Fun times in Minnesota

Hi everyone!

Over the past few weeks I have been furiously working on understanding Simulink and how exactly I should be attaching a wind turbine rotor, an electric generator, and a hydrostatic transmission to a three shaft planetary gearbox. It has been quite the learning experience to say the very least :) There have been plenty of confusing moments and honestly, I must admit that I owe my grad student, Feng, a gigantic shout-out for all of the wonderful help he has given me thus far: Thanks Feng!

Now, fun things have not just been happening inside the lab. Firstly, Ellen and I were able to attend a Fluid power conference here at the UMN this past week. Not only were the speakers really knowledgeable, but the venders were really chatty and extremely generous with their free stuff (yay for USBs and posters and bags and pens and journals and more!). Moreover, the conference ended with a tour of the large wind turbine located about 40 minutes from campus. It was so amazing to see it up close. You really cannot comprehend the size of these things until you stand directly below them! Secondly, I had a once in a lifetime experience in Starbucks. As Ellen and I were quietly sipping our Cinnamon Apple Spices (if you have not tried this drink you need to! It’s Christmas in a cup, really though…) we were shocked as a bride and groom, still in their full wedding attire, walked into the café. From this point forward I must warn you to stop reading if you are not the hopeless romantic type. Trust me it gets sappy quick J Anyway, not only had these two newlyweds met in a Starbucks, but they made sure to order the exact same coffees they had been drinking during their first encounter. It was absolutely adorable watching them pose for pictures with their mugs. Plus it was wonderful to hear the cashier refuse to let them pay- Minnesota really is full of nice people!

So, fellow REUs, clearly the moral of this story is to start staking out your local Starbucks. Just think, even if you don’t find the man/woman of your dreams at least you will have tried the Cinnamon Apple Spice- trust me, it’s a win-win J