Category Archives: Engineering

High Pay for Engineering Graduates

Undergraduate engineering degrees top the list of best paid: Most lucrative degrees for college grads. This article offers a slight update to Lucrative college degree post from July.

iWoz

iWoz book cover image

iWoz, autobiography of Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder is now available. Quote from Guy Kawasaki:

Every engineer—and certainly every engineering student—should read this book. It is about the thrill of invention, the process of making the world a better place, and the purity of entrepreneurship. I, Woz is the personal computer generation’s version of The Soul of a New Machine. It is, in a nutshell, the engineer’s manifesto. I hope that the so-called “innovation experts” and MBAs choke when they read it.

Cobert report interview with Steve Wozniak. NPR interview: Computer Pioneer Steve Wozniak Tells His Story

Lab on a Chip Blood Tests

Portable ‘lab on a chip’ could speed blood tests:

Within the lab on a chip, biological fluids such as blood are pumped through channels about 10 microns, or millionths of a meter, wide. (A red blood cell is about 8 microns in diameter.) Each channel has its own pumps, which direct the fluids to certain areas of the chip so they can be tested for the presence of specific molecules.

Until now, scientists have been limited to two approaches to designing labs on a chip, neither of which offer portability. The first is to mechanically force fluid through microchannels, but this requires bulky external plumbing and scales poorly with miniaturization.

The second approach is capillary electro-osmosis, where flow is driven by an electric field across the chip. Current electro-osmotic pumps require more than 100 volts of electricity, but the MIT researchers have now developed a micropump which requires only battery power (a few volts) to achieve similar flow speeds and also provides a greater degree of flow control.

More Great Webcasts: Nanotech and more

ScienceLive video archive from Cambridge University Science Productions. Videos include:

Viruses as nanomachines by Peter Stockley
Powering nanodevices with biomolecular motors by Amir Khan
Ice Cream, Chocolate, and Einstein by Chris Clarke
Communicating Science by Brian Trench and David Dickson
So many experiments, live in the studio! by Paul McCrory

Great stuff, another example of universities providing open access content 🙂

Life Untouched by the Sun

Gold mine holds life untouched by the Sun

The first known organisms that live totally independently of the sun have been discovered deep in a South African gold mine.

The bacteria exist without the benefit of photosynthesis by harvesting the energy of natural radioactivity to create food for themselves. Similar life forms may exist on other planets, experts speculate.

The bacteria live in ancient water trapped in a crack in basalt rock, 3 to 4 kilometres down. Scientists from Princeton University in New Jersey, US, and colleagues analysed water from the fissure after it was penetrated by a narrow exploratory shaft in the Mponeng gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa. The shaft was then closed.

I must say I was confused why this was seen as the “first” such life.

Other sulphate-eating bacteria have been found in ocean sediments, volcanoes and oil deposits. But all have either received some chemicals produced by photosynthesis, or it has not been clear whether they were trapped and dying, or flourishing.

I am still not sure the “first” claim is really accurate (from NASA site in 2001), but nevertheless this is another interesting case of extremophiles.

Related: Bacteria Living in Glacier

Science and Engineering Internships for Summer 2007

Office of Naval Research Science & Engineering Apprentice Program (SEAP)

SEAP provides competitive research internships to approximately 250 high school students each year. Participating students spend eight weeks during the summer doing research at Department of Navy laboratories.

Requirements:

* High school students who have completed at least Grade 9. A graduating senior is eligible to apply.
* Must be 16 years of age for most laboratories
* Applicants must be US citizens and participation by Permanent Resident Aliens is limited.
* The application deadline is February 17, 2006.
Continue reading →

Engineering Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak

Disappear into thin air? Scientists take step toward invisibility by Peter N. Spotts:

Flip a switch and make something disappear? It’s been the stuff of science fiction for decades. Now, two Duke University scientists and their colleagues have built the world’s first device to render an object invisible.

At least, it’s invisible to microwaves.

But researchers say the work demonstrates that, in principle, objects could be made to disappear from radar, cameras, and other detection devices. The trick? A new class of engineered substances called metamaterials.

Update: more info from Duke, including a video.

Cancer-Killing Virus

Scientists Say Cancer-Killing Virus Developed (site broke the link so I removed it)

South Korean scientists have said they have developed a new genetically altered strain of virus which is highly efficient in targeting and killing cancer cells. The new therapy developed by the team from Yonsei University uses a genetically-engineered form of the adenovirus, which normally causes colds.

The adenovirus was implanted with a human gene that is related to the production of relaxin, a hormone associated with pregnancy. When injected into cancerous tumors, the virus quickly multiplies in the cancer cells and kills them, the team said.

There are many more wonderful announcements than wonderful treatments. Still this is one in the long line of potentially wonderful treatments. If it turns out to be successful the whole world will benefit. That we all will benefit from such breakthroughs is why I am glad so many countries are investing in science and engineering (also see: Worldwide Science and Engineering Doctoral Degree Data).

Possibilities Ahead for Engineers

Possibilities and challenges ahead for engineers

To that end, engineering institutions should avoid focusing solely on lecture-based courses and ensure that students participate in team projects, research and experiential learning. Students should also learn communication skills and gain understanding of ethics and social responsibility, business organization, innovation and product development, in addition to engineering fundamentals, Vest said.
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The Senate is now working on legislation that would invest in making the United States more competitive with other nations when it comes to science and engineering education. The National Competitiveness Investment Act is based on recommendations from a recent federal report called “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” which argued that science and engineering education is vital to U.S. economic interests.

Previous posts on proposed legislation: Graduate Scholar Awards in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math – Proposed Legislation on Science and Education – Science and Engineering Innovation Legislation – The Innovation Agenda – Science and Engineering Fellowships Legislation