News from Engineering at Illinois May 2013

5/1/2013

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 May stories focuses on engineering topics and faculty contacted for their expertise by print and broadcast reporters around the world.

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CRACKING HIV CODE
National Science Foundation (May 29) -- Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have announced the discovery of the chemical structure of the capsid for the HIV virus. The discovery was facilitated by the Blue Waters supercomputer system at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and is published this week in Nature (watch the video on YouTube). Also: Bio-IT World (May 29), Popular Science (May 29), Science Daily (May 29), ScienceBlog (May 29), The Independent (UK, May 29), Tech News Daily (May 29), U.S. News & World Report (May 29), R&D Magazine (May 29), The Examiner (May 29), Science Codex (May 29), The News Journal (Delaware, blog, May 29), The Verge (May 29), Irish Independent (May 29), Health Canal (May 29), AIDS Meds.com (May 29), Futurity Research News (May 30), Headlines & Global News (May 29), Medical Daily (May 29), News Talk Florida (May 29), Zee News (India, May 30), Guardian Express (UK, May 30), CNET News (May 30), BBC News (May 30), Press Trust of India (May 30), Science 360 (National Science Foundation, May 30), Der Spiegel (Hamburg, Germany, May 30), The Wall Street Journal (May 29), Yahoo! Finance (May 29), ASEE FirstBell (May 30), Science 360 (featured video, May 31),Gizmodo (Sydney, May 31).

Related article: PC Magazine (May 29) -- A "major breakthrough" in battling the HIV virus was achieved with the help of Nvidia's Tesla GPU accelerators, the graphics chip maker said Wednesday. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have "determined the precise chemical structure of the HIV 'capsid,' Nvidia said in a statement describing how the team conducted an "all-atom simulation of HIV" on the Tesla-powered Blue Waters supercomputer. Also: HPCwire (May 29), Venture Beat (May 29), Hot Hardware (May 29), VR-Zone (May 30), Top News Arab Emirates (May 30).

DISSOLVING ELECTRONICS
Wired (blog, May 24) -- “The goal of the electronics industry has always been to build durable devices that last forever with stable performance,” says John A. Rogers, a materials science and engineering professor at Illinois. “But many new opportunities open up once you start thinking about electronics that could disappear in a controlled and programmable way.” Also: Slash Gear (May 25), Wired UK (London, May 28), ASEE FirstBell (May 29).

Related story: Pakistan Today (Lahore, May 28) -- Bio-absorbable electronic circuits made by materials science and engineering professor John A. Rogers and his co-workers may change medicine. Rogers has created biodegradable flexible circuits and electronic devices that can be safely laid directly onto skin.

SMARTPHONE BIOSENSOR
Phys Org.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, May 23) -- University of Illinois researchers, led by Brian Cunningham, have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone's built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor to detect toxins, proteins, bacteria, viruses and other molecules. Also: Medical Daily (May 23), Science Daily (May 23), ScienceBlog (May 23), eHealthServer (Saarbrucken, Germany, May 23), GigaOM (May 23), Top News United States (May 24), RedOrbit (May 24), WiredCosmos (Dallas, May 23),ECN Mag (Rockaway, N.J., May 23), Frequency (video, Los Angeles, May 24), Gizmag (Melbourne, Australia, May 24, Health Canal (Melbourne, Australia, May 23), Laboratory Equipment (Smithtown, N.Y., May 24), Physics Central (May 24), Bioscience Technology (May 24), News Track India (from Asian News International, Washington, D.C.; New Delhi, May 24), R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., May 23), Science Codex (San Jose, Calif., May 23), Science Newsline (Tokyo, May 23), Yahoo! News India (from Asian News International, Washington, D.C., May 24), Nature World News (New York City, May 27), News 24 South Africa (Cape Town, May 27), Digit (May 27), News-Gazette (May 28).

CELLULAR MECHANICS
R&D Magazine (May 24) -- Ror the first time, University of Illinois biophysicists have measured the molecular force required to mechanically transmit function-regulating signals within a cell. The new laboratory method, named the tension gauge tether (TGT) approach, developed by Taekjip Ha with postdoctoral researcher Xuefeng Wang, and reported in Science, has made it possible to detect and measure the mechanics of the single-molecule interaction by which human cell receptors are activated. The researchers used integrin, a cell membrane receptor protein that is activated when it bonds to a ligand molecule. Also: Phys Org.com (Douglas, Isle of Man, May 23), ScienceBlog (May 24), News-Medical.net (May 24), Bioscience Technology (Rockaway, N.J., May 24).

