Engineering in the News October 2011

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

BIODIESEL-POWERED TRAIN
Chicago Tribune (Oct. 31) -- Amtrak officials say they have no beef with using cattle-based biodiesel to power their Heartland Flyer train. The results, presented last week at a railroad environmental conference at the U. of I., also showed less pollution. Also: Belleville News-Democrat (Illinois, Oct. 31), Carmi Times (Illinois, Oct. 31), The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill., Oct. 31).

GROWING BETTER GRAPHENE
Red Orbit.com (Dallas, Oct. 28) -- New observations by U. of I. electrical and computer engineering professors Joseph Lyding and Eric Pop could improve industrial production of high-quality graphene, hastening the era of graphene-based consumer electronics. Also: e! Science News (Quebec City, Oct. 27), Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Oct. 27), Science Codex (San Jose, Calif., Oct. 27), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Oct. 27), Azom.com (Warriewood, Australia, Oct. 29).

WATER AND FARMING
Cattle Network (Platte City, Mo., Oct. 26) -- A research team from the University of Illinois--including Prasanta Kalita, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), and Joseph Monical, a Ph.D. student in ABE--is working with scientists in Lebanon to develop a water allocation model that will enable Lebanese communities to enhance their agricultural production, using less water, with a system that is environmentally sustainable. Also: Dairy Herd Management (Lincolnshire, Ill., Oct. 26)

IRRIGATION
Wallaces Farmer (Urbandale, Iowa, Oct. 26) -- Open-channel irrigators have a new tool at their disposal, designed specifically for their needs. The high flow meter was developed through a partnership involving CEE professor Art Schmidt and the Irrigation Training and Research Center at California Polytechnic State University.

NSF FUNDS DATA-SHARING PROJECT
The Wall Street Journal (from The Associated Press, Oct. 24) -- The National Science Foundation is giving $8 million to a university consortium comprising the U. of I., Indiana University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Michigan. The grant is to improve methods for data-sharing among researchers working in sustainability. Also: Chicago Tribune (Oct. 24), ASEE FirstBell (Oct. 25).

ENGINEERING GRANT
The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 25) -- Dow Chemical Co. will provide $250 million mostly to chemical-engineering programs at the U. of I. and 10 other U.S. universities over the next decade to help attract top students who are increasingly tempted by research-and-employment opportunities in other engineering specialties.

FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS
Bloomberg Businessweek (Oct. 20) -- John Rogers, an engineering professor at Illinois, developed a way to make microprocessors so bendable and thin that they look like electronic skin. Also: The Times of India (Mumbai, Oct. 27).

MATERIALS SCIENCE
Photonics Spectra (Pittsfield, Mass., October issue) -- A newly demonstrated 3-D photonic crystal with exceptional optical and electrical properties will open new avenues for solar cells, metamaterials, lasers and more. “For many years, people have demonstrated 3-D photonic crystals with exceptional optical activity; however, these structures have almost universally been electrically inert,” says Paul Braun, a U. of I. professor of materials science and engineering who was the lead scientist for the study. “Given that many of the exciting applications for 3-D photonic crystals require a system with both electrical and optical activity, we decided to focus on a path to enable that.”

NOBEL WINNER TO SPEAK
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Oct. 19) -- U. of I. physics professor Tony Leggett, a winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in physics, is among the speakers scheduled to give free, public presentations at Western Michigan University Oct. 28.

ELECTRONIC INK
Electronics News (Sydney, Oct. 19) -- U. of I. researchers have produced a video showing how the ink is made for use in a silver ink pen to create flexible electronics.

AIR QUALITY
AZoSensors (Warriewood, Australia, Oct. 19) -- A chemical sensor component designer and producer, AppliedSensor, has successfully completed the installation of its iAQ-100 Air Quality Module in the U. of I.’s “Re_home” project (Solar Decalthlon entry).

HOLONYAK TO BE INDUCTED INTO ENGINEERING & SCIENCE HALL OF FAME
The State Journal-Register (Springfield, Ill., Oct. 15) -- U. of I. electrical engineering professor Nick Holonyak Jr., who created the first usable light-emitting diode, will join Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers and a select group of scientists and inventors when he’s inducted into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame next month. Also: The Republic (Columbus, Ind., Oct. 15), WHBF-Channel 4 (CBS; Rock Island, Ill., Oct. 15).

SOLAR HOME
San Francisco Chronicle (Oct. 17) -- AppliedSensor, a designer and manufacturer of chemical sensor components, announced Monday that its iAQ-100 intelligent Indoor Air Quality Module is installed in the U. of I.’s “Re_home.” The solar-powered house placed seventh out of 19 in the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Competition held earlier this month in Washington, D.C. Also: Digital Journal (Toronto, Oct. 17).

RESEARCH AS DANCE
Science NOW (Washington D.C., Oct. 14) -- As part of the 2011 “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest, scientists converted their research into dance videos. This year’s contest was flooded with high-quality dances, says Markita Landry, a graduate student in physics at Illinois, and one of the 2009 winners. (She tangoed to atomic force microscopy.) “It was really hard to distinguish which were best,” she says.

