On the First Day of Christmas

Its Christmas Eve folks. Santa’s arrival is inevitable whether or not you have been naughty or nice. Some will get coal, others…a new x-box. I hope to be the latter. I look forward to re-entering my childhood home tomorrow, and have my nostrils engulfed with the smell of warm holiday cookies, my bones heated by a crackling fire, and my eyes greeted by a plethora of presents. An early Christmas present has already been delivered to UNT students as some of you may know. I’ll give you a hint…What is the one thing that potential students have when looking for a college? The answer is questions. Interesting sentence right there. Anywho, students can now enjoy this early Christmas present by asking all the questions they want in the newly constructed Undergraduate Advising Office at Discovery Park.
Being that Discovery Park is slightly off the main campus location, it made scheduling an advising appointment slightly inconvenient for potential/current engineering students. In the fall of 2009, this so-called inconvenience was eliminated by constructing a new office on site at Discovery Park. Now students have the freedom to schedule an appointment at any time throughout their day. For example, a common situation is a student having some extra time in between two classes, say about an hour. In the past the student would not have been able to schedule an advising appointment in between his/her classes, because they would not have had time to go over to main campus and make it back in time for their next class. Now, because the office is right down the hall from any location in the building, squeezing an appointment in real quick should be fairly simple.

I personally received good advice from one man in particular, Chris Heiden. He guided me on my search for an engineering degree that explored alternative energy sources. Mr. Heiden is still a member of the advising office. His information, as well as other advisors info is listed at the end of the article.

If you are interested in attending the University of North Texas College of Engineering, don’t be afraid to take advantage of this great resource. The people in this office can assist you in developing a fully mapped out plan for your college career. They will tell you exactly what classes you should take, based on your education goals and areas of interest. And, if you have any questions about campus life in general, feel free to contact a journalist or student ambassador.

I bid you all a wonderful Christmas, and would like to leave you with a passage from one of my favorite Christmas Movies;
“The most enduring traditions of the season are best enjoyed in the warm embrace of kith and kin. Thith tree is a thymbol of the the thspirit of the Griswold family Chrithmath. (Clark W. Griswold)" - Christmas Vacation

Advisor Info

Nancy Shaw
Discovery Park, C104
(940) 565-4201
Nancy.Shaw@unt.edu

Christopher Heiden
Academic Services Assistant Director
Discovery Park, A154
(940) 565-4201
Christopher.Heiden@unt.edu

Nicole D'Alesandro
Discovery Park, C104
(940) 565-4201
Nicole.Thompson@unt.edu

Virginia Fisher
Discovery Park, C104
(940) 565-4201
Virginia.Fisher@unt.edu

Hoop Dreams

What’s up people?! TGIF. ACRONYMS! It’s been a long week, full of last minute projects and homework.  It’s all good though. I’m all for increasing my knowledge of engineering methods. It seems though that dead week has slowly turned into a myth, and now is simply what seems to be another typical week, just on steroids. In light of this psychological pummeling if you will, I would like to take this opportunity to stray slightly from the topics related to engineering. Let’s talk basketball.

For those of you who follow North Texas basketball, you know that a couple of seasons ago we made it to the NCAA tournament, also known as March Madness. Analysts predict that this season North Texas will win the Sun Belt Conference title, which equals an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament.

This is a big deal for the team, the University, and the region of North Texas. Players dream of one day playing in a big tournament like this. For years, our school has been overshadowed by the power houses like UT and Texas Tech, but with more appearances in the big tournament, North Texas is sure to make a name for ourselves.

So far the team’s record stands at 6-3, six wins three loses, with one big win recently over Rice. UNT also put up a valiant effort against the #16 Texas A&M Aggies recently, just falling short by ten points. Being a former player in high school, I know the importance of having a strong fan base to support the team at home games. The louder the crowd, the more pumped up the players will be, which means the better the chance we have of winning.

Mark your calendars for December 20, as Sun Belt Conference rival Florida International comes to the Super Pit, along with their new coach Isaiah Thomas. Come out and support the team. The tickets are free for students, and you get a chance to see a hall of fame player in Isaiah Thomas, as well as a team (hint: not Florida International!) that will be playing on national television come March. Yeah, I’m going out on a limb and saying right now that North Texas WILL win the Sun Belt Conference. See ya’ll there!

SUPER...Enough Said

The world of acronyms has become more complex with the recent addition of S.U.P.E.R. (Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research) UNT announced just days ago the birth of the program, which gives undergraduates from around the country the opportunity to conduct research in his or her field of interest.


