V
The Battalion I 4.29.14
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Student baristas around town whip up
caffeinated creations with a little flair,
perfect for a study break pick-me-up
Coffee art, or latte art, usually involves
pouring the last portion of steamed milk
into a mug as a way to create a design in
the foam of a latte or shot of espresso. It
sprouted up in Seattle in the 1980s and
1990s, but has since become widespread
across the country and overseas. Some local
cafes offer their customers these foamy
designs intricately designed by baristas.
1541 Pastries
Mugwall's
Lupa's
The Village
VIEWS
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
New York to Chicago on
3 gallons of gas
Gas engines can beat electric — if it is researched
Srinivas Marshal
SciTech writer
ver the past 200 years scientists and
■ I engineers have worked tirelessly to
perfect the heart of any vehicle —
the engine. However, with the increased
pressure to go “green,” many automak
ers have turned their attention to electric
vehicles at the cost of research into more
groundbreaking technologies such as one I
came across in a graduate seminar.
The StarRotor engine developed by
A&M professor Mark Holtzapple is as
green as it gets. It eliminates the emissions
problem by dramatically improving ef
ficiency and most importantly, it makes no
compromise on performance like EVs do.
EVs and hybrids, although impressive,
don’t compel most users to pay extra
money for a car that might otherwise cost
thousands less and not make car main
tenance a lifelong science project. The
StarRotor engine, in contrast, uses the
same old combustion principles except it
powers a vehicle twice as efficiently as a
piston engine and with minimal pollut
ants. In theory at least it reduces the need
to go electric.
The internal combustion engine, ICE,
is inherently dirty. It does three major
functions in the same volume — compres
sion, combustion and expansion — and
it doesn’t do any of them particularly
well. Also, about one-third of the energy
is sucked out of the walls through the
radiator. Holtzapple’s StarRotor engine
separates the compression, combustion
and expansion processes to achieve high
efficiency for each functionality and the
fuel doesn’t even have to be gasoline. It
can run on vegetable oil too.
Traditional gasoline engines are re
stricted to efficiencies around 20 to 25
percent. The StarRotor engine however
may achieve up to 60 percent efficiency
and produces fewer pollutants. A strik
ing feature of its design is that it has no
radiator.
Theoretically, a Volkswagen LI con
cept car can run up to 274 miles a gallon
with the StarRotor Engine —just under
three gallons of fuel to travel from New
York to Chicago. However, Holtzapple’s
ultimate quest of commercializing the
StarRotor engine for domestic transporta
tion has not been without considerable
roadblocks.
“Despite the obvious benefits of our
engine the automakers are unwilling to
make design shifts or alter production
processes that have been established over a
long period of time. It’s a mature technol
ogy aind has worked now for 200 years,”
Holtzapple said.
He argued that auto-manufacturers
would rather invest in a technology
such as the fuel cell vehicle or EV’s than
explore alternatives to the conventional
engine.
Hearing Mark Holtzapple so passion
ately describe the StarRotor engine — the
result of 20 years of research — convinced
me that automakers ought to at least fund
a prototype. It also made me wonder how
many such groundbreaking technologies
must exist out there that don’t see the
light of day because they challenge the
tried and tested.
Srinivas Marshal is an electrical
engineering graduate student and
SciTech writer for The Battalion.
A prototype
of the
StarRotor's
compressor,
which is
projected
to be up to
60 percent
efficient, as
opposed to
a current
engine's
25 percent
efficiency.
Kelly says farewell as he
passes the SBP torch
Tanner Garza —THE BATTALION
Kyle Kelly finished his tenure as the 71 st Texas A&M Student
Body President at Campus Muster on April 21.
By Wade Feielin
With his term officially
over after the 2015 Mus
ter, Kyle Kelly has had a week
to reflect on his time as Texas
A&M’s student body president
as the position passes to Joseph
Benigno, 2015-2016 SBP.
Kelly, a fifth-year industrial
distribution senior, is a mem
ber of the Corps of Cadets and
served as executive vice presi
dent the year before taking
office. Emphasizing the edu
cation Aggies receive both in
and out of the classroom, Kelly
said he ran on the idea of the
Aggie experience. In practice,
this was represented by what
Kelly calls his “way of work
ing,” rather than by specific
promises or platforms.
“The way of working was
to represent students — that is,
of course, a given — to have
a good relationship in student
government and then to have
a rapport with the administra
tion,” Kelly said.
Rusty Thompson, depart
ment head of student activi
ties in the Division of Student
Affairs, said he interacted with
Kelly several times per week
and that Kelly did an excellent
job of handling day-to-day
needs of his office while re
maining focused on big picture
objectives.
Kelly said Student Gov
ernment Association made
tremendous strides this year
in terms of communication
between its branches. He said
he developed a strong working
relationship with the speaker
of Student Senate Hannah
Weger, which translated to a
smoother, more efficient SGA.
“We have worked well to
gether, sat on a variety of dif
ferent meetings and task force
together and it has been very
helpful to not only be friends
but to be people who don’t al
ways agree,” Kelly said.
Weger said Kelly is a driven
individual who made it a point
to quickly tackle whatever is
sue was presented to them.
“I think Kyle set several
goals at the beginning of the
year and worked to make sure
those were accomplished,”
Weger said. “One was just
making sure that we all work
with the core values — integri
ty, excellence, working toward
selfless service — and I think
he did a great job of carrying
that through to the end.”
One controversial issue ad
dressed during Kelly’s tenure
that highlighted the need for
a cohesive SGA was the con
cealed carry bill presented in
Student Senate. Kelly said this
was the toughest decision he
made because it affected the
rights and public safety of many
different groups of people.
“I didn’t just think about
masses of classrooms, I thought
about individual people,” Kel
ly said. “I thought about my
two younger sisters, Lorelyn
and Delaney, who are in class
rooms and I tried to make a de
cision with our Student Senate
that was again representative
of the student body but that
was a decision that was best for
A&M, and that was very dif
ficult.”
He said the statement SGA
released in light of the bill was
extremely important because
the issue is one that is not
widely understood.
“[Concealed carry] is one
that people approach with a
lot of emotion and not a lot of
fact,” Kelly said.
In what Kelly called the
pinnacle of his calling to serve
as student body president,
he gave a speech at the 2015
Campus Muster on April 21.
He said while it is a ceremony,
it is also a way of life for Ag-
gies.
“It’s something we are
about year round — remem
bering, taking care of our own,
honoring those who have gone
before us but then alsq using
them as inspiration to continue
what they were about,” Kelly
said.
Kelly said his love for Texas
A&M will allow him to con
tinue to give back even after
leaving the office of SBP and
graduating, which applies to all
students.
“We bring solutions to the
problems in our world and
benefit society,” Kelly said.
“Aggies go on to lead and serve
so I see it as very humanitarian
in a way. It’s a ministry, it’s a
calling, it’s something I love,
and I believe so wholeheart
edly in Texas A&M.”