Sabbath in Community

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another".
1 John 1:7

Over the past weekend I had the opportunity to spend time with a loving group of people who welcomed and supported me in my spiritual walk with God and offered a break from the busyness of school. Not only did we have delicious food, warm campfires, and beautiful scenery but the time spent in reflection of who Jesus is gave me a better sense of what these people represented.

So often I forget in the hectic life at school that Jesus loves each and everyone of us, more then any of us can ever understand. This perspective helps me respond to others in love and not out of raw emotion. Dealing with people on a real level isn't easy but Its a lot easier than what Jesus went through.

I hope your time spent with people can be filled with open sharing and venerability because the closer we grow in relationship with Jesus and start walking in the light, the more this love for each other becomes a reality.

VANDENBERG

A Tour of the Air Force Base and its Civil Engineering Projects

By Jordan Gamble

May 17, 2011

As the mishmash of students from Cal Poly stumble out from the bus, all eyes are turned upward in awe as they finally come face to face with the reality of the launch tower. It’s big! I mean really big! Image looking up at a tower over 230 feet and weighing more than 8.5 million pounds; now imagine standing at the top, leaning over a rusted railing, looking down hundreds of feet into the flame ducts of the launch pad. Most of the students were probably thinking, “No way! This is so cool!”.

Vandenberg Air Force Base was originally built to handle the space shuttle program but after the challenger disaster in 1986 the program fell apart and was lost in history. However, after many renovations and lots of reconstruction, the first Delta IV launch took place in 2006, marking the beginning of the most successful space and missile program on the west coast which continues today.

As a student in IME 223, I had the opportunity to see firsthand the work of the government on a project whose scale and magnitude dwarfed my wildest imagination. Although I must give credit to the management and logistical planning that has gone into this program I could not avoid noticing the inefficiency in many of the projects aspects. Our tour guide told us of the bureaucracy and complicated paperwork involved for any Air Force project due to safety precautions and regulations. In some cases this has tripled the cost of the project from what it would cost normally. Other inefficiencies were caused by inventory delay and excess storage of old parts and inventory. It may be a perfect opportunity for industrial engineers to cut costs and improve productivity for the government projects.

This tour was fun, inspiring and educational as to all the aspects of engineering that is involved in the space program at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The Devil is in your home

Each year, the society of women engineers offers free tours of various companies in the nearby area. Last year I attended a tour of Ernie Ball Guitars which really was inspiring for its efficiant and no-waste manufacturing. Check out my old post here. However, this years tour of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant was not only an amazing engineering feat but also a revelation as to why nuclear energy is becoming the most viable energy source for our century!

The power plant consists of two reactors. Each uses the uranium from old Soviet Bombs. From the atomic fission process the energy produced is used to heat water. In order to keep the water from evaporating, the pipes are pressurized. Ocean water is pumped past the hot pipes which is instantly turned into steam that powers turbines used to produce power. Each year Diablo Canyon produces 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity.

The other aspect of the plant was the potential for growth in this field. It costs approximatly 0.77 cents/kWh. Compare that with the other fuel sources and you can see the nuclear is the most cost efficient source of energy.
























Moreover Diablo Canyon gives more than $250,000 annually to the community and is a supporter of community service.

From this tour I found that Nuclear power is the only realistic option available for generating clean power. In fact, nuclear energy is the only source of power that produces almost zero greenhouse gas emissions during the generation of electricity and therefore makes a future source of energy for our production driven society.

Entrepreneur; You got an Idea?

Just got out of an awesome meeting with the Cal Poly Entrepreneur club where the guest speaker was Dan, the owner of OneWay Board shop.

He had lots of stories to share about making mistakes and learning but some of the best advice he had was to let companies grow organically. So many big companies go corporate and lose the culture and vision for when they started, leaving them with nothing but lots of inventory and no costomers. So take your time, there are more important things in life then getting rich quick.

He also recomends working for an Entrepreneur since this will give you a place to grow while not risking everything you have. However, at some point, you need to take a leap into the unknown... thats what makes you different. Risk makes you and Entrepreneur.

The two biggest things he says that will keep the business alive in bad times is passion and margins. The only way to find out your margins is to get work experience in your field of business. The Japanese call this a gemba, or Go and See. Getting hands on work experience is necessary in making informed decisions for the future.

Dan had lots more to say but it was cool to see a local company start up and thrive with a business model and culture that is focus more on the community rather then the money.

Lets go Exploring

Today was the second week of my explorations into the realm of unknown churches. I attended a Lutheran church off broad st... Why you might ask???

After spending most of my freshman year at grace and getting involved with the college group at Grace Church(a nondenominational christian church), I am determined to see what else there is in order to get a better understanding of my own religion and what I believe. This can also offer beneficial insight into how we might improve our program or even outreach.

Similar to traveling, going to other churches give one an opportunity to learn about different beliefs, religions and cultures. I am even willing to try out various other churches including Everyday, a very emotional worship, Byzantine Church, a catholic priesthood i think, Slo crusade, a campus focused church. I have even considered the possibility of attending a Mormon or Jehovah witness church.

“If your gonna screw up, do it while you're young. Older you get, the harder it is to bounce back.”

Winston Groom

American Novelist author of such stories as Forrest Gump