Engineering in the News September 2010

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

NANOTECHNOLOGY
PhysOrg (Douglas, Isle of Man, Sept. 27) -- Getting an inside look at the center of a cell can be as easy as a needle prick, thanks to U. of I. researchers, led by Min-Feng Yu, an associate professor mechanical science and engineering, have developed a tiny needle to deliver a shot right to a cell’s nucleus. Also: AZom (Warriewood, Australia, Sept. 28), Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Sept. 27), R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Sept. 27), Science Blog (Los Angeles, Sept. 27), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Sept. 27), Medical News Today (Bexhill-on-Sea, England, Sept. 29).

GRAPHENE INSIGHT
Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Sept 22) -- New findings from the laboratory of University of Illinois researcher Joe Lyding, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, are providing valuable insight into graphene, a single two-dimensional layer of graphite with numerous electronic and mechanical properties that make it attractive for use in electronics.

SILICON CIRCUIT STAMP
Science Centric (Sofia, Bulgaria, Sept. 21) -- U. of I. researcher John Rogers and colleagues Northwestern University have designed a square polymer stamp that allows them to vary its adhesion strength. The stamp can easily pick up an array of electronic devices from a silicon surface and move and print them on a curved surface. Also: AZoNano (Warriewood, Australia, Sept. 20), Daily India (Jacksonville, Fla., Sept 21), Nanotechwire (Philadelphia, Sept. 21), Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Sept. 20), News Track India (New Delhi, Sept. 21), OneIndia (Bangalore, India, Sept. 21), PhysOrg (Douglas, Isle of Man, Sept. 20), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Sept. 20), Thaindian News (Bangkok, Sept. 21).

NANOTECHNOLOGY IN HIGH SCHOOL
News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill., Sept. 19) -- Biology students at St. Joseph-Ogden High School "spent time this month learning about nanotechnology," specifically "nanoscale chemical-electrical-mechanical manufacturing systems," according to teacher Brad Allen. He added that "while the technology isn't even being taught to college students yet, he felt it was valuable for SJO students." The article notes, "Joe Muskin, the education coordinator for the UI Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (NanoCEMMS), helped Allen with the class."

NANOTECHNOLOGY
AZOsensors (Warriewood, New South Wales, Sept. 17) -- A discussion of U. of I. researchers’ work on single-walled carbon nanotubes.

USING GAME THEORY TO MODEL BATTLEFIELD
News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Ill., Sept. 17) -- A team at the University of Illinois will use game theory to simulate battlefield interactions, with implications for biology, mathematics and engineering. A $7.5 million Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative award will fund the five years of research, led by Tamer Basar, a researcher at the Coordinated Science Laboratory.

BASEBALL CANNON
Technology Review (Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 16) -- Alan Nathan, emeritus professor of physics at Illinois, and a few colleagues have built a cannon capable of firing baseballs in a highly controlled fashion. They’ve used their machine to send balls at baseball bats modified in various ways and then measured the speed at which the balls impact and rebound.

ENGINEERING AT ILLINOIS HIGHLY RANKED BY RECRUITERS
Wall Street Journal (Sept. 12) --  A study of the largest public and private companies, nonprofits and government agencies ranked the University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign #3 for graduates best prepared and most able to succeed; Engineering ranked #4, Computer Science #9 overall.

Related articles:
The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 13) -- Comments about the top-ranked schools, including Illinois.
The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 13) -- Big state schools, including the U. of I., were the top three picks among recruiters surveyed. Also: Time (Sept. 13), Chicago Sun-Times (Sept. 14).
The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 13) -- The shift to intern-to-hire recruiting hasn’t been lost on would-be college students, particularly as the recession has lingered. Career center administrators at Illinois say they have seen a recent rise in prospective students and their parents inquiring about which firms recruit – and hire – interns. Katie Kennealy, associate director of the career center at Illinois, says she has seen a 15% increase in such inquiries in the past year.

RAILROADS
CBS News (Sept. 12) -- China has the world’s longest high-speed rail network and it aims to develop 9,900 miles of such routes by 2020. All of that construction involves “highly sophisticated work on infrastructure, on rails and design of track structure,” says Chris Barkan, an engineering professor at Illinois. Also:
Bloomberg (Sept. 13), Chicago Tribune (Sept. 12), Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif., Sept. 12), CTV News (Toronto, Sept. 13), Forbes (Sept. 12), Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Texas, Sept 13), NDTV (New Delhi, Sept 13), PhysOrg (Douglas, Isle of Man, Sept. 13), The Boston Globe (Sept. 12). 

