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Released: 3-Dec-2012 8:00 AM EST
Virginia Tech Engineer Defines the Globalization Rubric for Construction
Virginia Tech

John E. Taylor, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, directs the Network Dynamics Lab that investigates the impact of globalization dynamics on design and construction project performance.

Released: 28-Nov-2012 3:00 PM EST
Implantable Silk Optics Multi-Task in the Body
Tufts University

Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have demonstrated silk-based implantable optics that offer significant improvement in tissue imaging while simultaneously enabling photo thermal therapy, administering drugs and monitoring drug delivery. The devices also lend themselves to a variety of other biomedical functions.

Released: 16-Nov-2012 7:00 AM EST
Creating a Coating of Water-Repellent Microscopic Particles to Keep Ice Off Airplanes
American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics

To help planes fly safely through cold, wet, and icy conditions, a team of Japanese scientists has developed a new super water-repellent surface that can prevent ice from forming in these harsh atmospheric conditions. Unlike current inflight anti-icing techniques, the researchers envision applying this new anti-icing method to an entire aircraft like a coat of paint.

Released: 15-Nov-2012 11:00 AM EST
Utah Electrical Engineer Turns Brain Implant Research into Products
University of Utah

University of Utah electrical engineering professor Florian Solzbacher is developing products from technologies that assist in finding new approaches for treating nervous system disorders such as blindness, deafness, Parkinson’s and epilepsy, while another set of clients is using them to control prosthetic limbs. Florian's startup companies Blackrock Microsystems and Blackrock NeuroMed moving into New $11 million facility in the University of Utah's Research Park.

Released: 8-Nov-2012 11:30 AM EST
An RTI International Technology that Uses a Coconut Waste Product Improves Wastewater Treatment
RTI International

A technology using a waste product from the coconut processing industry, called cocopeat, improves wastewater treatment in poor countries, according to testing conducted by researchers at RTI International.

Released: 8-Nov-2012 11:25 AM EST
Utah Engineering Prof Invents Smart Insole to Correct Walking Abnormalities
University of Utah

Smart shoe insole Rapid Rehab System combines sensors, wireless technology and cellphone app to correct walking abnormalities.

Released: 31-Oct-2012 11:10 AM EDT
Biofuel Breakthrough: Quick Cook Method Turns Algae Into Oil
University of Michigan

It looks like Mother Nature was wasting her time with a multimillion-year process to produce crude oil. Michigan Engineering researchers can "pressure-cook" algae for as little as a minute and transform an unprecedented 65 percent of the green slime into biocrude.

Released: 30-Oct-2012 12:15 PM EDT
Hurricane Sandy – 8 to 10 Million Cumulative Power Outages Predicted
 Johns Hopkins University

An engineer at The Johns Hopkins University is predicting power outages for 8 to 10 million people in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Released: 29-Oct-2012 10:55 AM EDT
Engineers Study How to Improve High-Speed Rail Ties Against Freezing, Thawing Conditions
Kansas State University

Engineers are helping high-speed rail systems handle the stress of freezing and thawing winter weather conditions.

Released: 24-Oct-2012 5:00 PM EDT
Let It Snow! Solar Panels Can Take It
Michigan Technological University

Even if the weather outside is frightful, solar cells can still generate a delightful amount of electricity.

Released: 24-Oct-2012 2:50 PM EDT
Drivers' Ed for Robots
University of Delaware

University of Delaware joins research team teaching robots to respond in disaster emergencies, funded by U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. UD's group will teach a robot to get into a vehicle and drive it.

Released: 23-Oct-2012 8:00 AM EDT
Simulated Earthquake to Test Building's Durability
Tufts University

Tufts engineer participate in a study to assess how buildings made with reinforced concrete frames and masonry infill walls hold up during an earthquake. Such buildings are vulnerable to serious damage.

Released: 23-Oct-2012 7:00 AM EDT
Glove Keyboard May Alter Use of Devices with One Hand
University of Alabama Huntsville

Students at The University of Alabama in Huntsville have designed a tool that could revolutionize new ways of using electronic devices with just one hand. It’s called a Gauntlet Keyboard, a glove device that functions as a wireless keyboard.

