Technology Club
If you are interested in joining the Technology Club, contact Mr. Malobicky.
The TECHNOLOGY CLUB is organized to introduce students to the fields of engineering, architecture, medical science, computer aided design, aviation, manufacturing, and the applied sciences. The primary focus of the group is to gain hands-on experience through guided tours and activities at a host organizations site. The club meets once every six weeks to plan and organize each after-school trip. Recent visits include:
Tour of PPG Tower in downtown Pittsburgh. Building engineer guided group through mechanical rooms, fire system, security control room, pump rooms, ice skating rink refrigeration system, office construction, and a walk on the roof of the skyscraper. Afterwards, students skated at PPG ice rink.
Tour of One Mellon Place in Pittsburgh. Building manager took students through the vast array of mainframe computer systems that support Mellon banking worldwide. Students observed the computer monitoring systems, cooling fans, and structural elements of the building.
Walking Tour of downtown Pittsburgh. The director of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation guided students on a walking tour of downtown to describe the historical and architecturally significant buildings along the route. Students were able to walk in the County Jail, the Morgue, City-County building, Market Square, the Cultural District, Heinz Hall and the Convention Center.
JV Manufacturing, Natrona Heights. Allan Vecchi and his staff presented a tour of a tool and die operation at JV Manufacturing. Students started with the beginning design stage CAD system through procurement and final design and modeling. The group was exposed to all the machining, grinding, and quality assurance operations within the facility.
Marine Air Detachment, Johnstown. Students toured the hangars where the detachment maintains the Cobra, Apache and UH-1 helicopters. The group was allowed to climb into the pilots seat of all aircraft and fly a helicopter using the flight simulator. All aircraft ordinance and weaponry was displayed for the students as well as an up-close helicopter flight demonstration.
Allegheny Power Generation Plant, Springdale. Students toured the gas turbine peak generation power plant to investigate the mechanical systems necessary to sustain electrical generation. Tour included an up-close inspection of the 140,000 horsepower General Electric gas turbines, oil lubrication systems, water cooling towers, electrical distribution grid and computer control rooms.
Allegheny Ludlum Steel, Brackenridge. Students toured the hot rolling mill, silica strip mill, continuous casting department and electric arc furnaces. Members of the club participated in melting scrap metal from the operators station in the melt shop. The tour also witnessed tapping a heat of molten stainless steel.