ATTACK ELECTRONICALLY FROM WITHIN
BBC (Future, May 24) -- Remote-controlled, dissolvable electronic implants have been created that could help attack microbes, provide pain relief and stimulate bone growth. This is just one potential application of the bio-absorbable electronic circuits made by John Rogers and his team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rogers and others have previously reported biodegradable flexible circuits and electronic devices that can be safely laid directly onto skin. But their success in making their circuits wireless could prove crucial to many potential applications, especially in medicine. Also: ASEE FirstBell (May 28).

HACK-A-THON
Alexandria News (Virginia, May 24) -- U of I computer science freshman Mayank Jain made a legacy for himself at his alma mater high school this year. He organized a hackathon competition at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Having seen a few college hackathons upon coming to the University of Illinois he thought about how the event could be applied to high school students who would benefit from the application of computer science skills alongside the creativity encouraged by the open ended competitions.

COLLEGE-TOWN INCUBATOR
Inc. Magazine (May 23, for June 2013) -- EnterpriseWorks at the University of Illinois is "One of the Three College-Town Incubators to Watch." EnterpriseWorks has nurtured 145 businesses, many in IT and biotech, since its founding 10 years ago. In addition to offering entrepreneurs legal assistanceand payroll services, the incubator hosts six entrepreneurs-in-residence and an industrial-designer-in-residence to help start-ups bring their products to life.

BIOFUEL PROCESSING
Ag Professional (Lenexa, Kan., May 23) -- A proposed new facility at the U. of I. will take biofuel processing to the next level. Vijay Singh, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering in ACES, said, "IBRL provides a niche between the bench scale study, which can ferment approximately a kilogram of corn, and the large scale, such as the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. They process 200 bushels a day. There was obviously a need for something in between." Also: Ag Week (Fargo, N.D., May 28), News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Ill., May 28), Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill., May 29).

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone's built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor to detect toxins, proteins, bacteria, viruses and other molecules.

WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MICRO BATTERIES
Science 360 (National Science Foundation, May 22) -- Discovery Files radio program: Led by MechSE professor William King, researchers at the U of Il have developed the most powerful batteries on the planet--only a few millimeters in size, yet they pack such a punch that a driver could use a cellphone powered by these batteries to jump-start a dead car battery, and then recharge the phone in the blink of an eye.

KEPLER SPACECRAFT
New York Times (May 20) -- Victoria L. Coverstone, a professor of aerospace engineering at the U. of I., discusses the impaired NASA Kepler spacecraft.

SPACE EXPLORATION
The Daily News (Galveston, Texas, May 21) -- Among the 100 people working the halls of Congress this week advocating for a stronger U.S. presence in space are 29 college students from across the country, including U. of I. aerospace engineering student Andrew Putch.

GENOMIC REGULATION
Nanotechnology Now (Honolulu, May 20) -- Researchers form the U. of I. and Mayo Clinic have developed a novel single molecule test for detecting DNA methylation that should greatly simplify and advance the study of this important genomic process. ECE/BioE professor Rashid Bashir is the co-principal investigator of the Midwest Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center at the University of Illinois, part of the National Cancer Institute's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.

EARTHQUAKES
Goshen News (Indiana, May 19) -- Experts believe it’s only a matter of time before an earthquake disrupts the Midwest. Earthquakes present many potential problems, says U. of I. civil and environmental engineering professor Amr S. Elnashai. Earthquakes have aftershocks and cause landslides, for example.

BRIDGE DETERIORATION
Sacremento Bee (CA, May 18) -- Engineers have discovered an alarming corrosion problem the new east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Neil Hawkins, an engineering professor emeritus at the University of Illinois who has reviewed the California Transportation Department's study and other documents, stated that the agency probably had faced a grim dilemma when the problems came to light. "The alternatives may have been proceeding as they have done or tearing down completely the existing construction," Hawkins said. "The issue then becomes both technical, economic and political. Who bears the blame and why did this irregularity occur?"

TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE
Crain’s Chicago Business (May 15) -- The U. of I., Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago all now collaborate with faculty members and students on commercialization. They’re taking it up a notch with plans for a big research center in Chicago modeled on Bell Labs.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Nextgov (Washington, D.C., May 14) -- The high demand for information technology professionals is driving up the number of college students pursuing IT-related degrees, according to a new report. In 2011, the last time an official study was conducted, the U. of I. was among the universities with the strongest growth in computer science degrees.

