Applying Engineering: Remember the Envirosmart Streelight program?

Remember this whole deal back a couple of years ago when the City of Calgary was very concerned about light pollution? It was also a way to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gases being emitted by the use of old and inefficient lightbulbs?

It's fun to talk about the politics of why or why not this program would benefit Calgarians, but have you ever looked at the engineering aspect behind it? I'm taking a course as part of my degree called ENCH 501, and this course takes on almost anything. In one of the previous midterm questions, it took on this exact question and made chemical engineering students feel like they were actually solving relevant problems. I wanted to show that problem today (not because I'm great at engineering), but because most people only know the very basics and have never looked at the science behind it. I'm not saying the following example is all that advanced, but it gives an idea of how engineering can be applied to things we consider for granted.

This midterm problem in general asked students to find the convective heat transfer coefficent on the surface of the lens based on a transient equation. It also asks students to find the temperature of the lens after the lights have been turned on for a period of time.

Figure 1: Transient function equation

Figure 2: Temperature as a function of time equation and table plots

Figure 3: Temperature as a function of time graph

Yes, this is the stuff I have to deal with. I cry a little every time except the professor who teaches this course is awesome. I wrote off a midterm on Tuesday. Good times.

So for people to talk about things isn't enough in my opinion. The science behind all of this is just as intense and important, and when people don't know or care about things like these, they start making uninformed decisions and comments. Enjoy.

If you're interested in what this midterm looked like, take a look via the link below:

ENCH 501 Midterm 2006