Help on 2 engineering concepts

[Sko]

I'm in a thing call TEAMS Engineering. Basically there's 8 people on a team and we get 1 hour 30 mins to answer questions about 10 college level engineering problems (each w/ several questions) (we're are in high school). We're allowed to bring in any texts/info we want but it's so hard 50% is incredibly good.

They've given us the problem statements beforehand and the 2 me and my partner are doing are wireless communitcations, and fire protection engineering. I was wondering if anyone could give me any background or tell what concepts to look at that would give us an advantage.

Here is more specific info:

Wireless comm- As a member of the engineering group in a local wireless communications company, you are required to conduct tradeoff studies on the performance of available radio equipment to satisfy the fixed and mobile wireless communications requirements of your customers. This requires you to investigate various aspects of the system performance, from the perspective of both the system operator and the customer.

Fire: An insurance company for a large bank has hired your Fire Protection Engineering firm to provide consulting services for a suspicious fire in the bank's headquarters'building. Your team must investigate the causes and sources of a fire.

 

[russ_watters]

The problem statements are pretty broad and its tough to know exactly what the questions are going to say. Wireless comms isn't my thing, but I'm an HVAC engineer and dabble in fire protection. Google for "philadelphia meridian building fire sprinkler" for an example of good and bad fire protection. One link: http://www.nfsa.org/departments/codes/CCWINTER98.html

Quote [bold added]:

An example of the failure of passive fire protection is the One Meridian Plaza building in Philadelphia. A fire that started on the 22nd floor spread through the 30th floor, despite the efforts of one of the best fire departments in the nation. Seven sprinklers on the 31st floor stopped the fire. This was considered to be a fireproof building. The damage was so severe that the building is now being demolished. Would we have even heard about this fire if sprinklers had been installed on the 22nd floor?

That's right, a massive office building and massive fire, stopped by just seven sprinklers. The tenant of the 31st floor didn't trust the building's passive fire protection system (fire rated walls) and installed a sprinkler system on their own. If not for those seven sprinklers, the fire would have consumed the rest of the building.

I also recommend looking through some fire protection codes (if you can - take one with you) for fire protection requirements. Every city (state, country) has its own and they're all different, but they're all the same.

 

[ravenprp]

Sure, I would be happy to provide some help on these engineering concepts. For wireless communications, some key concepts to look at would be signal propagation, modulation techniques, and interference management. Signal propagation refers to how a wireless signal travels through different mediums, such as air or water, and how it is affected by obstacles and distance. Modulation techniques involve encoding information onto a carrier signal, and different techniques have different advantages and disadvantages in terms of data rate, bandwidth, and robustness. Interference management is important in wireless communications to minimize the effects of interference from other devices or signals.

For fire protection engineering, some key concepts to consider would be fire behavior, fire prevention and suppression systems, and fire investigation techniques. Fire behavior refers to the characteristics and patterns of how fires spread and behave, which can help in determining the cause and source of a fire. Understanding different fire prevention and suppression systems, such as sprinkler systems or fire extinguishers, can also be helpful in determining the effectiveness of these systems in a specific situation. Fire investigation techniques involve using scientific methods and principles to analyze evidence and determine the cause and origin of a fire.

I would also recommend looking into any relevant codes and standards related to wireless communications and fire protection engineering, as these can provide important guidelines and regulations to follow in these fields. Additionally, familiarizing yourself with case studies or real-life examples of wireless communications and fire protection engineering can help you gain a better understanding of these concepts and how they are applied in practice.

Best of luck with your team's engineering problems! Remember to approach them with a systematic and analytical mindset, and utilize all the resources available to you.