Lecture 49: Gravity and Dynamics of Motion in Orbit

April 30, 2012 9:50 pm

Date & Time: Thursday May 10, 2012 – 7:30 PM

Location: Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus) – Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009 (Get Directions, Campus Map )

Speaker: Mohsen Mosleh

Synopsis:

This lecture will entertain topics in “classical mechanics” which discusses the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of applied forces. These physical laws provide extremely accurate results as long as the objects being considered are not macro-scale and the speeds involved do not approach the speed of light.

The selected topics in this lecture are gravity and its role on the dynamics of objects in orbit. The gravitational field is one the key fundamental interactions of nature which gives weight to the objects with mass and causes dispersed matter to coalesce, and coalesced matter to remain intact. It is also the driving force for objects under central-force motion in an orbit. The dynamics of motion in orbit with the Lagrangian perspective will be discussed. Examples of planetary orbits and their characteristics in the solar system will be presented.

About the Speaker:

Mohsen Mosleh is a Professor of mechanical engineering at Howard University in Washington DC and Past President of Iranian Academic and Professionals (IAAP). His professional appointments and services include Visiting Scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Visiting Scientist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Guest Scientist at the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST), Advisory Board of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Maine, Board of Directors of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) of Washington DC section, Graduate Program Director at Howard University, Manager of MIT/Harvard-industry consortium on durability of total joint replacements at the Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT).

He has been a reviewer for Maine Space Grant Consortium, Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP), National Science Foundation’s programs, American Society of Engineering Education and numerous scientific journals. He has also served as member of Technical Committee of professional conferences and meetings such as International Symposiums on Nano-manufacturing and Chair of ASME-STLE Conference sessions.

Dr. Mosleh received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from MIT. He earned his BS and MS degrees in mechanical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology. He has widely published peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and proceedings. His research interests and activities include surface engineering, nanofluids, and nanocomposites. His teaching focus is on Classical Mechanics and Advanced Dynamics, Engineering Design, and Product Development. He has received numerous awards including Rabinowicz tribology award, ASME outstanding teaching award, distinguished faculty author award and Editor’s Choice paper award from TLT magazine.

Fee (including dinner): $5 Students, $15 Public

RSVP: Please click here to RSVP for dinner.

Majid Fotuhi
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Lecture 48: Global Water Challenges and Sustainable Solutions

March 30, 2012 5:26 pm

Date & Time: Thursday April 12, 2012 – 7:30 PM

Location: Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus) – Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009 ( Get Directions, Campus Map )

Speakers of this month: Drs Ben & Zohreh Movahed

Synopsis:

Water is life! After air, water is the most precious resource on earth. Without adequate and safe drinking water and proper sanitation, the whole society’s livelihood will be jeopardized. This presentation provides a brief overview of some of the local, national and global challenges related to water; presents many questions about the “current” practices related to water usage and discusses possible strategies towards sustainable solutions, including advanced water treatment and desalination as potential tools in the tool box. The audience will learn the value of water to life and the fact that, in the future, the most competitive world issue will be the availability of water, more than oil! The World Bank estimates that 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and about 50 percent of the world’s hospital beds are populated by people who have contracted water-borne diseases. The audience will also become familiar with some of the local and national challenges including: aging Infrastructure, consequences of large water main breaks (e.g., River Road Water Main Break); presence of micro pollutants in water supplies, concerns about the perception of “unacceptable” tap water quality resulting in excessive use of bottled water, the controversial idea of using of alternative non-potable sources for flushing toilets, and many more intriguing challenges.

About Ben Movahed, P.E., BCEE

Ben Movahed

Ben (Behanm) is the President of WATEK Engineering Corporation in Silver Spring, Maryland. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of Houston and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from University of Maryland.
He is a registered professional engineer in eight states, a board certified Environmental Engineer and has over 26 years of experience in evaluation and design of water treatment facilities. Ben is internationally involved and is specialized in reverse osmosis desalination and membrane filtration technologies. Ben is the Past President and current board member of the American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) and Past Chair of the AWWA water quality committee (CS). He has received numerous awards from various water industry organizations and teaches short courses on membrane and desalination technologies to water plant operators and guest speaker for the Johns Hopkins University graduate student classes.
Ben has managed the design and construction of over 150 projects utilizing various types of water treatment technologies from very small (10,000 gallons per day) to some of the world’s largest facilities with capacities over 100 million gallons per day.

About Zohreh Y. Movahed, Ph.D. P.E.

Dr. Zohreh Movahed

Dr. Zohreh Movahed has a B.S., in Chemical Engineering, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. She is a registered Professional Engineering in the State of Maryland. She has extensive water and wastewater related work experience working for private and public entities. For the past 20 years, She has been working at Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) and Currently she is in charge of the WSSC’s Regulatory Services Group Leader.
She has also been a part time instructor for the Johns Hopkins University for the past 14 years. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding performance and achievements.
Behnam and Zohreh are both dedicated to the field of water. Their professional mission is to protect and enhance quality of life by helping to address various water and wastewater related challenges.

Fee (including dinner): $5 Students, $15 Public

RSVP: Please click here to RSVP for dinner.

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Lecture 47: Global Corporate Interests Collide with Indigenous Interests and Rights, and Mother Nature Frowns: Shell v. Nigeria — a case study

March 2, 2012 9:59 pm

Date & Time: Thursday March 8, 2012 – 7:30 PM

Location: Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus) – Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009 ( Get Directions, Campus Map )

Speaker: Dr. Morad Eghbal Dr. Eghbal

Synopsis:

On February 28, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in this very case, Kiobel v. Royal Ducht Shell Company. In 2010, the Second Circuit ruled in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum that the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), which allows lawsuits in U.S. courts for violations of international law, does not create a legal basis for suits against corporations. This decision is now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court with oral arguments heard on Tuesday, February 28. The Court’s ruling could have major ramifications for the future of litigation against corporations in U.S. courts for human rights violations that take place outside the United States. The discussion delves into what questions the Court asked, what the oral argument suggests for a decision later this year, and what lies ahead for the ATS.

About the Speaker:

Morad Eghbal received his degrees in geology, geophysics, Germanic Literature and minor in B. Admin. from GWU and graduate degree in philosophy and social policy with an area concentration in natural resource management. He worked as a geologist with Stephan Riess, a world-renowned mining engineer and geologist. Both focusing on water and mines in West and Southwest US. Following a decade of work, he studied law at Howard Law School and earned his Juris Doctorate. He briefly joined a law firm in Switzerland working on cases in international banking and finance law, then worked as a Federal judicial law clerk at the US District Court for the District of Columbia. He relocated to Sacramento, CA to join a law firm with responsibilities that included litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and international trade. He also earned a post-doctoral law degree, LL.M. in Transnational Business Practice, from McGeorge School of Law, and a number of diplomas from various law schools in Europe. After relocating to Washington, D.C., he taught for 20 years at Howard University and 15 years at the University of Baltimore (UB) as a faculty in the Business School, the College of Liberal Arts and the Law School. In 1999, he began serving as the Assistant Director and later as Deputy Director for International and Comparative Law, developing a graduate law program for UB, aimed at further training academicians and judicial personnel worldwide. Upon completing this tour of duty, he joined Plasmera.

Fee (including dinner): $5 Students, $15 Public

RSVP: Please click here to RSVP for dinner.

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