Posted on September 27th, 2011 by axb
Shwetak Patel wants to help you conserve energy in your home. A professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, Patel is also a 2011 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship (also known as the “Genius Grant“) for his work developing sophisticated, user-friendly energy sensors for homes and offices.
Patel’s unique technology uses advanced algorithms to determine how much energy each household device is consuming by picking up their individual activity patterns.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Electrical, Trailblazers | 3 Comments »
Tags: Computer, Electrical, Green Technology, Trailblazers
Posted on September 21st, 2011 by axb
Amanda Crosby, right, and Belinda Dods of New Zealand celebrate placing the final screw on the deck of their house
What does it take to build a solar village, where homes not only are designed to create more energy than they use but are comfortable and cool to look at, too? Some 19 student teams from U.S. and international colleges found out this past weekend as they began installing their entries to the 2011 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. The answer: lots of hands-on work involving hammers, wrenches, plumbing, and construction cranes.
The flurry of activity capped the students’ two-year effort to prepare for the competition (we covered the 2009 one here), which this year takes place from September 23 to October 2.
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Filed under: Architectural, Civil, e-News, Electrical, Environmental | 4 Comments »
Tags: Architectural, Civil, Electrical, Environmental
Posted on September 13th, 2011 by axb
Researchers at Britain’s University of Exeter have developed a 3-D printer that Willy Wonka would die for. Instead of using metals or plastics as its “ink,” Exeter’s uses chocolate.
Sometimes called additive manufacturing, 3-D printing technologies work off a three-dimensional CAD design of a product, then construct the item by laying down one very thin layer of material at a time. But this is the first time researchers have used chocolate as a medium.
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Filed under: Chemical, e-News, Industrial / Manufacturing | 22 Comments »
Tags: Chemical, Food, Industrial / Manufacturing
Posted on September 9th, 2011 by axb
Melissa Duarte, a Rice University graduate student, with a “full-duplex” prototype
Engineers at Rice University have accomplished a feat that should bring happiness to all smart-phone users: “full-duplex” technology, a breakthrough that could instantly double the capacity and speed of existing wireless networks without the need for additional cell towers.
Much like people, modern wireless devices are not able to both “talk” and “listen” at the same time, meaning they must send and receive data on different frequencies. With full-duplex, however, information can be transmitted simultaneously in two directions.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Electrical | Comments Off on Engineering Breakthrough Could Double Wireless Capacity
Tags: Computer, Electrical, Technology
Posted on September 2nd, 2011 by axb
Want to go to Stanford University but a little short on funds (or maybe still in high school)? No need to worry – this fall, Stanford School of Engineering will be offering three lecture courses online, open to the public, and free of charge.
Two professors in the Stanford School of Engineering, Peter Norvig and Sebastian Thrun, say in a recent New York Times article that they were inspired by the achievements of Salman Khan in bringing free online education to the world.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Electrical | 3 Comments »
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Classes, Computer, Electrical, Events, Robotics
