By: Lisa R. Weidman
As the country’s interest grows in finding sources of alternative energy, Dr. Dale Litwhiler is looking at the energy that already exists and how it can be put to work. In his research on energy harvesting, Litwhiler is examining processes by which small amounts of waste energy can be captured and stored.
Litwhiler, an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, was awarded a research development grant from Penn State Berks for his work on capturing wind energy from passing vehicles to power devices near highways, such as traffic monitoring and safety equipment.
In addition to his research on energy harvesting, Litwhiler also studies instrumentation and data acquisition. In fact, these areas are closely related: finding novel ways to collect energy allows Litwhiler to power his instrumentation and data acquisition equipment.
In his research laboratory at Penn State Berks, Litwhiler can be found working on several projects simultaneously. In one venture, he is collaborating with Thomas Gavigan, Assistant Professor of Engineering, on a project in which little boxes are attached to doors in campus buildings. These boxes measure and record the energy needed to open and close the doors, the number of times the doors are opened and closed, and the various positions of the doors. This energy, in turn, could be used to power a wide range of devices near the door’s location. A typical campus building door in normal use could produce enough energy to charge more than seventy AA batteries per week.
This research is garnering wide interest. Last fall Litwhiler and Gavigan traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to present their findings at the International Journal of Modern Engineering Conference.
In his research, Litwhiler also works with acoustics, using sound waves to determine various measurements, such as determining the position of people in a room. This work has several possible applications, such as developing interactive sound recordings in museum exhibitions, as well as surveying and dimensioning.
In another undertaking, Litwhiler worked with Marilyn Fox, Arts Coordinator, to create an interactive experience of sight and sound in a bus shelter located in front of the college’s Franco Building, titled “Knowledge Is Power.”
With the help of Jeff Wike, Supervisor of Electrical Engineering Laboratories, and Frances Jallu, a junior majoring in Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology, Litwhiler created a solar-powered audio system that incorporates snippets of student conversations, ranging from a tour given by a student, to discussions on scholarships and financial aid, to a lecture on mathematics.
Jallu worked on circuit design, layout, and testing the system, which also housed a solar panel to create renewable energy to power the audio system electronics.
“I’ve learned a lot of things in this project-working with renewable energy, which is what powers the battery to run the MP3,” comments Jallu. “It’s the first time I worked on a project of this kind.”
Also during the summer of 2008, Litwhiler worked with Barbara Lombardi, a materials engineering major at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, Venezuela who completed her summer internship at Penn State Berks. Together they worked on carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide sensor testing and calibration. Using custom designed data acquisition hardware and software, the performance of these sensors was evaluated.
Litwhiler, Jallu, and Lombardi will present their work on these projects at the American Society for Engineering Education annual conference in Austin Texas in June 2009.
“I’ll also be using the information gained from the projects in the classroom,” Litwhiler adds. “We can download the telemetry on the solar panel and battery status to use in studying energy conversion and ‘green’ energy sources.”
Litwhiler often incorporate his research in the classroom. In fact, he will do anything to capture his students’ interest-even set off rockets.
According to Litwhiler, the rockets serve as a moving laboratory, helping him illustrate how to measure acceleration, velocity, and altitude. His students have the opportunity to launch the rockets, which store data that is later downloaded and analyzed. Litwhiler also uses rockets in a summer camp for middle and high school students, where the students learn about the equipment and simulation software.
A Penn State alumnus, Litwhiler went on to earn his doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University. He worked for such companies as IBM and Lockheed Martin before returning to the classroom as a professor.
“I’ve always wanted to teach,” comments Litwhiler. “I had a great experience as a student at Penn State and I wanted to teach in a smaller Penn State environment. I believe in using current components and equipment that are used in industry in the classroom and integrating laboratory experience with lectures to provide a comprehensive learning experience.”
Litwhiler gives students the opportunity to work with him conducting research on instrumentation, data acquisition, and energy harvesting. His teaching philosophy and hands-on approach have earned this “Rocket Man” the admiration and respect of his students.