Mechanical Engineering Class of '76 Dan's Arch Project

DAN'S ARCH
A COLLABORATION OF STUDENTS, ARTISTS AND ENGINEERS

 

 

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DAN'S ARCH is a tribute to all engineering classes who come together after graduation to support current students. It represents the evolution of engineering as a profession built on the power of teams. It is named after a remarkable engineer from the Class of '76.

Dan MercierDAN MERCIER was born on October 7, 1954 in Regina, Saskatchewan. His early years, growing up on the Windrift Ranch, south of Calgary, taught him the value of hard work and discipline. His upbringing also instilled a respect for the land and a love for the great outdoors.

His battle with cancer inspired others to use the power of courage, the strength of character and the healing ability of humour to face challenges with dignity and grace. Dan spent his life working in the oil and gas industry, locally and then internationally.

After his death, Dan's classmates came together to create a class gift -- an endowment that funds the annual Dan Mercier Class of '76 Award in Mechanical Engineering -- because they realized that it was important to them to invest in the next generation of engineers, and to honour the power of the bonds formed by students as they go through engineering.

This arch is a new project of the Class of '76, designed to help students and alumni realize their potential to help others. The student-inspired design is constructed from natural and engineered materials from around the world, and even an object that has travelled to space and back.

STUDENT DESIGN CONTEST

ARCH DESIGN

ARCH MATERIALS / CONTRIBUTORS

STUDENT DESIGN CONTEST

Astronaut and Schulich graduate Bob Thirsk was allowed to take 10 things to space with him when he set out for his six-month mission aboard the International Space Station in 2009. One of the things he considered taking was the engineering ring of one of his classmates. Bob's intention was to present a token from this space mission to the Schulich School of Engineering upon his return -- a tribute to the power of graduating classes of engineering students who help inspire and support future engineers.

In the spring of 2009, Marjan Eggermont, senior instructor at the Schulich School of Engineering, assigned her design class of 650 first-year engineering students the challenge of creating an appropriate display for Bob's gift. The final installation had to be portable (or easily made moveable) so that it could be displayed in the current engineering complex and then moved to a new engineering building in the future. A plaque providing a brief history of the class gift and its ultimate objective also needed to be part of the installation.

The top five students were asked to create a maquette/prototype for final judging. Five prizes were awarded: $1,000 for the winner, and $250 each for the remaining four students.

WINNER Nathan Gutzmann RUNNERS-UP Larissa Schuler Jacqueline Sereda James Thorne Kelvin Yip

SHORTLIST Basel Ayoub Andrew Baranieski Scott Bennett Kathryn Boon Adlai Brown Christopher Chang Adam Cripps Chad Crumley

Brenden David Cameron Day Thomas Elliott Mila Gorobets Michael Hauer Travis Herke Jason Kawalauskas Sandra Kleinsasser Juliana Langen

Carmen Lau Annie Nguyen Farhat Pervin Zaida Beatriz Portes Prabhdeep Sodhi Troy Temple Lauren V. Jude Velasco Karen Wong Junhac Zhang

Bob Thirsk returned to the Schulich School of Engineering on Monday, April 12, 2010 to unveil the final installation at an event hosted by the Mechanical Engineering Class of 1976 alumni and the Schulich School of Engineering.

The display is a tribute to alumni who contribute to, and play an important role in supporting, student success. The Mechanical Engineering Class of 1976 have challenged other Schulich students and alumni to work towards establishing their own class gift.

NATHAN GUTZMANN is a second-year computer and bioengineering student at the Schulich School of Engineering. He enjoys travelling around the world and learning about different societies and cultures. In addition to his academic pursuits, he is passionate about music and volleyball.

"I've come to believe engineering is the collaboration between education, science, practicality and art. These are the key qualities that an innovative design or solution will have.

Nathan Gutzmann
Photo by: David Moll"The main inspiration for the design is the simplicity of an arch. An arch is a great metaphor for teamwork and collaboration. Without every stone working together, the entire structure would fall. Of course the symbolism of engineering doesn't end here. In my design concept, I envisioned the arch as a sort of timeline of engineering history. The different sections of the arch could be comprised of distinct materials, each representing an important engineering achievement.

"Just as each segment of an arch is crucial to its structural integrity, each aspect of a student's education must be in place for the success of the student. One of these elements is the participation of donors in the education of students. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the donors present here, especially the Class of 1976 mechanical engineers."

Taken from Nathan Gutzmann's speech at the unveiling celebration, April 12, 2010.

