University of Tennessee Knoxville - Volunteer Yearbook (Knoxville, TN)

Page 29 text:

-Gi Palomo -Gl Palomo Engineers test sun power Lined along Alcoa Highway, enroute to the Smoky Mountains, are three small houses clustered like inverted A-frame chalets. These eye-catching houses are for more than looks. They are physical evidence of energy conservation studies being conducted by the College of Engineering with the Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development and the Tennessee Valley Authority. What goes on inside these houses may ease the energy crunch. They are the first of a new breed of homes that will use energy more ef- ficiently and save home-owners thousands of dollars in heating and cooling costs. Bill Bradford, a senior in mechanical engineering and tour guide for the buildings for the past two years, said, uOne house is called a solar house; the others are the Annual Cycle Energy System tACESl house and the control house. Each house has about 2,000 square feet of floor space, yet each has its own peculiar shape and purpose. The solar home derives its energy from the sun, Bradford said. The ACES house em- ploys the annual weather cycle and the use of circulating water for heating and cooling. What makes the experimental homes un- usual is they use 30 per cent less energy than normal houses because of insulation and in- novative energy conserving systems. Bradford said the homes are still too expen- sive for the average family but they could become more economical within the next five to seven years.n HThe homes would presently cost over $60,000 to build, Bradford said. HTheylre an oddity, but soon they'll be commonplace. The unique slanting roof on the solar house facilitates collection of solar energy by panels placed on the roof. The three-bedroom homes are furnished with all the necessities, including washers, dryers, tables, couches, and various electrical appliances. The average monthly energy bill for the solar home is $40 compared to $110 for a conventional home. During most cold weather, the solar home uses one-third the kilowatt-hours of a normal home. -MAJ Located on Alcoa Highway are three solar houses built by the College of Engineering, HUD and TVA. The solar houses cost approximately $40 a month, which is comparatively less than the $1 10 monthly energy bill of conventional houses. seawas aiudeOm-me

Page 28 text:

SHARING . . . Building the future Long walks to the far side of the Hill, late hours writing lab reports, turning in project af- ter project. These are the efforts that prepare the more than 4,000 engineering students for their future careers. William Miller, associate dean of engineer- ing said the job market looks good for all types of engineers and estimated that graduates can expect to earn anywhere from $15,000 to $24,000 for their first year on a job. Ben Beasley, senior in chemical engineer- ing, said the late hours and long walks at 7:50 am. to the uengineering campus - Ferris, Perkins, and Dougherty - are the daily costs of being an engineering major. One thing that keeps us going is thinking about how much money we're going to make when we get out, Beasley said. John Handler, a mechanical engineering senior said, uEngineering is the back- bone of society. Everything ever built has had engineers involved in it. They are the future leaders in society. Even with the heavy load of Class work the engineers have time for a sense of humor. When asked why he was majoring in engineer- ing, Handler replied, iiBecause I can add and subtract, but can't even spell my own name. Despite all the different levels for engineers, they are basically doing the same thing. uWhether they are electrical or agricultural, chemical or civil engineers, they are involved in technical problem solving, Miller said. Engineers make mathematical models out of -Gt Paloma 24h Academics real situations, test the models and then apply the results to the problem at hand. Learning to be an engineer has no shortcuts. Miller compared engineering to sports. Regardless of your mood at the mo- ment, you've got to practice and be self- disciplined like a well-trained athlete, he said. Fletcher Armstrong, senior in agricultural engineering, said engineers draw a lot from their past knowledge. uEngineering builds on itself, Armstrong said. HSeniors working on a project will recall things they learned as a freshman or sophomore. You never leave anything you learn behind; you always come back to it. Engineering is an exact science. llm glad there are right answers to every question, Miller said. When the answers donlt appear that's frustrating, but when the light bulb comes on in my head - it's rewarding. It picks me up and keeps me going. Armstrong said. An interesting development in the field of engineering during the last few years is that it is no longer a mans world. Miller said female enrollment is going up all the time. Fifteen per- cent of the students in engineering are women. ult's not like 10 years ago when a girl might have felt uncomfortable being the only woman in a class. They fit right in now, Miller said. Two recent academic changes in the college make it clear that engineering is rigorous and demanding. The college adopted a shorter drop deadline beginning winter quar- ter. Now the drop deadline for engineers is the day before the add deadlines. Also, incoming freshman will only be able to repeat 12 hours. if students repeat more than 12 hours, both grades will be computed in the grade point average. Miller said, ilBoth of these changes were attempted to make students more serious about school. -MAJ Searching through a cabinet. Jorge Zelendlon, a junior in in- dustrial engineering, selects resistors for his industrial engineering lab. Zelendlon said the electrical engineering lab took approximately two hours to complete, Dictatlng the reading of a mercury manometer to her lab partner, Margie Berryman, a sophomore in industrial engineering, works in a thermodynamics lab. Margie said the most difficult part of the lab was the 12 to 14 page reports. -Gt Palomo Recording calculations he obtained from a pressure gauge experiment, Tony Walker, a freshman in mechanical engineering, completes his lab assignment. Walker said in- structors set a time limit in which to complete the lab. Working together, Beth McDonald, a junior in industrial engineering, and Daniel Barber, a junior in agricultural engineering, measure the amount of voltage drop across a resistor using a power supply. McDonald and Barber were in- volved in an electrical engineering lab.

