Feature Channels: Engineering

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Released: 20-Feb-2014 4:00 PM EST
Vibration Energy the Secret to Self-Powered Electronics
University of Wisconsin–Madison

A multi-university team of engineers has developed what could be a promising solution for charging smartphone batteries on the go — without the need for an electrical cord.

Released: 19-Feb-2014 3:00 PM EST
ORNL Microscopy System Delivers Real-Time View of Battery Electrochemistry
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Using a new microscopy method, researchers can image and measure electrochemical processes in batteries in real time and at nanoscale resolution.

Released: 18-Feb-2014 1:05 PM EST
Video: Students Invent ‘Aura’ Musical Instrument Using Gloves
Cornell University

Imagine holding music in your hands. That’s what you can do with the Aura, a new electronic musical instrument conceived by Cornell University engineering students.

Released: 18-Feb-2014 9:00 AM EST
Silicon-Germanium Chip Sets New Speed Record
Georgia Institute of Technology

A research team has demonstrated the world's fastest silicon-based device to date. The investigators operated a silicon-germanium (SiGe) transistor at 798 gigahertz (GHz) fMAX, exceeding the previous speed record for silicon-germanium chips by about 200 GHz.

Released: 17-Feb-2014 5:40 PM EST
Research Leads to 20 Percent Cuts in Energy Consumption in Buildings
University of Oklahoma, Gallogly College of Engineering

OU researcher creates virtual sensors to detect unreliable heating, vent and air conditioning systems in buildings. The method is a low cost, reliable process to reduce a company's utilities bills and carbon footprint.

Released: 13-Feb-2014 10:00 AM EST
Patented Airflow System Decreases Pollutants From Large Piston Engines
Kansas State University

A patented airflow control system enables large-bore, multi-cylinder engines used in trains, pipelines, backup diesel generators and other fields to run efficiently while producing lower levels of harmful emissions than they do currently.

Released: 12-Feb-2014 8:00 AM EST
Iowa State’s Icing Wind Tunnel Blows Cold and Hard to Study Ice on Wings, Turbine Blades
Iowa State University

Iowa State engineers have refurbished an icing wind tunnel and are using it to study ice buildup on aircraft wings and wind turbine blades. A better understanding of the icing problems could lead to better solutions.

Released: 11-Feb-2014 12:00 PM EST
No Clowning Around: Juggling Sheds Light on How We Run
 Johns Hopkins University

Juggling may seem like mere entertainment, but a study led by Johns Hopkins engineers used this circus skill to gather critical clues about how vision and the sense of touch help control the way humans and animals move their limbs in a repetitive way, such as in running. The findings eventually may aid in the treatment of people with neurological diseases and could lead to prosthetic limbs and robots that move more efficiently.

Released: 6-Feb-2014 2:00 PM EST
Credit Card-Sized Device Could Analyze Biopsy, Help Diagnose Pancreatic Cancer in Minutes
University of Washington

University of Washington scientists and engineers are developing a low-cost device that could help pathologists diagnose pancreatic cancer earlier and faster. The prototype can perform the basic steps for processing a biopsy, relying on fluid transport instead of human hands to process the tissue.

1-Feb-2014 6:00 PM EST
Ballistic Transport in Graphene Suggests New Type of Electronic Device
Georgia Institute of Technology

Using electrons more like photons could provide the foundation for a new type of electronic device that would capitalize on the ability of graphene to carry electrons with almost no resistance even at room temperature – a property known as ballistic transport.

Released: 3-Feb-2014 3:00 PM EST
South Dakota State University Engineers Develop System to Prevent Combine Fires
South Dakota State University

Sunflower farmers have known for a long time that they are at increased risk for combine fires, but an answer to this nerve-wracking problem may be just around the corner. A team of agricultural engineers at South Dakota State University found that sunflower debris ignites at temperatures that are 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit lower than residue from corn or soybeans. When sunflower dust is drawn into the fan that pulls air through the radiator to cool the engine, some bits of debris can ignite. The patent-pending device encases the turbocharger and exhaust manifold and then a fan pulls in clean air to cool the chamber, while keeping the system exterior within a safe temperature range.

