Volunteering Meets Engineering

We’ve shared our experiences of how EXAIR gives each employee the chance to volunteer at an organization they feel close to for an entire workday. This is a great benefit here as we get to see where each person’s interests and passions align and it sometimes gets groups of us out to spend time together doing good for others. While I’ve already used my day for the year by judging my alma maters Senior Design Tech Expo and seeing what the next generation of engineers has to offer, today I have the joy of going even further into the future generations and showcasing some garage engineering of how airflow works.

Today, I am going to be going to a Junior High School, not just any but the one my oldest attends. My best friend and I will be volunteering for their Color Run event which is a fundraiser they put on to end the year. They take a dyed powder and throw it into the air as contestants run around a field and complete various obstacles. At one of the meetings for the event, they were discussing how they went through an excessive amount of dye powder last year. They also mentioned how it didn’t work best as they had filled squeeze bottles that you would see in a restaurant with the powder to disperse as the kids come by. Well, here in Cincinnati it gets to be rather humid this time of year, so dry powder, mixed with humid air, and compression of being squeezed to disperse resulted in lots of clumping and eventually just handfuls of dye powder being dumped on kids. It also doesn’t give the big plume that they want.

1 – The Color Run, Grand Prix Edition (Melbourne 2014)

My friend and I have built a name for ourselves in the PTA as THE DADs. at the meeting, the PTA members looked at my wife who was attending, and asked if she could get THE DADs to show up for this event. Sure enough, there is no better reason to take some time off work than to douse your kid in colored powder, so we were hooked, and then the question came of, can they make this setup better. So the news came to us and we evaluated the old method. The system was simply not adapted to the scale they needed and moisture as well as the fact that some powders brick/cake when compressed wasn’t thought of. So we started brainstorming and our first thought was to take my generator and air compressor from the garage and connect a small Line Vac or even Super Air Amplifier to disperse the powder as we drop it into the entrained airflow. This setup would work, we simply don’t have the time and my generator is so loud the kids would need hearing protection. So then we looked at what we do have. I have a throw bag launcher that was constructed of an old CO2 tank and spring-loaded ball valve to get a weighted bag with a line into trees to help tie off for limb work. That is a single-shot kind of deal though, and we would be like a revolutionary war-fighter on the front line with the kids being the guerilla-like forces that don’t comply with the face-to-face combat style. So that’s out. Next, we laid out what we needed. It’s pretty simple, a large volume of air and a way to put the powder into the airflow.

Well, we both have leaf blowers, they provide a lot of air, but it is a constant flow and you can’t restrict it too much. So what can we do with a large volume of flow? Well, I happen to have a good number of PVC fittings from projects. So a good wye fitting and the leaf blower with continuous flow starts to look like a siphon-fed blow gun.

See the large volume of air will blow across the bottom of the wye fitting which will generate a low pressure on the extra leg of the wye. This gives us a draw of ambient air or in this case, an inlet port for the powder. Then the air and powder mix in the last bit of the discharge tube and voila, a plume of powder in whatever color we have on hand is created! Since I don’t have a good picture of our setup, here’s a video that helps validate our thoughts.

1 – Airbrush Inspired Leaf Blower Ball Shooter

One of the hardest things we had to do is to account for the flow of air being constant since a leaf blower that is powered does not have a quick on-off. This is one of the main benefits of using compressed air in a scenario like this, you can quickly turn it on and off to get rapid movement of air. Blowers tend to take time to spool up, like a gas leaf blower, and they don’t do well with restriction which is why some of these ball launcher designs blow the balls back up the feed tube, restriction of the barrel diameter.

While I didn’t get to use compressed air for this, I still got to use the principles that I have learned through my years here at EXAIR, and I’ll try to tweet out some images of our color plumes when I get a chance so follow my Twitter feed as well, @EXAIR_BF.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Chris Phutully from Australia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2 – Keith’s Test Garage, Airbrush Inspired Leav Blower Ball Shooter – retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz1T70IjG4k

EXAIR Founder’s Day 2021

EXAIR celebrates Founder’s Day each year on February 22nd (or the closest working day) in order to commemorate the birthday of our founder, Roy Sweeney.  He founded the company in 1983 and drove EXAIR to become the strong, successful and innovative company that it has over the years.  Roy led EXAIR for 33 years.  Today would have been his 87th birthday.

We choose to make this day a celebration and a day to mark our ongoing commitment to the service of others in keeping with the values that Roy and his wife Jackie felt (and feel) very strongly about.  We continue to look outside our company, outside ourselves and outside our immediate surroundings to do what we can to improve the world around us.

