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/ NEWS / THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
SCIENCE
Forget about gas; fill up with wind
Group works to power a VW Beetle with energy from a new wind turbine
BY BRENNA LONG
blong@kansan.com
Above the treetops on West Campus, a new low-speed wind turbine will soon be spinning and generating power for the battery of the EcoHawks' Volkswagen Beetle, eventually eliminating the need for gas in this experimental car.
The project was started last semester by the Aerospace Engineering Technologies Lite, a mock company formed by seniors in an aerospace materials and processes course. The group spent time working on manufacturing and now the students will redesign and build a turbine of their own.
"It was a way to get some manufacturing experience," said Christopher Vaughn, a senior from Andale. "We got started on it and were like, 'Hey this is kind of cool, and it would be kind of cool if we
finished it."
The project received $5,000 from the Student Environmental Advisory Board last Friday.
"Projects like this, I believe, will move us forward as a sustainable campus," said Chris Martin, a senator from the School of Engineering.
The seniors said that they would like to see the 60-foot-tall turbine supplying power to the VW Beetle by the end of May, but that they couldn't give a solid deadline because of all the variables. Waiting for parts, learning about wind technology and finding time to work could hinder the group from completing by the time they graduate.
Other assistance from the AerospaceEngineeringDepartment and theKUTransportationResearch Institute will help reach the estimated total cost of $17,300.The Kansas Space Grant Consortium
and the Aerospace Engineering Department financed the research done last semester. These organizations contributed with the intent of giving young engineers practical, hands-on experience, said Richard Hale, associate professor in aerospace engineering.
Hale estimated that each of the 27 students will spend about 50 hours on the project. Finding time to work on a project that isn't for credit wouldn't deter them, Vaughn said.
"It will be worth all the hours, and we will have something to show for it," Vaughn said. "This could be the start of a big thing for future generations."
The team is currently looking at changing the shape of the carbon fiber blades. The model that the team crafted had two blades in a curved structure, but Vaughn said the new designs would probably look more like the traditional long, slender blades. The diameter of the redesigned turbine will span 9 feet.
"We did run into a lot of issues with making the first blades because
of the funky curves, but I think we can apply what we learned to the new wind turbine," Vaughn said.
The group said the turbine will stand somewhere near the warehouse on West Campus used by the EcoHawks once it's built. The group plans to buy a weather station to help pinpoint the best location.
The EcoHawks, a team of University engineering students that collaborates with the aerospace engineering group, are already working with solar energy, so this car would combine two different types of alternative energy. Bryan Strecker, a senior from Topeka, said he thought the combination of solar and wind would be difficult to integrate but said he looked forward to seeing the outcome.
"I would really like to see the other majors get involved." Strecker said. "That is what we are trying to do is spread the knowledge about sustainable technology"
Edited by Allyson Shaw
Students from the Aerospace Engineering Technologies Lite group lay the leading edge of a turbine blade. The group hopes to design a wind turbine that will power a Volkswagen Beetle.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
DIVERSITY
Racial tensions at Missouri prompt Kansas students to put rivalry aside
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
This afternoon, five KU students will drive to the University of Missouri to hand-deliver a banner.
No, the banner doesn't say "We hate Mizzou," or any other rivalry-driven message. Instead, painted on the banner are the words "We choose unity," and "KU supports MU in the promotion of diversity."
The banner is a response to a Feb. 26 incident at Missouri, in which cotton balls were scattered in front of the school's Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. Many students and faculty members at the university were convinced that the act was a racial statement. The allusion to slavery on cotton plantations left
negative feelings not only among Missouri students, but also among a small group of KU students.
Kelsey Murrell, a sophomore from Kearney, Mo., was so stunned by the event that she decided to do something. Murrell shared the news about the event to her friends and other students at KU. Together, Murrell and her friends decided to create the banner, which she will take to Columbia this afternoon. When the staff at Mizzou learned of Murrell's efforts, they invited her to present the banner to students and faculty as part of a discussion on diversity.
"When I first read about it, I was really shocked that something like this would happen still today," Murrell said. "Reading comments that people had posted on different
articles, a few different people were giving feedback that they felt like it was a prank and shouldn't be such a big a deal. That really bothered me. To me, it was clearly racially motivated. I can't see how it couldn't be racially motivated."
ArooJ Zafar, a freshman from Overland Park, helped Murrell make the banner, and he will accompany Murrell to the diversity discussion.
"I think it's a big deal for people from KU to do it. I'm not doing it for MU, I'm doing it for the people there to show support," Zafar said. "Even we fight over everything else in this world, I am showing that there's one thing we can unite on, and that's diversity."
Murrell said she hoped that KU students would be able to look
beyond the longstanding border rivalry. So far, almost all the students she had talked to had been more than willing to sign the banner, once they found out what happened. Murrell said she felt it was important to stand beside another school, even a rival, and show support for its diversity.
"Basically what we're saying is standing up against discrimination is more important than a rivalry," Murrell said. "The statement we make as rival schools is to tell everybody that together, we don't accept actions like this. I am 100 percent all about KU, and definitely still a KU fan. I think that's what's so powerful, is we are rivals."
Edited by Ashley Montgomery
Samantha Forbes, a sophomore from Kearney, Mo., signs a banner inside the McCollum Hallobby. KU students created the banner in response to a recent race-related incident at the University of Missouri, where two students littered cotton balls outside the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center.
Mia Iverson/KANSAN
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