October Meeting Postponed

This tour has been postponed. Please check back for the rescheduled date.

August Meeting: Birmingham Fastener

Date: Thursday August 18th, 2011
Time: 4:30 p.m. (tour starts promptly at 5pm)
Place: Birmingham Fastener Manufacturing
Address: 931 Avenue W, Birmingham, AL


Birmingham Fastener is a leading manufacturer and distributor of fasteners for structural steel fabrication, metal building manufacturers, transportation, water works and utilities, original equipment manufacturers, construction, MRO and more. They manufacture custom and non-standard fasteners and operate the highest volume distribution center of nuts and bolts and standard fasteners in the U.S. Many manufacturing processes are utilized in the Birmingham location including cold heading, hot heading, thread rolling, among others.

From Birmingham: Take I-59 South to Exit 121. At the bottom of the ramp turn right onto 19th Street. Take 1st right onto Avenue V. Avenue V turns into Avenue W. Facility is on the right side of Avenue W.
From Tuscaloosa: Take I-59 North to Exit 120. At the top of the ramp turn right onto Ensley 5 Points W Ave. Take 1st left onto Pike Road. Continue Straight on Pike Road. Pike road turns into Avenue V. Avenue V turns into Avenue W. Facility is on the right side of Avenue W.

Upon arrival, tell the guard that you are with the SME tour group and you will be directed to the office area to park.

SCHEDULE:
• 4:30 pm – Meet and greet
• 5 – 6 pm –Meeting/Tour begins.

PPE: Hard hats, steel toe boots, safety glasses, and ear plugs are required. Hard hats, glasses, and ear plugs can be provided, but bring your own if you have them.

Please register for this event by sending an e-mail to Blane.Vines@nucor.com.

May Meeting: Alabama Power Technology Application Center

Date: Thursday May 12th, 2011
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: GSC Building 7B
Place: Alabama Power General Services
Address: County Road 87 North, Calera



SME Chapter 330 has invited us to join them for a joint meeting and tour of Alabama Power Company's Technology Application Center. Please come out to learn about the wide range of projects and activities that take place within the TAC facility and to network with your peers.

Directions: (http://www.alabamapower.com/commercial/directions.asp)

From Birmingham: Take I-65 South to Exit 234. At Exit 234 turn right (toward Airport). Continue right (go over I-65) onto Hwy 87 North. Turn right into the APC General Services Complex. After the guard booth, turn right at stop sign. Follow the road around to the TAC in Building 7B.

From Montgomery: Take I-65 North to Exit 234. At Exit 234 turn right onto Hwy 87 North. Turn right into the APC General Services Complex. After the guard booth, turn right at stop sign. Follow the road around to the TAC in Building 7B.

Schedule:
5:30 pm - Meet and greet
6:00 pm - Meeting and tour

Bottled water, soft drinks, and coffee will be provided.

Please register for this event by sending an e-mail to
Blane.Vines@Nucor.com

March Meeting: Tennessee Spring & Metal

Date: Thursday March 24, 2011
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Upstairs Conference Room
Place: Bass Pro Shop, Exit 140, I-20
Address: 5000 Bass Pro Blvd. Leeds.
http://www.basspro.com/


Tennessee Spring and Metal, LLC will share information with us on a burgeoning, new technology through their presentation entitled, "An Introduction to Fluid Forming." SME Birmingham members are invited to network with peers as we discuss various metal forming processes.

Tennessee Spring and Metal, LLC, located in Hartsville, TN, manufactures Mechanical Steel Springs for tension, torsion, compression, and extension applications.

During our meeting we also plan to cast a VOTE for 2011 Executive team members for our SME Birmingham Chapter 143, we shall review the upcoming SAE BAJA UAB 2011 event to be held in April, and we shall discuss plans and alternatives for future 2011 tours and meetings. Please, view the recent SME Blog article (below) to view introductory information about the UAB Baja event, April 14 - 17, 2011.

Schedule:

5:00 pm - Networking & Soda Social
6:00 pm - Meeting Begins

Please, register for this event by sending an email to Blane.Vines@nucor.com .

$10.00 Donation for members accepted. Please, bring along a friend who may also find interest to learn more about Fluid Forming.

SME Members to volunteer for UAB Baja 2011

UAB Materials & Mechanical Engineering: 2011 Baja Birmingham

An invitation from the local SAE Chapter to meet the UAB Baja team brought several of our membership groups together to meet the students and staff from the UAB Materials and Mechanical Engineering Departments that participate with the UAB Baja Team. Please, visit their 2011 UAB Baja Birmingham informational site for information about their upcoming event.

