Category Archives: Engineering

Promoting Science and Engineering

Sexing Up Science (broken link deleted) by Mac Margolis and Karla Bruning

Another article discussing the need to focus on science and engineering education in the USA and the United Kingdom. It is nice to see the Duke study has worked its way into most recent articles.

Being in the field “teaches you to be flexible and ruthlessly creative,” says Pearson. Indeed, Richard K. Miller, president of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, which graduated its first class in May, says it’s crucial to get students to think “outside the box” and work in teams. “Our future doesn’t depend on producing more engineers than China. [We] need more innovators,” he says. “Engineering is about invention.”

Engineering Projects in Community Service

Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) at Purdue University provides students the opportunity to apply engineering to provide real world solutions in the community (since 1995). Over 25 projects are underway including:

Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology – to design new software and hardware to spark the interest of girls in technology. Projects include: multimedia computer games; interactive and intelligent toys – the link includes downloadable games
Columbian Park Zoo – to design, build, deliver, and maintain engineering projects that will aid the Columbian Park Zoo in inspiring the community with an appreciation for the world’s animals.
Discovering Engineering Careers – to Develop portable, hands-on demonstrations of engineering principles and practice and web-based games that will spark interest in engineering careers among elementary, middle, and junior high school students and teachers.
Klondike Elementary School – to design custom educational products involving both hardware and software.

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R&D Spending in USA Universities

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Academic Research and Development Expenditures: Fiscal Year 2004, NSF 06-323 provides a view of R&D spending at universities in the USA.

Spending over the last 5 years in billions: $30.7 in 2000; 32.8; 36.4; 40.1 and $42.9 in 2004. For 2004 the funding source for the spending was:

Federal Government: $27.4
State and Local: 2.8
Industry: 2.1
Institutional: 7.8
All other: 2.8

Also for 2004 of the total $32.3 billion was for basic research and $10.6 billion for applied research and development.

The schools spending the largest amounts on R&D in 2004 and the spending in millions:

Johns Hopkins $1,375
UCLA 773
Univ of Michigan (all) 769
UW – Madison 764
UC – San Francisco 728
Univ Washington 714
UC – San Diego 709
Stanford 671

The publication includes a huge amount of data on current spending and historical spending.

More Unmanned Water Vehicles

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International recently completed the 9th International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition [link broken, so it was removed].

City College built little sub that almost could by Ronald W. Powell:

The four-day event ended yesterday with the University of Florida repeating as champions and winning $7,000, and Duke finishing second and claiming $5,000.

Academic teams from 20 colleges and universities and one high school deployed their submersibles in a pool at Point Loma’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center and attempted to complete three underwater tasks. The crew from San Diego City College was among 11 teams to navigate its 22-pound vessel through a gate.

See: La Vida Robot (a great article on the Carl Hayden Community High Schools entry in the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center’s Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition last year).

While we have posted about several autonomous water robots lately don’t think water is the only place engineers are experimenting with autonomous robots. The Aerial Robotics Competition [link broken, so it was removed] offers bragging rights and possibly US $60,000 (if I understand the rules – see the full rules for details [link broken, so it was removed]). An idea for the competition can be seen from this excerpt:
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Girls in Science and Engineering

Best of Our Knowledge podcast from December 2005, Queens University in Ontario, Canada.

In this podcast they explore the Smith College summer science program for high school girls.

According to Smith College, 75% of the program’s graduates say it increased their interest in science and their confidence. Each summer girls spend a full month in research courses as varied as: Designing Intelligent Robots; Telescopes and Astronomical Imaging; and, Genetics and Ecology.

In my opinion this is exactly the type of program we should encourage. I think given the data on diversity in science and engineering we need to make some efforts to encourage under-represented groups. And programs such as this can help increase the diversity in the pipeline.

Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics on the air offers related podcasts online, including:
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$40 Million for Engineering Education in Boston

Bernard M. Gordon, is giving away $20 million each, for the engineering education and research at two major Boston institutions: the Museum of Science and Northeastern University. Science museum, NU to widen paths:

At the museum, the gift will expand the engineering focus in exhibits and educational programs aimed at motivating a new crop of American engineers and inventors. The money will be used to remodel a wing of the museum to house its two-year-old National Center for Technological Literacy, which seeks to boost engineering curricula in schools.

We previously have posted on the engineering education work of the museum and its president, Ioannis Miaoulis: k-12 Engineering Education and k-12 Science Education Podcast:

Gordon, an MIT graduate and a Tufts University trustee, had no previous connection to Northeastern, Freeland said. He said the philanthropist was attracted by the university’s emphasis on marrying research with practical applications.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRF) is now accepting applications (through early November). The NSF GRF is the largest and most prestigious graduate fellowship program for the sciences in the USA. Approximately 1,000 fellowships, which cover tuition and pay a $30,500 stipend for 3 years, will be awarded again this year. Previous winners include Sergey Brin, Google co-founder (he list winning in his 3 paragraph bio on Google’s site).

The main site for the NSF GRFP includes the solicitation with details on applying and eligibility etc.. I can’t figure out how you find the application from the main site but here is the link to apply for the fellowship.

Advice is available online for applying for the fellowship: How to Win a Graduate Fellowship, Advice for Applicants to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the University of Missouri provides a guide for completing an NSF FRF application.
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Interview of Steve Wozniak

Excellent interview of Steve Wozniak from Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days by Jessica Livingston, to be published in a few months.

I said, “No, I’m never going to leave Hewlett-Packard. It’s my job for life. It’s the best company because it’s so good to engineers.” It really treated us like we were a community and family, and everyone cared about everyone else. Engineers—bottom of the org chart people—could come up with the ideas that would be the next hot products for the company. Everything was open to thought, discussion and innovation. So I would never leave Hewlett-Packard. I was going to be an engineer for life there.

Sounds like Google today, see: How Google Works focused on engineering and Enginners at Google Make Decisions.
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Recapturing R&D Leadership

Recapturing R&D Leadership by John Teresko

Lieberman says manufacturers need to focus on two concerns, the first is avoiding other people’s patents and the second is getting patents of their own or getting some exclusivity on the things that they’re making or designing. “Unfortunately it is virtually impossible to either know or satisfy yourself in advance of coming out with a product that you’re not going to infringe somebody’s rights.

Manufacturers should also focus on lobbying for more sensible patent laws. From our previous post on research support by Governments:

I happen to side with those like Lawernce Lessig that believe we are harming the United States economy by having a government policy that too restrictive about intellectual property. I believe countries that have sufficient clout to stand up to the United States, and who have a more sensible IP policy will gain a great advantage if the United States were not to adjust policies based on the ideas of Lessig and others.

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Kayak Robots

robotic kayaks

Kayaks adapted to test marine robotics

Working in labs that resemble machine shops, these engineers are taking small steps toward the holy grail of robotics — cooperative autonomy — making machines work together seamlessly to complete tasks with a minimum of human direction.

The tool they’re using is the simple kayak.

Yesterday it was submarine autonomus robots from Princeton (funded by the Naval Postgraduate School). The robot kayak project is funded by Office of Naval Research and the MIT Sea Grant College Program.

Much of the technology being tested is ultimately intended for use in underwater robots, or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), but testing software on AUVs can easily become a multimullion-dollar experiment.

“I want to have master’s students and Ph.D. students that can come in, test algorithms and develop them on a shoestring budget,” said Associate Professor John J. Leonard of mechanical engineering.