GLOBAL WARMING
CBC News (Toronto, May 14) -- In January, an international study concluded that black carbon’s direct influence on global warming is probably twice as high as previous estimates, including those by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007. According to civil engineering professor Tami Bond at the U. of I., a lead author of the report, since black carbon is short-lived, the impacts of curbing emissions “would be noticed immediately.”

ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING
Crain’s Chicago Business (May 13) -- Plans by the Obama administration to form three big manufacturing research centers have caught the eye of those working to bring the U. of I’s vaunted engineering and computer talents to downtown Chicago.

BIOFUEL
The Washington Post (May 13) -- An agricultural engineering professor at the U. of I. converted 2 liters of pig manure into a quarter-liter of oil.

BASEBALL
Sports Illustrated (May 13) -- Rumors have surfaced that Mickey Mantle used a corked bat. Testing by emeritus physics professor Alan Nathan of the U. of I. and mechanical engineer Lloyd Smith of Washington State University at the latter’s testing lab – which performs the official bat testing for the NCAA – showed that the tradeoff between swing speed and collision efficiency did not necessarily work out in the corked batsman’s favor.

USING 3D PRINTING
Columbus Dispatch (from Chicago Tribune, May 13) -- “There’s something about being able to hold and physically interact with a design that feels more real and allows you to get feedback more directly than looking at a 3-D image on a screen,” said Eduardo Torrealba, co-founder and CEO of Oso Technologies, a company started by engineering graduate students at the University of Illinois. Oso makes sensors that measure the moisture content of soil and send alerts to a computer or mobile phone when plants need to be watered.

PHYSICS OF BIKING ACCIDENTS
Chicago Tribune (May 13) -- “The force in any impact depends on how fast you were going, how heavy you are and how quickly you stop,” U. of I. physics professor Mats Selen says in describing the danger of biking accidents.

NANOTECHNOLOGY
Nanotechweb.org (Bristol, England, May 9) -- As-made single-walled carbon nanotubes consist of a mixture of both metallic and semiconducting nanotubes. This is a problem for researchers trying to fabricate electronic devices because – ideally – pure samples of either semiconducting or metallic tubes are required, depending on the application. Now, a team at the U. of I., led by MatSE professor John Rogers, has come up with a new way to separate out the two types of tubes using nanoscale thermocapillary physics.

VIRTUAL ALMA
News-Gazette (May 9) -- With the iconic Alma Mater statue missing from campus this year because of an extensive restoration, a diverse group of university employees have come up with an alternative for students who for years have stood in line on graduation weekend to get their photo taken with Alma Mater and her partners, Labor and Learning. Their creation: an “augmented reality Alma.” Students will be able to pose near the statue's pedestal and have their photo taken with an iPad or iPhone and there, next to them in the high-resolution photo, is a digital rendition of Alma Mater in all her bronze glory. Also: WCIA-TV (Champaign, May 8), ASEE FirstBell (May 10).

SENSORS
AZoNano (Warriewood, Australia, May 9) -- U. of I. researchers, working with researchers from UIC and two institutions in Korea, have discovered a technique for controlling the sensitivity of graphene chemical sensors.

FACULTY HONOR
Automotive World (Brussels, May 8) -- Pega Hrnjak, a professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois, has been named an SAE Fellow. It recognizes outstanding engineering and scientific accomplishments that have resulted in meaningful advances in automotive, aerospace and commercial-vehicle technology.

VIRTUAL REALITY IN YOUR LIVING ROOM
WCIA-TV (Champaign, May 7) -- In IllumiRoom, a new technology developed at Microsoft Research by a four-person team that included a University of Illinois graduate student, the virtual and real world merge. "It takes the game out of the TV and into your living room," said Brett Jones, a UI computer science PhD student who earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Illinois. Also: News-Gazette (May 9), ASEE FirstBell (May 10).

WATER PURIFICATION
Scientific American (May 7) -- A new inexpensive device can effectively clear contaminants from water. Because it operates at room temperature, production requires no electricity. “This is probably the strongest aspect of the study,” says John Georgiadis, a professor of bioengineering at the U. of I. “Other systems are very expensive and have very low green profiles,” said Georgiadia, who was not an author on the new study.

