2009 Issue

35 small business BIG PERFORMANCE Colosimo’s Sausages manufacturing facility, financed via an SBA 504 loan fromMountain West Small Business Finance. So you’ve had a small taste of success and want a second helping? Well, chew on this; Mountain West Small Business Finance is Utah’s #1 small business lender , helping hundreds of businesses like yours enjoy the cost saving benefits of SBA 504 loans. For more information: (801) 474-3232 www.mwsbf.com > Purchase land and/or a building > Construct a new facility > Purchase equipment > Renovate or remodel existing facilities What an SBA 504 Loan can do for you: The SBA recently selected MWSBF as the 2008 National Certified Development Company Lender of the Year! section 101 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. The 2008 HARBOR Flight Team guidelines requires no additional permission. Guidelines for filing a Notice to Airman (NOTAM) and communicating with the FAA are readily available. The student experience The HARBOR program provides students with more than a flight experience. To ensure success, flight systems must be well designed, rigorously tested, and well documented. Students in the program come out with an exceptional skill set. Our students learn to work col- laboratively, relying on other teams to complete essential tasks critical to the success of their own work. Students hone skills in design and time management. They learn how to anticipate problems before they occur, and solve unforeseen problems on the fly. Likemost engineering efforts, the HARBOR group uses a team-based approach. Students are responsible for command systems, launch sys- tems, site selection, recovery operations, and safety. Team members participate in outreach and fundraising activities. Team leads learn critical management and leadership skills. Future directions The engineering aspects of HARBOR are one piece of the experience, but the vehicle isa platform for scientific exploration. The excitement of building and flying a novel experiment to near space is an excellent way HARBOR BALLOON PROJECT — continued from page 25 to lure would-be scientists. The HARBOR balloon is a well tested engi- neering platform, but there is mass available for additional experiments. The fun of flying is deciding what to do at 100,000 ft. There are also plans to bring high altitude ballooning to the public. By increasing our model to include a local Mission Control, we can have students stationed at less remote locations (like a university classroom) to provide a play-by-play description of the launch and recovery in real time. This, coupled with two-way communication with the ground team, allows the flight team to leverage information fromMission Control (such as detailedmaps, updated flight predictions, and weather data) tomake recovery easier. We know the importance of science and technology in our society, and hear about the dearth of highly skilled scientists and engineers. By participating in hands-on, real-world design projects, students gain technical skills and collaborative abilities that make them indispens- able in the workplace. High altitude ballooning is another avenue for students interested in science and engineering to gain this experience, while developing critical mission planning skills, and having a good time doing it. The team leader for HARBOR is Dr. John Armstrong, Assistant Professor, Physics, Weber State University. He is a member of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Mr. Thacher, a member of the Utah Engineers Council, reported this project on behalf of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.