ARCH DESIGN

THE ARCH is a mosaic of time and talent. A considerable number of people were involved in the making of the arch either by supplying materials, time or artwork. The "rings" represent the various materials used in engineering throughout history.

The design was coordinated by ANNA CARNELL, and made possible by the tireless efforts and energy of SOREN CHRISTIANSEN, engineering alumnus.

The silver wire concept was developed by KRISTINN MCCULLOCH and JANINE CHRISTIANSEN (top photo).

GLASS RING | JODI SAYLES

Jodi has been working with glass since 2001. She uses a propane/oxygen mix torch to melt rods and tubes of borosilicate glass. In the glass ring, Jodi used a dichroic glass for the base design and 24k gold and pure silver fume to create decorative implosions (middle photo).

DUCTAL SCULPTURE | GAVIN GEIST

Gavin Geist is a mixed-media artist, with a penchant for surrealist subject matter and minimalist sculpture. Working with Lafarge for the past 10 years has afforded him the unique opportunity to apply his artistic interests to state-of-the-art construction materials (bottom photo).

I-BEAM | ALAN HUZIY AND THOMAS SANDLAND

Alan Huziy of Prestige Welding and Fabrication and Thomas Sandland of Extreme Bending collaborated to create the 'impossible' bend in the beam.

The desired twist took four hours on a 100 tonne press to create, plus additonal hours in the welding shop to remove imperfections.

ARCH MATERIALS / CONTRIBUTORS

Bone	Brass	Ceramic Brick
Grain Elevator Wood	Paper	Petrified Wood
Sandstone	Soapstone	Tindle Rock

BONE Jono Lorenz carves with found materials, mainly horse, sometimes buffalo, bone.

BRASS The brass disc was created in Iceland in the early part of the 20th century.

CERAMIC BRICK Darlene Swan presently uses a low fire, red earthenware clay with mica that enhances the clay with a soft sparkle.

GRAIN ELEVATOR WOOD Lorne Mertick is a Calgary artist working in the medium of wood. The wood piece supplied for this project was recycled from the Wheat Pool elevator once located in Strathmore, Alberta.

PAPER ‘The Way Things Work', by David McCauley, is an award winning children's book about machine processes.

PETRIFIED WOOD Michael Komarevich owner of Komarevich Originals, runs this specialty rock and fossil shop in Calgary.

SANDSTONE Native to this region, sandstone has historically been used throughout Calgary. Donated by The City of Calgary.

SOAPSTONE Adam Agacki, marble fabricator with Alberta Marble, shaped the Soapstone, Canadian in origin, and donated by Dauter Stone.

TINDLE ROCK Adam Agacki, marble fabricator with Alberta Marble, shaped and polished the tindle stone, originally from Manitoba.

Other materials include aluminium, duct tape, rubber, copper, leather, silk and silicon. The rings start and finish with the earth, with a natural boulder at the base and a natural twist of sweetgrass. In First Nations symbology a sweetgrass smudge is used to draw energy in from the lower, middle and upper world.

MALCOLM DUNCAN of Excalibur Truck Accessories LTD cut the plastic, aluminium and other metals on the arch. Duncan has been involved with these types of materials for over 21 years.

RON SVEEN photographed the various arch project rings using late-morning natural light to reveal the fundamental character of each object.

DON ZAKARIASEN Lafarge donated time and materials for the keystone. Don Zakariasen is the Director of Marketing and Manager of Business Development for Lafarge Precast in Western Canada.

CANADARM COMPONENT The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), or Canadarm (Canadarm 1), is a mechanical arm used on the Space Shuttle to maneuver a payload from the payload bay of the orbiter to its deployment position and then release it. It can also grapple a free-flying payload, maneuver it to the payload bay of the orbiter and berth it in the orbiter. It was first used on the second Space Shuttle mission STS-2, launched November 13, 1981.

The Canadarm has six joints that correspond roughly to the joints of the human arm, with shoulder yaw and pitch joints; an elbow pitch joint; and wrist pitch, yaw, and roll joints (top photo).

In the 1960s, NASA used Lexan brand polycarbonate for astronaut helmet assemblies and visors which became known as "bubble helmets", including those used by the Apollo moon astronauts (bottom photo).

Since the destruction of Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-107, NASA has outfitted the Canadarm with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, a boom containing instruments to inspect the exterior of the shuttle for damage to the thermal protection system. It is expected the Canadarm will play this role in all future shuttle missions.

 

The finished Dan's Arch will reside in the Engineering Students' Lounge. Click an image to enlarge.