Engineer's Week 2012

2 | BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012

All kids are engineers! Get ready for the BrainPower 12 Expo

Since the year 2000, Maine’s engineers have invited the public, and especially the young, to our popular showcase of what engineers do. Every child’s an engineer at heart, learning new ways of doing things every day. As adults, engineers live their lives following this passion, developing new products, processes, and concepts.

Tung-Yen Lin, founder of T.Y. Lin in Falmouth, said it well when he spoke to us a few years back: “When I was 10 years old, I used to look across the wide river and wonder what the people on the other side were like.” Lin became a leader in the field of pre-stressed concrete, and is famous for designing beautiful new bridges.

Today hundreds of kids, their

parents, and their teachers come visit our stadium full of projects showing how we “ingen-ers” use our ingenuity to conceive new things. A 2-year old girl, playing with wires, batteries, and a motor, thrills to see the motor spin and wants to show us her motor turns this way and that when she reverses the wires. A kindergartner proudly shows off goop he

made using chemical engineering with the Society of Women Engineers. A group of 10-year-olds competes with handmade windpowered cars. Middle-schoolers showcase their inventions from science fairs and robots from Lego League. High-school teams demonstrate the 200-mph wind tunnel they designed using computer-aided analysis. An engineer

from Limington takes us through drawings he created for the Suez Canal.

All kids are engineers no matter what age they are and in Maine we’re working to include engineering in daily pre-K through Grade 12 education so these young minds grow up knowing what they can do with their native talents.

Come see for yourself!

Our celebration banquet is Friday, March 2, at 5 p.m. at the Wells Conference Center and the University of Maine in Orono. The BrainPower 12 Engineers Week Expo will take place Saturday, March 3 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the UMaine Field House in Orono.

For more details, visit www.engineeringme.com.

Looking for a career? Engineers help improve the world

It has been frequently stated that, “Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been.” Some of the greatest challenges of modern life have been overcome thanks to engineers. And their reach continues to grow.

Engineers do more than design bridges and buildings. Their work permeates many aspects of a person’s daily life. Beyond this, engineers help to solve many of the world’s most puzzling problems.

Many people do not fully realize how comprehensive engineers’ roles are. Nor do students recognize how fulfilling a career in this discipline can be. There are more than 1.6 million engineers worldwide. These people often cross the disciplines of math, science and engineering and venture into many different industries to conquer a host of challenges.

“Whether it’s the latest tablet computer, electric sports car or other cool new product, people get very excited about innovation — and more often than not these innovations are brought to market by engineers working in technology hubs like Silicon Valley,” says Vinton Cerf, IEEE Fellow.

Exploring just how far-reaching engineering work can be sheds new light on a field that can often be awe-inspiring.

Health, Medical and Humanity Oftentimes, engineers are seen as being the builders of the abstract, working against the hurdles of logistics, roads, and other manmade materials. But engineers also play a significant role in the fields that directly touch people’s lives and impact their well-being.

Engineers are instrumental in designing the products that help in

the area of medicine and personal health. From creating better, more innovative wheelchairs for the 67,000,000 people worldwide who require them, to developing custom-fit prosthetics that better mimic the function of actual limbs, to creating technology that enables blind people to “see” through electrical impulses in the brain, engineers are behind some of the medical field’s most innovative products. Individuals are often pouring over the hypotheses of how to build it better, including better hearing devices, such as surgically implanted computers that allow for direct neural connections instead of external aids. In many cases, engineers have helped develop products that rival the human body or even exceed its capabilities.

Robotics Robots can be used to replace

human error in many instances.

They can also be substituted for people when conditions may be too dangerous. Robots are already used to defuse bombs or to collect intelligence in times of war.

Engineers have helped create more than 8.6 million robots

worldwide. There are predictions that robots may be classified as their own subset of the population as early as 2040. These forms of artificial intelligence will replace humans in some of the more dangerous jobs, like military personSee ENGINEERS, Page 4

This supplement was produced and published by the

Editor/Layout: David M. Fitzpatrick Writing/Photography: David M. Fitzpatrick, Brian Swartz Some stories and photos submitted by participating advertisers.

Sales: Linda Hayes Cover Design: Faith Burgos If you’d like to participate in next year’s Engineers Week, or if you’d like to learn more about promoting your business or organization with your own special supplement contact Linda Hayes at (207) 990-8136 or lhayes@bangordailynews.com.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012 | 3

Teamwork made Route 1A dual-construction easy

By Sargent Corporation In fall 2009, Sargent Corporation and Lane Construction Corporation teamed up to reconstruct a 7-mile stretch of Route 1A northwest of Ellsworth, one of Maine’s busiest highways. Despite significant challenges, the two companies completed the job in fall 2010, eight months ahead of schedule, with minimal disruption to tourist, commuter, and delivery truck traffic.

The job was actually two adjacent projects. Both included pavement removal, excavation, new gravel, drainage, and paving the highway with 12-foot travel lanes and 8-foot shoulders to improve the roadway’s safety and functionality.

The first project, a 3.9-mile section of Route 1A near downtown

Ellsworth, was awarded it to Lane Construction in July 2009. The second project, a 2.9-mile section at the end of the first project, was awarded to Sargent in August 2009.

