James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2009 - Index

“Everything works on paper,” Bachmann
says. But when students get in the lab, when
they start building a design, they have a new
appreciation for the difficulty of bringing a
plan to life. On paper, nothing is moving,
he says, and then with movement, suddenly
this piece of metal is hitting that one or this
screw can’t be accessed. Students often have
to drill through their projects to make an
adjustment. These things never show up
until they get into the lab. “When they get
it, it’s a little bit of an epiphany.”
The lab is of special benefit to students
enrolled in the new JMU School of Engineering.
Unlike almost every other school
where engineering students never build
their designs — and if they do, not until
their junior or senior years — JMU engineering
students use it from day one, as
ISAT students have done for a decade.
One of the first projects to come out of
the Alternative Vehicle Lab, Bachmann
says, was the Super Beetle. Then-ISATstudent
Randall Morrison’s (’06) uncle
donated an old Yamaha motorcycle. “The
students scoured the town and found an
old VW Beetle,” Bachmann says. “We saw
potential in the old Bug. I bought it for
$50.” John Miller (’70, ’83M) at Massanutten
Technical Center donated an engine.
To make floorboards, they cannibalized an
old picnic table they hauled out of a dumpster.
With the materials, students designed
and built the Super Beetle. “$50, free and
free. Pretty good,” Bachmann says.
“A lot of times our students have no concept
of money. ... They can propose pretty
outlandish ideas,” he says. “So, along with fuel
economy, they are learning real lessons in how
economic factors influence research, development
and the implementation of new ideas.”
The economic perspective is a significant
part of the entire alternative fuels question
and requires creative approaches. One such
approach, Bachmann says, might be gridto-grid
power. He explains it this way: Suppose
you charge your electric car through a
wind-generated power plant (at a price) and
drive to work. As it sits all day, the power
dissipates — it’s lost. What if you could
plug it in at work and sell that power back
to the grid while you’re at work?
This kind of innovative thinking, Bachmann
says, is why JMU’s creative approach
to the entire alternative fuels paradigm is so
important. Anyone can build electric cars.
The technology is there. But how do you
get a majority of drivers to buy and drive
them? “In 20 years, we’ll run out of easy
oil,” Bachmann says.
‘Along with fuel economy,
they are learning
real lessons in how economic
factors influence
research, development
and the implementation
of new ideas.’
CHRIS BACHMANN, director of the
Alternative Fuel Program
It’s a complex problem with solutions
that demand the best of science. But the
best science — like a brilliant mind — is
useless without the discipline of individuals
to embrace it. Changing human behavior is
the missing piece and perhaps the biggest
challenge AFP faces is changing the culture
outside the university. Take NASCAR, for
instance. It’s the most popular spectator
sport in the country — drivers going fast
in a circle. They’re not concerned with
fuel economy or environmental impact.
They’re interested in speed. Much of the
same mentality exists for American drivers.
They want to get from point A to point B
quickly and comfortably. Only a fraction
are more concerned with the environmental
impact of their gas-powered cars.
This point of interface is where AFP
hopes to have an impact. Bachmann puts
it this way: “We’re doing a different kind
of research. … How society interacts with
technology. What are the hurdles to overcome
to get them (environmentally smart
vehicles) into the mainstream?”
One approach they are taking is through
alternative vehicle competitions, and the most
important is the Society of Automotive Engineers,
the most prestigious of the collegiateadjunctive
engineering societies. Two years
ago, JMU petitioned SAE to allow the university
to start a campus chapter. Without an
engineering school, JMU’s request required
“flexibility” in SAE’s decision. The allowance
was granted and the chapter established. Now
through SAE, JMU plans to make its mark
on the entire collegiate engineering world.
Each year, SAE holds Baja SAE, an offroad
vehicle competition that draws some
100 colleges and universities to each of three
events. The competition challenges student
teams to design, build, test, promote, race
and market a vehicle that will handle challenging
terrain and, sometimes, water. But
there is no element in the current competition
that addresses environmental impact,
Bachmann says. So the JMU chapter is
CONTINUED ON PAGE 39
ural world, which is the second part of the
institute’s name. Do you see that at JMU?
HARTMAN: We do see that a lot of young
people today are not spending as much
time outdoors as children have historically.
When I surveyed students in one of my ISAT
321 classes, they indicated that they spend
a great deal of time indoors. Maintaining
that connection with the outdoors is especially
important for our students who will
work in outdoor environments. There are
also an increasing number of studies that
indicate health is closely tied to interaction
with nature. We have tremendous resources
at JMU in terms of the natural world — for
example, the arboretum, where a lot of professors
take their classes. The JMU Farm is
another and, of course, our surroundings like
the Shenandoah National Park.
THOMAS: I love the arboretum and go
through there as often as possible. At the
right spots it’s possible to get lost and pretend
you’re not in the middle of Harrisonburg.
BOLGIANO: Recycling may be the most
immediate way that most people connect
with the environment on a daily basis, and
recently JMU competed in the National
RecycleMania Waste Minimization Competition.
How is the recycling program going?
HARTMAN: JMU recycling started about
20 years ago and employs 10 people. Most
JMU employees have desk-side bins for
common recyclables such as paper, bubble
wrap, soda cans; and we have community
bins that people use in the common areas.
We have about a 35 percent recycling rate,
and that’s one of the highest university
rankings in Virginia. Now it’s time to take the
next steps, to reduce and to reuse.
RecycleMania is a way to promote waste minimization.
The idea is simple: Carry your reusable
mug and also save 40 cents at the dining
hall instead of using disposable or even biodegradable
cups. But it’s a cultural change, which
is challenging. We’ll have our incoming class at
orientation get a reusable bag as opposed to a
plastic bag. Next, they will get their mug. Hopefully,
they will see everybody use these. We’ll be
reaching out to make our citizens aware that
this is campus culture, and it is what’s expected.
My hope is that our citizens reuse for so many
years that when they leave it would seem
wasteful to practice a different behavior.
Last fall we did a trash sort where three
buildings dumped their trash on the CISAT
lawn, and 40 of us sorted through it to see
how many recyclables were there. Recycling
was anywhere from 10 percent of the trash
in one building to 50 percent in the other.
Later, we surveyed our 40 volunteers who
bravely did this; it was a cold, cold day and it
was not a pleasant aroma …
THOMAS: It was not pleasant.
Q&A
CONTINUED ON PAGE 35
SUMMER 2009
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