Week 5: David Harris

David Harris, who first joined our team a few weeks ago, has become pivotal in gaining understanding of our vehicle and it's structure. Here are his observations and suggestions from this past week:

After inspecting the waste water and clean water tanks on the RV my recommendation is to leave them in place and permanently cap off any drains, vents, or supply lines. All the tanks are on the port (driver side) of the RV. Removing them would require a significant effort and we would not gain any additional useable space. If possible the caps should be placed at or below the sub-floor level.

The existing sub-floor can be cut out using a circular saw set to the correct depth and removed around any pipe(s), holes in floor and/or where water damage is. Once the existing sub-floor is removed we can cut the pipes to the desired height and glue caps in place. New pieces of sub-floor (I think we can use half-inch plywood) can then be cut and installed (glued and screwed). Insulation under the sub-floor should be replaced prior to installing the new sub-floor pieces.

Once we have a better idea of the interior design and before we begin fabrication, it probably would be worth spending some time with your electrician friend to help us identify what wiring can be permanently and safely removed from the vehicle as well as his advice on adding on any additional circuits (e.g. extra sockets, lights, and switches). For safety sake and ease of building out the space it would be nice to have every remaining wire and circuit clearly identified and labeled.

David A. Harris
Process Analyst
Enterprise Process Support
Syracuse University
315.443.2975

October 4
Class Agenda
*Review reading of Tom Finkelpearls' interview with Paolo Friere:
Roslyn Esperon leads discussion
*complete cleanup of RV post insulation removal
*Nicolette and Julia present new schematics
* finalize the design as a group
*MTVU grant update with JPosner
*between class assignments - expectations and schedule
* update on Oct 25th unveiling for POMCO and Valesky
*construction of wooden stairs: Marco, Steve Ginsburg
*fundraising strategies - accessibility, SMART classroom, solar panels

MLAB develops a Community wide focus group to advise and support the development of the project. First meeting was September 25, 2007
Members include:
Mike Barrington, ninth grader, Henninger Hs
Cory, ninth grader, Henninger HS
Randy Weatherby, Nottingham HS technology teacher
Christina Ferlenda, Nottingham art teacher
Len Fonte, consultaant for PBE and retired Nottingham English teacher
Pam Heintz, MAS Center for Publia & Community Service
Linda Littlejohn, Southside Initiative
Frank Olive, artist, Warehouse Gallery
Michael Burkard, poet, SU faculty of Creative Writing
Stephen Mahan, photographer, teaching artist for SCSD/SU

Week 5: Images

Two Henniger High School students providing valuable feedback at our focus group.

Ron DeRutte providing technical perspective on our proposed designs.

The raw exo-skeleton of our RV, ugly brown paneling and insullation removed.

Yun-Pei in ihs Tyvek suit, stripping insullation from the interior to leave us with a fresh pallete to design upon.

Mary Jane Jacobs

Mary Jane Jacobs will visit with our class on Tuesday, October 30th at 10am-11:30.

Yun Pei and I will be removing insulation Wednesday afternoon from 2-5:30. Can anybody else assist then?

Reading Assignment: Paulo Friere article.

Class starts promptly at 1:30.
Marion