Released: 19-Oct-2012 11:45 AM EDT
Findings Could Be Used to Engineer Organs
University of Texas at Dallas

System biologists have teamed up with mechanical engineers from UT Dallas to conduct cell research that provides information that may one day be used to engineer organs.

Released: 18-Oct-2012 10:00 AM EDT
Engineers Embracing Sustainability
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

Findings of the 2012 ASME/Autodesk Sustainable Design Survey.

Released: 17-Oct-2012 1:20 PM EDT
Student Engineers Design, Build, Fly ‘Printed’ Airplane
University of Virginia

Two University of Virginia mechanical engineering students have built and flown a plastic airplane using 3-D printing technology.

Released: 3-Oct-2012 1:00 PM EDT
Research Shows Graphene Nanopores Can Be Controlled
University of Texas at Dallas

Engineers at the University of Texas at Dallas have used advanced techniques to make the material graphene small enough to read DNA. Shrinking the size of the graphene pore to less than one nanometer opens the possibility of graphene as a low-cost tool to sequence DNA.

1-Oct-2012 12:15 PM EDT
State-Mandated Planning, Higher Resident Wealth Linked to More Sustainable City Transportation
Ohio State University

Transportation practices tend to be more environmentally friendly in wealthier metropolitan areas located within states that mandate comprehensive planning, new research suggests.

Released: 2-Oct-2012 2:15 PM EDT
Research Predicts Warning, Automatic Braking Systems on Autos Will Help Save Lives
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech researchers extracted 1,396 incidents of rear-end collisions from a national database and looked at them on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the intelligent vehicle systems being studied would have been called into play and, if so, how they would have helped. The research showed that 7.7 percent of crashes would be prevented by use of all three systems – warning, assisted braking, and autonomous braking.

   
Released: 1-Oct-2012 11:00 PM EDT
Geofoam Protects Pipelines From Earthquakes
University of Utah

Lightweight and stiff as a board, a plastic foam material is being used to protect Utah’s natural gas pipelines from rupturing during earthquakes, thanks to help from a University of Utah engineer.

Released: 27-Sep-2012 7:00 AM EDT
Sandia Experts Help When Sinkhole Opens Up in Louisiana
Sandia National Laboratories

The U.S. Geological Survey turned to Sandia National Laboratories for help when the earth opened up last month near Bayou Corne, La.

Released: 26-Sep-2012 5:35 PM EDT
Sandia Shows Why Common Explosive Sometimes Fails
Sandia National Laboratories

The explosive PETN has been around for a century and is used by everyone from miners to the military, but it took new research by Sandia National Laboratories to begin to discover key mechanisms behind what causes it to fail at small scales.

Released: 21-Sep-2012 1:45 PM EDT
Study Outlines Supply Chain Challenges for Lithium Future
Missouri University of Science and Technology

As demand increases for lithium, the essential element in batteries for everything from cameras to automobiles, a researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology is studying potential disruptions to the long-term supply chain the world’s lightest metal.

Released: 21-Sep-2012 1:30 PM EDT
Time to Change an Led Light? S&T Researchers Design System to Tell
Missouri University of Science and Technology

In many of the nation’s traffic lights, light-emitting diodes or LEDs with their brighter light and longer life have replaced standard bulbs. But knowing when to replace the signal heads has remained a guessing game, says Dr. Suzanna Long, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology. That’s because LED traffic lights don’t burn out – they just lose brightness over time.

Released: 20-Sep-2012 12:35 PM EDT
Rensselaer Civil Engineers Help Destroy Test Levee in the Netherlands
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Civil engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute were part of an international research team that collapsed a full-scale dike this week in the Netherlands. The test dike was embedded with advanced sensors and traditional measurement instruments, and results of the study are expected to help validate powerful new technologies for monitoring the health of aging flood-control infrastructure.

