This weekend thirty-one colleges will compete in Nashville for the 11th annual ChemE Car Competition, where teams of undergraduates design small vehicles powered by a variety of different chemical reactions. Check out some of last year’s competitors after the jump.

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Filed under: Chemical, e-News | 1 Comment »

Tags: Cars, Chemical, Competitions for Students

Bioengineers are working on a new medical adhesive inspired by the glue-like substance secreted by the sea-dwelling sandcastle worm. This waterproof glue would be ideal for mending broken bones and fractures that are too delicate to fix with metal pins. [Gizmag]

Watch an incredible video of the sandcastle worm at work here.

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Filed under: Biomedical, e-News | Comments Off on Worm Glue to Heal Broken Bones?

Tags: Biomedical

Just eight years ago, the people of William Kamkwamba’s village in Malawi, Africa were experiencing a devastating famine. William, 14 years old at the time, was forced to drop out of school because his family could no longer afford to pay for his education (approx. $80 a year). So what did William do? Like any good engineer, he began to research and look for creative solutions.

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Filed under: e-News, Electrical, Environmental, Trailblazers | 2 Comments »

Tags: Electrical, Energy, Environmental, Giving Back, Green Technology

One of the exciting things about engineers is their ability to inject new life and variation into seemingly mundane and ordinary objects. Case in point: the chair. Recently the design blog Core 77 has featured a few truly nifty chairs that demonstrate just how clever engineers can be when faced with real-world issues.

The Setu Chair, created by German design team Studio 7.5, tackles the complications that arise with adjustable office chairs. Since many people share the same workspace these days, having a chair that must be constantly readjusted can be awkward. So the engineers and designers at Studio 7.5 came up with the Setu, a chair with a flexible “spine” that shifts to accommodate the weight and body contours of different users. The team made over 35 functional models in their Berlin workshop before presenting the final product.

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Filed under: e-News, Materials, Mechanical | 2 Comments »

Tags: Design, Materials, Mechanical

Designer Wieke Somers has won the top prize at the Dutch Design Awards 2009 for her whimsical merry-go-round coat rack. In addition to being a gorgeous piece of art, this clever installation functions as a personal storage area where visitors can leave belongings in lockers as well as hang their coats. [Core77]

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Filed under: e-News, Mechanical | Comments Off on Introducing the Merry-Go-Round Coat Rack

Tags: Art