PLATO CONFERENCE
Illinois Alumni Magazine (Sept. 10) -- They came as inquisitive children. They left as virtuosos, versed in a computer environment decades ahead of its time. Such were the days of PLATO, a networked teaching system launched at the University of Illinois in the ’60s and celebrated at a recent conference in California.

PEDIATRIC VACCINE SUPPLY
PhysOrg (Douglas, Isle of Man, Sept. 9) -- Sheldon H. Jacobson, a professor of computer science at Illinois, says that the Pediatric Vaccine Stockpile Program administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should not simply be seen as a repository of vaccines, but rather as a “repository of opportunities” for enhancing the collective immunity of children. Also: News-Medical (Sydney, Sept. 10), Science Centric (Sofia, Bulgaria, Sept. 10), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Sept 10), Medical News Today (Bexhill-on-Sea, England, Sept. 13), News-Medical (Sydney, Sept. 13), U.S. News & World Report (Sept. 13).
 
BASEBALL(S)
ESPN (Sept. 10) -- U. of I. physics professor Alan Nathan says the Arizona Diamondbacks should proceed with caution regarding their plans to store baseballs in a humidor next season. “They ought to consider carefully what they’re doing, that’s for sure,” he said. According to Nathan’s research, a humidor might not just nudge the balance of power a little toward pitchers. It could vastly alter the landscape at one of baseball’s most hitter-friendly environments.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Sept. 9) -- “With the concept of using superconducting electrodes and the natural nanosize of carbon nanotubes, we show that high degree of current quantization in SWCNTs (single-walled carbon nanotubes), even with current with multiple electrons – four electrons – is possible,” says Chen-Wei Liang, a U. of I. researcher.

CARBON CAPTURE
Herald & Review (Decatur, Ill., Sept. 8) -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday announced $575 million in stimulus money has been committed to clean energy projects including the revised FutureGen 2.0 project. The U. of I. is receiving $5 million to help with strata analysis in Illinois for carbon sequestration.
 
WATER PURIFICATION
Technology Review (Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 8) -- A water filter under development at Stanford University removes bacteria from water quickly and without clogging – and could lead to a simple and inexpensive method of cleaning water for the developing world. “There is a huge need for an extremely robust, low-cost filter material that does not require a lot of power,” says Mark Shannon, who directs a center of advanced materials for water purification at Illinois.

ALUMNUS IS KEY TECH PLAYER
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek Calif., Sept. 6) -- Marc Andreessen – engaged, opinionated, assertive – has long been a geek’s geek but is now a power player like never before. Andreessen, 39, is playing roles at HP, eBay, Skype and Facebook. Andreessen made his first great technical mark as an undergraduate at the U. of I., as co-creator of the Mosaic browser, a breakthrough for navigating the Web. Also: San Jose Mercury News (California, Sept. 6).

ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
The Seattle Times (Sept. 5) -- A new form of electron microscope is “a big breakthrough,” said materials scientist Jian-Min Zuo, of the U. of I. “To understand the properties of nanomaterials, we have to know their atomic structure.” Also: The Olympian (Olympia, Wash. Sept.6).
 
SOLAR CELLS
Science News (Washington, D.C., Sept. 5) -- Rather than trying to make solar cells that are extremely durable, a research team decided to take a literal leaf from nature’s book and go the route of self-repair, says chemical engineer Michael Strano, of MIT, who led the project. He and Stephen Sligar and Colin Wraight, of the U. of I., along with other colleagues, designed a system where damaged parts could be easily replaced. Also: Wired (New York City, Sept. 7).

FANG COMMENTS ON NEW LCD DISPLAY
International Business Times (London, Sept. 3) -- Nicholas Fang, a U. of I. professor of mechanical science and engineering, comments on a new type of LCD and its potential applications. Also: Daily Tech (Chicago, Sept. 8).

KANG TO RETURN TO TEACHING
San Jose Mercury News (California, Sept. 3) -- Sung-Mo “Steve” Kang, the chancellor of the University of California at Merced, plans to step down next year to return to teaching and research, university officials said Thursday. He formerly was a professor of engineering at Illinois.

BASEBALL
Popular Mechanics (Sept. 2) -- Aroldis Chapman, pitching for the Cincinnati Reds’ AAA affiliate in Louisville, Ky., threw a 105 mph pitch Friday. “(Pitch speed) has less of an effect than people think,” says U. of I. physics professor Alan Nathan. “Each additional mile per hour of pitch speed is worth about two-tenths of additional batted-ball speed, which only works out on a high fly ball to about a foot for every increased mile per hour.”
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Contact: Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, editor.