This marks our 5th Founder’s Day.  Over the past four years, we have supported a total of 21 different charities with direct, substantial donations as part of our commitment to organizations that are making a difference right here in our area.  This year, we have chosen to further deepen our commitment by contributing to all 21 organizations that we have supported in past years:

  • Freestore Foodbank
    Supplies 33 million meals per year to those in need
    https://freestorefoodbank.org/
  • Lighthouse Youth and Family Services
    Supporting their Safe and Supported program for LGBTQ youth
    https://www.lys.org/safeandsupported/
  • DAV
    Supporting disabled American veterans and their families
    https://www.dav.org/
  • Arts Wave
    Funds and supports 100+ arts projects and organizations through impact-based grants
    https://www.artswave.org/
  • Cincinnati Works
    Partners with all willing and capable people living in poverty to assist them in advancing to economic self-sufficiency through employment
    https://cincinnatiworks.org/
  • Habitat for Humanity Greater Cincinnati
    Helps eliminate substandard housing locally and globally by building and renovating decent, affordable homes to sell to low-income first-time homebuyers.
    https://www.habitatcincinnati.org/
  • Matthew 25: Ministries
    Provides humanitarian aid and disaster relief along with partners in the Greater Cincinnati area, across the US and in more than 60 countries
    https://m25m.org/
  • SPCA Cincinnati
    Offers programs including animal adoptions, animal cruelty investigations, spaying and neutering shelter animals, companion animal and wildlife rescue
    https://spcacincinnati.org/
  • Tender Mercies
    Transforms the lives of homeless adults with mental illness by providing security, dignity, and community in a place they call home
    https://www.tendermerciesinc.org/
  • Bethany House
    Helps homeless and at-risk families with solutions to achieve housing stability and long-term self-sufficiency
    https://bethanyhouseservices.org/
  • Women’s Crisis Center
    Supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual abuse
    https://www.wccky.org/
  • Dragonfly Foundation
    Supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families
    www.dragonfly.org
  • Master Provisions
    Supporting those in need with food, clothing and other items in the Greater Cincinnati area and abroad through mission trips
    www.masterprovisons.org
  • Cincinnati Youth Collaborative
    Supporting vulnerable children and young adults to overcome obstacles and succeed in education, career, and life
    www.cycyouth.org
  • Ronald McDonald House of Greater Cincinnati
    Cincinnati’s Ronald McDonald House provides a home for critically ill children and their families while they get the life-saving medical care they need
    www.rmhcincinnati.org
  • Women Helping Women
    Prevents gender-based violence and provides evidence-based prevention and expert crisis intervention and support services for survivors of dating violence, sexual violence, domestic violence and stalking 
    www.womenhelpingwomen.org
  • Elementz
    Elementz is an urban oasis of hope and a catalyst of change for Cincinnati’s inner-city youth. This Urban Arts Center fosters talent, ignites potential and inspires possibilities.
    www.elementz.org
  • Special Olympics Ohio
    Special Olympics Ohio is part of the global inclusion movement using sports, health education, and leadership programs to empower people with intellectual disabilities. 
    www.sooh.org
  • Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
    The CSO is situated in the heart of Cincinnati and is contributing at every level to serving our community and elevating Cincinnati’s vibrant cultural scene.
    www.cincinnatisymphony.org
  • MusiCorps
    MusiCorps is a conservatory-level music rehabilitation program that helps wounded warriors play music and recover their lives.
    www.musicorps.net

EXAIR also established an Employee Volunteer Program in 2018 that enables every full-time employee with at least 90 days of service to volunteer with organizations of their choice during the normal work week with full pay by EXAIR.  The COVID pandemic has impacted our ability to volunteer with outside organizations for nearly a year.  We look forward to better days when we can collectively work with organizations in our community to improve the lives of those in need.

So, as we celebrate Founder’s Day today, we wish Roy a happy birthday.  We miss having him here.  We remember what he did for all of us and for countless others.  And we pledge to continue his commitment to helping those who need it.

Happy Founder’s Day 2021 from everyone at EXAIR!

Bryan Peters
President
EXAIR Corporation

EXAIR Founder’s Day 2020

EXAIR celebrates Founder’s Day each year on February 22nd (or the closest working day) in order to commemorate the birthday of our founder, Roy Sweeney.  He founded the company in 1983 and drove EXAIR to become the strong, successful and innovative company that it has over the years.  Today would have been his 86th birthday.