SEEKING CHEAPER SOLAR POWER CONVERSION
Brighter Energy.org (Birmingham, England, Oct. 11) -- SolarBridge Technologies has been awarded a $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to perform advanced research and development for a new electronic technique that improves the output of solar panels. SolarBridge will collaborate on the project with the U. of I. department of computer and electrical engineering. Also: Ecoseed (New York City, Oct. 11), Fierce Energy.com (Washington, D.C., Oct. 11).

ADAPTIVE BICYCLES
R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Oct. 11) -- Children with Down syndrome who learned to ride a two-wheel bike were less sedentary overall and had less body fat one year after learning to ride compared with those who did not participate, a University of Michigan study shows. During bike camp, new children begin riding in a gym on bikes designed by retired U. of I. engineering professor Richard Klein and his students. The bikes are fitted with graduated back roller wheels about as wide as rolling pins.

PHYSICS
Physics (American Physical Society; New York City, Oct. 10) -- U. of I. physicist Yang Liu and colleagues have used photoemission with circularly polarized light to detect the chirality, as well as the so-called phase factor, of the wave functions describing electrons in doped single and bilayer graphene.

ENGINEERING LEGACY
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Oct. 9) -- They stand in two rows in the Chesapeake Bay. They are ships made of concrete, used to transport military supplies during World War II, then lined up and half-sunk in 1949 to form a breakwater. They were named after men such as Arthur Newell Talbot, a professor for 56 years at Illinois. Among other things, Talbot studied the relationship between the strength of reinforced concrete and the proportions of its ingredients – one part water to two parts gravel to three parts cement, that sort of thing – beginning in 1903. Also: Science 360 News Service (National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., Oct. 12).

GROUNDBREAKING FOR NEW ECE FACILITY
Office of the Governor (Springfield, Ill., Oct. 7) -- Governor Pat Quinn today joined University of Illinois President Michael J. Hogan to break ground on the school’s new Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building. The $95 million facility will enhance educational opportunities, support research breakthroughs in computing, communications, nanotechnology and biotechnology, and set a new standard for energy-efficient buildings. The Illinois Jobs Now! project will create approximately 620 construction jobs, building what is projected to be the most energy-efficient engineering structure in the nation. Also: The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Ill., Oct. 7), Rockford Register Star (Illinois, Oct. 8).

EMISSIONS AND FUEL
Red Orbit.com (Dallas, Oct. 7) -- U. of I. chemical and biological engineering professor Paul Kenis and his research group joined with researchers at Dioxide Materials, a startup company, to come up with a catalyst that improves artificial photosynthesis. Also: Environmental Protection Magazine (Dallas, Oct. 7), MSN India (Oct. 7), News Track India (New Delhi, Oct. 7), Phys Org.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, Oct. 6), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Oct. 6), Zee News (Noida, India, Oct. 7), Oil Price.com (London, Oct. 10), The Engineer (London, Oct. 7), Environmental Research Web (Bristol, England, Oct. 12).

RAILROADS
Alaska Dispatch (Anchorage, Oct. 7) -- Shipping ethanol is safer today because of the newer fleet of tank cars specifically designed to carry the material, says Chris Barkan, the director of the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center at Illinois.

WAVES IN QUANTUM MATTER
Cosmos Magazine (Sydney, Oct. 7) -- New insight into how waves spread in different kinds of artificial materials could shed light on how disorder affects quantum materials such as superconductors. “While disorder and imperfections are impossible to avoid in materials, there is much we do not understand about how disorder affects their properties,” says Brian DeMarco, a physics professor at Illinois. Also: Phys Org.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, Oct. 7), e! Science News (Quebec City, Oct. 7), Cosmos Magazine (Sydney, Oct. 7), Nanotechnology Now (Banks, Ore., Oct. 7), R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Oct. 7), Red Orbit.com (Dallas, Oct. 7), Science Codex (San Jose, Calif., Oct. 7), Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Oct. 7).

QUICK-CHARGE BATTERIES
EV World (Papillion, Neb., Oct. 6) -- The U. of I. is developing quick-charging batteries – but with a twist. The latest innovation from materials science and engineering professor Paul Braun’s research team looks just like an average Li-Ion battery on the outside, but the cathodes include 3-D nanostructures that allow the battery to rapidly charge and discharge without diminishing capacity in the process. Also: Phys Org.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, Oct. 9).

LEARNING PHYSICS WITH INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Scitable (by Nature Education) -- Over the past few years, Tim Stelzer, a theoretical particle physicist and a research associate professor of physics at Illinois, has created and used a new system of media tools that have improved learning in introductory physics, by expanding the use interactive web tutorials. His success in creating interactive tools predated these tutorials, as is also one of the inventors of the I-clicker student response system.

SCIENCE INVESTMENT
Bradenton Herald (Florida, Oct. 4) -- Dow Chemical Co. has increased its investment in programs at leading U.S. universities with a $25 million per year commitment for 10 years. The investment will be distributed among 11 institutions, including the U. of I., to strengthen research in traditional scientific fields important to Dow and to the nation’s future. Also:
Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss., Oct. 4).
 
SUSTAINABLE ELECTRONICS
Materials Views (Hoboken, N.J., Oct. 4) -- The Sustainable Electronics Initiative, started in 2009 at the U. of I., tries to connect different sciences and paves the way toward more environment-friendly technologies.
_____________________

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.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.