3/1/2013
This monthly summary includes excerpts from Illinois in the News, a daily service provided by the University of Illinois News Bureau and other media search tools. This collection of March stories focuses on engineering topics and faculty contacted for their expertise by print and broadcast reporters around the world.
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This monthly summary includes excerpts from Illinois in the News, a daily service provided by the University of Illinois News Bureau and other media search tools. This collection of March stories focuses on engineering topics and faculty contacted for their expertise by print and broadcast reporters around the world.
ENGINEERING OPEN HOUSE
Slate (March 31) -- An essay by Phil Plait, a featured speaker at this year's U. of I. Engineering Open House and praises the event.
GAS MILEAGE
Journal Star (Peoria, Ill., March 31) -- A team of U. of I. students has designed a car that get 100 miles per gallon. The group, composed of students majoring in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, chemical engineering, physics and more, heads to Houston this week to compete in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2013. Also: Peoria Journal Star (March 31), San Francisco Chronicle (March 31), The News-Gazette (March 31), Quad Cities Online (March 31), KWQC (NBC, from The Associated Press, March 31), WGEM (NBC, from AP, March 31), MyFoxChicago (March 31).
BLUE WATERS OPEN FOR RESEARCH
Chicago Tribune (March 27) -- The long-awaited $350 million Blue Waters supercomputer at the U. of I. now is available to researchers. Also: Fox News (March 27), News-Gazette (March 27), WAND-TV (March 27), ASEE FirstBell (March 28), Northwest Herald (from The Associated Press, March 25), WLS-TV (ABC, from AP, March 26). Also: Science 360 (NSF, Washington, D.C., March 29), News-Gazette (March 29), Daily Illini (March 29), HPC Wire (March 29), WBEZ-FM (Chicago, March 28), WAND-TV (Decatur, Ill., March 28), WCIA-TV (Champaign, Ill., March 28), Engadget (San Francisco, March 29),
Related: Science 360 (NSF Webcasts & Interviews, March 29) -- 'Blue Waters: Sustained Power And Storage To Address Today’s Research Needs,' Audio interview With Thom Dunning, Director Of The NCSA At The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Related story: Crain's Chicago Business (blog, March 28) -- As the University of Illinois dedicates its $208 million supercomputer today, it's worth asking whether there will be any more ahead. There's a real question whether the feds will keep building machines at the same pace. NSF doesn't have firm plans to build its next machine. Also: HPC Wire (March 28).
Related story: HPC Wire (March 27) -- Extreme Networks, Inc. today announced that it is assisting the NCSA at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to power the Blue Waters petascale computing project that implements very high-speed network connectivity within the storage environment and externally with researchers across the nation. The Blue Waters supercomputer provides sustained performance of 1 petaFLOPS for a range of real-world science and engineering applications. Also: Data Center Knowledge (March 20).
Related story: Wall Street Journal (March 28) -- Demand is suddenly surging for the largest scientific computers, driven by technology changes seen in two powerful systems unveiled this week. The supercomputers, installed in Illinois and Texas—each requiring about the space of a basketball court—use new combinations of semiconductor chips to tackle complex scientific problems (story available via subscription).
EVOLUTION
Astrobiology Magazine (March 28) -- “Our perspective is that life emerged from a collective state, and so it is not at all obvious that there is one single organism which was ancestral,” says Nigel Goldenfeld, a U. of I. physics professor.
MOLECULAR IMAGE
Science 360 (NSF, Washington, D.C., March 28) -- Science 360’s “image of the day,” a snapshot of a self-assembled elongated micelle of non-ionic surfactant molecules, was created by the U. of I.’s Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group.
U of I INVENTORS HONORED
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, Va., March 27) -- Donald Blitzer, Robert Wilson and Gene Slottow created the plasma display when they were working at the U. of I. in the 1960s and have been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
NEURAL NETWORKS
Scientific American (March 27) -- U. of I. biophysicist Nigel Goldenfeld’s research into how neural networks in the brain interact with one another suggests how the relatively structured architecture of the human brain might have developed as an evolutionary advantage.
SENSORS MONITOR A SOLDIER'S CONDITION
Wired (London, March 27) -- Flexible, durable, wearable electronic sensors such as those developed by U. of I. materials science professor John Rogers have drawn the interest of the U.S. military. These advanced materials offer new ways of monitoring the physical condition of soldiers in the field.
COMPUTERS IN RESEARCH
Phys Org.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, March 26) -- “The computer is excellent in permitting us to test a hypothesis,” says Klaus Schulten, a professor of physics at the U. of I., who uses large-scale computing to study the molecular assembly of biological cells, most recently HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
SUPERCOMPUTERS POWER SCIENCE
National Science Foundation (March 25) -- Scientists increasingly are turning to powerful new computers to perform calculations they couldn't do with earlier generation machines, and at breathtaking speed, resulting in groundbreaking computational insights across a range of research fields. "The computer is excellent in permitting us to test a hypothesis," says Klaus Schulten, professor of physics at Illinois, who uses large-scale computing to study the molecular assembly of biological cells, most recently HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. "But if you want to test a hypothesis, you need to have a hypothesis."
