Topic: Engineering

Too Young to Know It Can't be Done

Ask people what makes entrepreneurs successful and you'll hear a familiar list of adjectives; agile, tenacious, resilient, opportunistic, etc. What you don't hear is that often they didn't know any better.READ»

Wind Could Drive 20% of World Power Needs By 2030, With China in Lead

20% of the world's electrical could be powered by wind inside 20 years--with China leading the way. Do we believe it? READ»

Fast, Green, Deep Orange EV Earns Grad Students an A+

For a group of eco-minded Clemson engineers, graduate school involved serious automotive innovation.READ»

Silicon Wars: The Middle East Takes on Asia

Abu Dhabi is investing a whole lot of cash into a new chip manufacturing facility. Is this a sign of things to come?READ»

LG Enters Water Treatment Business: A Steady Stream to Balance Tricky Tech

LG, yes the same LG whose logo may be stamped somewhere on your HDTV or cell phone, has just announced it's entering the water treatment business. It's for the good of people, and for LG's bottom line.READ»

AMD's Chip Architect Brad Burgess on Mobile Computing's Future

AMD's Brad Burgess is the chief architect behind the company's future low-power/portable device Bobcat CPUs. We spoke to him about them, but also about the future. READ»

Heather Clark Is Developing a Nano Tattoo for Diabetics

Today, diabetics monitoring their blood sugar sometimes have to endure multiple needle pricks every day. But biomedical engineer Heather Clark of Draper Laboratory is developing a less invasive way to measure blood glucose. She describes it as a "nanotech tattoo."READ»

Honey, I Shrunk The Memory! Scientists Heralding Smaller Gizmos, Again

Rice University scientists are reporting advances in shrinking the technology that makes computer memory work--a huge key to the next revolution in gadget design. Soon your supercomputer may be iPhone-sized.READ»

Intel's Biggest Rival: ARM Chips in Servers and Smartphones

Forget Intel versus AMD--that was a chip-maker battle of yesteryear. Now the real CPU war is happening in smartphones and servers, where Intel is playing a desperate game of catch-up to ARM and a few new contenders.READ»

Alstom to Power-Up Power-Hungry Iraq

French power firm Alstom just signed a deal to rebuild and regenerate the electricity infrastructure in Iraq, decimated since the war.READ»

Is Solar Power Now Cheaper Than Nuclear Energy?

Solar power took a big step toward becoming the alternative energy of choice with this week's news that energy from sunlight might be cheaper than nuclear power. The analysis, which comes from a Duke University report entitled Solar ...READ»

Spain's Ambitious Solar Program Facing Budget Cuts

Spain has long been celebrated as a leader in solar power generation. The country, which covered 2.8% of its electricity demand in 2009 with solar energy, is the fourth largest manufacturer of solar power technology in the world. ...READ»

Zero-E Adds Eco-Bling to Architectural Modeling

Woods Bagot and Buro Happold have invented a design program that helps architects and engineers create zero-emissions buildings.READ»

Use Reverse Innovation to Inspire Ethonomics

Last week I wrote about reverse innovation. We often witness this in other countries where the local conditions--whether due to political uncertainty, low local income levels, or unfavorable geography-- seem like a hindrance to ...READ»

Fish Play Follow-the-Leader With Robofish, to Save Them From Turbine Doom

Scientists have discovered that real schools of real fish can be steered along by artificial robot fish. Weird. But the news has big implications for green power production. NYU-Poly's Dynamical Systems Laboratory, using the ...READ»

Quantum Computing Gets a Step Closer With Seven-Atom Transistor

Quantum computing just got a little bit closer, after an Australian team of researchers unveiled a seven-atom transistor. Measuring just four billionths of a meter and embedded in a single silicon crystal, it acts as a switch on a ...READ»

360-Degree Research: Keeping a Well-Rounded Focus on the End User

How can designers make sure the user always stays at the center of their work? Stuart Karten shares his firm's 360-degree approach.READ»

• Stuart Karten's Dear Stuart blog
• Browse More Expert Design blogs

HP's Memristor Tech Promises Faster, Bigger, Cheaper Memory Chips

Memristors are a seriously hot topic at the moment--we've seen several announcements about these tiny slivers of semiconductor which are the future of electronics, and now HP's got news too. Their memristors will beat flash memory, ...READ»

The Memristor Revolution: Chips Can Work Like Brains Too

Memristors: If you don't know about 'em, you certainly will over the next few years. We're probably not talking about the same kind of revolution as the transistor sparked off, but new research has shown they can mimic brain cells, so ...READ»

Slightly concise watches for collectors

Another slightly concise Men watches for collectors to focus their collections on would be railroaded intended pinch watches. A commission was set into place for all railroad engineers to use pinch watches after a deadly tutor wreck ...READ»

The Death of Coal?

Unmasking coal as not so “cheap” powerREAD»

Lessons From Chile: Better Building Codes Work, so Why Don't We Have Them?

Chile's seismic construction codes saved lives in the latest quake, but what if the next Big One happens here?READ»

• Megacities Today, Rubble Tomorrow

Nuclear Plant Pre-Bailout: Obama's Dumbest Move Yet?

Nuclear power is not necessary. It is not sensible. It opens great risks for small returns that can be much more easily achieved in other ways. It is a gift to the terrorists, a robbery from the taxpayers, a diversion of resources away from better and far more proven technologies that could meet all of our energy needs safely, and a serious threat to the well-being of future generations.READ»

The Barbie Factor by Caroline Simard, Vice President of Research and Executive Programs

Barbie became a computer engineer today. In a field that has so few female role models, this is a victory. For most young girls, becoming a technologist is not on the radar of the possible jobs. Research shows that girls are less ...READ»

Come on Barbie, Let's Go Program: Geeks Rejoice Over 2010's Computer Engineer Barbie

Girls choose Google over graph paper, pass by Architect Barbie in favor of Computer Engineer and News Anchor.READ»

• Architect Barbie: Putting the Fab! in Pre-Fab