Released: 3-Feb-2014 1:00 PM EST
New Understanding Could Result in More Efficient Organic Solar Cells
Penn State Materials Research Institute

Designing more efficient organic solar cells should be easier with an explanation of how charge separation works.

Released: 3-Feb-2014 7:00 AM EST
Making "Frozen Smoke" the Fast Way
Union College

Union College's Aerogel Team is studying the feasibility of commercializing their aerogel fabrication process

Released: 2-Feb-2014 1:00 PM EST
Engineered Cardiac Tissue Developed to Study the Human Heart
Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai researchers generated their engineered cardiac tissue from human embryonic stem cells with the resulting muscle having remarkable similarities to native heart muscle, including the ability to beat and contract like the human heart. This research breakthrough study was highlighted as the cover story of the February 2014 issue of The FASEB Journal.

29-Jan-2014 9:00 AM EST
New Study Finds Differences in Concussion Risk Between Football Helmets
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech biomedical researchers took the lead in a large six-year study to see if helmets reduce concussion risk. Data were collected between 2005 and 2010 from eight collegiate teams: Virginia Tech, University of North Carolina, University of Oklahoma, Dartmouth College, Brown University, University of Minnesota, Indiana University, and University of Illinois. Overall, the study found a significant reduction in concussion risk when comparing a 1-star helmet to a 4 star helmet.

Released: 30-Jan-2014 2:00 PM EST
Researcher Turns Sights on Prostate Cancer, Tissue Engineering, and Blood Vessel Repair
Penn State Materials Research Institute

Tissue engineering utilizing click chemistry provides increased mechanical strength and biofunctionalization.

Released: 29-Jan-2014 6:00 PM EST
Analysis of Salamander Jump Reveals an Unexpected Twist
Northern Arizona University

A small, secretive creature with unlikely qualifications for defying gravity may hold the answer to an entirely new way of getting off the ground. Analysis of high-speed film reveals how salamanders—or at least several species of the Plethodontidae family—achieve vertical lift.

Released: 29-Jan-2014 3:00 PM EST
Engineer Brings New Twist to Sodium-Ion Battery Technology with Discovery of Flexible Molybdenum Disulfide Electrodes
Kansas State University

A Kansas State University engineer has made a breakthrough in rechargeable battery applications.

Released: 29-Jan-2014 11:35 AM EST
Engineering - A Career that Pays
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

Salaries for engineers rose in 2013 amid the growing global demand for technology services across industry sectors, according to a survey.

Released: 29-Jan-2014 11:00 AM EST
Modeling Buildings by the Millions: Building Codes in China Tested for Energy Savings
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

PNNL scientists at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a partnership with the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., have created a unique model that projects how much energy can be saved with changes to China's building energy codes.

Released: 27-Jan-2014 3:10 PM EST
ORNL Study Advances Quest for Better Superconducting Materials
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Nearly 30 years after the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, many questions remain, but an Oak Ridge National Laboratory team is providing insight that could lead to better superconductors.

Released: 23-Jan-2014 12:35 PM EST
Collaborative Software Helps Systems Engineers Link Performance and Cost
Georgia Institute of Technology

Researchers have produced an advanced web-based tool that lets physically separated participants collaborate on model-based systems engineering projects. The program utilizes open-source software components to allow users to visualize a system's potential expense alongside its performance, reliability and other factors.

15-Jan-2014 11:00 PM EST
Computer Simulation of Blood Vessel Growth
University of Utah

University of Utah bioengineers showed that tiny blood vessels grow better in the laboratory if the tissue surrounding them is less dense. Then the researchers created a computer simulation to predict such growth accurately – an early step toward treatments to provide blood supply to tissues damaged by diabetes and heart attacks and to skin grafts and implanted ligaments and tendons.

Released: 21-Jan-2014 10:00 AM EST
Sweet Science: Virginia Tech Researcher Develops Energy-Dense Sugar Battery
Virginia Tech

A Virginia Tech research team has developed a battery that runs on sugar and has an unmatched energy density, a development that could replace conventional batteries with ones that are cheaper, refillable, and biodegradable.