Released: 20-Sep-2012 9:00 AM EDT
Company’s Software Speeds Patent Database Search
University of Alabama Huntsville

Jason Martin, Brad Chassee and Tony Rainoldi, the founders of ArchPatent and graduates of The University of Alabama in Huntsville, have found an easy, low-cost way to navigate the enormous database of patent information or be confident that you were identifying the most important results.

Released: 19-Sep-2012 9:00 AM EDT
Tiny Tubes Tell of Threat
University of Delaware

In August 2007, the I-35W Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The collapse was attributed to a design deficiency that resulted in a gusset plate failing during ongoing construction work. Now, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Delaware is developing a novel structural health monitoring system that could avert such disasters in the future.

Released: 19-Sep-2012 7:00 AM EDT
Ph.D. Candidate Seeks ‘Holy Grail’ of Rocket Propulsion
University of Alabama Huntsville

Can a device formerly used to test nuclear weapons effects find a new life in rocket propulsion research? That is the question in which a graduate student at The University of Alabama in Huntsville seeks an answer.

Released: 18-Sep-2012 2:50 PM EDT
Engineering a Better Hip Implant
University of Iowa

A research team at the University of Iowa has engineered a better design for hip implants for obese patients. The team learned that thigh size is a reason why hip implants fail, and why it contributes to an increased rate of failure for the morbidly obese. Results are published in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Released: 13-Sep-2012 8:00 AM EDT
Popularity versus Similarity: A Balance that Predicts Network Growth
University of California San Diego

Do you know who Michael Jackson or George Washington was? You most likely do: they are what we call “household names” because these individuals were so ubiquitous. But what about Giuseppe Tartini or John Bachar?

Released: 11-Sep-2012 2:00 PM EDT
Length of Yellow Caution Traffic Lights Could Prevent Accidents
Virginia Tech

A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researcher studies the causes of intersection vehicle collisions.

Released: 10-Sep-2012 3:00 PM EDT
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers Help High School Students Explore the Physics of Everyday Life
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Educational outreach is a critical component of nearly every research grant awarded by the federal government or other funding organizations. Along with conducting experiments and documenting the results, grant recipients are tasked with reaching out to high schools and lower schools to help expose and excite students about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Not every grant recipient, however, knows how or where to start these outreach activities.

Released: 7-Sep-2012 1:00 PM EDT
UA Engineering Grad's Work With Germ-Killing Copper Could Save Thousands of Lives
University of Arizona College of Engineering

When Adam Estelle graduated from the University of Arizona's materials science and engineering program four years ago, he had no idea he would be involved in saving thousands of lives. Now, Estelle is working with technology based on copper alloys that kill bacteria, fungi and viruses. The metals can be fashioned into everything from IV poles to sinks to bed rails -- just about anything that is frequently touched in hospitals.

Released: 30-Aug-2012 4:15 PM EDT
One-of-a-Kind Smartphone Lab Takes Shape at UB
University at Buffalo

University at Buffalo researchers are enlisting hundreds of students to build an unprecedented smartphone network that will help scientists improve handheld computers and better understand how the devices are changing the world.

Released: 29-Aug-2012 8:00 AM EDT
Building Ultra-Low Power Wireless Networks
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have received funding from the National Science Foundation to create distortion-tolerant communications for wireless networks that use very little power. The research will improve wireless sensors deployed in remote areas where these systems must rely on batteries or energy-harvesting devices for power.

Released: 27-Aug-2012 12:35 PM EDT
UAB Researchers Successfully Test Advanced Tornado/Hurricane Shelter Panels
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Recycled materials may become armor against flying debris: Panels for a new high-tech shelter created at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have passed the National Storm Shelter Association’s tornado threat test.

Released: 24-Aug-2012 11:55 AM EDT
Service Learning Motivates, Encourages Engineering Students, Research Suggests
Missouri University of Science and Technology

First-year engineering students who participate in service-learning projects as part of their coursework see themselves as more capable and more motivated to learn than those who do not take part in service-learning projects, a recent study suggests.

