(photos by Nicole You, E2 Consulting Engineers Inc.)

(Photos by Kent McKintosh, LACSD)

On Nov 10th 45 members of LABS participated in a unique, behind the scenes tour of the rapidly expanding Space X manufacturing facility in Hawthorne. The event was LABS’ annual Industrial Waste tour and arranged by members of the Los Angeles County Sanitations Districts’ Industrial Waste Section.

Founded just a few years ago by Elon Musk, the entrepeanuer behind PayPal and Tesla electric cars, Space X is working on designing and building the next generation of rockets that will take people and supplies to the international space station, whicle also cutting the cost of building, launching and recovering the rockets. The company is building new rockets in response to competitions created by NASA to fund the next generate of private rocket launching companies.

According to tour guide and speaker Dustin Doud Space X has already secured roughly $3-billion in rocket launch orders from NASA and others. The firm has roughly 1,500 employees and is growing rapidly.

The firm has successfully launched and recovered two Falcon 1  rockets and two Falcon 9 Dragon rockets. The Dragon has a reusable capsule which they successfully launched and recovered and which the LABS tour group was able to take a close-up look at. It looks a bit like the Apollo capsules and will shuttle people and supplies to the ISS. Space X is working on the February 2012 launch of a Falcon 9 that is under NASA contract to take supplies to the International Space Station. They are the first commercial company to successfully launch and recover a capsule.

Based in City of Hawthorne just south of Hawthorne airport the firm took over an old 747 component assembly factory with over 1-million sf of space. Originally the facility was going to be turned into an RV storage facility, but today is a bustling rocket assembly factory.

Space X prides itself on designing and building its rockets from scratch looking for ways to improve reliability, provide additional safety factors and save resources. Their core competencies are manufacturing, production and testing. More than 70% of the rocket and systems are built in-house to improve quality control and reliability. The rockets are assembled horizontally because it is less expensive and less hazardous.

Once the massive rockets are completed, one end of  the rocket tube is hooked to truck wheels and the front  is hooked to a big-rig. The rocket itself forms the structure of the trailer. Space X  launches from Cape Canaveral and from islands in the mid-Pacific. The firm will also be launching rockets from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

To learn more visit www.spacex.com.

(photos by Alec Mackie, JWCE)

Vander Lans AWTF

Photos by Kent McIntosh, LACSD and Miluska Propersi, RMC Water & Environment

On Saturday May 14th about 100 high school students participated in the Tech Day outreach fair hosted by the Los Angeles African American Engineers and Professional Employees Association. The event was held inside the beautiful new Galen Center at USC.

LABS helped sponsor the event and hosted a table with mock demonstrations of the wastewater treatment process. LABS Director Basil Hewitt, President Wendy Wert and VP Alec Mackie described the wastewater treatment process to students, the importance of taking care of water and all the great careers available in the wastewater industry.

The students showed they knew their stuff. Some asked about the UV disinfection process – a newer technology in the water and wastewater industry. Several already knew 75% of the Earth’s surface is water andless than 1% is available for drinking water, so it’s important to use water wisely. Others were facsinated by the microscope and watching the microorganisms turn pollution into cleaner water.

The wastewater industry will need plenty of new treatment plant operators, engineers and managers in the coming years. A great resource for students and young professionals interested in a water/wastewater career is WEF’s new website www.WorkForWater.org.

Thanks to Los Angeles African American Engineers and Professional Employees Association for organizing yet another fantastic tech day (they’ve been hosting these events for over 10 years) and LABS looks forward to next year’s student outreach event.

A sunset cruise around the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors hosted by LABS Past President Hala Titus of Black & Veatch.