Feature Channels: Engineering

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Looking for a win at the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge

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Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found a way to give photons, or light packets, their marching orders.

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Molecules in liquid crystals form exotic phases in which arrays of defects are organized into striking patterns. Confining these defect structures within droplets offers fine control that points to strategies—not possible in bulk phases—for assembly of responsive, adaptable materials.

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Movies of the nanoparticles in motion were obtained with world-leading electron microscopes. The results yielded insights into the structure and growth mechanisms of these materials.

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A new semiconducting material that is only three atomic-layers thick has emerged with more exotic, malleable electronic properties than those of traditional semiconductors.

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With a new technique, scientists can detect a few large grains in a sea of small grains and study the fatigue-induced phenomena of large grain growth.

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Researchers demonstrated that nanowires made from lead halide perovskite are the most efficient nanowire lasers known.

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Even though conducting missing electrons and transparency were considered mutually exclusive, this new material both efficiently conducts missing electrons and retains most of its transparency to visual light.

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Researchers at the Texas Analog Center of Excellence (TxACE) at UT Dallas are working to develop an affordable electronic nose that can be used in breath analysis for a wide range of health diagnosis.

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University of Utah materials science and engineering associate professor Mike Scarpulla and senior scientist Kirstin Alberi of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have developed a theory that adding light during the manufacturing of semiconductors — the materials that make up the essential parts of computer chips, solar cells and light emitting diodes (LEDs) — can reduce defects and potentially make more efficient solar cells or brighter LEDs.

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Unifying phase diagrams could be used to find materials with useful applications in magnetic memory.

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A new technique developed at Columbia Engineering by Biomedical Engineering Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic repairs large bone defects in the head and face by using lab-grown living bone, tailored to the patient and the defect being treated. This is the first time researchers have grown living bone grown to precisely replicate the original anatomical structure, using autologous stem cells derived from a small sample of the recipient’s fat. (Science Translational Medicine 6/15)

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Using the power of the light around us, Dartmouth College researchers have significantly improved their innovative light-sensing system that tracks a person's behavior continuously and unobtrusively in real time.

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Brookhaven scientists, students, and university partners help build and test key components for a possible future RHIC detector upgrade.

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Solenoid passes major test before its second lifetime in a particle detector upgrade at RHIC.

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Researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter are one step closer to developing a new generation of low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells. The structure is one of the world's first examples of a tri-layer metasurface absorber using a carbon interlayer.

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University of Wyoming researchers have joined colleagues from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to study the potential for retrieving rare earth elements from water produced in oil and gas production and geothermal projects

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Modern tools like microwave ovens and X-ray machines that are powered by intense, focused beams of electrons are ubiquitous, but many of the materials in those devices have remained largely unchanged for decades. Now, electrical and materials engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have identified a substance that could vastly improve the technology.

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In the lead up to the World Barista Championships, University of Bath scientists say brewing more flavoursome coffee could be as simple as chilling the beans before grinding.

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In experiments at two Department of Energy national labs – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – scientists at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have experimentally confirmed critical aspects of how a new type of microelectronic device, the memristor, works at an atomic scale.

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In 2015, Harel Weinstein’s team used the Titan supercomputer at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to produce the first end-to-end simulation of a sodium ion, the fuel that powers neurotransmitter sodium symporters, moving from the synapse into the cell via the dopamine transporter (DAT), the gatekeeper for the neurotransmitter dopamine that is associated with reward-motivated behavior.

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The next generation of nanosubmarines being developed at Rice University has been upgraded with tags that fluoresce longer, which enables the submersibles to be tracked for greater periods while being driven through a solution.

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Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD student Chelsea Panos has received a 2016 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF), which provides each recipient with a $34,000 annual stipend for three years, plus a $12,000 cost of education allowance and opportunities for international research and professional development.

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A prototype system that will test a planned array of 5,000 robots for a sky-mapping instrument is taking shape at Berkeley Lab. Dubbed ProtoDESI, the scaled-down, 10-robot system will run through a series of tests on a telescope in Arizona from August-September.

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Industrial manufacturing businesses can save over 30 percent on electrical bills, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 5 percent, by adjusting production schedules, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. “Manufacturing enterprises can take advantage of critical peak pricing (CPP), a demand response technology, in the transition towards smart electric grid to significantly lower their energy cost,” said Yong Wang, assistant professor of the systems science and industrial engineering at Binghamton University’s Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science. “They can do all of this while contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, too.”

