Oshkosh

I was able to attend Airventure again this year on Monday. Although I always like going there, and was able to meet some people for work and personal reasons, it was extra special because I got to spend a few hours there with my grandfather. My grandfather Elroy, was the first person to take me to Oshkosh way back in 1985. That trip left a memorable impression on me with all the various types of airplanes, from homebuilts, to warbards, and the Concord was there too! It was the first time I saw aerobatic performances and was amazed at how they can do that (still am).

Although by that point I already had a pretty big interest in aviation, that trip cemented my desire to make it a career. My grandfather has not been back to Oshkosh since 1987, so needless to say things have changed quite a bit since he was there last. We met at the Cirrus booth, looked around there and then went for a walk through the antique/classic area and watched some of the ultralights flying around. It was a memorable day for both of us.

So thanks Grandpa for supporting my career then and now. I am sure there are others that have similar stories, and I would love to hear them.

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SWIEIT Speakers' Program - Riverina Road Trip

On Monday 30 July, Sydney Women in Engineering and IT Speakers' Amy (BE-mechanical) and Rochelle (BInfTech) travelled to the Riverina region of rural NSW to speak to over 120 female students in Years 7-12. After a frosty morning with ice on the windscreen of the hire-car, first up was the school hall at Murrumburrah High School where the speakers engaged a lovely group of girls with their journey about wanting to study engineering & IT and some robot friends they took along. 

The SWIEIT speakers' then drove to Young where they were met by careers adviser Susan Matthews and a delicious lunch in the library staffroom - Thank you, before speaking to a group of senior girls in the school's ICT resource centre! Last stop for the day was Cootamundra High School before a long drive back up the Hume Highway to UTS Broadway Campus. A HUGE thank you is extended to all three schools for hosting us and we would love to see some of you come and visit us for Engineering & IT Discovery Day on Friday 30 November at UTS.     

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SWIEIT Speakers' visit - Mitchell High School Blacktown

Sydney Women in Engineering and IT Speakers' Jenny and Laura had the pleasure of speaking to a lovely group of year 10 and year 11 girls at Mitchell High School Blacktown on Friday 27 July. Jenny who grew up in the area and attended nearby Quaker's Hill Public school, opened up to the girls about her love for robotics and mechatronic systems, transition from TAFE Meadowbank to UTS:Engineering and all that has happened since including becoming an Australian Power Institute (API) scholar and working at Ausgrid, one of Australia's largest electricity suppliers. 

A huge thank you is extended to Mrs Christine Watson for organising for us to come and visit your female students. Please keep in touch and come and visit us at Open Day on Saturday 25 August. 

Read more about Jenny's story below: 

SWIEIT speaker Jenny from UTS_wieandit

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FEIT Public Lecture - TIM (Thought-controlled Intelligent Machine): A New Smart Wheelchair for People with Severe Physical Disability

Today in Australia there are around 700 thousand people living with severe disability, and many do not have access to any form of independence in mobility. To address this issue a hands-free, smart wheelchair named TIM (Thought-controlled Intelligent Machine) has been created at the University of Technology, Sydney. This smart wheelchair is aimed at providing new means of wheelchair control, such as thought-control, for those who currently cannot use any available control options. In addition, this wheelchair can sense its surroundings and provide safe manoeuvering assistance during navigation. 

Jordan Nguyen became involved in this research as part of his final year undergraduate project and in 2009 was awarded a scholarship to continue the research. Now nearing the completion of his PhD, Jordan will take you through the research undertaken and explain how 'TIM' will allow severely disabled people to control their chairs using only the power of their minds and some head movement, and how the wheelchair uses its cameras to see and intelligently decide how to avoid obstacles by constantly working out the safest directions to travel based on the user's intentions.

Jordan is a strong supporter of the Women in Engineering & IT Program at UTS and has been involved in promoting the field of Biomedical engineering to young women for many years now.

This is a free public lecture presented by UTS Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and is also part of the Ultimo Science Festival, supported by the City of Sydney and the Australian Government. 

For further information on research being undertake in the faculty visit  FEIT Research.

  

Date: 21 August 2012

Time:18:00 - 20:00

Light refreshments from 6.00pm.

Location: City - Broadway CB01 Tower Broadway Great Hall UTS Building 1, Level 5.

               Map and directions.

 

Audience: All Welcome

 

Cost: This is a free event

 

RSVP: Registration essential. Please register online.

 

Contact:Tracey Grinter, Ph. 9514 2637 

 

 

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M10 Homecoming

It is a very exciting weekend for us here at Cirrus as the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) holds their annual "migration" which this year returns to Duluth. The new employees in Engineering are just as excited as us "veterans" to see all these airplanes on the ramp. A great benefit for me is it gives me another chance to meet and interaction with our customers and blog readers.

I will be around at the events on Thursday night, I give a talk on Engineering updates on Friday afternoon, and I will be around the convention area on Saturday afternoon, I always enjoy talking with fellow pilots and Cirrus owners, so feel free to stop me and say hello.

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