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Cogitator July 28, 2010
Posted by George Cooper
on Jul 28, 2010
VISITING ROTARIANS-
'D.B.,' an engineer from India, whose son lives in Cranston.
GUESTS-
Brian Higgins, Columbus, OH, a home improvement contractor whose wife recently took a job in RI. Brian likes RI so much he figures he'll start improving some homes here, too.
(Kudos to President Ed, who is doing a good job luring Rotarians and guests from all over the States and the globe so far.)
BIRTHDAYS-
Jodi Gladstone, July 27th; Dave Caldwell, July 29th; Bob MacKenzie, July 30th; and Gil Thorpe, August 2nd. Happy birthdays to all.
NEWS-
Mike Gemma gave a report on Chuck Sauer, who was still at RI Hospital's Jane Brown Building. While doctors and nurses fussed, Chuck was very busy in his hospital room--recruiting new members, doing 'make-ups' online, and, thanks to the aiding and abetting of Mike Gemma, sneaking large Italian grinders from his favorite Warwick deli. We miss you, Chuck, and hurry back to the Post Office for much better lunches than hospital fare.
George Popella reported that he's looking to get a new Paul Harris Team together for President Ed, and he encouraged especially new members who may not yet be on a team.
Betsy DePrimo reported that time is running out for us to secure our phonebook sponsors. We're $8,000 short from last year, so make your calls today and get 'em in!
Mike Balsamo reminds all the Rotary PawSox Night is coming up, Monday, August 16th.
John Wolcott reported on former Rotarian Yogesh Pancholi, who is now working as a physician in Providence. Yogesh apparently had some vacation time recently, so he did what most of us would do. He skipped on past the Cape and ventured to...Katmandu, Nepal!
Also, Stephanie Sharkey, our club's candidate for Group Study Exchange this year in Scotland, was accepted by the District and will heading this fall to the homeland of Paul Harris' mum. Congratulations to Stephaine, and great work, John!
HAPPY BUCKS--
George Popella had a great time sailing on Block Island Sound, but even better was the 1st birthday of his 6th grandchild.
Jodi Gladstone gave a very happy $50(!), in honor of her birthday, to the Rotary Foundation. Still 39, of course, Jodi just likes rounded numbers we suppose.
Betsy DePrimo gave kudos to the great work of cleft palate surgeons.
And Soosie Sundlun had a ball at Hampton Beach, NH, with her grandkids.
PROGRAM-Wil Yoder and the RISD Solar Decathlon
The year 2005 saw the Rhode Island School of Design entered into the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon, and our own Wil Yoder led the RISD team down to Washington, DC.
RISD was competing against 19 other US collegiate teams. Wil and his crew designed and built an 800 square foot edifice, completely self sufficient and powered by solar energy.
The house was built in Providence, disassembled for the trip to Washington, DC, and reassembled on the Mall in front of the Capitol.
Hundreds of hours were spent in design and construction. Arden Engineering was especially generous in giving three weeks of free time to the project.
Extra electricity generated was to be put to use in a special electric car, and the measured electricity for the car would be one of the criteria for selecting a winner. However, rain and clouds all week were the norm, rather than robust sunlight. That challenged all of the entrants as the week's competition drew to a close, including RISD's team.
While RISD made a terrific showing, and wowed thousands of visitors on the Mall, the University of Colorado was the eventual winner. Colorado's contingent had figured from past experience in 2002 that more solar panels and more batteries would be needed, and that led them to ultimate victory in the 2005 competition.
The competition has become so popular that there were over 60 entrants, from all over the world, in the 2009 Solar Decathlon.
The RISD house is now being put to good use by faculty of Portsmouth Abbey, right next to the Portsmouth Abbey wind turbine.
For more information on the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon, here's a link: http://www.solardecathlon.gov/
Congratulations, Wil, and thanks for the great program!
GC
'D.B.,' an engineer from India, whose son lives in Cranston.
GUESTS-
Brian Higgins, Columbus, OH, a home improvement contractor whose wife recently took a job in RI. Brian likes RI so much he figures he'll start improving some homes here, too.
(Kudos to President Ed, who is doing a good job luring Rotarians and guests from all over the States and the globe so far.)
BIRTHDAYS-
Jodi Gladstone, July 27th; Dave Caldwell, July 29th; Bob MacKenzie, July 30th; and Gil Thorpe, August 2nd. Happy birthdays to all.
NEWS-
Mike Gemma gave a report on Chuck Sauer, who was still at RI Hospital's Jane Brown Building. While doctors and nurses fussed, Chuck was very busy in his hospital room--recruiting new members, doing 'make-ups' online, and, thanks to the aiding and abetting of Mike Gemma, sneaking large Italian grinders from his favorite Warwick deli. We miss you, Chuck, and hurry back to the Post Office for much better lunches than hospital fare.
George Popella reported that he's looking to get a new Paul Harris Team together for President Ed, and he encouraged especially new members who may not yet be on a team.
Betsy DePrimo reported that time is running out for us to secure our phonebook sponsors. We're $8,000 short from last year, so make your calls today and get 'em in!
Mike Balsamo reminds all the Rotary PawSox Night is coming up, Monday, August 16th.
John Wolcott reported on former Rotarian Yogesh Pancholi, who is now working as a physician in Providence. Yogesh apparently had some vacation time recently, so he did what most of us would do. He skipped on past the Cape and ventured to...Katmandu, Nepal!
Also, Stephanie Sharkey, our club's candidate for Group Study Exchange this year in Scotland, was accepted by the District and will heading this fall to the homeland of Paul Harris' mum. Congratulations to Stephaine, and great work, John!
HAPPY BUCKS--
George Popella had a great time sailing on Block Island Sound, but even better was the 1st birthday of his 6th grandchild.
Jodi Gladstone gave a very happy $50(!), in honor of her birthday, to the Rotary Foundation. Still 39, of course, Jodi just likes rounded numbers we suppose.
Betsy DePrimo gave kudos to the great work of cleft palate surgeons.
And Soosie Sundlun had a ball at Hampton Beach, NH, with her grandkids.
PROGRAM-Wil Yoder and the RISD Solar Decathlon
The year 2005 saw the Rhode Island School of Design entered into the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon, and our own Wil Yoder led the RISD team down to Washington, DC.
RISD was competing against 19 other US collegiate teams. Wil and his crew designed and built an 800 square foot edifice, completely self sufficient and powered by solar energy.
The house was built in Providence, disassembled for the trip to Washington, DC, and reassembled on the Mall in front of the Capitol.
Hundreds of hours were spent in design and construction. Arden Engineering was especially generous in giving three weeks of free time to the project.
Extra electricity generated was to be put to use in a special electric car, and the measured electricity for the car would be one of the criteria for selecting a winner. However, rain and clouds all week were the norm, rather than robust sunlight. That challenged all of the entrants as the week's competition drew to a close, including RISD's team.
While RISD made a terrific showing, and wowed thousands of visitors on the Mall, the University of Colorado was the eventual winner. Colorado's contingent had figured from past experience in 2002 that more solar panels and more batteries would be needed, and that led them to ultimate victory in the 2005 competition.
The competition has become so popular that there were over 60 entrants, from all over the world, in the 2009 Solar Decathlon.
The RISD house is now being put to good use by faculty of Portsmouth Abbey, right next to the Portsmouth Abbey wind turbine.
For more information on the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon, here's a link: http://www.solardecathlon.gov/
Congratulations, Wil, and thanks for the great program!
GC