Category Archives: Education

Four Vehicles Finish in $2 Million Robot Race

Four Vehicles Finish in $2 Million Robot Race:

Update: link broken – too bad they don’t know pages must live forever

The vehicles were equipped with the latest sensors, lasers, cameras and radar that feed information to several onboard computers. The sophisticated electronics helped vehicles make intelligent decisions such as distinguishing a dangerous boulder from a tumbleweed and calculating whether a chasm is too deep to cross.

E = mc²

That Famous Equation and You by Brian Greene

Over the last couple of decades, this less familiar reading of Einstein’s equation has helped physicists explain why everything ever encountered has the mass that it does. Experiments have shown that the subatomic particles making up matter have almost no mass of their own. But because of their motions and interactions inside of atoms, these particles contain substantial energy – and it’s this energy that gives matter its heft. Take away Einstein’s equation, and matter loses its mass. You can’t get much more pervasive than that.

Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Awards

Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Awards

recognize K-12 schools in the U.S. that demonstrate excellence in implementing innovative, replicable programs supporting positive educational outcomes. The awards showcase the effective use of technology, the benefits of strong teamwork and the development of excellent classroom teachers.

In 2005, 20 winning schools recieved over $200,000 overall. Application for 2006. In addition to monetary rewards the winning schools recieve rriculum materials, software and hardware.

International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering

Purdue is starting a new journal, International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering:

a faculty-reviewed electronic journal offered free, semi-annually, over the World Wide Web. The Journal welcomes manuscripts based on original work of students and researchers with a specific focus or implication for service learning in engineering, engineering entrepreneurship in service, or related service learning pedagogy.

Leverage Universities to Transform State Economy

Leverage Universities to Transform State Economy by Mark Kushner (dean of the College of Engineering at Iowa State University) and P. Barry Butler (dean of the College of
Engineering at the University of Iowa):

Iowa’s colleges of engineering are driving innovation and economic development by doing state-of-the-art research and seeding new companies. We are responsible for $80 million per year in research expenditures – the vast majority of which comes from out of state – with an economic impact of $250 million. The investment we make in faculty researchers has a nearly 15-to-1 return.
Where we invest determines the jobs we produce, the innovation we spark and the wages Iowans earn. We need rock-solid, unbiased data to make those decisions. The data from California say that the amusement-park industry provides $22,000 per-year jobs and the information-technology industry provides $100,000 per year jobs. What are we willing to invest and risk for $100,000 per-year jobs?

The tough part is not convincing people that investing in science and engineering education is wise. And while I agree with the authors I don’t think that is the correct data to look at. The authors want more money invested in their schools of engineering.
Continue reading →

25 New MacArthur Fellows

25 New MacArthur Fellows Announced
press release
overview of fellows

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 25 new MacArthur Fellows for 2005. Each received a phone call from the Foundation this week informing them that they will be given $500,000 in ‘“no strings attached’ support over the next five years.

I think the fellowships are a great idea: give money to people who have done excellent work. I am not sure of the motivations of the MacArthur Foundation, but if it were me I would trust by providing funds to those people they would (as a group, not every single person) take advantage of those funds to create great advances for all of humanity.

It is great to see examples of those doing work worthy of such high praise. Many of the fellows are scientists and engineers including:

  • Ted Ames – Fisherman fusing the roles of applied scientist and lobsterman to respond to increasing threats to the fishery ecosystem and to suggest needed changes in fisheries management.
  • Lu Chen – Neuroscientist probing the complexities of synaptic transmission in the brain, gaining new insights into the processes of learning and memory.
  • Claire Gmachl – Laser Technologist engineering state-of-the-art lasers for novel applications in environmental monitoring, clinical diagnoses, chemical process control, and homeland security.
  • Michael Walsh – Vehicle Emissions Specialist designing and implementing inventive, cost-effective programs to improve air quality for populations around the globe.

Science Camps Prep Girls

photo of students at science camp

Science Camps Prep Girls, by Christina Stolarz, The Detroit News.

Since 2002, U-D Mercy has offered the Science Technology Engineering Preview Summer, or STEPS, camp for girls who are heading into 10th and 11th grade, he said. The two weeklong camps, which are primarily funded by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Education Foundation, introduce students to manufacturing, engineering, science and robotics.

Curious Cat University of Detroit Mercy Alumni

Engineers Struggle to Make Science Sexy

Engineers Struggle to Make Science Sexy, Business Telegraph, United Kingdom.

With more than half engineering graduates defecting to other careers, the profession is in need of an image change
…
There is a growing realisation that even the youngest children can be excited by engineering, and this is the way to ensure the UK’s future industrial competitiveness. Dr Morton says “The key challenges of the 21st century including energy, transport and health care, will be solved by engineering innovation.”

World’s Lightest Flying Robot

Epson Announces Advanced Model of the World’s Lightest Micro-Flying Robot:

The key concept behind Epson’s R&D efforts in micro-flying robots has been to expand the horizons of microrobot activities from two-dimensional space to three-dimensional space. Now, with the successful implementation of Bluetooth communications and independent flight in the FR-II, Epson has literally added a new dimension to microrobotics while greatly expanding the potential range of microrobot applications by incorporating image capture and transmission functions.

The site includes a video.