ETTL News & Views
Volume 12 • Fall 2004 Newsletter
The second issue of the new electronic version of ETTL's Newsletter … Keeping you up to date on what's happening at ETTL Engineers & Consultants … typical current projects … how we can be of service to you … links to our web site, people … and more!
Contents • I-49• Doug's Corner • Shuffler & UT Tyler • Environment • Avalon Ldfl • US-69 • Crawfish • Happy End• NTC-College • ETTL Web Site


A DOUBLE STORY

1.Watch Out, Las Vegas!

Three UT-Tyler Engineering Students
Build a Card Shuffler-Dealer
that Really Works!

 2. UT-Tyler's New Engineering, Sciences & Technology Building

Ground-Breaking Ceremony Gets
Structure off to Definitive Start

We (ETTL) became aware of this unique gadget not because of any gambling or special card-playing proclivities on our part, but because one of its three pardonably proud inventors, Mark Humphries, had been employed part-time in our Tyler CMT labs for two years while pursuing his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Texas in Tyler. Mark and two other students, Penio Radav (from Bulgaria) and Tiffany Stein (an American), together developed the CSD (Card Shuffler-Dealer) as a senior design project.

"We worked on it, off and on, for about eight months," Mark recently told us, when he brought the CSD over to demonstrate it to curious souls. "The CSD has a selection screen," he said. "Right now it's set up so you choose between five card draw (poker), Go Fish, and Fifty-Two Pickup -- for two to eight players. But it's programmable. You can set it up for different games and functions, like turning cards over during a game of Black Jack."

We asked if the CSD had been demonstrated to powers-that-be over at UT-Tyler. Mark smiled cheerfully. "Yep! Back in May. It worked really well. We demonstrated it to about ten people, both UT faculty and industrial volunteers."

A trustworthy card dealer at last?

There's more information about Mark and about ETTL's stand on education in "Doug's Corner."

In the photo below, Mark stands between Doug Flatt, ETTL's founder and board chair, and Mrs. (Maxine) Flatt at a dinner honoring graduating students at UT-Tyler.

 Actually, there will be three buildings. Two will each contain four stories of classrooms and laboratories. Then a single-story 70 x 100 ft central plant (not shown in the above pic) will be adjacent to them. The ground-breaking ceremony was held on June 3 of this year, and actual construction began not long after. ETTL had already carried out geotechnical services and made foundation recommendations.
We're now carrying out a variety of CMT tasks: soils, drilled piers, concrete, masonry, asphalt and steel. At left concrete is being placed in a pier shaft. In the background, a shaft for another pier is being drilled. Pier diameters will range from 18" to 60". Pier depths will be 35 ft for the southern of the two main buildings, 20 ft for the northern one. Drilled shaft condition, shaft sizes, pier concrete, and rebar cages are just some of the pier elements ETTL's field technicians will inspect and/or test.

Prime contractor for this project is Skanska USA Building Inc. of Temple, Texas.

The actual ground-breaking was witnessed by a very considerable crowd comprised of staff members, faculty, and friends of UT-Tyler. Below, ETTL's Doug Flatt (right) stands with 12th Court of Appeals Judge Tom Ramey, Jr. (left) and George Oge, retired civic leader and former owner of a Mercedes dealership (center).

Click here to see in-depth information about ETTL's geotechnical services on our web site, or contact Robert Duke, P.E. Or for similar in-depth web-site information about ETTL's CME (or CMT) services, click here, or contact Mark Miller, C.E.T.

 

News & Views
 is published by:

 ETTL Engineers & Consultants Inc.
1717 East Erwin, Tyler, TX 75702
903-595-4421 • FAX 903-595-6113
E-Mail: ettlinc@ettlinc.com		 Return to top of page