Engineering

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Hydrogen power in real life: clean and energy efficient

“Since 2009, a hydrogen powered street cleaning vehicle has been undergoing testing on the streets of Basel. The project is intended to take hydrogen drives out of the laboratory and onto the streets in order to gain experience on using them under practical conditions. The result of the pilot trial: hydrogen as a fuel for municipal utility vehicles saves energy, is environmentally friendly and is technically feasible. In order to make it cost-effective, however, the prices of fuel cells, pressurized storage tanks and electric drives must all drop significantly.” Read more at http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/1321/118160/---/l=2

posted @ Tuesday, May 22, 2012 12:34 PM | Feedback (0)

10 Emerging Technologies 2012

“The TR10 represents the 10 most important technological milestones reached in the last 12 months. To compile the list, Technology Review selects the technologies we believe will have the greatest impact on the shape of innovation in years to come. This impact can take very different forms: one technology points toward a method of discovering better battery materials for mobile devices and electric vehicles; another offers a new way for entrepreneurs to fund the commercialization of emerging technologies. But in all cases, these are breakthroughs with the potential to transform the world.” See the list and more information at http://www.technologyreview.com/tr10/?nlid=nldly&nld=2012-04-30

posted @ Tuesday, May 22, 2012 12:33 PM | Feedback (0)

Monday, May 21, 2012

Robots and the aged

“Implementation and integration of advanced Robotic systems and intelligent Environments in real scenarios for the ageing population. Large-scale integrating project (IP), FP7-ICT-2011-7. Project coordinator Paolo Dario . The Robot-Era Project has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement num. 288899. A SYNOPTIC GLANCE AND MAIN OBJECTIVES”. Watch it and download the pdf from http://www.robot-era.eu/robotera/index.php?pagina=pagine_personalizzate&blocco=89&id=93

posted @ Monday, May 21, 2012 8:14 AM | Feedback (0)

Interactive simulations of physics, and other topics

Download and run these simulations put up by the University of Colorado. They range from balancing to buoyancy to microwaves to wave interference. Have fun at http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics

posted @ Monday, May 21, 2012 8:13 AM | Feedback (0)

Power without the cord

“Cell phones and flashlights operate by battery without trouble. Yet because of the limited lifespan, battery power is not a feasible option for many applications in the fi elds of medicine or test engineering, such as implants or probes. Researchers have now developed a process that supplies these systems with power and without the power cord.” Read more at http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2012/april/power-without-the-cord.html

posted @ Monday, May 21, 2012 8:13 AM | Feedback (0)

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Road inspection and surveying at a speed of 130 km/h

“Based on preparatory work by Technical University Dresden and imaging solutions from STEMMER IMAGING different measuring mechanisms are on their way on German roads to help to analyse road conditions much faster and more accurate than ever before. The imaging components used for these tasks have proven themselves in industrial applications with comparable tasks for some time now.” Access the pdf from http://www.stemmer-imaging.co.uk/en/applications/application.Street-Inspection

posted @ Tuesday, May 15, 2012 9:57 AM | Feedback (0)

Monday, May 14, 2012

The Engineering Library ZOME Competition!

It is time once again to enter the annual Zome Competition sponsored by Fletcher Construction with $2000 in cash prizes. Rules are available from the Front Desk of the Library. Please read them very carefully.

Teams are to comprise of 2-4 people; practice packs will be available at the Library desk from Monday 21st May and you will be able to practise from the 21st May through Inter-semester Break until the week of 11th July. You will need to build your model in one 4 hour session when the Library is open during that week (11th -20th July).

The judging panel will include the Dean and the prizes will be given out by the General Manager of Fletchers, so there will be quite a lot of publicity for the successful winners.

Good for your CV!

Only 20 teams may enter and you need to register early – registration opens on Monday 21st May, 8.30am at the Engineering Library Front Desk. Last year all team places were taken in the first 10 minutes after registration opened!

Goodluck!

posted @ Monday, May 14, 2012 2:21 PM | Feedback (0)

Assistance for young researchers and academics

Biggerbrains, a website from the publisher Elsevier aims to assist: “It’s when existing ideas come together in new ways. Creating an IQ big bang. Giving strength to your ideas and power to your career. Getting you funded, published and networked with the stars in your field. Providing the tipping point you need to get you noticed by your peers, and the world. Welcome to Biggerbrains. Where the ‘DNA of success’ is contributed by the big minds in the research community.” Try it out at http://www.biggerbrains.com/

posted @ Monday, May 14, 2012 9:59 AM | Feedback (0)

Thursday, May 10, 2012

New protocol enables wireless and secure biometric acquisition with web services

“Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed and published a new protocol for communicating with biometric sensors over wired and wireless networks—using some of the same technologies that underpin the web. The new protocol, called WS-Biometric Devices (WS-BD), allows desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones to access sensors that capture biometric data such as fingerprints, iris images and face images using web services. Web services themselves are not new; for example, video-on-demand services use web services to stream videos to mobile devices and televisions. The WS-Biometric Devices protocol will greatly simplify setting up and maintaining secure biometric systems for verifying identity because such biometric systems will be easier to assemble with interoperable components compared to current biometrics systems that generally have proprietary device-specific drivers and cables. WS-BD enables interoperability by adding a device-independent web-services layer in the communication protocol between biometric devices and systems.” Read more and access the protocol at http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/nios-npe050312.php

posted @ Thursday, May 10, 2012 8:13 AM | Feedback (0)

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

The Hottest Research of 2011

“Once again, ScienceWatch takes its annual look back at the hottest of recent research. Listed in the adjoining table are the researchers who, according to citations tracked during 2011, recorded the highest numbers of Hot Papers published over the preceding two years. Also listed are the papers published during 2011 (excluding reviews) that were most cited by year’s end.” Read about it at http://sciencewatch.com/newsletter/2012/201203/hottest_research_2012/

posted @ Wednesday, May 09, 2012 8:30 AM | Feedback (0)