new engine production has risen, and there has been trouble with Pratt & Whitney engine production at a new logistical center in New Hampshire.² All this negativity can cause an uneasiness, but Otis sales are up 47% from last year in America due to a new deal with Hudson Yards.² In my opinion, these struggles reflect our current economy.  Perhaps people are still climbing out of our recent recession.  Only the future will tell what will happen, but for my sake and 200,000 other employees, I hope UTC continues to provide high technology systems and services.

Resources: 

¹http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article27899632.html 
²http://www.wsj.com/articles/united-technologies-unveils-12-billion-buyback-1445343580

Mechanical Engineering In A Nutshell

Blog 1
An Explanation of Your Field
Erik Weber

First, a little background about myself, I have two siblings, an older brother and a younger sister, which makes me the unlucky one (if you’re a middle child as well, you can relate).  I grew up outside Buffalo, MN in a rural area on 30 acres of mostly woods.  We had 17 cats at our highest (outdoor cats), three dogs, four horses, chickens and the occasional guinea pig or hamster.  Throughout my childhood I spent most of my time outdoors tinkering with mechanical toys of mine.  This included everything from taking apart my brothers remote control cars to shooting my sisters dolls with a 22 caliper rifle.  This “how stuff works” interest of mine grew into a hobby.  I like to save money where I can so I generally try to do my own repairs.  For instance, I fix all I can on my vehicle to avoid bringing it in.  Since I love working with my hands to find solutions to any mechanical problem that surfaces, I figured Mechanical Engineering was the place for me.

In this blog, I plan on describing the profession of mechanical engineering.  I’ll start with some simple statistics defining its relevance in today’s world then I would like to talk more about how I divvy up engineering as a profession.    

We all know technical innovation is a very important part of a country’s growth.  Engineers play a huge roll in developing innovative ideas that propel a country towards success and economic power.  In the U.S., engineering degrees awarded by universities make up 4.4% of all the undergraduate degrees.¹  This is lower than European countries (13%) and key Asian countries (23%) however, America still sails at the top as an economic power…’Merica.  As most of you know, engineers come out of college making a healthy amount of money.  According to Forbes, 2015 engineering graduates can expect to make $57,000 starting salary.²  With this very attractive pay, it’s no surprise more and more students are choosing an engineering degree.  The figure below shows the number of awarded engineering degrees in the United States of America from 2003 to 2012.  We can see there has been a 20% increase in bachelor’s degrees in under a decade.  Now there are many engineering disciplines that all these new students can go into.

Did you know there was such a thing as Mining Engineering?

One, very common, very well-known engineering discipline is Mechanical Engineering.  Among enrolled engineering students in the U.S., 21.5% of them are trying for ME.²  In the America’s workforce, ME’s make up about 17% of the engineering jobs.² 

Mechanical Engineering can be divided into multiple fields and specialties, but for the purpose of this blog, I am going to divide it three ways: Project Design Engineering, Test/Quality Engineering, and Manufacturing Engineering.  

Project design engineer’s main job is to develop new products while focusing on functionality and efficiency.  They need to have a technical mind set and be able to make something out of nothing.  Being familiar with computer aided drafting and design software programs is very important as well as having good communication skills.  I was told by speakers from Cargill, a worldwide provider of food and agricultural services, that the most important skill an engineer can have is to be able to give and receive advice.  A product design engineer needs to be able to communicate with workers using existing products, figure out what is missing, and design a new product that fills that gap.

This is where test/quality engineers differ.  Their main duties are to improve existing products.  A mindset that allows a person to take faulty equipment and use it as a base guideline to design a newer, improved product is required in test engineering.  Test/quality engineering is a favored position because it allows an employee to go out in the field instead of staring at a computer screen all day. 

Once a new product is designed, or an old product is improved, someone needs to be in charge of turning that design into an object available for the people.  This is where manufacturing engineering comes in.  These people are responsible for laying out the process that will turn a blue print into a tangible, usable product.  They start from scratch, deciding what materials need to be used to match the stress and strain requirements for the given products job.  For example, if there are weight restrictions, one might use aluminum over steel.  They also decide what machines will be used to shape the material.  CNC mills for low tolerance or iron casting for greater speed but higher tolerances. It’s always a three way struggle of creating something as fast as possible that’s as strong as it needs to be for as cheap as it can be.

This has been a quick overview of myself and my background which led me to the degree I am seeking.  Along with some simple facts about engineering with an emphasis on the Mechanical engineering profession.  Followed by the three main fields, in my mind, of engineering.

¹https://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/119585/119587.aspx

²http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/19/the-college-degrees-with-the-highest-starting-salaries-in-     2015/