Tag: Cincinnati

Supporting The Next Generation of Engineers

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

A while back, I was lucky enough to spearhead a donation from EXAIR to The University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub Makerspace. For the past several years, we have been sponsoring the UC Combat Robotics club, which uses the Makerspace to build its bots and learn more about the applications of its course of study. This facility is open to all students who attend the university. The course of study does not matter; the desire to learn appropriate usage of equipment and a determination to create are all that is needed.

The space puts every student through training for safety and manufacturing processes, if needed, and then the students can operate on their own. The staff in the space are often students themselves, or they are people with years of industry experience to share with the students utilizing the space. This 12,000 square-foot makerspace and fab lab is home to a variety of equipment that can all be seen on their equipment listing here. You can go in and learn how to use anything from a sewing machine or soldering iron, all the way up to a 4-axis CNC machine. If you just have an idea and desire to learn, the staff will even train you on how to make the idea come to life and do it all safely in a semi-controlled environment.

When we saw the need for safe, efficient use of compressed air in this space, EXAIR stepped in to help. We outfitted every air drop in the facility and every machine with an EXAIR VariBlast Precision Safety Air Gun w/ Chip Shield and Nano Super Air Nozzle. This will help keep all the operators safe by eliminating the risk of exceeding 30 psig dead-end pressure and also reducing the operating noise level to below the OSHA standard of 85 dBA, all the way down to 75 dBA. By keeping the entire facility uniform, they are also able to make purchasing new units easier when they are needed.

We also helped them assemble their new EXAIR Chip Trapper System to help recycle the coolant from their CNC machines and help them extend the life of their cutting fluid by being able to remove all the debris from their sumps, reducing the surface area on which bacteria can grow.

On top of both of these, we helped them to see how easy a Cold Gun is to mount onto the side of virtually any machine in their shop, even the industrial sewing machine, and showed them just how beneficial it can be. There was actually a group of students using one of the stationary belt sanders, and we were able to connect the Cold Gun to the closest air drop, use the magnet to hold it onto the housing of the sander, and position the single-point cold outlet to the contact point to keep the sandpaper and material cooler to prevent loading up of the sandpaper.

These were just a couple of the products we were able to share with them in order to help outfit their space with safe and efficient compressed air products. I’ve condensed the entire event down into a 50-second clip if you would like to watch. I feel like we need some classic Benny Hill music in the background.

I think the best part of this experience for me was the discussion that evolved as we unpacked all the items. We had already had lots of chatter back and forth around what their system is capable of and also what they plan to do with the EXAIR products. Then, as we are unpacking and discussing the capabilities, more applications started to come up. I have a feeling this is just part of what happens in this space. Ideas are born, then brought into fruition, all within these walls.

Special thanks to Benjamin Jones and his team for letting us be part of training the future leaders in the industry.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Combat Robots & EXAIR – What A Time To Be Alive

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Last year, EXAIR had the opportunity to sponsor The University of Cincinnati Combat Robotics Club and Teams. I’ve blogged about how I have seen these bots at the Tech Expo, a senior design showcase I volunteer and judge. This group of students ranges from first-year students up to seniors, and they are on a path to winning these competitions. Not just because we sponsor them.

Right now it is a summer session at UC, so the buildings are mostly quiet and the bustle about campus isn’t like a fall day. These 4 students, though, are still pushing through and building, competing, learning, advancing, rebuilding… it goes on and on. They shared the stories behind the bots, some were inherited from past teams, others were fresh designs, and they also shared some thoughts on what they could do for their next fight.

Hearing them talk about these devices they have labored over and listening to their confidence climb when they start rambling off, the velocities the tip of the weapon travels remind me of when I was in a similar position. These students all shared a passion and had similar goals in mind; to be the best team that is in the field. This isn’t just another checkbox for them to complete a grade or a test, it is a vested interest.

This is not far off from most of us here at EXAIR. This place isn’t just a checkbox, it is a vested interest, we want to be good at our jobs and that is why we continue to push to achieve certifications for Application Engineers like CCASS and is also why we continue to attend webinars, take courses, and continue to learn.

If you want to see more of the UC Combat Robots, check them out on Instagram, and make sure to follow the NHRL league for more of their events.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Not The First Switch Hitter in Cincinnati History

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Okay, I’ll admit that I am not the biggest sports fan, however, I will support hometown teams when it comes down to it. I recently found out that at the end of 2023, the Cincinnati Reds signed Jeimer Candelario for a decent amount of money. Several article headlines here in town noted how he is a switch-hitting infielder. I always go back to the fact that Pete Rose, one of my childhood favorite baseball players, was a switch hitter and rather good at it.