Areas such as data mining, green energy generation, and computer gaming are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the full span of subjects available to choose from. This program represents a wonderful opportunity for students to gain experience by conducting research, not to mention the fact that one may possibly uncover the answers to scientific questions which until now have remained a mystery.

The program will run its course for the first time in the summer of 2010, from June 7th – July 30th, and believe it or not (you really should believe it) participants will be offered incentives. A $3,500 stipend, housing, and travel expenses will all be given to the lucky applicant. Also, researchers will have one-on-one faculty mentoring.

Considering that the position cannot just be handed to anyone, there are a few requirements in order to be eligible for candidacy. First, the applicant must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, have completed at least up to their sophomore year in engineering, and must graduate no sooner than the Spring of 2010.  This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and just a sign of things to come in the future for the College of Engineering. So, if you are reading this and are qualified, visit http://www.eng.unt.edu/super.htm for more details and access to the application for this program.

It's Still There

The title of my last entry was ‘Engineering is All Around Us’, well it’s still there. I promised last time that I would share some of the engineering marvels I encountered while in the great city of St. Louis, if you haven’t been you should go sometime before you reach the light at the end of the tunnel.

After visiting the arch, my cohorts and I continued our journey onto a special place called the City Museum. (www.citymuseum.org) Now, one trait of a good writer is the ability to put a vision into words. In other words, not just saying what you saw, but telling what you saw. Alright I don’t know if that last sentence really made much sense, but the point here is that putting this place, the City Museum, into words is going to be extremely difficult. One short, sweet description would be to liken it to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, no pun intended.

More specifically, a Willy Wonka factory where the endless variations and derivations of candy are substituted with some of the most creative jungle gyms I’ve ever seen. It’s a place where the only difference between an adult and a child is physical appearance. I’ve never been somewhere where simple activities so sincerely bridged the age gap between adults and children. And while the activities themselves are simple, the combination of them is as creative as Willy Wonka’s chocolate river.

Upon entering the museum, you have a complex cave system where you have free reign to climb around. You can choose whichever path you'd like to explore, whether it be a common spacious corridor, or a tiny rabbit hole that, if you are able to fit through it, opens up into a large cavern where at the other side of the room is a staircase that leads to some unknown destination. I fit through the rabbit hole and upon hearing the faint sound of what seemed like organ music, decided to follow it and took the staircase.

When I reached the top of the stairs I was again in another large room where at the other side I saw an enormous organ, with pipes reaching up to 40 ft in the sky. To my right was a winding staircase that seemed to go up forever. I took the staircase as I listened to the eerie organ music, and after what seemed like ten minutes reached the top and was shocked to see that the only way back down was to take the slide. I later learned from museum employees that this slide stood seven stories tall! The intricacies of these staircases and cave systems were incredibly creative, and as I climbed around, I realized that to ensure the safety of the thousands of people that played in them week in and week out, that a truly masterful and competent engineer is the only possible person who could have conjured this creation.

Now being that it was the Thanksgiving holiday, my mother was with me of course, as well as my girlfriend, and I’m proud to say that both of them kept up with me through all of the caves and slides and other apparatus’.

After working up a sweat we decided to pay a visit to the skateless park, which was a fully functioning skate park equipped with ramps and rails, but no skateboarding is allowed…interesting. Another section of the museum is dedicated to the arts. A free pottery section, a small circus-like demonstration, and a snowflake cutting room where Ms. Marion sits telling stories as you cut out your creations. We visited the snowflake cutting room and as I listened to Ms. Marion, I couldn’t help feeling like a kid again. If at this point you think I’m crazy, I promise I’m not making this stuff up.

The truly impressive engineering creation of this place was the massive jungle gym outside. This thing was made of old airplane cabins and re-bar, and reached heights of up to fifty feet high. Makes the McDonald’s playground seem like that cheap swingset you find at the park. The one part of the outside jungle gym that I found most impressive, and at the same time scary, was the cages composed of two foot welded together metal rods. The cages were formed into a small tunnel form and were suspended above the ground by cables and chains that were fixed to the building. As I climbed through the tunnels, I couldn’t help but think to myself that some of the welds looked a bit suspect. I said to myself, “I’ll wait until all those other people climb through before I go”

I’m rambling and I could go on for pages and pages about this place called the City Museum. I highly recommend that you check out the link for the website. Definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever been, and another example of the many possible applications of a creative engineering mind. And to top it all the off, the building is powered with wind energy, and that just adds a few more to the cool points category in my opinion.  It’s a place where you can go and forget that you are getting old. One dose of this place a month is a good prescription for a healthy mind.

