A Salute to our Military – bESTology Week 13

A Salute to our Military – bESTology Week 13

Each and every day our military works hard to protect us – but how can we protect our military? In particular, how do we protect them from fire?

Engineers applying the skill of thinking outside-the-box, brainstorm, prototype, build and test vehicles, clothing, and equipment associated with our troops. Searching for new and innovative ways to extinguish fires on the battlefield in order to protect our men and women in uniform is critical.

Let’s salute our military and explore Fire Suppression Systems.

Resources

• Amerex Defense
• TACOM Vehicle Fire Suppression Systems
• Tactical Vehicle Fire Protection
• Challenges for Integrating Halon Alternatives into Fire Extinguishing Systems
• U.S. Army Halon Replacement Program
• Amerex Aerosol Generators
• Amerex Dry Chemical Extinguishers
• Amerex Crew Compartment Suppression System
• Amerex Autonomous Detection and Release Panel
• Army AL&T Fire Suppression Systems
• Keeping Our Military Safe – videos
• Venn Diagram

(Please read or view the above resources in detail prior to completing the following activities)

Firestorm of Brainstorming

List 20 items (or more!) an engineer must consider when designing and developing a fire suppression system (FSS) for military ground vehicles that are capable of transporting troops and ammunition.

Continue by sketching a Venn diagram titled “Designing a FSS for a Military Vehicle”.   Label each circle either as crew, vehicle or ammunition and other stored items. Evaluate your brainstorming list and place each item into the specific circle of association. Conclude by analyzing your Venn diagram and discussing how difficult yet important it is to design and develop a safe and efficient FSS for our military.

Fire and Rescue Journal

Create a Timeline of Technology for fire suppression systems used in military ground vehicles. Begin your timeline in 1818 and continue till 2017 (just short of 200 years). Compare and contrast your timeline with others. Hint: Lots of history can be found in the resources above.

BEST Connection

Analyze the Amerex documents above and identify “buzzwords” that can be applied to your technical documents and marketing presentation, i.e., configuration options, main features, fast response, flexibility, operation specifications, etc.

Design a one-page technical document template that can be used during the 2017 BEST season – providing judges information about your robot. Remember to embed several of the “buzzwords”.

Apply the “buzzwords” to your marketing presentation as well. It’s never too early to begin planning!

Note: Amerex is located in Trussville, Alabama. Research and discover similar industries in your local region. Invite them to BEST Game Day.

Community Connection

Invite an active duty, retired or National Guard service member to visit your school. Prepare a list of questions for your guest and collaboratively discuss fire safety in military ground vehicles. Capture a photo of you and your guest to display in your exhibit booth. Post the photo on the BEST Facebook page as well!

Challenge! Using the above references, how many of the following questions can you answer correctly?

1. Do military fire suppression systems (FSS) react in milliseconds, seconds or minutes?
2. What is FRF and how will it impact the safety of our military troops?
3. How does licorice juice help extinguish a fire?
4. What is the scientific name for Halon and how many forms of Halon exists?
5. What are the challenges associated with refilling the FSS in combat vehicles?
6. What does it mean when a fire detection system must “see” or “feel” the fire event? And why is the speed of light significant?

Saluting our Military: Recognizing the dangers involved with military service, let’s show our support to these men and women. All BEST teams are encouraged to write Thank You letters to local service members in your community. Tell them they are the BEST!

Bloom’s Taxonomy: analyze, apply, brainstorm, capture, compare, conclude, contrast, create, develop, design, discuss, evaluate, identify, invite, label, list, post prepare, write

Workforce Skills: reading comprehension, active listening, critical thinking, speaking, active learning, writing, service orientation, complex problem solving, equipment selection, installation, operation analysis, systems evaluation, science

Download a PDF copy of bESTology Week – Click HERE

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