CEC Semenster Undefined
Engineering Systems for Emergency Preparedness
Jon Gabay -
April 6,
2015
Engineering Systems for Emergency Preparedness: Living Things
In most cases we will need to have survival systems for a few necessities. Having an independent air supply may not be needed, but having a fresh and clean supply of water may. On Day 1 we will examine what is required to sustain life short and long term and how these systems should be engineered. These overview examples will be covered in more detail in successive Days. We will also analyze past disasters for valuable lessons.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
April 7,
2015
Engineering Systems for Emergency Preparedness: Regional Differences
Where we live affects what we need to survive. It also can determine the types of disasters that we are prone to and the types of structures, supplies and equipment needed to protect ourselves. These are also affected by population densities. Inhabitants of cities have different concerns compared to rural dwellers. Designing a system to meet these challenges means extended temperature ranges, robust electromechanical systems and serviceability.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
April 8,
2015
Engineering Systems for Emergency Preparedness: Supplies and Storage
What we store and how long we need to store it are critical. Some supplies will come naturally in certain regions, and we can depend on them -- like rain and snow supplying water. We need foods that won’t spoil in storage. Short-term supplies are not a problem, but long term we will need other solutions. Our systems must be designed to operate in many modes, including multi-fuel engines, wide-range, efficient and flexible power regulators, protection circuitry, redundancy and fault tolerance.
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Special Educational Materials
April 9,
2015
Engineering Systems for Emergency Preparedness: Systems and Services
Preparations need to sustain basic life-support systems and services even for short durations. Such systems we will discuss include those for energy, water, air, light, heat, cooling and refrigeration, medical, communications, filtration, and tools. These systems must not be wasteful. Design of smart environments means low-energy conditions and automated systems to restrict water, turn off unnecessary systems and communicate with each other.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
April 10,
2015
Engineering Systems for Emergency Preparedness: Long-Term Concerns and Other Issues
It may not be ideal or comfortable by any means, but surviving a week is doable. But what about longer term situations? You will need systems for growing food, animal care, as well as efficient-energy systems. Designing systems that can help automate many of these extended survival requirements is not difficult, but they need to be intelligent to be useful in the long term. In a long-term disaster, survival favors the prepared and well engineered.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
Instructor
Jon Gabay