So to all you future engineers out there, especially the ones thinking of coming to UNT, be creative with your ideas. Think outside of the box. This is the only way that new ideas will come forward, which in turn leads to progress as a human race.

Engineering is All Around Us

As I stated in my last entry, I drove to St. Louis for the Thanksgiving holiday. This week I would like to share some of the engineering marvels that I saw. What do you think about when someone mentions the city, St. Louis? For many the answer is the Gateway Arch. Another answer might be the St. Louis Cardinals which is more than acceptable (Go Redbirds!) but for the purposes of this article I will avoid discussing the latter.

During the visit back to my hometown, I promised myself that I would go up into the arch, and even though it stands 630 feet at the top, I’m not afraid of heights so I was undeterred. Before I share my feelings on the experience I want to give you all the specs of the arch as they are quite impressive.

Referencing what I just said, the arch stands 630 feet high above the Mississippi River, and was built to represent the 1803-1890 westward expansion that made St. Louis the gateway to the West. A lot of buildings are really tall, even taller than the arch, but the feature that sets this building apart from the rest is its shape. The arch is shaped exactly as its name suggests, like an arch. To explain, if you took the McDonald’s golden arches and cut them down the middle symmetrically, you would have two of the building that I am describing.

In more technical terms, the arch is the shape of an inverted catenary curve. A catenary curve is the shape that a necklace makes when you hold it at both ends. The equation for the catenary curve is

Where k is the y-intercept and cosh is the hyperbolic cosine. (consult Dr. Traum for a detailed explanation) The arch’s legs are the same distance apart as the height, 630 feet. The arch is incredibly strong, able to withstand wind gusts up to 150 mph. The structure just bends to compensate for the high winds. Believe it or not, the engineer designed the building to bend this way, and I promise that I could feel the building swaying as I was at the top.

Once a man tried to land his parachute onto the top of the arch, he was successful initially, but then fell off after landing…I will let you fill in the blank on whichever adjective you choose to describe this guy. The real point that I’m trying to make here is that my studies here at UNT have opened my eyes to the endless possibilities of engineering. What started as a simple tour of a national monument quickly turned into a study and appreciation of an amazing chapter of American engineering history. My challenge to you is this: start to observe things around you and ask yourself, “How was this made?”, or “How does it work?” I assure you that the answers to these questions are found within a solid engineering education that can be achieved at the University of North Texas.

Will Someone Snuggie With Me?

George Lucas is probably hiring lawyers right now. At least I hope so. That is of course if he patented his costume design for the Jedi in his Star Wars movies. The reason I say this is because I can’t stop seeing one certain item revealed on just about every other commercial break in a rather humorous infomercial. What I’m talking about is the recently made infamous Snuggie. (see figure 1.1 below)

Whoever designed this thing must be a cult leader or something, right? I can just see it now...I come home for the Thanksgiving holiday and there are my Mom and Dad, along with their little schnoodle as they call it (schnauzer poodle mix), all sporting their Snuggies, “raising the roof” just like the guy on the infomercial. What’s even better is that they most likely will have one for me to wear as well, and being the good sport that I am, and only for that reason alone, I will put the Snuggie on and begin raising the roof appropriately. At least buy me the solid blue Snuggie and not the Cheetah print please Mom!

Regardless of what scene will unfold in front of my eyes when I return home for the holiday, I will be glad to be there I’m sure…I hope. I was unable to spend thanksgiving with my family last year, so I’m especially looking forward to my trip back to my place of birth, St. Louis, MO.

As we drive under the arch into the city, I’m sure my mind will be thinking of the less fortunate bunch that is unable to spend the holiday with their family. I know how it is, I was there last year. But instead of sitting at home on the couch sulking, I decided to throw a Thanksgiving party with some of my friends.

I like to think that I can cook, but I’m starting to accept the fact that this is not the case. When I had my Thanksgiving party last year I knew that I would need some food, right? Cause that’s what Thanksgiving is all about; football, food, and, friends…and not particularly in that order.

I found a quick solution to my lack of cooking skills in UNT’s Thanksgiving Dinner to-go. For about 60$, I was able to pick up enough food for 8-10 of my friends. UNT is offering the same deal this year for those of you who want to have a thanksgiving shin-dig. Contact 940-565-3804 for more details.

A Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy the holidays. Be safe. And then get ready to come back and finish out the semester strong!

