Week 8: May 19, 2016

Good afternoon all. Today was an interesting day for team HamPipe. For the first time in class, we were able to test our heat pipe. The test was not quite as encouraging as the tests conducted at Noelle's house the weekend of "Harold"'s creation, but it was not too bad. The rig was essentially the same as the rig from Noelle's house, though a test tube clamp was used instead of a vice. This meant a few things: first of all, it meant that the team could not isolate the system with the wooden pieces, whether or not this affected the tests is unknown. It also meant that the heat pipe was at a markedly different angle than it was during the other tests. This could also have accounted for the drop in efficiency. (Ben would like me to note that his screaming could also have had an adverse effect on the heat pipe test {I think he's kidding}). The heat pipe has also not been tested for several weeks, and there is a possibility that the system is not entirely airtight and some air leaked in, which would hinder the performance. Overall, this test was nothing to complain about. Beyond that, there is little to report this week. Until next week!

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is in fact Ben with Harold. Pictured above is some in class testing. 

Week 7: May 12, 2016

This week was another quiet week for team HamPipe. The group spent the day focused on preparing the final presentation, and putting finishing touches on the draft of the final written assignment. At the end of the day, the group tried to wait in line to test Harold the heat pipe, but the line was long enough that there was not time for testing. Noelle was able to take some time to finish all of the secondary pages on the blog website, which was exciting because now the only updates required are the weekly progress reports. Ben, who was the group's main technical writer put the bulk of his time for the day into proofreading and making sure that every bit of writing was how he wanted it. Meanwhile, Karen worked diligently on the PowerPoint presentation the group will have to use eventually. All in all, not the most glamorous week, but a productive one all the same.

Throwback to basement testing because we didn't take any pictures this week.

Week 6: May 5, 2016

The dreariness of the past several days has done nothing to dampen the spirit of team HamPipe. This week was far less exciting than last week though, as it was mainly focused on written work instead of experimental trials. Ben and Karen worked steadily on the draft of the final report, managing to get about half of it completed. There was a fair amount of struggle with formatting, especially while transferring between Google Drive and Microsoft Word, but they eventually figured everything out. Karen also decided to begin working on some mathematical equations relating to the data the group collected over the trial period. There is an upcoming blog check this week, so Noelle worked feverishly to make sure that the blog was as in order as possible for the time being. She completed the experimental trial journal, updated the weekly blog post (obviously), and worked on the Heat Pipe Recipe. Ben also worked on making some more citations.

Team leader, Ben with Harold the Heat Pipe