Page 30 text:

SHARING . . . Grad School-a long haul ls there life after undergraduate school? For the more than 6500 graduate students in over 70 different fields of study, a bachelor's degree is just the beginning. While some graduate students taught English composition to nervous freshmen in Ayres Hall, others sweated out the last few hours of study for their oral exams. Scores of others worked behind closed doors - typing ream upon ream for a dissertation or spending hours peering through a microscope con- ducting research. Vice-Chancellor for Graduate Studies L. Evans Roth said, HGraduate school is an in- dividual attempt to specialize. Therels a tremendous diversity in the types of graduate students. Some are teachers who come back for an evening class while others are full- time students, he said. Roth noted there is a trend toward part-time graduate study. Mark Hancock, a law student also in the MBA program, said graduate school is a com- pletely different world. Hlt requires a whole lot more of your time. lt makes you become more efficient, he said. Hancock said he spent much more time out of Class doing more on his own. ullm more in- tense about what I'm doing because there's more competition between students, he said. Hancock noted, ilYou can't go into the Raf- ters and spot a graduate student; they all mesh into the campus. They are as diversified as the rest of the student body. Tommy Walden, a doctoral student in radia- tion biology, said, HThere's much more interac- tion between professors and students in graduate school. There is also a different emphasis on grades. HYou are required to maintain a 8' average, Walden said. Research is a big part of the graduate ex- perience. HThe university received over $22 million last year for research from outside con- tributors such as industry and private organiza- tions, Roth said. One of the biggest research grants in the universityls history - $37 million over the next Five years - will be given to the Space Institute in Tullahoma to conduct energy research for more efhcient ways to burn coal, he said. In the past several years, the National Science Foundation ranked UT 70th in terms of the total amount of research money received from the federal government. Brenda Owenby, graduate in education, said the toughest part of graduate schbol is that it takes such a long time. In essence, it's being poor for three years and having to adjust monetarily, she said, Hltls such a long haul. For Aricia White, graduate in child and family studies, the long haul of graduate school means cutting back on extracurricular activities. Hlt's so hard to make the transition, it is recommended that you go to a different school for graduate work, White said. After the additional years of intense work are completed, all graduate students do share something in common - a brighter future in the job market. Hancock said, HYou're not guaranteed an opportunity for a great career but you expand your options. 26hAcademics -MRJ. Dressed in T-shlrt and bluejean shorts, psychology teaching assistant Bob Trestman explains how to fill out the course evaluation sheets on the last day of class Trestman taught a section of General Psychology 2500 which approximately 250 students on roll -Ll Maloni Sitting cross-Iegged on a desk, Les White lectures about the Great Gatsby to his 1031 Freshman English class. Working toward his PH.d in English, White taught six hours of English in addition to his other. studies, White said he enjoyed teaching the freshman cburses. Ult's fun! -Ll Malone