CSULA race team to join 2012 Energy Invitational

CSULA vehicle

CSULA vehicle

CSULA will bring their FSAE race car to the May 20, 2012 Energy Invitational at the Adam’s Motorsports Park in Riverside, CA. For more information…

Here is a photograph of the CSULA race team.

CSULA team

CSULA team

Update: UC Davis race team to join 2012 EI3

UCDavis Hybrid

UCDavis Hybrid

UC Davis will travel south to join in the May 20, 2012 Energy Invitational. Their hybrid race car was designed to compete at the FSAE Hybrid competition in New Hampshire.

Here is a photograph of the UC Davis race team.

UCDavis Team

UCDavis Team

UCLA vehicle

UCLA Supermileage joining the 2012 Energy Invitational

UCLA vehicle

UCLA vehicle

UCLA’s supermileage vehicle will race on May 20, 2012 as part of the 2012 Energy Invitational at Adam’s Motorsports Park. Select this link for more information…

This is a photograph of some of the members of UCLA’s race team.

UCLA Team

UCLA Team

Wikipedia and mechanisms and robotics

Wikipedia logo JMR Logo

Type “mechanism” or “robotics” into google.com and the first items to appear are Wikipedia articles. In fact, chances are that any technical term in mechanisms and robotics, such as “machine,” “gear,” or “inverse kinematics,” will yield Wikipedia articles on the first page.

Internet marketers work hard to achieve first page rankings in Google’s search algorithm using techniques known as search engine optimization (SEO). In response Google regularly revises its algorithm to reduce the presence of web-sites that have poor content but high rankings, a sign of effective SEO. (1) A revision introduced in early 2011 seems to like Wikipedia.

When teaching, I check to see what my students find on-line with search terms like “four-bar linkage” and “mechanical advantage,” even “screw theory” and “quaternions.” Last year I became so frustrated with the poor quality of the articles appearing at the top of my searches, that on May 27, 2011 I created a user account and entered Wikipedia as a novice editor.

I am approaching one year and 3,800 edits on over 60 articles on Wikipedia. While I could not repair everything that I felt was wrong or misleading, I am claiming success, because the culture of Wikipedia imposes limits on what can be done.

This experience has sharpened my appreciation for the challenge of managing information on the Internet. Before I get to this, let me share some advice regarding the world that is Wikipedia.

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