ENDOSCOPY
Electronics Weekly (Surrey, England, March 22) -- A Stanford University research group has created an endoscope consisting of a single fiber. “Just as the telecoms industry has devised ways to squeeze more information content through optical fibers, this team have done the same for medical endoscopy,” says Stephen Boppart, a U. of I. electrical and computer engineering professor.
DRONES
Mother Nature Network (Atlanta, March 20) -- The U. of I. is part of a program to use drones in school classrooms to teach youngsters science and math concepts.
U of I & MAYO CLINIC TEAM UP ON BREAST CANCER RESEARCH
News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Ill., March 19) -- Michael Insana, head of the Department of Bioengineering at Illinois, is co-principal investigator of a combined UI and Mayo Clinic research team that has been awarded a $2.2 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the role of tissue elasticity in breast cancer diagnosis. He and his colleagues have developed a new technique called SAVE (Sub-Hertz Analysis of Viscoelasticity) and they're aiming to develop a viable clinical tool during the grant period. Also: ASEE FirstBell (March 20).
ILLCANDO
Crain’s Chicago Business (March 18) -- In explaining why he attacked one of the big problems in computing – rethinking the software that arranges code into instructions for computer processors, U. of I. electrical and computer engineering professor Wen-mei Hwu inadvertently revealed why a good bit of Silicon Valley is built on tech talent trained at Illinois (Advance Micro Devices founder Jerry Sanders, Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, Siebel Systems founder Tom Siebel, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, PayPal founder Max Levchin and YouTube founders Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim). “A lot of people complain,” Hwu says. “Very few people do something about it. It’s classic (University of) Illinois: There’s a problem; we can do something about it.”
ANDREESEN HONORED WITH QUEEN'S PRIZE
National Public Radio (March 19) -- The winners of the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering were announced Monday in London. Five Internet pioneers — Marc Andreessen, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Vinton Cerf, Robert Kahn, and Louis Pouzin — will share the honor and the one million pound prize. The new U.K.-based award aims to be a "Nobel Prize" for engineering. Robert Siegel talks to Lord Browne of Madingley about the winners. Also: BBC News (March 19), The Guardian (UK, March 18), The Engineer (UK, March 18), Industry Week (UK, March 18), Times Higher Education (UK, March 18), Daily Telegraph (UK, March 19), ASEE FirstBell (March 19), The Verge (March 19), Wired.com.uk (March 19), MarketWatch (blog, March 19), MetroNews (UK, March 19), Huffington Post UK (March 19), Silicon Valley Business Journal (March 19), VentureBeat (UK, March 18), CNET (March 19), The Inquirer (UK, March 18), PC Magazine (March 18), iProgrammer (March 18).
CUPRATE SUPERCONDUCTORS DEFY CONVENTION
Science Daily (March 18) -- Engineers have long understood that electrical current is carried through materials by flowing electrons. However, physicists at the University of Illinois and the University of Pennsylvania found that for copper-containing superconductors, known as cuprates, electrons are not enough to carry the current. Also: ScienceBlog (March 19), Phys.org (Douglas, Isle of Man, March 19), R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., March 19).
HIGH-SPEED RAIL
Slate Magazine (March 15) -- “We have millions of people living right now in this country in places where they don’t have adequate inter-city transportation,” says Christopher Barkan, the director of the railroad engineering program at U. of I.
BRACKETOLOGY
Sociocast (March 14) -- The great minds at the University of Illinois have devised a probabilistic analysis of all of your March Madness picks, round by round. The tool they’ve dubbed BracketOdds uses data from the past 28 tournaments to determine whether or not a tournament seed is likely to make it to a certain round in any given matchup. Also: NewsOK.com (blog, March 17), Bloomberg Businessweek (March 18).
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY
Novus Light Technologies Today (St. Louis, March 15) -- Engineers at the U. of I. have created a handheld scanner that uses a near-infrared light source and optical coherence tomography system that can be used by primary care physicians to assist them in regular physical exams.
NEW SENSOR FOR METHYLATED DNA
Science Daily (March 14) -- Collaborators from Mayo-Illinois Alliance for Technology Based Healthcare have developed a new, single molecule test for detecting methylated DNA. Methylation -- the addition of a methyl group of molecules to a DNA strand -- is one of the ways gene expression is regulated. Also: ScienceBlog (March 15).
BLUE WATERS
Crain's Chicago Business (March 11) -- Housed inside the gleaming, two-story National Petascale Computing Facility and launching next week is Blue Waters, a $200 million machine built by Cray Inc. and funded by the National Science Foundation. For geeks, it's the holy of holies at a place synonymous with supercomputers, U of I's National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Also: HPC Wire (March 6).
