Tag: physical sciences
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Utah Engineering Program Develops Paraglider for Disabled
The University of Utah’s Ergonomics and Safety Program is partnering with an organization for paragliding and hang-gliding by the disabled to develop a paraglider that paraplegics can fly on their own. The program, part of the university’s engineering department, produced the Phoenix — that had its maiden flight this summer — with the organization Able…
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Stretchable Sensory Material Created with Carbon Nanotubes
Stanford University chemical engineers have developed a stretchable, transparent skin-like sensor that can be stretched to more than twice its original length and return to its original shape. The material — that can sense pressure from a firm pinch to thousands of pounds — is described online in the 23 October issue of the journal…
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Online Resource Helps Responders Identify Chemical Hazards
An online tool, developed by a University of Virginia faculty member, will help emergency medical staff and other first responders identify more quickly the group of chemicals causing patients to become ill. Mark Kirk, a professor of emergency medicine with the University of Virginia Health System, led development of the Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management…
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NSF Grant to Fund Savannah River Water Quality Monitors
Clemson University in South Carolina says it received a grant to develop a computerized water-quality technology for the entire length of the Savannah River. The four-year grant, exceeding $3 million, is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Computer and Network Systems. The system is expected to cover a network of buoys (pictured left)…
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Carnegie Mellon, Microsoft Develop Touch-Screen Projection
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Microsoft’s research labs have developed OmniTouch, a device that projects touch screen capability on any flat surface. Chris Harrison, a computer science Ph.D. student and a developer of OmniTouch, will discuss the system on Wednesday at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Symposium on User Interface Software and…
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L-3, Virginia Tech to Partner on Cyber Security R&D
L-3 Communications, a government national-security electronics contractor, says it has formed a partnership with Virginia Tech on research and development related to cyber security. The collaboration will include locating L-3’s new Cybersecurity Solutions Center at Virginia Tech’s research facility in Arlington, Virginia. The company says it will undertake joint research with Virginia Tech leading to…
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Students Start Company to Commercialize Biochar Process
Students at University of Washington in Seattle are taking to market a new process to turn forestry waste into biochar, a charcoal-like substance that boosts agricultural yields. Their company, C6 Systems, is also a recipient of one of the first Innovation Corps grants from National Science Foundation. Jenny Knoth, a UW doctoral student in forest…
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University, Industry Team Demonstrates Robotic Biologist
Researchers from two universities and a research company have demonstrated an automated system that can analyze raw experimental biological data and derive the mathematical equations that describe the way the system operates. The team from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and CFD Research Corp. in Huntsville, Alabama published their results…
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Contract Awarded for Magnets Made Without Rare Earth Metals
Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond has received a $2.9 million contract from Department of Energy to develop a new class of permanent magnets for energy-efficient electric car motors and generators. The project is funded through the department’s Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical Technologies program (REACT) under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. The REACT program aims…
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Intelligent Vehicle Highway Test Planned in Germany
The largest on-road test of intelligent vehicles is planned for Spring of 2012, according to Technical University of Munich (Technische Universität München, TUM), one of the participants. The exercise involving 120 cars and trucks will test vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastracture communication on Germany’s streets and roads. The test fleet will be equipped with the Safe and…