Feature Channels: Engineering

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A sweat-collecting patch has been developed using the principle based on how the cactus spines attract water.

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Three Argonne technologies were chosen as winners in the 2021 R&D 100 award competition, the nation’s most prestigious innovation awards program honoring R&D pioneers and their revolutionary ideas in science and technology.

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Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have discovered a new tool, which will help to investigate more effective forms of cancer treatment.

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The University of Texas at El Paso announced today a $5 million grant from the Hopper-Dean Foundation to endow its computer science teacher education initiatives.

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The NSF is funding a team led by the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at UT Austin to implement a Deep-Ocean Observing Strategy (iDOOS), bringing together U.S. and international networks engaged in deep-ocean observing, mapping, exploration, modeling, research and sustainable management.

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The NIH RADx initiative announced the launch of the When To Test Calculator for Individuals. By responding to just a few prompts, the new individual impact calculator indicates whether a person should get a test—now or soon.

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A team of biologists and engineers modified a microbe so that it can produce a biofuel using only three renewable and naturally abundant source ingredients: carbon dioxide, solar panel-generated electricity and light.

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The University of Delaware's Aditya Kunjapur has been awarded the 2021 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Langer Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence, a highly competitive award that comes with a stipend to pursue “blue sky” ideas.

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As we approach two full years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we now know it spreads primarily through airborne transmission. The virus rides inside tiny microscopic droplets or aerosol ejected from our mouths when we speak, shout, sing, cough, or sneeze. It then floats within the air, where it can be inhaled by and transmitted. This inspired researchers in India to explore how we can better understand and engineer airflow to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19.

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Argonne scientists have received two high-profile grants from the U.S. Department of Energy that will help scientists at the U.S. National Laboratories take advantage of the latest developments in machine learning technology.

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Tulane researcher Nick Mattei is part of a new NSF study to design more equitable algorithm recommender systems.

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As more artificial intelligence systems and robots aid human workers, building trust between them is key to getting the job done. One University of Georgia professor is seeking to bridge that gap with assistance from the U.S. military.

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Hertz Fellow Bailey Flanigan is using her engineering background to design a better—and fairer—way of selecting people for citizen panels.

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A team led by Georgia Tech researchers has discovered unexpectedly familiar behavior in the antiferroelectric material known as zirconium dioxide, or zirconia. They show that as the microstructure of the material is reduced in size, it behaves similarly to much better understood materials known as ferroelectrics. The findings were recently published in the journal Advanced Electronic Materials.

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A clearer understanding of how a type of brain cell known as astrocytes function and can be emulated in the physics of hardware devices, may result in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning that autonomously self-repairs and consumes much less energy than the technologies currently do, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

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Kotov will accept the honor during the 2021 MRS Fall Meeting, where, at 9:00 am (EST), Thursday, December 2, he will present his lecture, Nanoscale Biomimetics: From Self-Assembled Nanocomposites to Chiral Nanostructures.

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Atwater will accept the honor during the 2021 MRS Fall Meeting, where, at 9:00 am (EST), Wednesday, December 1, he will present his award lecture Trip the Light Fantastic.

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University of Utah mechanical engineering professor Jake Abbott has discovered a method to manipulate orbiting space debris by using spinning magnets. This allows agencies to either help clear out such debris or repair damaged satellites by moving or grasping the objects without physically touching them.

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How wonderful would it be if we can make money in our free time while helping researchers enhance AI efficiency at the same time? This is the idea that came to the mind of two young engineers from Chulalongkorn University who successfully developed ‘Wang’ (Free), a multi-award-winning platform that matches your free time with business opportunities and creates benefits for society. Various innovation awards guarantee the platform is the best startup.

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have collected three awards among the top 100 industrial inventions

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Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have developed a novel design for a low-gravity simulator that promises to break new ground for future space research and habitation.

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Experiment, theory, and simulation show basic chemical properties are imprinted in atomic force microscope images and may help ID unknown molecules.