ELECTRONIC TATTOO
Science 360 (video, National Science Foundation, March 11) -- The video feature, orignally produced by NBC Learn, describes development and potential uses of the bendable and stretchable electronics that can be attached directly to the body. This technology has the potential to change modern healthcare monitoring and treatment.
Related story: Technology Review (March 11) -- Taking advantage of recent advances in flexible electronics, researchers have devised a way to “print” devices directly onto the skin so people can wear them for an extended period while performing normal daily activities. So-called “epidermal electronics” were demonstrated previously in research from the lab of John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the devices consist of ultrathin electrodes, electronics, sensors, and wireless power and communication systems. In theory, they could attach to the skin and record and transmit electrophysiological measurements for medical purposes. Also: ASEE FirstBell (March 11), Discovery News (March 12), Wired UK (March12), Extreme Tech (March 11), Smart Planet (March 11), Gizmodo (March 11), Electronics News (March 12), Complex Tech (March 11), ASEE FirstBell (March 13).
FACULTY FEATURE - WEN-MEI HWU
Crain's Chicago Business (print and video feature; March 11) -- If you've ever had multiple apps running on your cellphone while making a call and marveled that the device didn't melt in your hands, you might thank Wen-mei Hwu. He's one of the world's foremost experts in parallel computing—the idea that multiple, slower machines or processors working together can accomplish bigger tasks and do them more efficiently than faster individual computers or chips. Also: ASEE FirstBell (March 12).
HOLONYAK AMONG THE NAI CHARTER FELLOWS
Physics Today (March 8) -- Nick Holonyak Jr., the Bardeen Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics at Illinois was amongh the 101 top scientists, innovators, and leaders from the academic world named as 2012 Charter Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). These individuals are being recognized for their exceptional achievements "in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society."
CHEMICAL ID AT THE NANOSCALE
Nanowerk LLC (March 8) -- Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that they have measured the chemical properties of polymer nanostructures as small as 15 nm, using a novel technique called atomic force microscope infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR). Also: Science Codex (March 8), ScienceBlog (March 8), Imaging & Microscopy (March 11), Science Daily (March 9), R&D Magazine (March 11).
UI RESEARCH CENTER
News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, IL, March 7) -- A research program "built from the ground up" more than 9,000 miles from Champaign-Urbana is "in full swing now" with more than a dozen projects and 100 employees, according to a director at the University of Illinois' first international research center in the Pacific Rim.
ILLINOIS MANUFACTURING LAB
Forbes (March 6) -- The Illinois Manufacturing Lab, created in February by the U. of I., is aimed at enhancing the productivity of manufacturing and the speed of product innovation.
ENGINEERING ALUM TO GIVE UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, March 5) -- Illinois engineering alumnus, National Football League team owner, and philanthropist Shahid Khan will be this year's commencement speaker at the University of Illinois. Also: ESPN (March 5), Daily Illini (March 5), Belleville News-Democrat (Illinois, March 6), Black & Teal (March 5), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (March 6), Daily Illini (vidcast, March 6).
LEMELSON $30,000 STUDENT PRIZE
News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, IL, March 4) -- Oso Technologies is collecting oh, so many prizes. On Monday, its CEO and co-founder, Eduardo Torrealba, won the $30,000 Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize for innovation. Four days earlier, the company — which developed a soil-moisture monitoring system that alerts users when their plants need to be watered — won the Student Startup Award at Champaign County's annual Innovation Celebration. Also: Daily Illini (feature, March 28).
BRAGG TO LEAD UW ENGINEERING
Seattle Times
PHYSICS OF BASEBALL
The State (Columbia, S.C., March 3) -- U. of I. emeritus physics professor Alan Nathan comments on the notion of changing the design of the ball in baseball and whether it could affect the game.
Related story: Baseball Prospectus (Holbrook, N.Y., March 26) -- With opening day of the Major League Baseball season approaching, U. of I. emeritus physics professor Alan Nathanis getting warmed up early. He explains his take on the science of New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera’s signature pitch: the “cut” fastball.
LEMELSON STUDENT AWARD FINALISTS
News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, IL, March 2) -- Eight finalists have been chosen for the $30,000 Lemelson-Illinois prize for student entrepreneurs, and the winner will be announced next week. The prize awards innovative and entrepreneurial students interested in solving grand challenges.
TEMPORARY TATTOO MONITORS HEALTH
Wired
FLEXIBLE BATTERY
Electronics Weekly (Surrey, England, March 1) -- U. of I. materials science professor John Rogers and colleagues have created a flexible, stretchable battery that can be charged wirelessly. Also: ReadWrite (March 1), Technology Review (March 5), ASEE FirstBell (March 5), Decoded Science (March 6), Smallcap Network (Bonita, Calif., March 6), ExtremeTech (New York City, March 11).
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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.