Ordinarily, MDOT wouldn’t have scheduled adjacent projects on the same highway for the same construction season, but when federal stimulus funds became available that summer, the second Route 1A project was the best project available, given the stimulus time constraints and the design availability of potential projects.

The first challenge was for two contractors, facing the prospect of working back-to-back projects in a very congested commuter and tourist corridor, to make the situation practical. One of the best things about Maine is the close ties that many contractors have See SARGENT, Page 7

PHOTO COURTESY OF SARGENT CORPORATION

Two back-to-back projects to rebuild 7 miles of Route 1A northwest of Ellsworth in 2009 and 2010 had the potential to become a traffic nightmare for tourists, commuters, and delivery trucks. But Sargent Corporation, which held the contract for one segment, and Lane Construction, which held the other, worked together as each other’s subcontractors to get the job done efficiently, safely, and eight months ahead of schedule, and with minimal traffic disturbances, thanks to overnight work during the week.

4 | BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012

Engineers Continued from Page 2 nel, loggers, industrial machinery repair people, and fishermen. Fishermen have one of the most dangerous jobs, with 200 deaths for every 100,000 full-time workers, according to data from The Discovery Channel.

Robots might one day prove instrumental in reducing such fatalities.

Environmental Issues Much has been learned about the human impact on the planet and the fast-moving depletion of natural resources. Engineers are often trying to solve the problems of the environment, including alternatives to reliance on fossil fuels.

There are some innovators who have posed questions about harnessing the power of natural weather phenomena, like hurricanes and tornadoes, to replace the 85 million barrels of crude oil used by the world every day. Hurricane power rivals nuclear stockpiles and tornado wind energy exceeds 300 miles per hour speeds. With the increase of natural disasters, engineers are seeking

ways to harness this power for the greater good.

In addition, in 2011 the world has witnessed tsunamis and earthquakes in Japan and a string of powerful tornadoes blow through the southern U.S. Engineers are in search of technology that can better forewarn about impending disasters to reduce loss of life and damage.

“For me, making a positive impact on society is one of the primary reasons to become an engineer — and also to become an entrepreneur,” offers John Cioffi, IEEE Fellow. “True engineering contribution does not arise solely from writing papers and making presentations, but requires a simultaneous effort to realize ideas in practice. If you don’t develop these fine ideas into realistic implementations, there is a good chance no one else will either.”

The IEEE, the largest professional association for the advancement of technology, wants more people to know about the profound impact engineers have on the world.

More information is available at http://solutionists.iee.org. Find out the ways engineers cross-collaborate across different fields to find solutions to improve the planet.

changing the way you look at

construction

through

i n n o v a t i o n . c o l l a b o r a t i o n . t e c h n o l o g y.

Teamwork helps Cianbro engineers move the Earth

team must have the ability to relay ideas. His CAD skills are crucial to that achievement at Cianbro. “It’s not just coming up with a “If they had a place to stand, they could bright idea, but being able to communicate find a way to move the Earth.” That’s how to other people who will implement that Cianbro Corporation President Andi Vigue idea at the construction site. We have the describes the company’s engineering team abilities in our group to do that.” which is integrated into everything Cianbro Technology accentuates Cianbro’s engibuilds. Their capabilities neering abilities. “I can are vast, ranging from remember back in the day when we had scales and wide experience in deep pencils and now we’re all excavation to working in on computers with CAD,” and around water to using said 27-year veteran Dave single- or multi-crane Saucier. “We stay current. plans for erecting strucWe need to. All of our tures safely to using -Tom Gilbert, Cianbro clients are current. And mother nature to move for us to communicate massive structures such as with them, we have to stay the lift spans of moveable up to date as well.” bridges.

Perhaps the greatest asset of Cianbro’s “We do everything from mills to bridges to railroads,” said Senior Design Engineer engineers is each other. They work together Joe Foley. “So we have to know all of the and trust each other to get the job done for specifications involved. It’s not something the client. “It all goes back to an old Cianbro you just jump into out of school. It requires motto,” said 30-year veteran Tom Gilbert. a lot of experience. And all our people are “No one in this room is smarter than all of us. Teamwork. It’s great to talk about, but we very experienced.”

Cianbro’s Engineering Group Designer live it. We live it in this group. We live it in James Haut says an outstanding engineering this company.”

By Cianbro

“No one in this room is smarter than all of us.”

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PHOTO COURTESY OF CIANBRO

Cianbro’s temporary trestle facilitates work at Little Bay Bridge project in New Hampshire.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012 | 5

Merrimac, Mass. taking bold steps with its water supply system

By John M. Riordan, P.E. SGC ENGINEERING

The town of Merrimac, Mass. has continued to operate a municipal water system supplied exclusively from two well fields and providing potable water to approximately 5,250 people. Portions of the system are over 100 years old. The existing system is comprised of water distribution system extensions added over time and has benefited from various improvements in storage capacity and water treatment as well.

