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Thread ID: 40081	2003-11-27 02:57:00	OT: Unexpected levity in academia	Billy T (70)	Press F1

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195132	2003-11-27 02:57:00	Who says Academics have no sense of humour? The following gem was found in an otherwise perfectly serious set of course information, two examples appended . Cheers Billy 8-{) THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Proposal for a PT BEng Final-year Project 2002 Project No . : PT02_23 Staff Name: Dr . L . A . Snider Title for the Proposed Project: Development of a Sustainable Fusion Reaction for the Production of Electricity Objective: (max . two sentences) To solve the global energy crisis through the development of a hydrogen-based sustainable fusion reaction to produce electrical energy . Brief Description: You will be given a glass of water . Follow these steps: 1 . Build a device to extract the hydrogen from the water (electrolysis is suggested) . 2 . Design and build a containment device to house the fusion reaction . Bear in mind the reaction will be pretty hot, and the containment device should be capable of withstanding these high temperatures for more than a few nanoseconds . 3 . Develop a method to initiate a fusion reaction and contain it in the device developed in step 2 above . You may, for example, consider building a small fission device to initiate the fusion reaction (fissionable material may be obtained through the Web, try www . plutonium_are_us . iraq . com): while this method has been proved successful in triggering hydrogen bombs, caution should be exercised, since such an explosion must be adequately contained (safety first!) . Destruction of the PolyU and/or Hong Kong will result in loss of marks . 4 . Estimate the amount of helium that will be produced by your fusion device and compare with the actual amount of helium collected . 5 . Prove that your fusion device produces a net amount of energy (i . e . the energy out must be greater than the energy used to initiate and contain the reaction) . Describe in your report how you would use your device for the generation of electricity . Be neat! Marks will be deducted for messy work . Signature L . A . Snider Date: 11 Nov 2002 . THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Proposal for a PT BEng Final-year Project 2002 Project No . : PT02_24 Staff Name: Dr . L . A . Snider Title for the Proposed Project Development and Implementation of FACTS Devices in the Power System bBlockset and in EMTP Objective: (max . two sentences) In the project the student will develop models of flexible A . C . Transmission (FACTS) power electronic devices in Power System Blockset, as well as in EMTP . The dynamic performances of the devices will be evaluated on simulations of a small power systems . Brief Description Flexible A . C . transmission (FACTS) relies on power electronic devices to improve controllability and stability of a . c . power transmission systems . In this project FACTS models will be developed in MATLAB's Power System Blockset, and will then be simulated in EMTP . A small power system will be modelled and the FACTS models will be interfaced with the model power system The steady-state and dynamic performance of the FACTS devices and the power system will be studied in both simulation platforms . Signature L . A . Snider Date: 11 Nov 2002 . THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Proposal for a PT BEng Final-year Project 2002 Project No . : PT02_25 Staff Name: Dr . L . A . Snider Title for the Proposed Project Simulation studies of overvoltage control by metal oxide arresters Objective: (max . two sentences) In this project the Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP) will be used to simulate metal oxide arresters and study their effects on typical transmission and distribution systems . In particular, the energy absorption requirements of metal oxide arresters in the vicinity of saturating transformers will be studied . Brief Description The Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP) will be used to simulate metal oxide arresters and study their effects on typical transmission and distribution systems . In particular, the energy absorption requirements of metal oxide arresters in the vicinity of saturating transformers will be studied . The student will need to learn how to use EMTP - an internationally used powerful simulation software which can model power systems, control systems and power electronic devices . Signature L . A . Snider Date: 11 Nov 2002 .	Billy T (70)
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