Global competencies of engineering graduates have been identified as traits that are increasingly necessary for professional competitiveness of graduates, but continue to be elusive and difficult to address in the engineering curricula. Study abroad and experiential learning programs have been invoked to address some of the global competencies with varied degrees of success. In this paper, a faculty-led program model developed by West Virginia University and several institutions in Mexico and the US is presented, in which senior engineering students from the US and Mexico team up to conduct meaningful engineering projects in industry in Mexico. Intermixed teams of students are formed and placed in various industrial sites to work full time under the advice of engineering practitioners and faculty members from both Mexico and USA. Global competencies are addressed in the context of a project that requires students to work with peers of similar disciplines and level across language and cultural barriers.

In this work, the Zn22Al4Ag alloy was synthesized by melting in a muffle furnace.The alloy obtained was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and was analyzed by the X-Ray Diffraction technique, where the crystallinity of the material was verified before and after being processed. Likewise, the Differential Scanning Calorimetry technique was used to obtain the temperatures where phase transformations occurin the alloy. These results were fed to the Termocalc®, software to numerically obtain the phase diagram of the alloy. Subsequently, a section of the ingot was taken to the rapid solidification process by rotating drum. The process variables were manipulated: jet stability, nozzle diameter, distance from the nozzle surface to the cooling medium, the delay time of the molten material in the crucible, speed of the rotating drum and jet angle, until obtaining a microwire with a diameter of ~ 160µm. Finally, it was determined that inadequate control of these parameters can result in powders, flakes or blockage of the crucible outlet. Potentially uses within the micro and nanoworld as an analogy to structural elements and electrical conductors, in addition to its current use as a coating anti-corrosive. Key Words: ZnAlAg alloy, Melt spinning process, Microwire, DSC analysis, Thermodynamic simulation En este trabajo se sintetizó la aleación Zn22Al4Ag mediante fusión en horno de mufla. La aleación obtenida se caracterizó mediante Espectroscopia de Dispersión de Energía por Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido y se analizó mediante la técnica de Difracción de Rayos-X, donde se verificó la cristalinidad del material antes y después de ser procesado. Asimismo, se utilizó la técnica de Calorimetría Diferencial de Barrido para obtener las temperaturas donde se producen las transformaciones de fase en la aleación. Estos resultados se introdujeron en el software Termocalc®, para obtener numéricamente el diagrama de fases de la aleación. Posteriormente, se llevó una sección del lingote al proceso de solidificación rápida mediante tambor rotativo. Se manipularon las variables del proceso: la estabilidad del chorro, el diámetro de la boquilla, la distancia de la superficie de la boquilla al medio de enfriamiento, el tiempo de residencia del material fundido en el crisol, la velocidad del tambor giratorio y el ángulo del chorro, hasta obtener un microalambre con un diámetro de 160µm. Por último, se determinó que un control inadecuado de estos parámetros puede dar lugar a polvos, escamas o al bloqueo de la salida del crisol. Su uso potencial dentro de la escala micro-nano como analogía a elementos estructurales y conductores eléctricos, además de su uso actual como recubrimiento anticorrosivo. Palabras Clave: ZnAlAg alloy, Melt spinning process, Microwire, DSC analysis, Thermodynamic simulation

In traditional machine, equipment and devices design, technical solutions are practically independent, thus increasing designs cost and complexity. Overcoming this situation has been tackled just using designers experience. In this work, a data clustering method which allows this data presentation in a more systematic way using a matrix arrangement, is shown. From this matrix, data can be reorganized in clusters with a hierarchical structure, in such a way that modular design is now more tractable. Proposed method is based on a Euclidean algorithm which allows finding the shortest vectorial distance among technical solutions. Taking product properties as vector dimensions, a recursive method for moving matrix rows and columns is applied. As a result of this procedure, the minimum vector distances are found thus being possible to identify the best technical solutions for the design problem raised. The proposed modular procedure is shown with a 30 inches oven door design.

Chromium(III) tanning has dominated industrial leather manufacturing for decades because it reliably produces soft, strong, and dimensionally stable leathers with short processing times and high yi...

In a context in which a succession of crashes involving double combination vehicles has occurred in Mexico during 2012 and 2013, a catastrophic accident occurred on May 7, 2013, burning-killing 27 people whose homes were located adjacent to the road. In this case, the double combination carried Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in both containers, the second of which exploded as a consequence of its decoupling from the vehicle and roll over. The impact of the tractor against the median barrier due to an excessive evasive maneuver sparked a first conflagration due to a fuel leakage, which supplied the heat for the warming and subsequent explosion of the rolled-over container. The cabin of the tractor-semitrailer caught fire but the driver was able to move the vehicle 500 meters away from the crash spot. The analysis suggests that several characteristics of the vehicle and infrastructure could have mitigated or prevented the catastrophic consequences of this event, along with an appropriate response from the emergency response agencies. In particular, both, a B-train vehicular configuration and a vertical barrier could have prevented the occurrence of the fatal roll over.