However, recent physical inspections of the water infrastructure and engineering evaluations completed using mathematical hydraulic modeling software have confirmed a number of deficiencies. These must be corrected to allow the system to operate within standards that will provide water for potable and firefighting demands for the next 20-plus years. Consequently, the town has undertaken many improvements that will require a substantial financial commitment. This commitment is regarded as essential for maintaining the public health and economic vitality of the community. SGC Engineering is designing

these improvements that will consist of: • Replacement of two aged suction lift pumps at the primary well field with individual submersible well pumps in the six active 40-foot-deep wells, incorporating the use of variable-frequency drives to vary the pumping capacity, and using a fully integrated SCADA system to greatly improve pumping reliability and efficiency, and to also optimize the value of this critical sand and gravel aquifer potable water supply: • Rehabilitation of two water storage tanks to restore the useful life of each tank and ensure a reliable volume of stored water for both potable and firefighting purposes; • Provision of three water booster pump stations to establish compliance with the recommended minimum pressure throughout the system under potable demand conditions and largely resolve pressure deficiencies below 20 psi under fire flow conditions.

Additional considerations are underway that will compare the cost-effectiveness of water main replacements with strategic placement of buried fire cisterns to augment the availability of stored water for firefighting purposes in those areas of the water distribution system where hydraulic restrictions are the most severe.

What’s the right career for your children? Could be engineering

(ARA) - If you ask kids in elementary school what they want to be when they grow up, you’ll likely hear singer, ballerina, athlete or movie star. As students move into middle school and high school, they think more seriously about career possibilities. All parents want their children to be successful, so what careers should they expose them to in order to help them make a good decision?

This is a tough question for parents living in current economic times, where once suc-

cessful career paths now suffer from fierce competition and high unemployment rates.

There is a career, however, that continues to thrive through the down economy, and it offers a variety of flavors that can fit just about any child’s interests and personality: engineering.

Did you know employment in engineering is more than 4 percentage points lower than the national unemployment rate? Engineering majors make an average yearly income of $75,000, higher than the yearly income of graduates in any other field. These facts alone may inspire more parents to think of suggesting engineering as a career option to their children.

Intel recently commissioned a study of 1,000 American teens aged 13 to 18, to better understand how to get more of them interested in engineering as a career. The results suggest that exposure to any facts about engineering may inspire nearly half of teens to consider engineering as a career.

A conversation with your teen about what engineers do and specifically how much money they earn might be all that lies between your child and his or her future as a successful engineer. Here are six proactive tips for parents and teachers to help students consider a career in engineering: See CAREERS, Page 6

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6 | BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012

$6.5M Eastport Port Authority expansion completed in 2011

By CES In 2011, the Eastport Port Authority completed an expansion partially funded by $2 million from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER grant, along with $4.5 million in state transportation bond money. This $6.5 million expansion consisted of site development on the nearly 13-acre parcel, the installation of a new 900-foot bidirectional conveyor system, and a 5-acre wood chip storage yard.

Many important factors were involved in this significant expansion. As project manager, CES’s team of engineers and surveyors provided services including land surveying, site design, state and federal permitting, bid document development, and construction oversight. In a collaborative effort, the project was successfully completed on a fasttracked schedule that required input from many stakeholders including the Eastport Port Authority, the Main4eDOT, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the MaineDEP.

Under CES’ plan, workers dropped a ledge hill in the middle of the site by 26 feet to create a level table, removing 100,000 cubic yards of rock in the process. The excavated rock material was processed on site and used as the base for the wood chip storage yard and a future warehouse (to meet the port’s ever increasing storage needs).

The material was also used to stabilize a portion of the Sea Street shore, which the Maine Department of Environmental Protection had declared in need of emergency repairs.

Approximately 26 feet of shoreline had been lost since 1978, and the rock helped to protect several local structures.

The 900-foot bidirectional conveyor was constructed to allow for easier and faster handling of bulk commodities. This conveyor allows for efficient loading and unloading of ships, greatly increasing the port’s throughput capability. With this project now behind them, the port is poised to grow its volume of imports and exports, providing a direct benefit to the Downeast region and the entire state of Maine.

Dedicated to our clients. Proven by our results.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF CES

Construction underway at the Eastport Port Authority. CES’ plan dropped a ledge hill in the middle of the site by 26 feet to create a level table, removing 100,000 cubic yards of rock. The rock was processed on site and reused; some of it was used to stabilize part of the Sea Street shore. which the Maine DEP had declared in need of emergency repairs.

Careers Continued from Page 5 1. Help kids understand engineering.

Providing your children with a better understanding of what engineers do can increase consideration of a career in the field. Talk about how rewarding it is to be an engineer. Explain the different types of engineers, such as chemical, agricultural, sound or computer, and what exactly they do.

2. Make engineering more personal.

Children who know an engineer are more likely to consider the field. Do you have a friend or colleague they could meet and ask questions, or job shadow? Giving a face to engineers can help create a sense that “if they can do it, I can do it.”

3. Emphasize how engineers can play a role in making the world a better place.

Play up the impact engineers have on the world. For example, explain that engineers were responsible for saving the trapped Chilean miners last year. Or how a biomedical engineer might work on a new medical device that can help save thousands of lives and environmental engineers help endangered plants and animals survive.

4. Reframe the difficulty of engineering as a positive challenge, a badge of honor.

Most adults know that succeeding at

something you thought was hard is one of the best feelings in the world. Parents should explain their own experiences with overcoming difficulty and motivate their kids to take on new challenges, despite how daunting they may seem. The rewards could be impressive. In fact, engineering is the most common college major amongst S&P 500 CEOs.

5. Talk dollars and cents.

Explain the earning power of those who work in the engineering field. Half of the top 20 best-paying college degrees are in an engineering field. Roughly 60 percent of teens surveyed are more likely to consider engineering after learning about the career’s earning power.

