Feature Channels: Engineering

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Researchers at Penn State have demonstrated an acoustofluidic pump powered by a piezoelectric transducer about the size of a quarter. This reliable, inexpensive, programmable pump is a crucial feature for lab-on-a-chip devices that could make the diagnosis of many global life-threatening diseases easy and affordable.

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Kevin Daniels, president of Nitze-Stagen & Co. and Daniels Real Estate, and Mike Powe, senior research manager for the Preservation Green Lab of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, are national experts in trends and opportunities within sustainability and green construction.

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In high-seismic regions, new facilities often are engineered with passive protective systems that provide overall seismic protection. But often, existing facilities are conventional fixed-base buildings in which seismic demands on sensitive equipment located within are significantly amplified. In such buildings, sensitive equipment needs to be secured from these damaging earthquake effects.

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Andrea Dietrich and Amanda Sain of Virginia Tech’s Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering estimated that 50 percent of the population taste threshold for manganese II in water, the simplest ionic manganese oxide, to be more than 1000 times the current EPA allowable level. Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Water Works Association, and they are now looking into possible secondary pollution issues with the release of manganese in air through its use in humidifiers.

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A team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new sensor that can detect and count nanoparticles, at sizes as small as 10 nanometers, one at a time. The researchers say the sensor could potentially detect much smaller particles, viruses and small molecules.

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A Mayo Clinic researcher and his collaborators have developed an online analytic tool that will speed up and enhance the process of re-engineering cells for biomedical investigation. CellNet is a free-use Internet platform that uses network biology methods to aid stem cell engineering. Details of CellNet and its application to stem cell engineering are described in two back-to-back papers in the journal Cell.

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Recycled tires could see new life in lithium-ion batteries.

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University of Washington engineers and physicians have developed a smartphone application that checks for jaundice in newborns and can deliver results to parents and pediatricians within minutes.

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Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed algorithms to identify weak spots in tendons, muscles and bones prone to tearing or breaking. The technology, which needs to be refined before it is used in patients, one day may help pinpoint minor strains and tiny injuries in the body’s tissues long before bigger problems occur.

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The University of Washington researchers have demonstrated that two single-layer semiconductor materials can be connected in an atomically seamless fashion known as a heterojunction. This result could be the basis for next-generation flexible and transparent computing, better light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and solar technologies.

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A new device developed by a UAMS physician and a researcher at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock could soon be available to treat stroke more effectively.

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Ask anyone who has a surgical pin in their body, and they likely will tell you they wish it would just go away.

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Roxana Geambasu and Augustin Chaintreau, assistant professors of computer science at Columbia Engineering, have developed XRay, a new tool that reveals which data in a web account, such as emails, searches, or viewed products, are being used to target which outputs, such as ads, recommended products, or prices. They are presenting the prototype, an open source system designed to make the online use of personal data more transparent, at USENIX Security on August 20.

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A team of researchers led by the University of Chicago has developed a technique to record the quantum mechanical behavior of an individual electron contained within a nanoscale defect in diamond.

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As a report from the Obama administration warns that one in four bridges in the United States needs significant repair or cannot handle automobile traffic, Tufts University engineers are employing wireless sensors and flying robots that could have the potential to help authorities monitor the condition of bridges in real time.

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Researchers at RTI International, in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have developed a new lung-on-chip microdevice for laboratory studies of respiratory challenges and therapeutics. The microdevice includes multiple vertically stacked cellular layers that mimic the structure of the airway tissue.

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Meridian Bioscience Inc. has entered into a technology and commercial license agreement with the UT Research Foundation for the development of the technology that could result in low cost, point-of-care disease detection using a portable device. Meridian Bioscience is a life science company that manufactures, markets and distributes a range of diagnostic test kits and other technologies.

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Kansas State University engineers have developed a lithium-based neutron detector that is being recognized as one of the year's Top 100 newly developed technologies.

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As hemp makes a comeback in the U.S. after a decades-long ban on its cultivation, scientists are reporting that fibers from the plant can pack as much energy and power as graphene, long-touted as the model material for supercapacitors. They’re presenting their work, which a start-up company is working on scaling up, at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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Researchers report the first complex 3D model made of brain-like cortical tissue that exhibits biochemical and electrophysiological response and functions in vitro for months. The engineered tissue model uses a porous silk-scaffold, collagen gel matrix and rat-derived neurons. It offers new ways to study brain function, trauma and treatment.

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Bioengineers have created three-dimensional brain-like tissue that functions like and has structural features similar to tissue in the rat brain and that can be kept alive in the lab for more than two months. The tissue could provide a superior model for studying normal brain function as well as injury and disease, and could assist in the development of new treatments for brain dysfunction.

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"Hyve-3D is a new interface for 3D content creation via embodied and collaborative 3D sketching,” explained lead researcher Professor Tomás Dorta, of the University of Montreal's School of Design

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Many of today’s technological innovations from the iPhone to electric motors for hybrid cars require the use of materials — elements — that are scarce or difficult to obtain. As demand for these devices grows, the problem of dwindling critical element supplies must be addressed. That’s the conclusion of a white paper written by eminent scientists. The product of the 5th Chemical Sciences and Society Summit (CS3), the white paper recommends focusing research on finding alternative materials and new approaches to technology development in order to prevent these elements from disappearing.

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A plastic sponge that sops up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) might ease our tranisition away from polluting fossil fuels to new energy sources like hydrogen. At the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, a researcher will describe a relative of food container plastics that could play a role in President Obama’s plan to cut CO2 emissions. The material might also someday be integrated into power plant smokestacks.

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Nearly 40 percent of women who earn engineering degrees quit the profession or never enter the field, and for those who leave, poor workplace climates and mistreatment by managers and co-workers are common reasons, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association’s 122nd Annual Convention.