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An ultrathin film that is both transparent and highly conductive to electric current has been produced by a cheap and simple method devised by an international team of nanomaterials researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Korea University

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Magicians could join composers and artists in finding new ideas for their performances by using computers to create new magic effects, according to computer scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

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The exascale initiative has an ambitious goal: to develop supercomputers a hundred times more powerful than today’s systems. Argonne Distinguished Fellow Paul Messina, who has been tapped to lead a DOE/NNSA project designed to pave the way, speaks on the potential for exascale and the challenges along the way.

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Researchers have discovered a novel way to significantly increase the amount of sunlight that a solar absorber can convert into heat. By converting more of the solar energy that reaches the Earth’s surface into heat in a low-cost way, the solar absorber can help make sustainable technologies that rely on solar heat, like solar thermal technologies, more efficient and affordable.

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Jianyi Zhang works to create tissue that can replace or protect damaged muscle after a heart attack. He and colleague offer perspectives on that in a paper in Science Translational Medicine, and he shares his plans to bioengineer heart tissue cell-by-cell.

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Scientists can now identify the exact location of a single atom in a silicon crystal, a discovery that is key for greater accuracy in tomorrow's silicon based quantum computers.

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Kansas State University researchers have invented a new class of lasers. The energy-efficient lasers are portable; reach wavelengths that are invisible, requiring technology that is transparent at those wavelengths; and they have the potential to scale to high-powered versions.

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In 2013, Serbia announced its goal of having 27 percent of the country's power be generated from renewable sources by 2020. Hitting that target will require building additional clean energy facilities, but figuring out what type of project -- solar, wind, hydropower or other renewable sources -- to support can be a daunting task for investors. Now, a team of researchers is trying to simplify the decision.

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As part of the "LightChEC" research project at the University of Zurich, Empa scientists are working with other researchers on a novel method of artificial photosynthesis – photocatalysis, which uses a purely chemical process to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Unlike other methods, it does not involve the electrolysis of water. However, the practical application of photocatalysis is still some way off.

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Kennesaw State University names Mark Tillman as dean of the WellStar College of Health and Human Services, effective July 1

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A radical new process that allows hydrogen to be efficiently sourced from liquid formic acid could be one step forward in making the dream of hydrogen-powered cars an economic reality.

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New battery technology a boost for Formula E race cars; New ORNL roof coating helps keep roofs cool; ORNL technique reveals defects in solar cell material; ORNL finding shows promise for alternating current conduction for oxide electronics.

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Developing and evaluating motion-capture technology to help older adults “age in place” has been the focus of researchers at the University of Missouri for more than a decade. Previous research has utilized video game technology and various web-cameras to detect health changes in Tiger Place residents. Now, two new studies demonstrate how monitoring walking speed using radar and heart health by utilizing bed sensors help maintain older adults’ health and warn of impeding issues.

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Researchers have engineered endogenous protein inhibitors of protein-degrading enzymes as an alternative approach to synthetic inhibitors for potentially treating cancer and other diseases.

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Reza Ehsani, is an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida. Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus REC, touted Ehsani’s work in using steam to help citrus trees infected by greening.

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The University of Oklahoma’s Sooner Rover Team took top honors in NASA’s Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage Robo-Ops Challenge, besting seven other universities around the nation, as well as an engineering team from NASA.

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Researchers have developed aluminum alloys that are both easier to work with and more heat tolerant than existing products.

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Click to visit the DOE Office of Science channel

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Shuchin Aeron, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in Tufts University’s School of Engineering, has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Energy.

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Rice, NC State researchers test single-molecule cars in open air.

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Matthew Tirrell has been appointed to a second five-year term as Pritzker Director and dean of the faculty of the Institute for Molecular Engineering, President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Eric Isaacs announced. Tirrell’s new term begins July 1.

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An urban heat island causes areas like Chicago to be significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas, which threatens urban sustainability. Newly published University of Notre Dame research found that roofs with vegetation or reflective surfaces on top of Chicago’s current infrastructure could reduce lower roof temperatures by a range of 3 to 4 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

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Researchers have developed an integrated, wearable system that monitors a user’s environment, heart rate and other physical attributes with the goal of predicting and preventing asthma attacks. The researchers plan to begin testing the system on a larger subject population this summer.

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While Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is not the sunniest place in the world, solar energy is viable in the region. With new technologies, some people might be inclined to leave the electrical grid. A team from Michigan Technological University looked into the economic viability of grid defection in the Upper Peninsula.

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In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers, including FSU Professor of Oceanography Jeff Chanton, lay out their findings that contaminants released during the spill combined with a bloom of phytoplankton to create what has been called a “dirty blizzard.” That blizzard then sank to sea floor and essentially stayed put.