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August
2006 Update
Sam Barros of Australian TV
Photo of Sam Barros above.
From the TLC
Web Site about "Junkyard Wars":
"The two captains have 10 hours to build earth-shredding machines
that can carry a 25-gallon vat of liquid across rough and rugged
terrain without spilling a drop. As if that wasn't difficult enough,
in a Junkyard Mega-Wars first, our teams will switch vehicles for
Round 2 of the challenge and try to spill as much liquid as possible
from the other team's vat. The team that keeps the most liquid in
their vats after both rounds takes home the victory. [...] Sam is
a brilliant engineering student who's dying to put down his books
and get his hands dirty."
You can read
about the show and check the air times at TLC's website.
Michigan
Tech Story by Marcia Goodrich |
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Michigan Tech ME
Student Featured in Fortune and 'Junkyard Wars'
Michigan Tech
ME student Osanan L. (Sam) Barros Neto
, who appeared Junkyard Megawars and Discovery Canada (which nicknamed
him Plasmaboy), was mentioned in Fortune magazine recently. Barros
is among a handful of electricity enthusiasts profiled in the Oct.
14 edition of Fortune magazine article, "Lightening
Bugs," by Ivan Amato, which chronicles the exploits of "high-voltage
hobbyists". The story notes that Michigan Tech has given Barros
access to lab space, where he works on his projects. You can read
more about it here.
Barros participated
on The Learning Channel (TLC)’s Junkyard Mega-Wars TV show
January 20, 2004 .
TLC Media found out about
Sam through his Internet webpage, “Sam
Barros’ PowerLabs”. At the website, Sam presents
some of his research over the years, which he does both as a hobby
and as a means to learn more about science. His research on fields
as varied as Chemistry, High Voltage Electricity, Plasmas, Rockets,
Turbines, Microwaves and Electromagnetic Accelerators has earned
him numerous prizes and awards in national, European, and International
science fairs, as well as sponsorships for some of his projects
and job offers from related industries.
Sam is currently working
as an undergraduate student on a sponsored Rail Gun research. A
Rail Gun is a device that employs electricity to magnetically accelerate
a projectile to speeds which would be unattainable by any other
means. Sam’s research is sponsored by Cornell Dubilier electronics
and focuses on minimizing the rail erosion that occurs when a sliding
electrical contact is pushed forward by currents as high as 100
thousand amperes. This research attracted the attention of Junkyard
Wars and lead to his invitation to be on the show. He has also participated
on MTV's Big Urban Myth Show as a Microwave Expert, and will be
featured in a future edition of Discovery Channel's "Daily
Planet.", due to be filmed on campus in January.
On that future program,
Sam will talk about his research on electromagnetic accelerators,
how they work, and how this technology may impact our lives and
open new doors for high speed transportation in the near future.
Sam says his project and participation in Junkyard Wars was made
possible by the use of the ME EM laboratories and the assistance
of Rob Rowe the machine shop supervisor in the ME EM 6th floor machine
shops. More information about the television appearance and Sam’s
other research projects, including his Rail Gun can be seen at the
Powerlabs web site.
Here at Michigan Tech,
he is pursuing a BS in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering
(with a concentration in automotive engineering). He is also involved
in the Aerospace Enterprise team working on the NASA and USAF Sponsored
University Nanosatellite (UN-3) where he is working on the structural
design for Michigan Tech’s Aerospace Enterprise UN-3 project.
Sam came to Michigan
Tech from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has an International Baccalaureate
in Physics, English, French and Chemistry from the AEGSP (International
School) Sao Paulo, Brazil. 2001. He is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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