6. Explain that engineers help our country.

From 1990 to 2010, overall college graduation levels in the United States have grown about 50 percent, but during that same period the number of engineering graduates has stagnated at around 120,000. By contrast, roughly 1 million engineers a year graduate from universities in India and China. This gap hinders global competitiveness and threatens our ability to both retain and create high-tech, good-paying jobs here in the United States. More children becoming engineers will help America remain the world’s leading innovator.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012 | 7

Burner Management System lowers manufacturer’s fuel costs Bob Sherman, P.E., Lead Engineer THE FITCH COMPANY

In the fall of 2011, The Fitch Company implemented a state-of-the-art Burner Management System (BMS) for a large manufacturing plant in Maine. The Fitch Company, with offices in Bangor, Rumford, and Gray, provides industrial automation design, fabrication, and commissioning for a variety of customers nationwide. One growing business segment for The Fitch Company is in the field of Burner Management Systems. The demand for modification or replacement of these systems continues to grow as customer seek to lower fuel costs by substituting natural gas as the primary fuel source.

A BMS contains the necessary software and hardware safeguards to ensure proper light-off and combustion of fuel. If a BMS has not been properly engineered, a fuelrich atmosphere can result in an explosion.

This explosion could result in loss of life and/or major equipment damage. The design, fabrication, and implementation of a BMS are normally done by Electrical and Control Engineers who have extensive experience with National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) standards. The NFPA periodically publishes industrial standards that provide guidelines to ensure these systems are engineered correctly.

The first step to engineer a BMS is to

determine proper control devices. Automatic valves, pressure switches, flow switches, etc. are required to regulate and combust the fuel properly. This work is normally done by mechanical and process engineers.

Next, the electrical engineering firm will determine the size of the control system needed to support the control devices.

The quantity of control devices will vary from a dozen devices to hundreds of devices. The electrical engineering firm will then create drawings so that electrical contractor can wire the devices properly to the control system. A control engineer will program the control system, normally a programmable logic controller, and an operator interface, also known as a human machine interface.

These systems work together to ensure that all proper combustion safeguards are met to ensure safe, efficient combustion of fuel. The design, fabrication, and implementation of a BMS normally takes several months because many engineering and construction disciplines are needed to complete the system.

The new BMS now operating at the manufacturing plant has enabled the plant to drastically lower its fuel costs while providing efficient heat needed for the process.

The new BMS provides the operators the ability to quickly and safely start and stop the combustion process and also provides excellent diagnostics to determine when a problem occurs.

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE FITCH COMPANY

Human Machine Interface (HMI) Screen Shot of some the hardware associated with a Burner Management System. Shown are the ControlLogix PAC, PanelView HMI, Alarm Banner, diagnostic indicators, and screen navigation buttons.

Sargent Continued from Page 3 developed over decades of working together.

Such was the case with Sargent Corporation and Lane Construction. They agreed to partner these contracts together through mutual subcontracting agreements, making a manageable situation out of what could have been a nightmare for everyone, including the general public.

As a result, the two projects were operated as one, and the Maine Department of Transportation Web site referred to them as a single 7-mile project.

On the 3.9-mile stretch closest to downtown Ellsworth, Sargent was a subcontractor to Lane Construction. On the next 2.9 miles, Lane was a subcontractor to Sargent. On both projects, Sargent did the highway construction, and Lane did the milling and paving. Maine Drilling and Blasting was the blasting subcontractor for both; Sargent did the excavation and supported the blasting work.

The second challenge involved the way the projects were designed—the 3.9-mile section using metric measurements (meters, centimeters, etc.) and the 2.9-mile section using traditional English measurements (feet, inches, etc.). The documents for the 3.9-mile section were drawn up several years before the project was bid, when the federal government required its highway-fund projects be in metric. The crews had to be on their toes integrating two projects with different measurement systems.

The biggest challenge was traffic. With about 20,000 vehicles a day and no suitable

detour, traffic management was paramount.

The first thought was that traffic would be heaviest on weekends and holidays as access to the Acadia and Bar Harbor region, but the majority was by commuters between Bangor and Ellsworth, and deliver-truck traffic, during the week — when most of the construction would take place.

After work began in fall 2009, there were major traffic delays, including delaying the governor for a while one day. Joint meetings with MDOT, Sargent, and Lane were held throughout the winter to plan traffic management and overall project management. The contractors and MDOT were able to put a work plan in place to involve daytime and nighttime work that kept traffic moving and allowed the project to be finished ahead of schedule.

In May 2010, Sargent crews began working two 12-hour shifts, doing major excavation and paving being at night, and grading, ditching, and pipe work in the daytime. As a result, most of the alternating one-way traffic was limited to the nighttime hours when traffic was lightest. Day crews worked outside the core of the roadway as much as possible, allowing for the passage of two-way traffic during the critical morning and evening commuting hours.

The 12-hour shifts also allowed Sargent to run some of the heavy equipment 24/7 hours a day. Crews were on the job from 6 a.m.

Monday to 6 p.m. Friday, leaving Route 1A open for summer traffic on the weekends.

The project was designed by the Maine Department of Transportation and constructed by two of Maine’s premier construction companies with the assistance of several quality subcontractors.

