Engineering in the News July 2009

Excerpts from Illinois in the News, a daily service provided by the University of Illinois News Bureau. This collection of July excerpts focuses on engineering topics and faculty contacted for their expertise by print and broadcast reporters around the world.

COMPUTERS
GenomeWeb Daily News (New York City, July 30) -- Saurabh Sinha, a professor of computer science, has developed statistical algorithms to identify the genes that alter the honey bee’s status and behavior in the hive.
TIRE TECHNOLOGY
Tire Technology International (March) -- The Illinois Center for Transportation's leading role in research on a new generation of wide-base tires is featured.
 
PHOTONIC SIGNALING
Laser Focus World (Tulsa, Okla., July 31) -- Researchers are exploring ways to arrange quantum dots in regularly spaced nanopatterns in the active layer of a diode laser. U. of I. electrical and computer engineering professor James Coleman thinks such control might make new devices useful for applications such as advanced photonic signal processing.
 
MICROFLUIDIC SYSTEMS
Chemistry World (London, July 31) -- Scientists at Illinois led by Paul Braun, a professor of materials science and engineering, have used a laser to write a hydrophilic pathway into a three-dimensional hydrophobic porous matrix, a technique with potential uses for selective transportation of aqueous and oily phases in 3-D microfluidic systems.
 
NANOLASERS
Photonics Online (Pittsfield, Mass., July 31) -- Researchers at the U of I are collaborating with researchers at University of Arizona and the University of California Berkeley to develop nanolasers.
 
BROWNIAN MOTION RECONSIDERED
Science Centric (Sofia, Bulgaria, July 28) -- In The Emperor's New Clothes, Hans Christian Andersen used the eyes of a child to challenge conventional wisdom and help others to see more clearly. In similar fashion, researchers at Illinois have now revealed the naked truth about a classic bell-shaped curve used to describe the motion of a liquid as it diffuses through another material. "The new findings raise fundamental questions concerning the statistical nature of the diffusion process," says Steve Granick, Founder Professor of Engineering, and professor of materials science and engineering, of chemistry, of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and of physics at Illinois. Also: Innovations Report (Bad Homburg, Germany, July 28), PhysOrg.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, July 27), The Money Times (Mumbai, India, July 27), The Post Chronicle (Denville, N.J., July 27), United Press International (July 27), Chemistry (Berlin, July 29).
 
RIVER STUDY
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 26) -- Science isn’t precise enough to know exactly how much the St. Clair River north of Detroit has changed since the last major Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in the 1960s, said Marcelo Garcia, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Illinois.
 
ASTRONAUT ALUMNUS
Journal Star (Peoria, Ill., July 25) -- A profile of astronaut and Engineering at Illinois' alumnus Scott Altman.
 
NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
Chicago Tribune (from The Associated Press, July 24) -- The U. of I. will spend $4.21 million to decommission a small nuclear reactor on the Urbana campus.
 
BIOFUELS
San Jose Mercury News (California, July 23) -- Within the next decade, drivers may get around powered by fuel made from pecan shells, switchgrass or poplar trees, thanks to research funded by more than $700 million in grants. Among those grants is $350 million over 10 years from BP to the U of I, the University of California at Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
 
BASEBALL
Newsday (Melville, N.Y., July 21) -- A University of Iowa graduate student who has developed a Web site that tracks Major League Baseball pitchers and the pitches they throw says he knew of how to process the information because of an online guide written by U of I physics professor Alan Nathan.
 
CYBER TRANSACTIONS
Watertown Daily Times (New York, July 22) -- The U of I will collaborate with Clarkson University, the State University of New York at Albany, the University of New Mexico and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in a National Science Foundation grant to create software to improve the safety of cyber transactions.
 
SYNAPTIC SIGNALING
Nanotechnology Now (Banks, Ore., July 20) -- Researchers at Illinois have discovered a mechanism required for synaptic signaling. U of I mechanical science and engineering professor Taher Saif conducted the study with biology professor Akira Chiba, now at the University of Miami. Also: e! Science News (Quebec City, July 20), Medical News Today (Bexhill-on-Sea, England, July 21), Physorg.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, July 20), Science Centric (Sofia, Bulgaria, July 21), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., July 20), Medical News Today (Bexhill-on-Sea, England, July 21), First Science.com (London, July 20), MedIndia.net (Chennai, India, July 21), Nanotechwire.com (Philadelphia, July 21), Red Orbit (Dallas, July 21).
 
U OF I RESEARCHERS RECOGNIZED BY R&D MAGAZINE
Nanowerk News (Honolulu, July 20) -- U of I researchers contributed to the Transmission Electron Aberration-corrected Microscope Stage, a device that enables atomic-scale imaging in 3-D. Developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the technology was named one of R&D Magazine's R&D 100 Awards for 2009.
 
PETc C0-DEVELOPER RECOGNIZED BY R&D MAGAZINE
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (New Rochelle, N.Y., July 20) -- U of I computer science professor William Gropp was one of the principal developers of PETSc, a high-performance software designed to allow engineers and scientists to perform large-scale numerical simulations of physical phenomena rapidly and efficiently. PETSc received one of R&D Magazine’s R&D 100 Awards for 2009. Also: Nanowerk News (Honolulu, July 20), PhysOrg.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, July 20).
 
NUCLEAR THREATS
Anchorage Daily News (Alaska, July 18) -- Frederick Lamb, a physics professor at Illinois who co-chaired a review of a proposed missile defense system, says nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran are overblown.
 
‘PICTURE OF THE DAY’
Science 360 (National Science Foundation; Washington, D.C., July 16) -- "Picture of the Day": John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at Illinois, and Yonggang Huang, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and mechanical engineering at Northwestern University, have developed circuits that can stretch, bend and even twist.
 
