Technician
Aerial Robotics Club flies high Jack Borkey Correspondent
In a workshop in Engineering Building III on the Centennial Campus, a number of engineers and robotics enthusiasts are making N.C. State’s name known within the upper echelons of the aviation industry. The Aerial Robotics Club designs and builds its own unmanned surveillance aircraft, and then competes against teams from across the country and around the world. The team is comprised of 25 members, with 15 members coming in regularly to put work into the aircraft. This past June, the team placed second overall in the ninth annual Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition, falling only to Utah State University, in a contest featuring 22 of the top teams in the world. The finish was a swap from last year’s Tim O’brien/Technician event, which N.C. State won, with Getting a grounded plane back up in the air again, Alex Manasa, a graduate student in aerospace engineering, uses Utah State as runner up. Club Presicyanoacrylate glue to rebuild a ‘trainer’ radio-controlled airplane in the Aerial Robotics Club lab in EB3 Thursday. dent Erik Gutekunst, senior in aeroThe aircraft is nearly 6-feet long inside the aircraft. space engineering, was encouraged by before us.” The computer features a dual core The event featured a rigorous set of with an 8-foot wingspan and weighs the team’s performance. “We put on what we felt was an- tasks in which everything on the air- 22 pounds. It flies on a four-stroke processor and was custom built by the other solid performance in terms of craft must work to perfection. For this engine allowing it to obtain speeds of team, as was the software. The comour flight and presentation,” he said. to happen, ARC spends hours upon 30 knots, or around 35 mph. Mounted puter is also responsible for piloting “We were complimented by the flight hours in the workshop tweaking ev- to the bottom of the aircraft is a cam- the aircraft, making inflight adjustline judges that our flight operations ery single detail of the aircraft, both era, which constantly takes pictures were the smoothest, most organized, internally and externally, to make sure and beams them back to the ground using the inflight computer, located and safest of any team that had flown nothing goes wrong in the air robots continued page 3
N.C. peanut experts gather to discuss industry’s future Coastal landscape provides fertile breeding ground for peanuts and expert conversation.
North carolina Peanut industry Quick facts:
John Wall
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North Carolina is the third largest peanut producer in U.S. North Carolina has 5,000 peanut farmers North Carolina peanut industry adds $17 million to $20 million to economy profit margin of $200 per acre North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina employ 160,000 acres to peanut industry North Carolina employs 85,000 acres to peanut industry Most peanuts in North Carolina are consumed “out-ofhand,” like cocktail peanuts
The University will host the 59th • annual Peanut Field Day Thursday at one of its research farms in Lewiston• Woodville, N.C. The North Carolina peanut indusSource: NC Dept. of agriculture try adds $17 to $20 million in value to and consumer services the economy. With 85,000 acres devoted to the crop, small family farms along the east coast are able to sustain. Farms that raise the same crop yearly run the risk of contracting invasive plant diseases, according to Crop Science Professor Thomas Isleib. Rotat- that are important to that area,” Joring peanuts among other crops allows dan said. The Lewiston-Woodville facility, the land to revitalize itself and get rid called the Peanut Belt Research Staof plant diseases. “Bacteria can come in if you grow tion, mostly focuses on peanuts due the same crop year after year,” Isleib to its geographical location. “The Peanut Belt Research Station said. “That’s why it’s good to rotate focuses on North Carolina’s peanut the crop.” At a profit margin of $200 per acre, crop. Extensive research is under way North Carolina, Virginia and South at the station with emphasis on peanut breeding, soil Carolina employ fertility, tillage, 160,000 acres of pesticide interactheir lands to peations and ecology, nuts. Most of those and management grown go toward of weeds, insects the in-shell indusa nd d iseases,” try, such as those according to an found at football event release. games, according A large plot of to Crop Science land allows rePeanut Specialist searchers to study David Jordan. other crops as “The others are Thomas Isleib, well, though. sold for cocktail crop science professor “All facets of peanuts, candy and peanut producpeanut butter. That is a much smaller part of where the tion are studied, from planting to curcrops are sold, though,” Jordan said. ing. Other research at the 371-acre staThe University has dozens of re- tion involves corn, cotton, soybeans, search stations from the coast to the sorghum, small grains and certain mountains. Plants that are native to vegetables,” the release said. The event is a collaboration between the area, or that grow well, are found the the College of Agriculture and Life in appropriate regions, Jordan said. “All research stations will have crops Sciences, its extension program, the
“Bacteria can come in if you grow the same crop year after year. That’s why it’s good to rotate the crop.”
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Alum donates to support dual degrees
Students in engineering take their time to design competitionwinning aircraft.
News Editor
september
Raleigh, North Carolina
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photo illustration by alex sanchez
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the state Peanut Growers Association. Jordan said it is the one day when all of the groups can come together in one place to discuss what they spend the majority of their working lives on: peanuts. The University offers extension in fields across colleges. Academics meet real world challenges as professors routinely speak at community events. Jordan will be speaking on agronomy and weed management at the Field Day, and Isleib will talk about variety development. Most of the event’s activities occur in the first of two days. Four professors from CALS will lead off with talks on topics including insect and disease management, followed by David Smith, presiding associate dean of CALS. Assistant Commissioner of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Richard Reich is also on the docket along with the President of the N.C. Peanut Grower’s Association Joey Baker.
nuts continued page 3
Engineering alum Thomas Laundon donated money to support dual-degree programs. Elise Heglar Deputy News Editor
Engineering alum Thomas Laundon donated $125,000 to go towards the Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin scholars programs, which enable students to work on two degrees at once. Laundon graduated from the University in 1974 with a degree in industrial engineering. He went on to receive his MBA from Harvard Business School and eventually became president and chief financial officer of PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals. Laundon donated the money to the Jefferson and Franklin scholars programs after his two sons showed interest in them. His oldest son is an alum of the Jefferson program and his younger son, Will Laundon, is a junior in the Franklin program. According to Ben Hughes, the executive director of development and college relations for the Col-
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Students connect with CEOs at lecture series Poole College of Management holds annual lecture series for students to connect with CEOs. Elise Heglar Deputy News Editor
The Poole College of Management is holding the first section of their annual Wells Fargo lecture series, which allows students to connect with CEOs of major corporations, later this month. The series, which begins September 14 and has been happening three times a semester since the mid-90s, provides students with the unique opportunity of hearing a CEO’s success story and being able to ask questions directly after the lecture. “The series is for students to get the opportunity to hear an executive level speak and to be interactive with them,” Vicki Burrows, the director of events and alumni relations for the college of management, said. The idea behind the series, according to Burrows, is to give students direct insight to people who have been successful and to be able to ask questions without feeling intimidated by
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their success. “Sometimes we build up an image of these people, but they’re just like us. They have worked their way up and that’s what we want our students to learn from this,” Burrows said. The CEOs who come to speak are chosen from a list that the college of management has on file and they are not paid to give the lecture. Burrows says that she believes they come in order to be able to do something different. “Presenters come and do this on their own time. It’s an opportunity to do something a little different, to share their experiences and help students out,” Burrows said. The first speaker for the lecture series this semester will be Chuck Swoboda, the president and chief executive officer of Cree. Each lecture series has a question and answer period at the end of the session for students to ask about anything they might be interested in. “Seeing CEOs speak like this makes it attainable for our students. They could be the next CEO,” Burrows said. Trudi Brown, director of develop-
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Kearns snags spot in Wolfpack history
Senior goalkeeper becomes fifth overall in shutouts in NCSU history. See page 8.
Shining the light on solar energy An in-depth look at solar energy and we we can utiliza it. See page 6.
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