1 – Pete Rose Statue

In Pete’s playing days, it wasn’t something that was focused on like today. Many of the articles nowadays will break down all the data to determine which way the player performs better. Still, no matter what the data says, I’m sure it throws even a professional pitcher for a loop when someone swaps sides of the plate during an at-bat. The good news is, while Pete may be one of the bigger names in history for baseball, EXAIR is working to become one of the biggest names in industrial point-of-use compressed air-powered vacuums, and we are doing so with our switch-hitter, the EasySwitch Wet/Dry Vac.

The EasySwitch is the first dual-purpose vacuum that EXAIR has designed and sold in the 40 years we have been around. The best part is that the EasySwitch can do both liquid and solids equally well and comes with some great options between the basic, deluxe, and premium kits. On top, the systems are offered with either a general-purpose cartridge filter or a HEPA-rated filter which can be taken out and placed in without the use of tools and within 10 seconds to allow mode change from liquid to dry quickly and easily. This means you can easily go from a hard-hitting dry vacuum to a forceful liquid vacuum that can easily pull up to 210″ of water column in suction mode and has a flow rate of 36 gallons per minute. Once the drum is full of liquid, the liquid shutoff will engage and the lid can easily be swapped for an empty container if needed. 

This versatility makes it a powerful tool in almost any production environment that may encounter liquid or dry material spills or even cleaning in general. If you want to see how we can help you sweep up your housekeeping challenges, contact an Application Engineer today, and we will do our best to knock it out of the park.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Pete Rose Statue, Tom Tuschiya, 2017 – retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pete_Rose_Statue_by_Tom_Tsuchiya.jpg

You Have To Start Somewhere.

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

The school year is in full swing here in Cincinnati and all three of my daughters have different extracurricular activities they partake in. This fall, that equates to divide and conquer for my wife and me 4 nights of the week for practices then the weekends are also separate and conquer, but mainly on Saturday. This eats away at times we would typically use at home to get some walking in or even just generally getting stuff done. This schedule combined with working earlier has caused me to lose almost all workout desire. That is until I got to the first practice my oldest had which just happens to be held on my alma mater’s campus and is right next to Nippert Stadium.

When we arrived I noticed most parents were just hunkered down in their cars and watching movies or doom scrolling social media. I try to avoid doing that for 90 minutes straight if I can and so far I have. I started hitting the stairs at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium with my 35-pound ruck on my back. While my goal is to be able to complete the standard they have for their 9/11 memorial event I also want to get back into the shape I was in when I did back-to-back GORUCK events and could crank out burpees without crying on the outside. After going up one column of stairs from the field to the concourse level I go across and down the next set until I have done every column of stairs that go from the concourse to the area directly. For their event, I have to complete two laps which will equate to the number of steps within one of the towers.

So to train, I started with seeing how many sets I could do without feeling like I was going to not be able to reach the top and walk to the car. Surprisingly, I was able to get about half of the stadium done. Then I still had another hour to kill, so I hydrated a bit and rucked on over to the track/soccer field where I could walk the track and watch co-ed intramural flag football games while I did laps. Finally, I threw in some ruck PT exercises as a cool down and ended back at the building her practice was in. When I got to work the next day I felt like I got beat with a sack of oranges from my waist down. Then, on Thursday the thought crossed my mind as I hadn’t slept much the night before to just relax, then I had a buddy ask if he could come do stairs with me, and so we did it again Thursday night.

So from now until the end of the school year, I will more than likely be rucking on or around UC’s campus and Nippert Stadium to ensure I get back into a reasonable condition without having to lose more time with my family. This isn’t always easy and doesn’t come without pain. That pain though comes with added energy and increases in my mental position as well, so I am open to more things.

The same thing can be said about an industrial compressed air system. If you just trudge through every day and don’t look at any part of your facility, it is going to cause some pain when you first start to look at it. The first step is to acknowledge that something needs to change, and you have to have that finished goal of more capacity and capability available. The best place to start on your compressed air system is at the start with mapping out the system and getting a base measurement of where you are at for consumption.. This is the first step in our 6 steps of compressed air optimization, and we can help with every step along the way, You just have to reach out to us, your accountability partner for efficient compressed air.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF