Engineering in the News August 2009

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

BIOCOMPATIBLE PHOTONIC COMPONENTS
AZoNano.com (Warriewood, Australia, Aug. 31) -- There is a growing need for biocompatible photonic components for biomedical applications – from in vivo glucose monitoring to detecting harmful viruses or the telltale markers of Alzheimer's. Researchers at Tufts University and the U of I have demonstrated a new method for fabricating silk-based optical waveguides that are biocompatible, biodegradable and can be readily functionalized with active molecules. The research capitalized on Tufts' knowledge of silk-based biopolymers and biophotonics and the expertise of U of I materials science and engineering professor Jennifer A. Lewis and graduate student Sara T. Parker in direct-write assembly to create complex planar and three-dimensional structures. Also: e! Science News (Quebec City, Aug. 31), Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (New Rochelle, N.Y., Aug. 31), Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Aug. 31), Photonics Online (Pittsfield, Mass., Aug. 31), PhysOrg.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, Aug. 31), RedOrbit.com (Dallas, Aug. 31).

WWW
National Public Radio (from The Associated Press, Aug. 31) -- In 1993, Marc Andreessen and colleagues at the U. of I. create Mosaic, the first Web browser to combine graphics and text on a single page, opening the Web to the world with software that is easy to use. Also: Los Angeles Times (from The Associated Press, Aug. 31). The Associated Press dispatch appeared worldwide.

ACOUSTIC DIODE
Physical Review Focus (Hyattsville, Md., Aug. 25) -- Nicholas Fang, a professor of mechanical sciences and engineering at Illinois, comments on an acoustic diode designed by researchers at Nanjing University in China that passes some sound energy in only one direction.

IBM PROCESSOR POWERS PETASCALE COMPUTER
ComputerWorld UK (London, Aug. 26) -- IBM has said it will build a petascale supercomputer based on its upcoming Power7 processor for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the U. of I. That machine, dubbed Blue Waters, is also due in 2011.

QUANTUM PHYSICS
AZoNano.com (Warriewood, Australia, Aug. 24) -- U. of I. physics professor and Nobel Prize-winner Anthony Leggett is a contributor to “Compendium of Quantum Physics: Concepts, Experiments, History and Philosophy,” a reference work considered a milestone among quantum mechanics publications. Also: Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Aug. 24).

RESEARCH FUNDING
GenomeWeb Daily News (New York City, Aug. 21) -- Charles Schroeder, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Illinois, was a recipient of a National Institute of Health’s Pathway to Independence Award in 2007. The goal of the award is to get researchers funded at an earlier age, Schroeder says.

PARALLEL COMPUTING
EE Times (New York City, Aug. 24) -- “There is no silver bullet, but we hope we can make developing parallel software as easy as developing today’s software,” says Marc Snir, a U of I professor of computer science.

ULTRATHIN LEDS
R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Aug. 21) -- Researchers led by John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering, have developed a process for creating ultrathin, ultra-small inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and assembling them into large arrays, offering new classes of lighting and display systems with interesting properties, such as see-through construction and mechanical flexibility, that would be impossible to achieve with existing technologies. Also: Reuters (Aug. 20),  Technology Review (Aug. 21, Bourzac), ASEE FirstBell (Aug. 21), ECNmag.com (from Reuters, Dover, N.J., Aug. 21), Chemistry (Berlin, Germany, Aug. 21), Daily India.com (from Asian News International, Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 21), Innovations Report (Bad Homburg, Germany, Aug. 21), IT Pro (from Reuters, London, Aug. 21), IT Web (from Reuters, Rivonia, South Africa, Aug. 21), Malaysia Sun (from Asian News International, Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 21), PCmag.com (from Reuters, New York City, Aug. 21), Science Centric (Sofia, Bulgaria, Aug. 21), The Engineer (London, Aug. 21), U.S. News & World Report (from LiveScience, Aug. 20), Zimbabwe Star (from Asian News International, Harare, Aug. 21), BBC (London, Aug. 21), Buenos Aires Herald (Argentina, Aug. 21), CNET News (San Francisco, Aug. 21), Discovery Channel (Aug. 21), Herald de Paris (France, Aug. 22), Il Sole 24 Ore (Rome, Aug. 24), InfoWorld (San Francisco, Aug. 21), Nature (London, Aug. 21), NewsFactor Network (Calabasas, Calif., Aug. 21), PC World (San Francisco, Aug. 21), Photonics.com (Pittsfield, Mass., Aug. 21), Sci-Tech Today (Calabasas, Calif., Aug. 21), Boston Globe (Aug. 24), Chemical & Engineering News (Washington, D.C., Aug. 24), IEEE Spectrum (New York City, August 2009), Physics World (Bristol, England, Aug. 20), Science NOW (Washington, D.C., Aug. 20), Scientific American (Aug. 21), TechWorld Australia (from PC World, San Francisco; North Sydney, Aug. 25), Tehran Times (Iran, Aug. 22), Times of India (Mumbai, Aug. 23), WNDU-Channel 16 (from LiveScience; NBC; South Bend, Ind., Aug. 21), Mother Nature Network (from Reuters; Atlanta, Aug. 23), Daily Tech (Chicago, Aug. 25), HDTV News (London, Aug. 26), EE Times India (Aug. 27), Rapid Electronics (Colchester, England, Aug. 27), R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Aug. 29), PCWorld Canada (Scarborough, Ontario, Aug. 30)  .