HUMAN-ANDROID INTERACTION
Scientist Live (London, July 17) -- In a new article in Perspectives on Psychological Science, psychologist Neal J. Roese and computer scientist Eyal Amir, investigate what human-android interactions may be like in 50 years. Also: e! Science News (Quebec City, July 16), Medical News Today (Bexhill-on-Sea, England, July 17), PhysOrg.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, July 16), RedOrbit.com (Dallas, July 17), Science Centric (Sofia, Bulgaria, July 17), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., July 17), Sindh Today (from Indo-Asian News Service; Mumbai, India, July 17), Thaindian News (from Indo-Asian News Service; Bangkok, July 17), The Mangalorean (from Indo-Asian News Service; Mangalore, India, July 17), SpaceRef.com (Reston, Va., July 18).
 
CS EXCHANGE PROGRAM
The Jordan Times (Amman, July 17) -- Princess Sumaya University for Technology has not only included computer animation in its curriculum but also has adopted an exchange program with the U of I, one of the pioneers in the computer field.
 
GASOLINE CONSUMPTION AND DRIVER WEIGHT
Daily Sentinel (Le Mars, Iowa, July 16) -- According to a 2006 study by researchers at the U of I and Virginia Commonwealth University, "nearly one billion gallons of fuel are consumed each year because of the average weight gain of people living in the United States since 1960--nearly three times the total amount of fuel consumed by all passenger vehicles each day based on current driving habits."
 
VIDEO GAMES AS THERAPY
Tehran Times (Iran, July 15) -- "Video games are very integrative in nature," says cognitive psychologist Chandramallika Basak, a postdoctoral research associate at the Beckman Institute. "You have to multitask a lot."
 
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Chemistry (Berlin, July 14) -- In 2003, a team of scientists from the U of I, DuPont and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a method of separating metallic carbon nanotubes from semiconducting CNTs using single-stranded DNA and anion-exchange chromatography. Also: Insciences (Basel, Switzerland, July 14).
 
COMPUTER SECURITY
InformationWeek (Manhasset, N.Y., July 13) -- Researchers from the U of I and the University of Washington are working with Microsoft Research on a Web browser that could protect against several common security holes and make it harder for hackers to steal data from PCs.
 
BIOPHYSICS
National Geographic (July 9) -- U of I biophysicist Klaus Schulten and colleagues report that a toxic molecule may play a pivotal role in bird migration. Also: Albuquerque Express  (from Asian News International; New Mexico, July 10), DailyIndia.com (from ANI Jacksonville, Fla., July 10), Malaysia Sun (from ANI; Selangor, July 10).
 
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (New Rochelle, N.Y., July 8) -- In 2003, a team of scientists from the U of I, DuPont and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a method of separating metallic carbon nanotubes from semiconducting CNTs using single-stranded DNA and anion-exchange chromatography. Also: DailyIndia.com (from Asian News International; Jacksonville, Fla., July 9), e! Science News (Quebec City, July 8), Medical News Today (Bexhill-on-Sea, England, July 9), Nanowerk News (Honolulu, July 8), PhysOrg.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, July 8), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., July 8), Scientist Live (London, July 9).
 
BIO-INSPIRED MATERIAL
Robots.net (Dallas, July 8) -- The Microvascular Autonomic Research Initiative at the U of I has developed a bio-inspired material with an embedded microvascular network that mimics human skin.
 
BASEBALL
The Sacramento Bee (California, July 7) -- "The scuff (on the surface of a baseball) does funny things with the air flow," says Alan Nathan, a U of I physics professor who has studied baseballs, literally inside and out. "A skilled pitcher knows how to take advantage of that," he said.
Related story: The Kansas City Star (Missouri, July 7) -- "In order to get the ball in the stands, the ball has to leave the bat with certain characteristics," says physics professor Alan Nathan. Also: Centre Daily Times (from The Kansas City Star (Missouri); State College, Pa., July 7), Detroit Free Press (from The KC Star (Missouri), July 8), The News Tribune (from The KC Star (Missouri); Tacoma, Wash., July 7), The State (from The KC Star (Missouri); Columbia, S.C., July 7).
 
COMPUTERS
iStockAnalyst.com (from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Bend, Ore., July 7) -- Changing technology and rapidly growing heat loads from the computer cabinet have many companies looking for cost-effective ways to handle their computing and data storage, says John Melchi, senior associate director of the National Center for Computing Applications at Illinois.
 
ALUMNUS ASTRONAUT
Columbia Tribune (Missouri, July 2) -- NASA announced this week that Columbia native Air Force Lt. Col. Mike Hopkins, 40, was one of nine applicants chosen to be part of the 2009 class of astronauts. Hopkins earned a degree in aerospace engineering from Illinois while earning academic awards and athletic awards as a defensive back on the football team.
 
BIRDS "SEE" MAGNETIC FIELDS
The Winnipeg Sun (from Sun Media; Canada, July 1) -- U of I physics and chemistry professor Klaus Schulten and colleagues report that a toxic molecule may play a pivotal role in bird migration. The molecule is proposed as a key player in the process that allows birds to "see" Earth's magnetic field.
 
"SUPERLENS"
GizMag.com (St. Kilda, Australia, July 1) -- A team of researchers at Illinois led by U of I mechanical science and engineering professor Nicholas X. Fang has created the world’s first acoustic "superlens," an innovation that could have practical implications for high-resolution ultrasound imaging, non-destructive structural testing of buildings and bridges, and novel underwater stealth technology.
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Contact: Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, editor.