Released: 17-Jan-2014 12:05 PM EST
Smooth Sailing: Rough Surfaces That Can Reduce Drag
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

From the sleek hulls of racing yachts to Michael Phelps’ shaved legs, most objects that move through the water quickly are smooth. But researchers from UCLA have found that bumpiness can sometimes be better. They modeled the fluid flow between two surfaces covered with tiny ridges and found that even in turbulent conditions the rough surface reduced the drag created by the friction of flowing water. The researchers report their findings in Physics of Fluids.

Released: 16-Jan-2014 6:00 PM EST
Sandia Conducts First Impact Test in Years of B61 Nonnuclear Components
Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories conducts a rocket-driven impact test of B61 nonnuclear components.

Released: 16-Jan-2014 9:35 AM EST
Human Arm Sensors Make Robot Smarter
Georgia Institute of Technology

Using arm sensors that can “read” a person’s muscle movements, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have created a control system that makes robots more intelligent. The sensors send information to the robot, allowing it to anticipate a human’s movements and correct its own. The system is intended to improve time, safety and efficiency in manufacturing plants.

Released: 9-Jan-2014 2:00 PM EST
Battery Development May Extend Range of Electric Cars
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Electric cars could travel farther on a single charge and more renewable energy could be saved for a rainy day if lithium-sulfur batteries can last longer. PNNL has developed a novel anode that could quadruple the lifespan of these promising batteries.

Released: 9-Jan-2014 1:00 PM EST
WUSTL Engineers Provide Free Code to Help Build Better Batteries
Washington University in St. Louis

Lithium-ion batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles, are in high demand, with a global market value expected to reach $33.1 billion in 2019. But their high price and short life need to be addressed before they can be used in more consumer, energy and medical products. Venkat Subramanian, PhD, associate professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering, and his team are working to solve this problem buy developing optimal charging profiles for the batteries.

Released: 8-Jan-2014 10:00 AM EST
Architects, Designers and Engineers Use 3-D Printers to Make Research Come to Life
Kansas State University

Kansas State University architects, designers and engineers are developing ideas from concept to prototype using some of the latest 3-D printers.

Released: 2-Jan-2014 5:00 AM EST
Novel Exfoliation Method Developed by NUS Chemists Paves the Way for Two-Dimensional Materials to Be Used in Printable Photonics and Electronics
National University of Singapore (NUS)

A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has successfully developed a method to chemically exfoliate molybdenum disulfide crystals into high quality monolayer flakes, with higher yield and larger flake size than current methods.

Released: 26-Dec-2013 3:25 PM EST
Batteries as They Are Meant to Be Seen
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Researchers have developed a way to microscopically view battery electrodes while they are bathed in wet electrolytes, mimicking realistic conditions inside actual batteries.

Released: 17-Dec-2013 2:50 PM EST
UF Develops First High-Altitude Device to Help Detect Health Threats From the Sky
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Researcher is using the first ever high-altitude sampling device designed to collect microorganisms from the upper atmosphere, to examine the massive dust clouds that roll into Florida from Africa each year. He's looking to see if the latest plant, animal or human health threats will come from the sky.

Released: 17-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
Hack the Planet? Geoengineering Research, Ethics, Governance Explored
University of Washington

A special interdisciplinary issue of the journal Climatic Change includes the most detailed description yet of the proposed Oxford Principles to govern geoengineering research, and surveys the technical hurdles, ethics and regulatory issues related to deliberately manipulating the planet's climate.

Released: 17-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
Supercomputers Help ORNL Researchers Identify Key Molecular Switch That Controls Cell Behavior
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

If scientists can control cellular functions such as movement and development, they can cripple cells and pathogens that are causing disease in the body.

Released: 16-Dec-2013 11:00 AM EST
Small Size Enhances Charge Transfer in Quantum Dots
Brookhaven National Laboratory

In a study published in the journal Chemical Communications, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University, and Syracuse University show that shrinking the core of a quantum dot can enhance the ability of a surrounding polymer to extract electric charges generated in the dot by the absorption of light.