NUCLEAR WASTE
Las Vegas Review-Journal (Aug. 17) -- Experts from three Midwestern universities examined nuclear-waste disposal alternatives during discussions at Illinois. “Ultimately, shuffling paper will prove easier than moving mountains,” wrote U of I physicist Clifford Singer and colleagues Rodney Ewing and Paul Wilson, who are nuclear engineering professors at Michigan and Wisconsin, respectively.

SYNAPTIC SIGNALING
Science (Washington, D.C., Aug 11) -- 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.

SOLAR POWER COST
iStockAnalyst.com (Bend, Ore., Aug. 12) -- Currently, the cost of solar power is “close to competitive” with the cost of electric power off the grid if the user takes advantage of government incentives, says Angus Rockett, a professor of materials science and engineering at Illinois.

ALUMNI ON COMMENTS ON IT INDUSTRY
The New York Times (Aug. 9) -- U of I alumnus and benefactor Thomas M. Siebel says information technology is a mature industry that will grow no faster than the larger economy. He contends that its glory days are past – long past, having ended in 2000.

CLOUD COMPUTING
Tech Central (Dublin, Aug. 11) -- The collaborative cloud computing research initiative Open Cirrus comprises six data-center sites around the world, provided by its founding partners: HP Research Labs, Intel Research, Yahoo Research and the U. of I. in the U.S., the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and the Infocomm Development Authority in Singapore.

DRUG DEVELOPMENT
“Science 360” (Washington, D.C., Aug. 10) -- For cancer-drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells, and – ideally – its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. U. of I. researchers report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system that, in cell culture, achieves all of the above. Editor’s note: Article is first under “Latest News.” Also: Innovations Report (Bad Homburg, Germany, Aug. 10).

BIRD NAVIGATION
Earth & Sky (Aug. 5) -- There are many theories as to how birds navigate, and a recent one came from Klaus Schulten, a biophysicist at Illinois. He said birds usually navigate by physical landmarks, like highways or coastlines. But, in extreme weather or as they fly over oceans, they use a sort of internal compass. Also: Science360.

SUPERCOMPUTING
EE Times (Aug. 6) – The Darkstrand Network has formed a collaborative alliance with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the U. of I. The joint effort will help enable major corporations working with NCSA to shorten the path from discovery to product development through advanced connectivity on the Darkstrand Network and the high-performance computing (HPC) power and expertise of' NCSA.

NEW SEPARATION TECHNIQUE SAVES ENERGY
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (New Rochelle, N.Y., Aug. 3) -- Richard I. Masel, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Illinois, contributed to the development of a technique that brings researchers one step closer to replacing the energy-intensive processes now used in industrial separations. Also: e! Science News (Quebec City, Aug. 3), Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Aug. 3), RedOrbit.com (Dallas, Aug. 3), Science Centric (Sofia, Bulgaria, Aug. 4), Scientist Live (London, Aug. 4).

PLASMA TRANSISTOR ENABLES SHARPER VIDEO DISPLAYS
Dataweek (Johannesburg, Aug. 5) -- A team of researchers from the U. of I. has developed a novel device that can control plasma conduction current and light emission with an emitter of five volts or less. The team combined a solid-state electron emitter and a micro cavity plasma device to manufacture lighter, less expensive and higher resolution flat-panel displays.

GASOLINE CONSUMPTION AND BODY WEIGHT
Reuters (Aug. 3) -- Thirty percent of Americans were estimated to be obese according to a 2006 study by U. of I. computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson and a colleague. They estimated that 938 million extra gallons of gas was pumped to accommodate weight increases that year. The study accounted for only noncommercial cars and light trucks.

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PLEASE NOTE: Some web links are short-lived by design of the publisher. In most cases, articles are archived on the publisher's website and can be retrieved electronically. Some articles may be archived on sites that are fee-based, and some may have re-distribution restrictions.

Contact: Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, editor.