What's New in Engineering

Last year, I posted a description of how our webcast event will work. Here is the updated version for this year’s webcast.

In approximately 48 hours, we will be starting the webcast for the 2008 Engineering Senior Design Project Presentations as part of the 5th Annual MEB Scholarship Day. For those of you who are reading this page earlier than Friday morning, I’d like to take this opportunity to give you a rundown of what will happen.

Beginning around 8:30 AM on Friday morning (May 2, 2008), we will begin broadcasting the webcast. For the first few minutes, all you will see is a short test video (the same one which is currently viewable from our test link). We will be starting early in order to give people time to connect and set up their computers. For reference, here is a link to what you need to know to get set up.

Starting at 9:00 AM, we will be webcasting continuously throughout the day. This blog will always display the current presentation being webcast as the most recent entry. Each entry will also contain information about how to launch the webcast and how to leave feedback. To avoid cluttering the front page too much, we will be using the “more” tag to only show a preview of each blog entry on the front page. If you want to see the entire entry, please click on the entry title. (This will also enable you to post a comment or question.)

Due to the encoding and buffering process, there may be as much as a 30 second delay between the time an event occurs here in Grantham and when you see it on your screen. Keep this in mind as you ask questions, particularly follow-up questions. If your question isn’t asked right away, chances are that we have asked it but the video feed hasn’t caught up to it yet.

Each presentation will be webcast in two formats: a basic webcast and an enhanced webcast. The basic webcast will be just a video stream of the presentation. We will use a wide view for the basic webcast so that the viewer can see both the screen and the podium. The enhanced webcast, on the other hand, will include both a video stream and a view of the current slide on the projector. Since the slides will be viewable apart from the video, we will be zooming this video stream in more closely on the presenters at the podium. If you aren’t able to view the slides in the enhanced webcast for some reason, then we recommend that you go back to the basic webcast so that you’ll at least be able to see the screen as it appears on the video.

That’s about it. Thanks for reading, and see you on Friday for the webcast!

Information about the Engineering Webcast on MEB Scholarship Day is now available:

• Webcast Home
• Presentation Schedule – See what events will be webcast
• Webcast Requirements – How to set up your computer to view the webcast
• Webcast Feedback – How to submit questions and comments

With the exception of the schedule, all the information you need to know is right here on the blog and can be reached via the “Webcast” link at the top of the page. On MEB Scholarship Day, we will update the blog regularly so that you have up-to-the-minute information about what presentation is happening and how you can watch it live.

The 5th Annual MEB Scholarship Day is less than two weeks away, and we are furiously preparing the details for our Senior Design Project Webcast. For those who haven’t heard, each year the Messiah College Department of Engineering broadcasts the Senior Design Project Presentations (or, next year, the Senior Capstone Presentations for the IPC) live over the Internet on MEB Scholarship Day. We’ll be doing the same thing again this year.

The schedule of events is now available on our Engineering website, along with a list of the project abstracts. (The same information is also available in PDF Format.) Within a few days, we will have updated instructions available for loading and viewing the Webcast. Stay tuned!

The Solar Scholars Project, a two year collaborative project between the Collaboratory Energy Group, the Department of Engineering, and many off-campus partners, is breaking ground this month to install a solar pavilion outside of Frey Hall. Here is the official announcement from the team:

“The Solar Scholars team, part of the Energy Group of the Collaboratory, proudly announces that ground breaking for the installation of the Solar Scholars photovoltaic training facility will begin on April 1, 2008. When complete, the Solar Scholars facility will provide an educational, demonstration photovoltaic (solar electric) system on Messiah’s campus, useful for educating both current Messiah students and the broader community. The project is projected to be completed by the end of this semester. This project is made possible through funds, expertise, and materials donated by the Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF) of Central Eastern Pennsylvania, Gannett Fleming, Inc., Wohlsen Construction, and many other donors.

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