Solar Powered Speedway

This December freshman in the Mechanical and Energy Engineering Program will compete in the Second Annual Solar Powered Winch and Cart Race. Students are given a maximum of $40 for their Bill of Materials. The price cap is imposed to prevent the kids who have easier access to funds from gaining an advantage.


The interesting thing about this project is that students are provided with their own solar panel, a halogen light, and a DC motor. See it goes like this. The halogen light is plugged into the wall and is used to send photons to the solar panel. The solar panel converts these photons to power for the motor. This is accomplished by pointing the halogen light directly at the solar panel at a distance previously determined as ideal in an experiment conducted earlier in the semester. In this case ideal means the best distance away from the solar panel so that the largest amount of light will hit the solar panel.

This is how the power gets transferred to the motor. The solar panel has wires on the back of it…one red, one black. Coincidentally, there are two prongs on the DC motor…red wire goes on one prong, black wire goes on the other. Your engine is now turning. Students are then responsible for assembling a gear system housed inside of a winch apparatus in order to pull a cart. The future engineers must then determine the optimum gear ratio in order to have a chance of winning the race, because the proper calculation of the gear ratio will result in the cart reaching its highest possible velocity

Overall, the students new to the MEE program will gain greater knowledge about concepts such as engineering design, working as part of a design team, and alternative energy sources. The only thing left to say is may the best nerd win.

Advisory Board 2009

Last week I had the privilege of attending a College of Engineering Advisory Board Luncheon, or C.E.A.B.L. if you’re into acronyms. I was armed with a Nikon 12 Megapixel camera…it’s considered illegal in almost 12 states, due to its x-ray capability. I kind of felt like the donkey being led by the carrot hanging from the stick; the carrot in this case being a fully catered lunch from Carinos, which is a fine establishment in my opinion. Freshly cut salad, piping hot eggplant parmesan, and all the bread I could stomach. They really had to twist my arm to get me to this event.


But aside from the obvious perks, I quickly realized the potential of this event to strengthen the College of Engineering’s relationships with leading representatives from industry. Leaders from TDIndustries, Cisco Systems, and Siemens were in attendance...just to name a few. Also making their appearances were representatives from UNT’s student body. The students had the opportunity to present their research projects on large poster boards in the hall outside of where we were eating lunch.

So after my last piece of key lime pie, I headed out to the hall where several posters were on display. The students were already into deep conversations with the industry leaders as I walked around and took photos. I couldn’t help but think, “Sir, are those boxers really appropriate?” My x-ray camera was acting up again. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a title on one of the posters. It was, Wireless Sensors for Energy Monitoring and Conservation in Re-tasked Buildings. This was obviously the Mechanical and Energy Engineering’s research project.

As I moved down the line of posters, another title caught my eye. It was System and Data Fusion Algorithms for Civilian Vehicle Recognition and Tracking. This had to be Electrical Engineering. After some detective work, I was sure that it was. Overall the event was going very well.

Being an engineering student myself, I realized the value of networking with several of the industry leaders. I , along with the other students attending the luncheon, picked up several tips from our visitors, and I’m sure they learned a few things they didn’t know when the day began. To sum it all up, the event was a mutually beneficial event for all parties involved. I look forward to continuing to build my network via UNT’s many professional engineering events.

Mechanical and Energy Engineering Ups the Ante

The Mechanical and Energy Engineering program at UNT has just recently added fuel to the fire that is undergraduate research. You might be wondering just what that ‘fuel’ is specifically, but I’m not going to tell you yet. I’m going to make you wait. I can’t give up all the goods right away. First, let me tell you what I do for undergraduate research, and then I’ll tell you what you want to know, that way you don’t fall asleep while I’m explaining my research.

A.E.M.S. An acronym. An all too familiar sight in the world of engineering. If I had a dime for every time I’ve seen a new acronym…well, you know how the rest goes. But this acronym is a special one, because it abbreviates my research project, and it stands for:

Ambient

Energy

Monitoring

Station


Now yes, as you can see I am a humble man, but enough about me, let’s get serious. The reason I’m doing this project is because alternative energy is an important, necessary, and hot topic of the near future. The future is now really. Write that down.