The biggest challenge was traffic. With about 20,000 vehicles a day and no suitable detour, traffic management was paramount.

8 | BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012

UMaine College of Engineering focusing on renewable energy

By David M. Fitzpatrick SPECIAL SECTIONS WRITER

PHOTO COURTESY OF UMAINE

Wind turbine research. From left to right, Adanced Structures and Composites Center research engineers Shawn Eary and Tom Snape and civil engineering graduate student Heather Martin observe the performance of 1/50 scale model turbine which was tested in the Netherlands in spring 2011.

Look no further than something like the Hoover Dam, a project led

by UMaine College of Engineering graduate Frank Crowe, to see how the CoE has long been a leader in innovation and engineering. Even then, the Hoover Dam used renewable energy by harnessing freely available water to provide electricity for three states. Eighty years later, renewable-energy solutions are surging at the CoE. “When we look at the biggest challenges that are facing the U.S. today, and the world, energy is right near the top of the list,” said CoE Dean Dana Humphrey.

“Energy is not something new for engineers; we’ve been working with energy since there were engi-

neers. But now everybody else has realized the importance of energy, because the price keeps going up.”

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard about the project to float turbines out to sea to harness wind power for gigawatts of electricity. The CoE has spearheaded the program, developing and testing its technologies and working as a leading partner of the DeepCwind Consortium.

But that’s just one of many innovative renewable-energy projects at UMaine. For example, since paper production only uses wood fiber — only half the wood — the CoE is finding ways to use the rest.

One project extracts the sugars from the wood and ferments it into ethanol for fuel. Another uses a chemical from wood called lignin in wood-pellet manufacture, resulting in hotter-burning

pellets. Now, the CoE is working on getting lignin from grasses, which grows much faster than wood.

Trees aren’t the only renewable resource being researched; the CoE is working on advanced fuel cells, ground- and air-sourced heat pumps, tidal power, making nanofibers out of wood for reinforcement in composites, and much more.

That’s to say nothing of the CoE’s involvement with the push to develop a smart electrical grid in Maine, which will utilize the existing infrastructure but add high-tech updates. The first stage is to replace manual-read electrical meters with automated meters, which enable power utilities to not only monitor how much energy we use but when we use it. In addition See UMAINE, Page 10

Biomass boilers at MSAD 29 facilities a win-win scenario In 2010, Maine School Administrative District 29 asked Woodard & Curran to evaluate the potential benefits of adding biomass boilers at Houlton High School and the Region 2 School of Applied Technology. MSAD 29 had secured a grant from the Department of Forestry, and with Woodard & Curran’s assistance on a tight schedule, the grant level was increased to cover the equipment that was necessary to meet new EPA emissions rules scheduled to go into effect.

Woodard & Curran then took the lead role as the design-build contractor for the innovative procurement, design, permitting, and installation of the new system and fuel storage facilities. The team of engineers and contractors was able to complete a concept

design to integrate the new wood chip boilers into the existing No. 2 fuel hot water baseboard systems in the two buildings and complete the system interconnect without disturbing the normal use of the facilities.

Startup of the system occurred in February of 2011, and it is estimated that the cost of heating the two facilities will be reduced by $200,000 per year.

Woodard & Curran’s contract provides MSAD 29 performance guarantees that the system will provide a cost-effective, renewable alternative to petroleumbased fuel systems while maintaining them as a reliable back-up. The wood chip fuel will be purchased from local manufacturers that primarily serve the paper industry, providing a secondary stream of revenue for those businesses. The project’s economic and environmental benefits will be recognized for years to come.

Powerful Solutions for a Changing World Woodard & Curran is a 650-person, integrated engineering, science, and operations company, serving public and private clients locally & nationwide. From our environmental roots to the broad range of services we provide today, our project portfolio continues to grow into emerging markets like the energy and power generation industry. At the heart of our company are our talented people whose commitment and integrity drive results for our clients every day.

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By Woodard & Curran

BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012 | 9

Maine Maritime Academy: ‘greener’ lobster boats

By Brian Swartz CUSTOM PUBLICATIONS EDITOR

Color the venerable Maine lobster boat “green” for improved fuel efficiency, thanks to a joint research project involving the Stonington-based Penobscot East Resource Center and Maine Maritime Academy Since summer 2010, Dr. Douglas Read, Ph.D., has conducted research “to see if the traditional Maine lobster boat can be made more efficient.” A naval architect who once designed destroyers at Bath Iron Works, he is an assistant professor of engineering at MMA in Castine.

According to Robin Alden, the Penobscot East Resource Center initiated the “Green” Lobster Boat Project because “we’re trying to make sure there is a future for fishing communities in Maine.” She is PERC’s executive director.

“Looking ahead, we are asking, ‘How do people who are fishing on a community scale remain profitable in the face of rising fuel prices?’ This is a fundamental issue,” Alden said. “Can we design a boat that will cut fuel use and be ergonomically better than the current vessels as well?

“This is a Penobscot East Resource Center project, and we have contracted with Doug to do this for us” for two years, with the project costing $15,000 to $20,000 per year, she said. “He started by researching current lobster boats, the demands they need to meet and assessing the options for fuel savings.”

“The Maine lobster boat [that] we have is very good at what it does already,” Read said. “The Down East hull form has evolved into a very efficient shape. You really can’t do something better without doing something radical” in changing the boat’s design.

