Tag: physical sciences
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University Spinoff Company Commercializes Robotic Modules
A University of California at Davis engineering professor and former student have developed robot modules for teaching and research, and formed a company to take their invention to market. Davis professor Harry Cheng and former grad student Graham Ryland developed the iMobot, as their invention is called, while Ryland worked in Cheng’s Integration Engineering Laboratory.…
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Pump Designed for Lab-on-a-Chip Medical Diagnostics
Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have developed a new miniaturized pump that fits on diagnostic chips that can lead to better home medical testing. The findings from this faculty-student team appear in the March issue of the journal Electrophoresis (paid subscription required). Nathaniel Robinson, who leads the Transport and Separations Group at Linköping University…
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Student Creates Self-Strengthening Nanocomposite Material
A graduate student at Rice University in Houston, Texas has created a synthetic material combining nanotechnology and polymers that gets stronger from repeated stress. The results of the research by Brent Carey and colleagues appear this month in the journal ACS Nano (paid subscription required). Carey, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of materials science…
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Google Grant Funds Tools for Internet Transparency
The Internet services company Google has awarded a grant to Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta to help Web users determine the cause of degraded Internet services. The $1 million Google Focused Research Award will fund a two-year project at Georgia Tech, with an option for a third year. The project aims to make Internet…
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University Patents Peptide-Based Adhesive
The technology transfer arm of Kansas State University in Manhattan has received an international patent for an adhesive that increases in strength as moisture is removed. The patent covers an adhesive made from peptides — a compound containing two or more amino acids that link together. The adhesive was created by biochemistry professor John Tomich…
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University Engineers Develop Single Lens for 3D Microscope
Engineers at Ohio State University in Columbus have invented a lens that enables microscopic objects to be seen from nine different angles at once to create a 3D image. Engineering professor Allen Yi, and postdoctoral researcher Lei Li discuss the lens in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of the Optical Society of America…
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Kansas Winds Could Help Avoid Widespread Power Outages
A graduate student at Kansas State University in Manhattan is conducting research that shows how distributed energy sources like wind power can help reduce widespread power outages. Engineering doctoral student Sakshi Pahwa presented her findings earlier this year at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit in Topeka, Kansas. The research looks into distributed energy sources as…
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Finance Friday: 18 March 2011
Here are recent angel and venture finance transactions for science- and engineering-based companies, as reported by Xconomy and Venture Capital Reporter. Biomedical/Life Sciences Advanced Animal Diagnostics in Durham, North Carolina raised $11 million in equity funding with Intersouth Partners and Novartis Venture Funds, the venture capital arm of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and others. Chronix Biomedical in San Jose,…
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Engineers Research Grid Upgrades to Handle More DC Power
Engineers at University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania have begun research on upgrades needed in the U.S. electrical grid to better integrate direct current (DC) power in an infrastructure designed for alternating current (AC). Funding for the project includes a recent $600,000 support grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, as well…
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Univ. Bioenergy Lab to Develop Low Carbon Technologies
Aston University in Birmingham, U.K. plans to build new £16.5 million ($26.7 million) engineering laboratories to develop and demonstrate renewable low carbon technologies including a biomass fueled power plant. The facility (artist’s drawing pictured right) is scheduled to open on the Aston campus in October 2012. The labs include photo-bioreactors harnessing algae, and a 0.4MW…