I want to give a shout out to the man responsible for enabling this project; Dr. Matthew J. Traum, Assistant Professor in the UNT MEE program, and virtual rockstar in the College of Engineering. I approached him in the spring semester of 2008 during the annual Career Fair held at Discovery Park, you guessed it, once every year. (I know about 99.9% of you can make that connection, but we can’t neglect that special .1%.) After speaking with the Graduate Programs at UNT’s booth (don’t quote me on that booth name), I learned that undergraduate research is a great resume builder, as well as a way to better ensure acceptance into a graduate program. Upon gaining this knowledge, I approached Dr. Traum and expressed my new found interest in Undergraduate research, specifically in the topic of wind power generation, one of the more interesting forms of alternative energy in my opinion.

He told me that some grant money was available to build a weather station, and I asked if I would like to take roughly 20 grand, which comes with leadership of an undergraduate research team, and the keys to a brand new 2009 Cadillac Escalade. Okay the very last part is a lie, but it’s okay to dream.

Regardless of the last part being a farce, I was already interested enough by the first two offers. With this grant money, over the summer of 2008 I ordered all the parts and built a fully functioning weather station (see below), capable of providing useful wind data.

My goal is to now monitor several ambient environment conditions such as air temp, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, etc. Officially, the plan is to present this topic at a conference in the near future. Ultimately by monitoring wind conditions over the next couple of years, we can convince the university to install wind turbines at the Discovery Park campus. Several other conditions may be monitored in the meantime for other possible areas of energy generation.

So now that you have brute forced it through my story of how the A.E.M.S. came to be, I can tell you what the ‘fuel’ is. Recently, the Mechanical and Energy Engineering department received a grant from UNT to support undergraduate researchers. Obviously this makes me giddy, because there is now potential for me, as well as other undergraduate researchers, to get paid for their work. Now as much as I enjoy the research without being paid, the fact remains, time is money, and rent is always due.

Above all, things are definitely looking up for the College of Engineering, as opportunities such as this continue to sprout up at an alarming rate. So to all you high school students out there, while I can’t ensure that opportunities like this will happen for you, one thing I can promise is that by attending the College of Engineering at UNT, you are putting yourself in an environment to succeed, and maybe one day you too can participate in a project that will uncover some cutting edge technology. Like I said earlier, it’s okay to dream.

Better Bring a Jacket

“To infinity and beyond!” Ah yes, the famous words spoken by that modern day Pinocchio-like action figure Buzz Lightyear in the recently reincarnated 3D version of Disney’s Toy Story. But the reason I begin with this quote is not to transition with a movie review, but rather to prepare you all to open your minds. One must tap into their imagination to rationally seek an answer to the following question; How soon will our society be able to flourish in outer space? Well several students at UNT are making the necessary efforts to come up with the answer to this question, as they research the possibility of developing a fully functioning, efficient, and reliable Cryogenic Rankine Cycle, or CRC.


Okay, I know. Cryogenic Rankine Cycle is a little intimidating. So let’s go step by step. The simplest definition of cryogenic is; of or relating to low temperatures. A Rankine cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that transforms heat into work. Now what happens when you combine these two definitions? 1 +1 =2. Right? Hold on let me grab my calculator…right. So then Cryogenic + Rankine Cycle = a thermodynamic cycle which has the ability to operate at very low temperatures. Most Rankine cycles use water as the working fluid, and are responsible for generating roughly 80% of all electric power used to make our current way of life possible. However, last time I went to the Moon I noticed that outer space is pretty darn cold. Felt almost as cold as -153°C. And sure enough www.universetoday.com verified my natural thermometric abilities. At these extremely low temperatures water freezes, which is why a different material must be used if a cycle similar to the one used on earth is to be successful in space. When I asked one of the members of UNT’s CRC team what the goal of the project is he answered, “Essentially the purpose of the project is to develop space-based power generation”.

Members of the CRC project at UNT are looking to determine the usefulness of liquid nitrogen in the Rankine cycle, because it does not freeze at these low temperatures found in outer space. Liquid Nitrogen freezes at -210°C on earth. One step in qualifying liquid nitrogen is to determine its contact angle. The students are using a laser to take pictures of the liquid nitrogen in order to do this. Once the contact angle is known, then a barrier can be made which only allows gas molecules to penetrate it. This prevents liquid from entering parts of the cycle like the turbine. This is important because if liquid entered the turbine it will cause it to malfunction. Currently, the members of the Cryogenic Rankine Cycle at UNT are applying for a grant from NASA.

So in order for the human race to ever have a chance of establishing a society on or around the moon, we must be able to generate electricity efficiently, and if the students at UNT are successful in formulating a CRC, it will be the first of its kind. This means at least two things...big $$$ for them and big steps in technology for the human race. Maybe Buzz Lightyear’s catchy phrase will prove to be a prophetic one.