The Penobscot East Resource Center put Read in touch with “a lot of fishermen at the beginning to talk about what they needed in a boat,” Alden said.

According to Read, initial research examined “diesel-electric and hybrid propulsion systems.”

However, “the benefits for a fishing boat are not there yet due to the added complexity,” he said.

The hybrid systems would also push the design toward an electric pot hauler, which has “a very bad reputation with lobstermen,” Read said. Experience leads them to prefer hydraulic pot hauler.

“For now we’re not going to mess with the propulsion and the machinery,” Read said. “That leaves the hull. The traditional Maine lobster boat has a semiplaning round chine hull with a big skeg on it.

“How do we improve on that?” he asked.

“There is very little technical

BDN PHOTO BY BRIAN SWARTZ

At Maine Maritime Academy, Dr. Douglas Read, Ph.D. is researching ways to improve the fuel efficiency of Maine lobster boats.

His research project involves MMA and the Stonington-based Penobscot East Resource Center.

data on lobster-boat hulls as to resistance and propulsion,” he said, noting that he found only one such study published in the

December 1981 “National Fisherman” magazine. “What is the drag on a lobster-boat hull?”

See MMA, Page 11

Improving Long Creek Watershed’s stormwater runoff

By Sevee & Maher Engineers Sevee & Maher Engineers, Inc. was recently retained by the Long Creek Watershed Management District (LCWMD) to provide engineering designs to improve stormwater runoff quality from around Thomas Drive in Westbrook.

In 2009 the EPA exercised its Residual Designation Authority (RDA) in the Long Creek Watershed, which requires stormwater permitting for any landowner with one or more acres of impervious cover. This precedent-setting use of RDA led to the establishment of LCWMD, which imple-

ments permit requirements for 97 percent of the watershed’s designated landowners. It’s the first use of RDA in Maine and the second in the nation.

The project goal, in line with the overall 2009 Watershed Management Plan, is to achieve cleaner waters in Long Creek within 10 years in a cost-effective manner. This phase, identified as Catchment B-21, is approximately 33 acres with developed areas accounting for 53 percent of that area.

The Catchment contains many ditches and pipe networks on public and private land that drain to one of two outfalls discharging to Blanchette Brook, a small stream in Long Creek’s headwaters. Currently, a

IMAGE COURTESY OF SEVEE & MAHER ENGINEERS

An overview of the Long Creek plan.

The project goal is to achieve cleaner waters within 10 years in Long Creek.

stormwater pond provides runoff flood control through one of the outfalls; runoff to the second outfall has no system for the control of peak flow rates or runoff quality.

SME is designing a gravel wetland retrofit for the stormwater pond with a goal of removing 99 percent of the sediments, zinc, and nutrients prior to discharge into Blanchette Brook. This will also reduce peak flows from frequent small storms in these areas and will allow the runoff to cool before entering Blanchette Brook. Temperature and high flows are suspected to be the pri-

mary contributors to the brook’s impaired water quality.

Runoff from an 55 percent of the developed area will be treated using a series of underdrained soil filters that will also provide substantial removal of sediment and impervious cover-related contaminants.

The retrofit design for this portion of Long Creek should be completed in mid-March, and the project constructed this summer.

For more information about the Long Creek project, visit : www.restorelongcreek.com.

10 | BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012

PHOTO COURTESY OF UMAINE

A composite wind blade, manufactured at the Offshore Wind Laboratory at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center, is ready to mount and test.

UMaine

ments and develop methods for prediction of transmission-line capacities and their stability.

Continued from Page 8 “The purpose of all this is to move to providing deep education in this field — Maine’s economy forward by the students which includes electrical engineering and we graduate and developing new technolocomputer engineering as key components gies,” said Humphrey. “Right now, there is — the CoE is working with many players in no better way than a focus on energy.” the field, locally and abroad, to make the The push towards renewable energy has project happen. prompted UMaine to recently establish That collaboration has resulted in devel- three new renewable-energy minors which oping the Maine Smart Grid Center at the can be added to a student’s course of study: university. Its aim is to collect voltage, ener- Renewable Energy Engineering, Renewable gy, thermal, and environmental data that Energy Science & Technology, and will enable the MSGC to conduct experi- Renewable Energy Economics & Policy. By enrolling in one of the minor programs, students learn specific skills that enhance their degrees.

“We’re spanning the academic disciplines,” said James Passanisi, the project coordinator for the Renewable Energy Curriculum.

“Renewable energy is a growth area in the economy and we want students from diverse backgrounds to be able to access those opportunities.”

For example, if you’re an electriPHOTO COURTESY OF UMAINE cal engineer, a Renewable Energy Only about half of wood is fiber, used in paper- Engineering minor can really posimaking. The College of Engineering is working tion you to work in, say, the Smart on other uses, such as using the chemical lignin Grid field or something else more in wood pellets; lignin burns hotter, producing specialized. more energy per pellet. UMaine is also researchThe CoE has also developed ing various biofuels and other wood uses. comprehensive, 8- to 12-week

internships with the DeepCwind Consortium, either at UMaine through labs such as Advanced Structures and Composites Center or with the roughly 30 current partners in the DeepCwind Consortium. Engineering students will get real-world, on-the-job experience in various phases of the wind-turbine construction and operation. The internships even qualify for academic credit that can be applied to the new minors.