Several of our SME members plan to attend and to Volunteer to serve various positions at this Innaugural UAB Baja event, scheduled for April 14 - 18, 2011 at Stony Lonesome OHV Park, near Cullman, AL.

While on our February tour at UAB, Tina Oliver, PhD presented us with information about the UAB Baja team, their Engineering leadership, and the students who devote so much of their time to building one of the premier University Baja teams in the world. Tina informed us that there may be 50 - 100 University Teams from all over the world entering a Baja mobile in this event. She also explained the many events, such as Acceleration, Water Maneuverability, Land Maneuverability, Suspension & Traction, Design, and the rugged, Endurance Event. Following the open discussion, Dr. Tina, Dr. Bharat Soni, Dr. Brian Pillay, and Dr. Uday Vaidya offered group tours of their labs:

Dr. Pillay strolled across campus with approximately 15 or so guests to see the new Materials Engineering Design Lab. Already worldwide recognized as one of the most unique and advanced, new and upcoming Composite Material Education Labs in the world, Dr. Pillay showed us how companies such as Honda and Mercedes (company members present) are able to test new composites, gaining valuable research and testing experiences. Please, take a few moments to review a little information about the UAB Materials Engineering Composite Design Lab.

Dr. Soni and his Staff walked with 15 or so other guests to view the nearby Advanced 3D Visual Labs, located within the same Mechanical Engineering Building, the Business Engineering Building. Recent innovations and projects viewed include Real-time Distance Surgical Procedure Education and Modeling support for Emergency situations.

Dr. Vaidya, Dr. Tina Oliver and most of the Baja students took the remainder of the guests to view the INDYCar and the Baja Team Machine Shop. Shown below, some of the SAE and SME sponsors that help to support the team.

Later, on a recent Monday during the middle of February, the SME Birmingham Board members met to discuss SME participation with the UAB Baja Team. Our Board panel, including Blane Vines of Nucor Tuscaloosa, Mark Partyka our retiring Chair Member, LaVada Varner of ATN, Brian Everling of Precision Grinding, Inc., and now, Doug Cole from Aerotek agreed that it's a good idea for SME Birmingham members to pursue volunteering a 1/2 day or more each to serve as Registration/Check-In, Parking/Traffic Attendants, Field Sum Scorers, Food Services/ Hospitality hosts, and possibly as Field Evaluators. Please, again, visit the UAB BAJA internet site to submit your name to volunteer to serve a position, sometime during the Th - Sun weekend event.

For more information about SME Birmingham or for more information about UAB Baja, please, email Brian Everling at BrianEverling@phd1.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.

If your company would like to offer sponsorship to support the UAB Baja Team, please, send us an email or submit a request to the UAB Baja Team. Sponsorship positions include Banner Opportunities, Lunch / Dinner / Snack Hospitality Tents, and Career Fair Tents.

UAB Tour, Chili Dinner, and Basketball

Been awhile since you have visited UAB’s campus? Want to find a way to support future engineering students? Or just want to come out and see what’s new?

UAB Baja and SAE Alabama invites us to a Chili Dinner and the UAB vs Marshall men’s basketball game on January 26th beginning at 5:30 pm. See below for full schedule for the evening.

During dinner, they will be presenting information about the upcoming Baja SAE Birmingham competition and it’s need for volunteers and sponsorship.UAB Engineering is an organizer for the Baja competition this year along with the SAE Alabama Section. They are very excited about this opportunity to host and see it as part of the program’s growth. The UAB Baja program moved into the top 25 nationally last year and it was the first time they competed with 2 cars. They will need volunteers onsite for the events as well as design judges before and during the event.

After dinner, tours of selected new/improved labs will be available. The School of Engineering has added several new labs in the past few years including the MPAD (MSE composites and casting group), the VISCUBE (ME visualization lab) and the School of Engineering Design lab.

To finish out the night, they have invited us to join them for the UAB vs Marshall men’s basketball game. Tickets will be sponsored by the UAB School of Engineering so let us know early if you would like to attend.

5:30-6:20pm Dinner in BEC Lobby
6:20- 6:45pm Visit labs/ projects
7pm~ UAB Blazer Basketball

More details will be provided after registration.

They are looking for representation from all of the professional societies in the Birmingham area.

This is a free event, however, I would suggest that the SME membership come together and collect donations that can be made on behalf of SME.

Please register before Sunday, January 23rd so we can give them a head count to prepare.

Register by sending an e-mail to Blane.Vines@nucor.com or markpartyka@yahoo.com.