Released: 12-Dec-2013 2:00 AM EST
NUS Researchers Develop Novel Bio-Inspired Method to Grow High-Quality Graphene for High-End Electronic Devices
National University of Singapore (NUS)

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has successfully developed an innovative one-step method to grow and transfer high-quality graphene on silicon and other stiff substrates, opening up opportunities for graphene to be used in high-value applications that are currently not technologically feasible.

Released: 11-Dec-2013 3:00 PM EST
A High Frequency, Low-Power Tunneling Transistor for High Performance Devices at Low Voltage
Penn State Materials Research Institute

Penn State researchers have proved the feasibility of a new type of transistor that could make possible fast and low-power computing devices for energy constrained applications.

Released: 11-Dec-2013 12:00 PM EST
Real-Time Virtualization Software to Enable Embedded Systems Integration
Washington University in St. Louis

Chenyang Lu, PhD, has received a three-year, $304,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to extend RT-Xen into a new real-time virtualization platform for embedded systems and real-time cloud computing services.

Released: 11-Dec-2013 11:00 AM EST
High-Tech X-Ray Imaging Technique to Offer Detailed Look at Engineered Tissue
Washington University in St. Louis

Mark Anastasio, PhD, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a new imaging system that will help biomedical engineers see what happens when engineered tissue is implanted in the body.

Released: 10-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
NASA's Juno Spacecraft Hears Amateur Radio Operators Say 'Hi'
University of Iowa

In a first-of-its-kind activity for an interplanetary spacecraft, thousands of amateur (ham) radio operators around the world were able to say “Hi” to NASA’s Juno spacecraft Oct. 9 as it swung past Earth on its way to Jupiter.

27-Nov-2013 8:00 AM EST
Sound Protection Standards for Secret Spaces May be Insufficient
Acoustical Society of America (ASA)

What’s the best place to conduct a conversation about a confidential or even classified matter? Surprisingly, probably not a conference room designed in accordance with acoustical criteria approved by the Department of Defense. While such “secret” rooms might meet DOD standards, they offer less protection against snooping than is found in a luxury condo. So says Marlund Hale of Advanced Engineering Acoustics in Simi Valley, California, who evaluated the acoustic performance of several classified spaces.

27-Nov-2013 9:00 AM EST
Quieting Rail Transit
Acoustical Society of America (ASA)

When attached to the wheels or the tracks of rail transit systems, vibration absorbers may reduce the noise from trains, bringing more peace and quiet to passengers and those who work or live near the tracks. In tests of two major metropolitan public rail systems, researchers say that vibration absorbers have a modest effect if any on wheel or rail rolling noise, but they may be effective in reducing wheel squeal.

Released: 3-Dec-2013 10:00 AM EST
Nailing It: Scientists Build a Low-Cost, Open-Source 3D Metal Printer
Michigan Technological University

Until now, 3D printing has been a polymer affair, with most people in the maker community using the machines to make all manner of plastic consumer goods, from tent stakes to chess sets. A new low-cost 3D printer developed by Joshua Pearce and his team could add hammers to that list.

Released: 2-Dec-2013 10:00 AM EST
New Algorithm Finds You, Even in Untagged Photos
University of Toronto

A new algorithm designed at the University of Toronto has the power to profoundly change the way we find photos among the billions on social media sites such as Facebook and Flickr. This month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will issue a patent on this technology. Developed by Parham Aarabi, a professor in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and his former Master’s student Ron Appel, the search tool uses tag locations to quantify relationships between individuals, even those not tagged in any given photo.

Released: 25-Nov-2013 2:25 PM EST
Swarming Insect Provides Clues to How the Brain Processes Smells
Washington University in St. Louis

Our sense of smell is often the first response to environmental stimuli. Odors trigger neurons in the brain that alert us to take action. However, there is often more than one odor in the environment, such as in coffee shops or grocery stores. How does our brain process multiple odors received simultaneously? Barani Raman, PhD, of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Engineering & Applied Science is using locusts to help find the answer.

Released: 25-Nov-2013 10:00 AM EST
Engineers Design Spacesuit Tools, Biomedical Sensors to Keep Astronauts Healthy
Kansas State University

By working with a model spacesuit, a group of Kansas State University engineering professors and students are exploring how wearable medical sensors can be used in future space missions to keep astronauts healthy.



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