Passanisi said this is part of the work Dr. Habib Dagher, director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center and the leader of the DeepCwind project, is doing.

“His vision is for us to partner with all of those companies that we already work with to get UMaine students into those opportunities,” Passanisi said. “At the end of the day, one of our goals is to make the University of Maine… a real destination for students who want to study renewable energy.”

And they have loads of options at a school that’s exploring the entire gamut of what “renewable” means: wind, solar, tidal, biofuel cells, hydropower, and heat pumps, as well as more conventional fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas but used in a more efficient way. Humphrey said there’s no one silver

bullet for energy solutions — no “Eureka!” element that will solve all our needs.

“The further we look into the future, the more diverse our sources of energy are going to be,” he said. “There’s a multitude of solutions, and it’s going to be the generation of students that are going to school right now that are going to be part of this revolution.”

It doesn’t hurt that a typical engineering graduate can expect a starting salary of $50,000 to $65,000. And the most recent survey by the CoE shows that, six months after graduation, all but 3 percent of engineering grads had jobs; in engineering technology, everyone had a job. Meanwhile, forget the boys’ club; for several years, the CoE hovered at around 15 percent female enrollment, but last year soared to 23 percent women in the incoming class.

Humphrey enjoys reminding students considering engineering careers of the important role engineers play in the world.

He likes to invoke Einstein, who said, “Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been.”

“We’ve got the right technologies available to not just solve today’s problem, but to solve tomorrow’s problems,” Humphrey said. “And that’s our job.”

Liability, not laughs or love

By Gregg Ritter, CIC, AAI, AIC CLARK INSURANCE

For design professionals, LoL is not shorthand for “laugh out loud” or “lots of love” — it means limitation of liability and it is something worth considering when negotiating contracts.

A limitation of liability (LoL) clause can be one of the most effective risk allocation tools available to design firms. However, these clauses can also be among the most difficult to negotiate with your client and, depending on your jurisdiction, one of the most contested once applied. Therefore it is crucial that any LoL clause be carefully drafted in a fair and equitable manner that is likely to hold up to a challenge in court.

These and many other considerations are part of the service we provide at Clark

Insurance for our design professionals.

As one of the largest providers of coverage for architects and engineers in the region, our well-known team of professionals has extensive experience designing, structuring Gregg Ritter and managing insurClark Insurance ance programs for firms of all sizes.

In addition, Clark provides a wealth of property and casualty insurance solutions, including loss control and cost containment programs, risk management tools and safety-related communications. We also have a large and growing Employee Benefits Group providing health, dental, disability, life, and long-term protection.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012 | 11

MMA Continued from Page 9

According to Read, “the fishermen want a lot of beam on their boats to increase their working area. If you widen a traditional lobster boat to accommodate that increased beam, you increase its drag. So you pay for the extra space with fuel.

“We focused on multi-hulls,” such as catamarans and trimarans, he said. “By going to a multi-hull,

BDN PHOTO BY BRIAN SWARTZ

Tom Morrison is a senior in the five-year marine systems engineering program at MMA. He and another senior, Gordon Smith, are designing a scale model of a mono-hull lobster boat. This model’s sea-keeping capabilities will be tested in California later this year.

you decouple the beam that you want from the drag. Any multihull will do that.”

During the 2010-11 academic year, two MMA seniors helped build a 4½-foot, 1/8th-scale model of a 36-foot lobster boat as part of their Capstone project.

Made of poplar, this model featured a deck-covered trimaran hull. Testing took place in a tow tank at the Webb Institute in Glen Cove, N.Y. “We measured a 25-percent reduction in drag,” Read said.

“Power is drag times velocity. This leads us to project there should be a corresponding 25-percent cut in fuel consumption for a given speed.”

He indicated that a 36-foot lobster boat with a trimaran hull would have a 13-foot beam, a comfortable width for many lobstermen. “If you were standing in the cockpit, it would look like a traditional lobster boat,” Read said.

“The only thing you would notice is that you would be a little higher off the water.”

To obtain additional data about a trimaran lobster boat’s performance, “we are building two models with this year’s Capstone students,” Read said. Both models will be approximately 1/5th-scale and measure 6 feet, 9 inches; one model will incorporate a traditional lobster-boat hull, the other model a trimaran lobster boat

“with the full top side on it,” he said.

The models “will be built like traditional boats” with fiberglass interior hulls and gel-coat exterior hulls, Read said.

Assisting with the model construction are two MMA seniors, Tom Morrison and Gordon Smith.

Both are enrolled in the college’s five-year marine systems engineering program.

Last semester, they developed a detailed “white paper” that “was a concise summary of what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it,” said Morrison, who hails from Waldoboro and has worked as a sternman on a Friendshipbased lobster boat. Smith has prior experience with building model boats.

Using MMA facilities, including the Boat Shop and a CNC machine, Morrison and Smith will construct the mono-hull model.

To this they will mount “a threeaxis accelerometer” to record the hull’s roll, pitch, and heave during springtime testing, Morrison said.

“The actual model construction, it will be nice to see this model when it’s done,” he said.

“The testing we’re going to do is for sea-keeping, how the boat acts in waves,” Read said.

“This is such a radical new idea, we have to test its sea-keeping ability as well,” Alden said.