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Scientists want to design new materials that have desired physical properties rather than relying on these to emerge naturally. Now origami-based folding methods may “tune” the physical properties of thin sheets, leading to micro machines that can snap into place to perform mechanical tasks.

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An outline of Marilyn Monroe's iconic face appeared on the clear, plastic film when a researcher fogs it with her breath.

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Carmakers like Toyota have long touted the eco-friendly virtues of zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, but commercialization was hindered by the high cost of critical materials and infrastructure. Now, Toyota has cut costs by 90 percent and German industrial gases and engineering company Linde AG will start small-series production of hydrogen fueling stations. Some of the stations are slated to open in California as Toyota debuts its Highlander hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) in 2015.

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About 10 years ago when Will Prindle was VP of design and development at Forms+Surfaces, his idea for an explosion-resistant public trash receptacle was scrapped. Now an assistant professor of industrial design at Iowa State, Prindle has retrieved his discarded idea from the corporate junkyard. And he intends to see it through to the marketplace.

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The Kavli Foundation Lecture series features two prominent scientists: one in the booming area of ionic liquids, the other in medical materials. The former has made a novel compound with the potential to lower the energy it takes to capture carbon dioxide. The latter has engineered tissues and medical materials such as a stretchy glue that could transform surgery. They are presenting at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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Cyborg technology is bringing us real-life electronic skin, prosthetics and ultra-flexible circuits. Now taking this human-machine concept to an unprecedented level, pioneering scientists are working on the seamless marriage between electronics and brain signaling with the potential to transform our understanding of how the brain works — and how to treat its most devastating diseases. Their presentation is taking place at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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As the oil and gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing proliferates, a new study on the contents of the fluids used raises concerns over several ingredients. The scientists presenting the work today at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society say out of nearly 200 commonly used compounds in “fracking,” there’s very little known about the potential health risks of about one-third, and eight are toxic to mammals.

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In the future, working up a sweat by exercising may not only be good for your health, but it could also power your small electronic devices. Researchers will report today at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society that they have designed a sensor in the form of a temporary tattoo that can both monitor a person’s progress during exercise and produce power from their perspiration.

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A new technique transforming stinky, air-polluting landfill gas could produce the sweet smell of success as it leads to development of a fuel cell generating clean electricity for homes, offices and hospitals, researchers say. The advance would convert methane gas into hydrogen, an efficient, clean form of energy. Their report was part of the 248th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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Physicists have identified the "quantum glue" that underlies a promising type of superconductivity -- a crucial step towards the creation of energy superhighways that conduct electricity without current loss.

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In a new paper in the Journal of Applied Physics, researchers apply the Construcal Law to airplanes, showing "that we can witness evolution in our lifetime by documenting the evolution of a flow system that is a little more than a century old: the flying 'human-and-machine species'.

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Georgia Tech researchers have created a functional MRI-compatible hemiparesis rehab device that creates a long latency stretch reflex at the exact time as a brain signal. It is designed to assist stroke victims.

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Drying the maximum amount of corn with the least amount of energy—that’s what engineering manager Brent Bloemendaal of Brock Grain Systems in Frankfort, Indiana, needed to give his company a competitive edge in the marketplace. To do that, he partnered with thermodynamics experts at South Dakota State University. Using an experimental setup, assistant professor Stephen Gent of the mechanical engineering department has developed and validated a numerical model that the company calls “unique and cutting edge.”

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The one-cylinder test engine in the basement of a University of Wisconsin-Madison lab is connected to a life-support system of pipes, tubes, ducts and cables. You might think that the engine resembles a patient in intensive care, but in this case, the patient is not sick. Instead, the elaborate monitoring system shows that the engine can convert 59.5 percent of the chemical energy in its fuel into motion — significantly better than the 52 percent maximum in modern diesel truck engines.

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University of Adelaide researchers are using new magnetic materials to develop revolutionary electrical motors and generators which promise significant energy savings.

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An Iowa State team topped 98 universities from 28 countries to capture first place in the 15th annual Data Mining Cup. It is the first time a U.S. team has won. A leading European data mining company sponsors the intelligent-data analysis competition "to identify the best up-and-coming data miners."

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The Georgia Tech Research Institute’s software-defined, electronically-reconfigurable Agile Aperture Antenna (A3) has now been tested on the land, sea and air.

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Student-invented battlefield medical device has potential to save soldiers with deep wounds, especially at the neck, shoulder or groin.

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A sponge-like silicon material could help lithium-ion batteries run longer on a single charge by giving the batteries' electrodes the space they need to expand without breaking.

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A new Georgia Institute of Technology study investigated how quickly 32 animals urinate. It turns out that it’s all about the same. Even though an elephant’s bladder is 3,600 times larger than a cat’s (18 liters vs. 5 milliliters), both animals relieve themselves in about 20 seconds.

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The largest city in the Dakotas now saves an estimated 1 million gallons of water a day, thanks to a wastewater filtration project done in collaboration with the South Dakota State University Water and Environmental Engineering Research Center, the City of Sioux Falls and the city’s consulting firm, H.R. Green Engineering of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. For more than a decade, the City of Sioux Falls has set aside $20,000 each year from its capital improvement program to fund graduate research that will increase the efficiency of its wastewater treatment plant. The City of Sioux Falls and its taxpayers have reaped the rewards of investing in research and serve as an example for what other communities might be able to accomplish through a partnership with the Water Research Center.

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University of Washington computer scientists have shown that crowdsourcing can be a quick and effective way to teach a robot how to complete tasks.

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Iowa State University engineers are using LEGO bricks to build controlled environments to study how variations in climate and soil affect plant growth. They say LEGO bricks "are highly convenient and versatile building blocks" for the studies.