DECISION SUPPORT VIA SOCIAL NETWORKING
National Science Foundation (Discoveries, May 7) -- Not everyone likes to make decisions alone. People sometimes need feedback. Now they have a social media site that can give it to them. “Think of it as ‘Facebook for Decision-Making,’” says Ali Abbas, a professor of industrial and enterprise systems engineering at Illinois, who designed the new system. “The idea was to build a decision support site online through a social network.” Also: PhysOrg.com (May 8).

UNIQUE NANOCRYSTALS
Nanotech Now (May 6) -- University of Illinois researchers have developed a new way to produce highly uniform nanocrystals used for both fundamental and applied nanotechnology projects. "We have developed a unique approach for the synthesis of highly uniform icosahedral nanoparticles made of platinum (Pt)," explained Hong Yang, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Illinois. Also: Science Codex (May 6), ScienceBlog (May 6), eScience News (May 6), Science Daily (May 6). Science 360 (NSF, May 7), AZoNano (May 7), Space News (May 8), Engineering on the Edge (Oxford, England, May 9), The Hindu (May 8).

SHAHID KHAN
The Wall Street Journal (May 6) -- As a newcomer to pro football team ownership, U. of I. alumnus and commencement speaker Shahid Khan is seeing that having a visible NFL role can raise public interest in his business affairs. Since 2011, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has filed more than 20 of notices of violation against his auto-parts empire, Illinois-based Flex-N-Gate. “I’ve been in business since 1978 and regrettably these things come up,” said Khan. “If you have a problem, you fix it.” The ongoing controversy recently led the university to alter plans to give Khan an honorary doctorate Sunday when he speaks at the school’s commencement. He said he had no problem with his alma mater’s decision to withhold the honorary doctorate. “Everyone is entitled to their opinions,” he said. “Remember, I have a real engineering degree from there anyway.”

Related article: Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL, May 13) -- Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan was the commencement speaker at the University of Illinois on Sunday. Khan earned his degree from the school in 1971, he lives in the Champaign-Urbana area and his company, Flex-N-Gate, is headquartered there. Also: Belleville News-Democrat (Illinois, May 13).

ATMOSPHERIC STORMS
The Times of India (New Delhi, May 4) -- A NASA-funded sounding rocket mission will help better understand and predict the electrical storms in Earth’s upper atmosphere, which can interfere with satellite communication and global positioning signals. “We’re looking at the two highest regions of the equatorial ionosphere, called the E and F regions,” said Erhan Kudeki, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Illinois.

NANOWIRE SURPRISE
Printed Electronics World (Cambridge, UK, May 3) -- When a team of U. of I. engineers set out to grow nanowires of a compound semiconductor on top of a sheet of graphene, they did not expect to discover a new paradigm of epitaxy.

INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTS
Phys.org (Douglas, Isle of Man, May 2) -- Researchers at Illinois, Purdue and Washington University in St. Louis teamed to develop a unique system they call a Wireless Cyber-Physical Simulator, a state-of-the-art, integrated environment that combines realistic simulations of both wireless sensor networks and structures.

TRANSPORTATION SUSTAINABILITY PARTNERSHIP
ASEE FirstBell (May 2) -- The University of Illinois is set to begin research over the next three years to make the state's transportation system more environmentally friendly. Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider announced Tuesday that the department is spending $2.6 million over three years beginning in fiscal year 2014 to improve the state transportation system's sustainability.

DRONES IN THE CLASSROOM
ASEE FirstBell (May 2) -- Four University of Illinois seniors, and members of a student organization called Moon Goons, were at Stratton Leadership and Microsociety Magnet School on Monday and Tuesday to talk to students about drones and experiments they plan to do with them in a zero-gravity environment.