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Researchers from Columbia Engineering, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), University of Sheffield, Mary Rose Trust, and University of Copenhagen used a new X-ray technique developed by Columbia and ESRF to discover that there are zinc-containing nanoparticles lodged within the wooden hull of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s favorite warship. These nanoparticles are leading to deterioration of the remains of the ship, which sank in battle in 1545 and was raised from the Solent in 1982.

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After more than a year of virtual conferences, the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is holding its 181st meeting in person in Seattle, Washington, at the Hyatt Regency Seattle from Nov. 29 through Dec. 3. This major scientific conference brings together interdisciplinary groups of acoustics professionals, spanning many fields, including physics, medicine, music, psychology, wildlife biology, and engineering, to discuss the latest advancements. Follow conference highlights with social media hashtag #ASA181.

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The Faculties of Medicine and Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Smile Robotics and King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) have jointly developed “Nong Fai Chai, Generation 3” — a UV-C disinfection lamp that can kill 99.99% of the COVID-19 virus and other germs within 3 minutes, now ready to assist front-line staff.

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A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Wayne State University have been awarded a $3.1 million grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ERDC program to seek alternative sources of rare earth elements critical to advanced military and consumer technologies.

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Three Penn State faculty and two graduate students have received the 2021 Rustum and Della Roy Innovation in Materials Research Award.

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Peter Lehman, founding director of Humboldt State University’s Schatz Energy Research Center and a professor emeritus of Environmental Resources Engineering at HSU, will receive this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Energy Commission’s Clean Energy Hall of Fame.

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As the electrical grid is modernized, it requires new safeguards to keep it safe from cyberattackers. Researchers at Argonne have developed a novel security approach to find and stop cyberthreats that penetrate the IT layer, preserving grid stability.

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C-FOG researchers recently identified several components of conventional weather models that had been leading to erroneous predictions relating to fog.

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Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a concept that would make Martian rocket fuel, on Mars, that could be used to launch future astronauts back to Earth.

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Notre Dame researchers have created an innovative hybrid printing method — combining multi-material aerosol jet printing and extrusion printing — that integrates both functional and structural materials into a single streamlined printing platform.

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Short-wave infrared light (SWIR) is useful for many things: It helps sort out damaged fruit and inspecting silicon chips, and it enables night vision devices with sharp images. But SWIR cameras have so far been based on expensive electronics. Researchers at Empa, EPFL, ETH Zurich and the University of Siena have now developed a SWIR screen consisting of just eight thin layers on a glass surface. This could make IR cameras useful everyday objects.

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RUDN University chemist with colleagues from India and Korea created a nanofilter for water purification from synthetic dyes. The graphene-based composite can quickly remove up to 100% of harmful compounds from water, and it can be used up to seven times without losing efficiency. In addition, the synthesis of the nanofilter itself is economical and environmentally friendly.

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RUDN University and Shahid Beheshti University (SBU) chemist together with colleagues from Iran proposed a catalyst for the simple and inexpensive oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes, which are widely used, for example, to create medicines and plastics. Unlike its analogues, the catalyst does not require harsh reaction conditions and dangerous chemicals, and the oxidizer is ordinary air.

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In one of nature’s unexpected bounties, a harmless food-grade solvent has been used to extract highly sought rare-earth metals from coal ash, reducing the amount of ash without damaging the environment and at the same time increasing an important national resource.

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A pioneer in material science, Meng’s new role comes with a joint appointment as a professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at The University of Chicago.

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Starting October 25, a group of scientists will host a workshop to identify ways to create artificial intelligence-informed models of the Earth’s climate.

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Chuan Wang’s lab at the McKelvey School of Engineering has developed a way to print stretchy LEDs on unconventional surfaces using an inkjet printer.

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Sandia National Laboratories launched three sounding rockets in succession on Wednesday to hasten development of 23 technologies for the nation’s hypersonic modernization priority, including the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike and the Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon programs.

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Genes aren’t only inherited through birth. Bacteria have the ability to pass genes to each other, or pick them up from their environment, through a process called horizonal gene transfer, which is a major culprit in the spread of antibiotic resistance.