After their completion, the boat

PHOTO COURTESY OF DOUGLAS READ

In 2011, MMA researchers designed and constructed a scalemodel lobster boat with a trimaran hull. The model underwent testing in a wave tank at the Wentworth Institute.

models will ship to California, where the San Diego-based M Ship Co. will test them simultaneously next summer with the Rapid Empirical Innovation program.

According to M Ship literature, “hull models are evaluated on a self-powered, open-water tow testing platform that provides realtime force, trim, and acceleration measurements to optimize performance and ride quality.”

“They will do drag and seakeeping comparisons, side by side, economically,” Read said.

“Most people don’t realize the difficulty and expense of testing for these parameters in a tank test,” Alden said. “That’s why we are

pleased to find this way to do the testing.”

“If the tests are favorable … we will start looking for a way to build one (a trimaran lobster boat), fullscale,” Read said.

The Penobscot East Resource Center is planning the next steps for the project, “some of which needs to wait until after the testing,” Alden said. “It’s an exciting project. There is a lot of curiosity in the industry because this is a brand new idea.

“And we recognize that this boat has to be pretty. Above the waterline, we’re trying to make the boat look as traditional as possible,” she said.

The importance of continuing education for engineers

By Russell G. Martin, PE, F.NSPE SECRETARY, MAINE SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

Many state licensing boards have recognized the need for the demonstration of continuing professional development (CPD) as a condition of licensure renewal.

This typically takes the form of the engineer earning professional development hours from a variety of activities. In Maine, professional engineers must earn a minimum of 15 professional development hours annually to maintain their licenses.

The subject of mandatory CPD has generated open discussion in many professions, including engineering. Our profession has changed dramatically over the last 50 years, embracing new areas of practice and increasing the specialized knowledge needed by practicing engineers. Engineering

encompasses a broad range of job areas, including education, research, design, construction, manufacturing, management, and regulation. There are many reasons for engineers to expand their personal knowledge bases, including: • maintaining relevance in a continually changing environment; • making a statement about one’s commitment to the protection of public health and safety; • recognizing the need to embrace new thoughts and ideas throughout one’s career; • increasing the stature of yourself and the profession to your employer and the public.

The National Society of Professional Engineers and the Maine Society of Professional Engineers were originally formed to champion the cause of licensure of all engi-

neers. Attendance at the MeSPE 8th Educational Symposium March 2 in Orono is one way that PEs can improve their standing as

individual engineers through the attainment of continuing professional development hours.

12 | BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Saturday | February 25, 2012

Sewall leverages geospatial expertise to help develop Maine’s wind industry

By Patrick Graham, PE AND LISA SCHOONMAKER

Established in 1880, James W. Sewall Company is one of Maine’s oldest companies. Since it first provided the forest industry with inventory, surveying, and mapping services, the firm has gradually expanded its markets across government and industry sectors and broadened its services to include a wide range of engineering, natural resource, and geographic information systems (GIS) consulting services.

Sewall began serving Maine’s wind industry in 2006, providing civil engineering design and stormwater permitting services for Maine’s first commercial wind farm, the Mars Hill Wind Project. Adapting Sewall’s expertise in civil engineering to the design and permitting of wind project access roads and turbine sites in mountainous terrain was a natural fit. Since then, Sewall has diversified its services to include project siting and GIS consulting services for the wind industry in Maine, New England and nationwide.

In 2007, Sewall provided aerial photography for the Stetson Wind Project, mapping the features and contours of a proposed 38mile electric transmission corridor. Sewall also flew and mapped project development sites for the Record Hill and Kibby Wind Projects, generating the necessary topographic contours to support civil site and road designs. For these projects, Sewall expanded its services to include evaluation of proposed transportation routes for wind turbine components from port of entry to the project sites. This work involved analysis not only of turning radii, but also of road grade changes and overhead obstacles due to the low ground clearance of transportation vehicles and the height of some turbine components.

A year later, Sewall leveraged its GIS consulting expertise to provide wind developers with project prospecting and siting assistance. These services included developing property maps and project base maps with key cultural, environmental and infrastructure information; and managing project data using web-based information systems.

The information systems evolved into Sewall’s WindSite application, a web-based GIS that enables multiple project team members to access and share project information online.

The same year, Sewall teamed with the University of Maine to develop the Offshore Wind Energy GIS (OWEGIS) ecospatial database, now over 650 layers of informaPHOTOS COURTESY OF JAMES W. SEWALL CO.

Top right: A wind-turbine blade on a flatbed makes a careful corner en route to the Kibby Wind job site.

Left: Cranes erect a tower at Kibby.

Below: Existing towers on Record Hill.

tion relevant to the siting and permitting of offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine.

This information forms the basis for the Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Report, a US Department of Energy-funded study that the UMaine-Sewall team developed and released in February 2011 to assist companies interested in developing deepwater offshore wind pilot projects in Maine.

Recently, Sewall leveraged its experience in ecospatial database development to expand the geographic reach of its services

by conducting siting studies for international clients seeking to develop offshore wind projects in southern New England and the mid-Atlantic. Sewall is also collaborating with partners in the Midwest to use the OWEGIS data framework to build an offshore wind siting and decision support tool for the Great Lakes. Through this project and others to come, Sewall plans to continue growing and expanding its services, as it has done for the past 132 years, to meet the changing needs of its clients.