Released: 24-Aug-2012 10:00 AM EDT
The Successful Evolution of Virginia Tech’s Engineering Learning Communities
Virginia Tech

With the continual evolution of the learning community environment at Virginia Tech, the next step was the decision to house the engineering and science participants in one University Residence Hall starting with the 2012-13 class. The close living quarters will allow the engineering and science students to live in the inVenTs Learning Community.

Released: 21-Aug-2012 2:05 PM EDT
Program Trains Professionals in Medical Device Engineering
University of California San Diego

Dan Braun earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering at the University of California, San Diego in 2006. Five years later he came back to enroll in the inaugural class of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering’s Master of Advanced Study Program in Medical Device Engineering. The cross-disciplinary program is designed to train working professionals to apply their engineering know-how and workforce experience to a new career in one of the region’s fastest growing technology sectors.

Released: 20-Aug-2012 1:30 PM EDT
ASME Releases Study on the Future of the Mechanical Engineering Profession
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

As the world’s population nears seven-billion people, mechanical engineers will play a major role in meeting global challenges says a research study conducted by ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

Released: 20-Aug-2012 12:40 PM EDT
Experiment Would Test Cloud Geoengineering as Way to Slow Warming
University of Washington

A University of Washington scientist has proposed an experiment to test cloud brightening, a geoengineering concept that alters clouds in an effort to counter global warming. His proposed experiment is part of a larger paper detailing the latest thinking on cloud brightening.

16-Aug-2012 11:30 AM EDT
Researchers Determine That Mineral Can Reduce Pollution From Diesel Engines
University of Texas at Dallas

A catalyst that can replace platinum in diesel engines has been shown to reduce pollution by up to 45 percent. The catalyst, mullite, is from the family of minerals known as oxides. The finding opens new possibilities to create renewable, clean energy technology without precious metals.

Released: 14-Aug-2012 7:00 AM EDT
UC Discoveries Could Help Quiet The World’s Cities
University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati innovations on reducing the noise of the nation’s most sophisticated military aircraft will be presented at an international conference in New York.

Released: 9-Aug-2012 7:00 AM EDT
University of Tennessee Engineering Team Develops Chip for Mars Rover
University of Tennessee

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Rover “Curiosity” would have a hard time completing its mission if it were not for a successful partnership between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a professor-student team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Released: 8-Aug-2012 12:00 PM EDT
With Microchip Real Estate at a Premium, Drexel Engineers Look For a Wireless Solution
Drexel University

A team of Drexel University engineers are adding reconfigurable, wireless antennas to microchips in hopes of freeing up space on the tiny silicon wafers – a development that could the paradigms of microchip architecture.

Released: 7-Aug-2012 10:00 AM EDT
University of Tennessee's Vehicle Arrives for EcoCAR 2 Competition
University of Tennessee

A group of University of Tennessee, Knoxville, engineering students feel like sixteen-year olds when they received the keys to a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu they are going to remodel to make more eco-friendly.

Released: 2-Aug-2012 12:00 PM EDT
Within Reach: Drexel University Engineers to Add Arms and Hands to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Drexel University

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as those used by the military for surveillance and reconnaissance, could be getting a hand –and an arm– from engineers at Drexel University as part of a National Science Foundation grant to investigate adding dexterous limbs to the aircrafts. The project, whose subject harkens to the hovering android iconography of sci-fi movies, could be a step toward the use of UAVs for emergency response and search and rescue scenarios.

Released: 31-Jul-2012 2:40 PM EDT
Interdisciplinary Research Leads to Reduced Construction Costs and Multiple Awards
Virginia Tech

Mani Golparvar-Fard, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, has developed an augmented reality modeling system that automatically analyzes physical progress on large-scale construction projects. The system allows a contractor to determine whether a project is on, ahead, or behind schedule, leading to cost savings and reduction in project delivery time.

Released: 30-Jul-2012 8:00 PM EDT
Offshore Use of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines Gets Closer Look
Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories’ wind energy researchers are re-evaluating vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) to help solve some of the problems of generating energy from offshore breezes.



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