We choose to make this day a celebration and a day to mark our ongoing commitment to the service of others in keeping with the values that Roy and his wife Jackie felt (and feel) very strongly about.  It is now up to us to continue to look outside our company, outside ourselves and do what we can to improve the world around us.

As we do every year, EXAIR has made significant donations to organizations that are making a difference right here in our area.  We are proud to announce that we have chosen to support more charities than ever for Founder’s Day 2020:

  • Freestore Foodbank
    Supplies 33 million meals per year to those in need
    https://freestorefoodbank.org/
  • Lighthouse Youth and Family Services
    Supporting their Safe and Supported program for LGBTQ youth
    https://www.lys.org/safeandsupported/
  • DAV
    Supporting disabled American veterans and their families
    https://www.dav.org/
  • Arts Wave
    Funds and supports 100+ arts projects and organizations through impact-based grants
    https://www.artswave.org/
  • Cincinnati Works
    Partners with all willing and capable people living in poverty to assist them in advancing to economic self-sufficiency through employment
    https://cincinnatiworks.org/
  • Habitat for Humanity Greater Cincinnati
    Helps eliminate substandard housing locally and globally by building and renovating decent, affordable homes to sell to low-income first-time homebuyers.
    https://www.habitatcincinnati.org/
  • Matthew 25: Ministries
    Provides humanitarian aid and disaster relief along with partners in the Greater Cincinnati area, across the US and in more than 60 countries
    https://m25m.org/
  • SPCA Cincinnati
    Offers programs including animal adoptions, animal cruelty investigations, spaying and neutering shelter animals, companion animal and wildlife rescue
    https://spcacincinnati.org/
  • Tender Mercies
    Transforms the lives of homeless adults with mental illness by providing security, dignity, and community in a place they call home
    https://www.tendermerciesinc.org/
  • Bethany House
    Helps homeless and at-risk families with solutions to achieve housing stability and long-term self-sufficiency
    https://bethanyhouseservices.org/
  • Women’s Crisis Center
    Supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual abuse
    https://www.wccky.org/

To further our commitment to others, EXAIR established an Employee Volunteer Program in 2018 that enables every full-time employee with at least 90 days of service to volunteer with organizations of their choice during the normal work week with full pay by EXAIR.  I am proud to say that sixteen employees volunteered their time helping other organizations in 2019.  Through this program, EXAIR and its employees can have a positive impact on dozens of organizations throughout the year.

So, as we celebrate today with lunch and funny memories, we wish Roy a happy birthday.  We miss having him here.  We remember what he did for all of us and for countless others.  And we pledge to continue his commitment to helping those who need it.

Happy Founder’s Day from everyone at EXAIR!

Bryan Peters
President
EXAIR Corporation

EXAIR Founder’s Day 2019

EXAIR celebrates Founder’s Day each year on February 22nd (or the closest working day) in order to commemorate the birthday of our founder, Roy Sweeney. He founded the company in 1983 and drove EXAIR to become the strong, successful and innovative company that it has over the years. Today would have been his 85th birthday.

We choose to make this day a celebration and a day to mark our ongoing commitment to the service of others in keeping with the values that Roy and his wife Jackie felt (and feel) very strongly about. It is now up to us to continue to look outside our company, outside ourselves and do what we can to improve the world around us.

As we do every year, EXAIR has made significant donations to organizations that are making a difference right here in our area:

• Dragonfly Foundation – supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families
(www.dragonfly.org)

• Master Provisions – supporting those in need with food, clothing and other items in the Greater Cincinnati area and abroad through mission trips
(www.masterprovisons.org)

• Cincinnati Youth Collaborative – supporting vulnerable children and young adults to overcome obstacles and succeed in education, career, and life
(www.cycyouth.org)

• Lighthouse Youth and Family Services – supporting their Safe and Supported program for LGBTQ youth (www.lys.org)

• DAV – supporting disabled American veterans and their families
(www.dav.org)

• Women’s Crisis Center – supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual abuse
(www.wccky.org)

To further our commitment to others, EXAIR established an Employee Volunteer Program last year that enables every full-time employee with at least 90 days of service to volunteer with organizations of their choice during the normal work week with full pay by EXAIR. I am proud to say that fifteen employees volunteered their time helping other organizations in 2018. Through this program, EXAIR and its employees can have a positive impact on dozens of organizations throughout the year.

So as we celebrate today with lunch from one of Roy’s favorite restaurants – Montgomery Inn – and funny memories, we wish Roy a happy birthday. We miss having him here. We remember what he did for all of us and for countless others. And we pledge to continue his commitment to helping those who need it.

Happy Founder’s Day from everyone at EXAIR!

Bryan Peters