Pressing “snooze” in the morning a little too often? No worries — to the rescue is Gauri Nanda with her “Clocky.” How it works: If you hit “snooze,” the alarm clock jumps off your nightstand and lands on its wheels, beeping the whole time. Then it’s time to play hide-and-seek. The gadget rolls, bumps into things, backs up, and eventually stops. When the clock rings again, the sleepy owner has to walk around and find it to turn it off. Nanda invented the alarm clock for herself while she was studying design at MIT’s Media Lab.

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Filed under: Computer, Electrical, Mechanical, Trailblazers | Comments Off on Wake Up or Else

Tags: Computer, Computer Science, Design, Electrical, Mechanical

Oddsmakers probably wouldn’t have bet money that Armando Rodriguez would one day become a professor. He grew up in a rough New York City neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s, and many of his friends were lost to the streets. His mother died of cancer when he was 13, and his father was a window cleaner. “He couldn’t provide much advice to me other than, ‘Go to school or I’m going to kill you,’” Rodriguez says. But his father did steer him to someone in the neighborhood who Rodriguez says saved his life. “He was the guy who saved me from juvenile delinquency and worse later on. He bought me books and helped me with projects. I know the difference an individual can make in a person’s life — I’ve lived it.”

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Filed under: Electrical, Explore Engineering, Mechanical | Comments Off on Class Acts: Rogue Scholar

Tags: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Coming into Virginia Tech’s engineering program, Angela Walker knew that as a woman, she would be in the minority. That’s why she chose to live in Hypatia, an all-female engineering community, her first two years. “Nothing can replace the ability to walk down the hallway and get help on homework,” says Walker, now a junior majoring in mechanical engineering. “If it weren’t for the network of people you meet through this program, many girls might feel intimidated to the point that they decide to drop out of engineering,” she says. “We empower each other.”

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Filed under: Aerospace, Agricultural, Architectural, Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, Explore Engineering, Industrial / Manufacturing, Materials, Mechanical, Mining, Nuclear, Ocean, Transportation | Comments Off on Girl Power

Tags: Programs for Girls, Women in engineering

Playing with toys all day — that’s how Neal Saiki describes his job.Saiki created an electric dirt bike. It costs just 1 cent per mile to operate — way cheaper than gas. Also, the batteries it uses are completely recyclable. Saiki says designing environmentally friendly products was important to him because he loves camping, hiking, and rock climbing and wants to preserve the great outdoors from pollution.

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Filed under: Electrical, Environmental, Trailblazers | 1 Comment »

Tags: Electrical, Environmental, Green Technology, Green Transportation, Transportation

Military engineers concentrate on creating new weapons for the battlefield.

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Filed under: Electrical, Explore Engineering, Materials, Mechanical | 1 Comment »

Tags: Electrical, Materials, Mechanical, Technology