Where the Wild Things Are

Have you ever wanted to paint yourself green and run around screaming at the top of your lungs, gnarling your hands into the shape of eagle claws, while at the same time making what you believe to be the sound that eagles make? Well students were welcome and had the opportunity to act out these insane actions in good company this weekend at UNT’s Homecoming.

It was mainly the parade that came down North Texas Blvd. that contained these eagle-like fanatics. What seemed like an endless amount of floats drove by flinging candy into the crowds. I know I felt like a kid again, and was not shy to shove a person or two out of the way to get the banana flavored laffy taffy. What? Banana’s my favorite flavor, and I assure you none of the children shoved were under the age of 15. Next thing I knew, a hooters girl was placing an “I love hooters” sticker on my shirt…where did they come from? I think they just dropped down out of the sky or something.

After the parade passed by, the pre-game tailgating ensued in the Fouts field parking lot. The smell of freshly cooked hamburgers, chicken-on-a-stick, and sausage filled the air. All throughout the parking lot you could see smiling faces and mouths moving, but the hearing what people were saying thing was kind of impossible due to the Rockin’ Rodeo bus’ blaring music. They were playing Jimmy Buffet though, so I can't complain. And when they stopped playing music, I was able to fire up my iPod, which contains artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311, and Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony to name a few. The party was well underway at this point.

As the game got closer more people packed into the parking lot. Also, the anticipation of North Texas getting its first home win in the last 7 attempts grew. The two had a directly proportional relationship. If you were to plot ‘number of people’ on the y-axis, and ‘anticipation’ on the x axis, you would see a straight line with a positive slope. There’s my nerd reference for you. (Yes, I am a nerd, and proud of it!) At one point it actually felt as if I went to one of those big colleges like UT or OU. But no school was bigger than UNT on this day.

I made a promise to myself that no matter what I was going to visit the College of Engineering tent. So, just before the game, I made my way over to the tent where to my pleasant surprise I saw the CooLN2 car. For those of you who haven’t heard, this car runs on liquid nitrogen. Liquid Nitrogen!? You ask. Yes. Liquid nitrogen! I can’t explain how so you’ll have to ask Mitty Plummer. I was disappointed though that more engineering students weren't there. So here’s the plan for next year’s homecoming…ready…here it comes. ALL ENGINEERS GET OUT THERE AND SUPPORT YOUR DEPARTMENT! Go to the engineering tent. Spread the word about Discovery Park, while at the same time enjoying a freshly grilled helping of chicken-on-a-stick.

It's Time for an Upgrade

When you walk through Discovery Park, what are some words that come to mind? Big. Quiet. Kind of Plain. These thoughts are sure to change in the near future thanks to the help of newly appointed Assistant Dean of Students, Lisa Campbell. Mrs. Campbell, who has experience working at schools such as West Virginia University, Montclair State, and Miami University (Ohio), boasts a “new commitment in student development” following what she claims was a “half hearted commitment” in the past. Lisa, who is a full-time employee, along with the help of a graduate assistant and two other student assistants, are like an army in comparison to the former, part-time graduate assistant, who was in charge of student development at Discovery Park. There are several new things that students can expect to see soon at Discovery Park.

The first and most impressive plan among Lisa’s long list is the construction of a new student lounge across from the coffee shop and the cafeteria. In this lounge, students can expect to see 3 big screen TVs fully equipped with Playstations and other gaming consoles that have yet to be chosen. One TV will have a satellite feed so students can catch the news or even part of their favorite show between classes. The goal is to have the lounge up and running in January of 2010. Also, she plans to put a pool table down by the ping pong table in the Materials Science & Engineering wing. People will be able to check out equipment and games to play in the lounge with their student id.

Coming up soon, October 29th to be exact, the library at Discovery Park will host the first annual “Game Day Spectacular”, thanks to the planning of Mrs. Campbell. Here, students can compete in a long list of games for the Wii, Wii Fit, and Playstation. Prizes will be awarded to top competitors.

In November, there will be a foreign film series for all students. And soon students will be able to attend weekly seminars called “Wednesdays @ 1”, which are, surprise surprise, every Wednesday at 1 PM. Lisa’s vision for seminar topics includes career counseling, leadership training, and health and wellness.

There seems to be no end in sight for Lisa Campbell’s plans to enhance life for students at Discovery Park. And now when people walk the halls, the dull adjectives that came to mind before will be replaced with sounds of people just having a good time.