Piedmont chapter's VTFIRE project picking up steam.What began as a dream to curb the declining interest in the metalcasting industry is quickly becoming a reality. The AFS A distributed file system for large, widely dispersed Unix and Windows networks from Transarc Corporation, now part of IBM. It is noted for its ease of administration and expandability and stems from Carnegie-Mellon's Andrew File System. AFS - Andrew File System Piedmont Piedmont, region, Italy Piedmont (pēd`mŏnt), Ital. Piemonte, region (1991 pop. 4,302,565), 9,807 sq mi (25,400 sq km), NW Italy, bordering on France in the west and on Switzerland in the north. Chapter's Virginia Tech Foundry Institute for Research and Education (VTFIRE) program, which had been in the planning stages for years, is now in the fundraising
The project marked a major milestone last year when it secured land for a 10,000 sq. ft. facility, designed by graduate architecture student Alan Hamblin, from Virginia Tech Univ., Blacksburg, Va. Earlier this year, fundraising efforts by the Piedmont Chapter began with a $10,000 donation and have since managed to raise more than $60,000. The chapter hopes to have the total projected cost of the facility ($450,000) raised by early 2008. The chapter expects to raise an additional $2 million for equipment and to endow en·dow tr.v. en·dowed, en·dow·ing, en·dows 1. To provide with property, income, or a source of income. 2. a. an academic chair. Several companies have already pledged equipment for the new facility. Tru-Cast Inc., Greensboro, N.C., will be donating a rebuilt aluminum melting furnace furnace, enclosed space for the burning of fuel. There are many kinds of furnaces, the type depending upon the fuel and the use to which the heat produced within it is put. Most familiar are the furnaces used in the heating of buildings. (rebuilt by Morganite morganite: see beryl. Crucibles, Wallingford, Conn.) and Conbraco Industries Inc., Matthews, N.C., will be supplying a spectrometer spectrometer Device for detecting and analyzing wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, commonly used for molecular spectroscopy; more broadly, any of various instruments in which an emission (as of electromagnetic radiation or particles) is spread out according to some . The Piedmont Chapter is currently meeting with several area companies in the hopes of finding more tax-deductible equipment and monetary donations. Since its conception, VTFIRE has been designated as an active research and learning center. While a majority of its users will be undergraduate students in the school of Materials Science and Engineering Materials science and engineering A multidisciplinary field concerned with the generation and application of knowledge relating to the composition, structure, and processing of materials to their properties and uses. , the facility is expected to help graduate students and professors with research and development projects. Students will learn design, casting processes, and the capabilities and limitations of metalcasting. In addition, the facility will host long-distance training courses from the American Foundry Society's Cast Metals Institute, Schaumburg, Ill. The facility also is expected to contribute to other programs, such as the College of Engineering student design projects developed at the Ware Lab. One such project, the award-winning Human Powered Submarine submarine, naval craft capable of operating for an extended period of time underwater. Submarines are almost always warships, although a few are used for scientific or business purposes (see also submersible). , is an example of opportunities for casting parts in the facility. "Rather than sourcing the casting, our engineering team could have designed and cast the propellers at the VTFIRE facility," said Adam Maisano, a materials engineer at Dominion dominion, power to rule, or that which is subject to rule. Before 1949 the term was used officially to describe the self-governing countries of the Commonwealth of Nations—e.g., Canada, Australia, or India. Metallurgical met·al·lur·gy n. 1. The science that deals with procedures used in extracting metals from their ores, purifying and alloying metals, and creating useful objects from metals. 2. Inc., Roanoke, Va. "Virginia Tech and the Piedmont Chapter are working to ensure that future engineering students have the opportunity to work on all aspects of their projects." For more information, or to contribute to the VTFIRE project, contact Ted Kostilnik, AFS Piedmont Chapter Chairman, at 706/302-4809.
CMI Course Schedule
Nov. 28-30 Chemically Bonded Molding &
Coremaking Materials &
Methods (31-07) Schaumburg, Ill.
Dec. 4 Lean Maintenance Reliability
Supported by CMMS (35-07) Schaumburg, Ill.
Dec. 4-31 Ductile Iron Metallurgy (32-07) Internet
Dec. 5-8 Gating & Riser Design-
Ferrous (33-07) Pomona, Calif.
Dec. 6-7 Nonferrous Melting Technology
& Practice (34-07) San Marcos, Texas
Jan. 4-31 Analysis of Casting Defects
(36-07) Internet
Jan. 8-10 Analysis & Reduction of Casting
Defects (37-07) Dayton, Ohio
Jan. 9-10 Basic Blueprint Interpre-
tation (38-07) Schaumburg, Ill.
Jan. 16-18 Vertical Gating Design (39-07) Muskegon, Mich.
Jan. 23-25 Introduction to Metalcasting
(40-07) Schaumburg, Ill.
Jan. 30-Feb. 1 Analysis & Reduction of
Aluminum Permanent Mold
Casting Defects (41-07) Schaumburg, Ill.
Jan. 30-May 27 Sand & Molding Technology
(42-07) Internet
Feb. 6-9 Inoculation Principles of
Gray & Ductile Iron (43-07) Birmingham, Ala.
Feb. 13-14 Permanent Mold Coating
Fundamentals--Aluminum (44-07) Schaumburg, Ill.
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