BUG-EYE DIGITAL CAMERA
Nature (UK, May 1) -- An interdisciplinary research group led by John A. Rogers at the University of Illinois, has created a digital camera that mimics the curved, compound structure of an insect eye. These cameras could be used where wide viewing angles are important and space is at a premium — in advanced surveillance systems, for example, or in unmanned flying vehicles and endoscopes. Also: The Economic Times (India, May 1), Wired (blog, May 1), TechNews Daily (May 1), BBC News (May 1), Washington Post (Photos of the Day, April 30), ScienceBlog (May 1), Phys.Org (May 1), LiveScience (May 1), Popular Science (May 1), e Science News (May 1), Global Post (May 1), Photonics (May 1), Irish Examiner (Ireland, May 1), Geekosystem (May 1), Science Now (May 1), The Verge (May 1), Nanowerk, LLC (May 1), Yahoo News (May 1), The Raw Story (May 1), The Press Association (UK, requires subscription, May 1), Courier Mail (Australia, May 1), Ubergizmo (May 1), Irish Times (May 1), Science News (May 1), IEEE Spectrum (May 1), The Guardian (picture page, UK, May 1), UPI.com (May 1), CNN (May 1), iTech Post (May 1), Fox 6 Now (Milwaukee, WI, May 1), ASEE FirstBell (May 2), National Geographic (May 2), Design & Trend (May 1), Los Angeles Times (May 1), Philosophy of Science Portal (from the BBC, May 1), Nature World News (May 1), French Tribune (May 2), Christian Science Monitor (May 1), Latinos Post (May 1), Slash Gear (May 1), Boulder County Business Report (May 1), Marketplace Tech Report (May 2), CBS News (May 2), Time (Tech, May 2), KSTX (Texas Public Radio, May 2), Slate magazine (video blog story, May 2), Tsunster Innovations (May 2), Red Orbit (May 2), Smithsonian (blog, May 2), Digit (May 2), Geek (blog, May 2), E&T magazine (May 2), ABC Science online (May 2), Jagran Post (India, May 2), Sky News Australia (May 2), The Phoblographer, (blog, May 2), Bangkok Post (May 2), New Electronics (May 2), Zee News (May 2), Gizmodo (May 2), PetaPixel (May 1), HEXUS (May 2), TrustUS.online (May 2), Northern Voices Online (Northern India, May 2), Headlines & Global News (May 2), The Hankoyeh (South Korea, May 2), The Norman Transcript (May 2), DVICE (May 2), Laboratory Equipment (May 2), Hot Hardware (May 2), Science Recorder (May 2), Engadget (May 2), NewsTalk 106-108 FM (Dublin, Ireland, May 2), Gizmag (May 2), NPR (May 2), Science 360 (National Science Foundation, May 3), KUHF-FM (Houston, TX, May 2), FirstPost (India, May 3), allvoices.com (May 3), Counsel & Heal (May 2), Imaging Resource (May 2), Device Magazine (May 3), Mashable (May 5). Stuff.co.nz (May 6), Steves digitcams (May 2), Smart Planet (blog, May 2), Malay Mail (May 8), Science Today (California Academy of Science, May 8), WBT-AM (Charlotte, NC, May 15), The Sacramento Bee (California, from the Associated Press, May 15), Brisbane Times (Australia, May 18).

Related story: ABC News.go (from the Associated Press, May 15) -- Video story produced by The Associate Press features U of I professor John Rogers explaining how his group's tiny new camera is giving researchers a bug's eye view. Rogers says he's been fascinated by bug's eyes since childhood. Their wide field of view helps insects like bees and flies escape dangers like humans who want to swat them. Also: Yahoo News (May 15), Newsday (May 15), msnNOW (May 15), AOL.com (May 15), Washington Post (May 15), Huffington Post (May 15), Bing.com (May 15), USA Today (May 15), YouTube (May 15), Brisbane Times (Austrailia, May 16), 10TV (Central Ohio, May 15).

PHYSICS
The Atlantic (May 1) -- Science and technology are key drivers of economic growth. But where are the world’s leading science cities? A new study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports ranks the top cities for physics research around the world. Several U.S. cities frequently rank among the top 20, including Urbana, home to the U. of I.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE
WILL-AM (Focus 580, May 1) -- In a live interview, Irfan Ahmad, executive director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Illinois and Engineering Professor Placid Ferreira, who studies nanotechnologies and manufacturing, discussed how certain elements behave quite differently on the nanoscale than they do in larger quantities and how that opens the doors to virtually limitless possibilities. Cell phone in a made to order size? It’s could happen.

NANOSTRUCTURES
Select Science (Bath, UK, May 1) -- Researchers at the U. of I. 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*). William P. King, an Abel Bliss Professor in mechanical science and engineering led the research. Also: Nanotechnology Now (Honolulu, May 14), Laboratory Talk (Berkhamsted, England, May 24).

LED PROBES
Design News (Bedford, Mass., May 1) -- Tiny, glowing probes packed with LEDs and sensors are scientists’ newest tool for measuring and manipulating the brain and other living tissues. They’re flexible, they can operate wirelessly, and they’re small enough to fit through the eye of a needle, says John A. Rogers, a materials scientist at Illinois and co-leader of the team that developed the probes.
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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.

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.

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This story was published May 1, 2013.

News from Engineering at Illinois May 2013

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