A small but energetic group of SAWE members and guests toured the Brightwater Waste treatment plant in Woodinville, Wa. This the a brand new plant and is one of 3 facilities that treats all of the waters in the Greater Seattle area. We had a custom tour from Casey Plank of the Brightwater engineering team. […]
Paine Field (KPAE) Control Tower Tour
On May 17th 2012, the Seattle Chapter SAWE visited the Paine Field Control Tower in Everett Washington. Ten of us got a close-up and personal view of what goes on to get airplane into the air. Paine Field was originally constructed in 1936 and it was envisioned that the Airport would create jobs and economic […]
SEATAC Federal Express Facility Tour
On June 7, 2012, Twelve members and guests toured the Federal Express Facility and Operations at SeaTac airport on April 9th. We met and talked with the Facility Manager about the science of moving packages throughout the USA and internationally. Then we went down to watch for last hour of activity before the plane(s) left […]
Flying Heritage Collection Tour
We have begun our “2012 SAWE Tour”. Our first stop was at the Flying Heritage Collection (FHC). See their website on March 27th, 2012. Located at Paine Field, Everett, the FHC is a remarkable collection of airplanes. The collection belongs to Microsoft’s Paul Allen and consists of flying examples of some of the most famous and […]
SAWE Training
A lot of training is available through the SAWE. See www.sawe.org for more information.
Boeing and University of Washington
On December 4, The Boeing Company took another step in its transition from metal to composite structures. Addressing the critical training challenge posed by aircraft composites, the materials used to build the 787 Dreamliner, it honored more than 80 engineers and technical professionals at a graduation ceremony for the University of Washington-Boeing Certificate Programs in […]
2011 M3 GTS : now with less weight!
BMW will be releasing a very special version of their 3 series based sports car for 2011. Although it won’t be coming to the US, the real story here is just how far BMW was willing to go in order to save weight. In total they were able to shave off 419 pounds, or almost […]
Montlake Bridge Tour
On Friday, June 11th 2011, the Seattle Chapter took a tour of the Montlake Bridge (map) near the University of Washington campus. A bridge may not seem like it is very dependent upon mass properties or weight engineering, but the Montlake Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge. A bascule (a French term for seesaw) bridge […]
Inertia Envelope Creation
With the 69th Annual International Conference on Mass Properties Engineering less than a month away, members of Boeing’s Weight Engineering department were given the opportunity to hear a presentation on inertia envelopes. Two engineers within the Mass Properties team at Boeing, Pat Mitchell and Al Balliett, have co-authored a paper on inertia envelope creation that […]
Washington State welcomes BMW
BMW announced last week that its Megacity Vehicle will launch in markets in 2013. The Megacity Vehicle will be a zero-emission urban vehicle and will use extensive amounts of carbon fiber to reduce weight. The German automaker also plans to use carbon fiber across its lineup. “We will be the first manufacturer to take carbon fiber […]