Last year, a conceptual, futuristic video featuring interactive glass touchscreens went viral:

This video, called "A Day Made of Glass," was created by Corning (a company that engineers glass and other materials) and now has been viewed over 17 million times on YouTube. Although the video is admittedly cool, just how realistic is its vision?

As breathtaking as large, panoramic photos often are, the process of creating them is, to many photographers, a much less attractive prospect. While painstakingly stitching together images from a recent vacation, Technische Universität Berlin graduate Jonas Pfeil came up with a better idea: a spherical camera, called a camera-ball, that can take 360-degree panoramas in a single snap. Once the softball-sized sphere is tossed into the air, a built-in accelerometer tells when the ball has reached its zenith. Then a microcontroller triggers simultaneous action by 36 two-megapixel cellphone cameras, capturing a mosaic of images.

Anyone who's ever worked up a sweat running for the school bus knows it takes energy to move. Now, a young inventor in England has come up with a way to capture the ambient kinetic energy of footsteps--or dance moves--and use it to generate electricity.

Pavegen tiles are rubber, waterproof squares made from recycled tires, and 80 percent of their inner workings are made from recycled materials, too. When people step on them, the tiles harvest the energy and convert it to electricity. ]]>

Anyone who’s ever worked up a sweat running for the school bus knows it takes energy to move. Now, a young inventor in England has come up with a way to capture the ambient kinetic energy of footsteps–or dance moves–and use it to generate electricity.

Pavegen tiles are rubber, waterproof squares made from recycled tires, and 80 percent of their inner workings are made from recycled materials, too. When people step on them, the tiles harvest the energy and convert it to electricity. Five percent of that power is used to light up an LED light in the tiles’ center; the rest can be used to light signs, street lamps, and pedestrian markings, and to power alarms or speaker systems. It’s like a Dance Dance Revolution that converts those burned calories into electricity instead of sweat!

Laurence Kemball-Cook, a 25-year-old recent engineering graduate, has tested Pavegen in a busy school hallway.

Click here to view the embedded video.

His invention currently is getting its first big commercial workout at Europe’s biggest shopping mall, the new Westfield Stratford City mall in east London–right next to the Olympic stadium. Twenty PaveGen tiles are being laid into a walkway that more than 30 million people will use this year. The tiles could provide enough power for half the mall’s outdoor lighting needs.

Watch how dance moves on Pavegen tiles can light up the floor:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So don’t waste time – as J Lo sings, time to get on the floor (and power your school or home)!

2011 was another busy year for engineers all over the world. From inventing a device that turns air into water to exploring the oceans in a tiny submarine, scientists and engineers are exploring uncharted territory.

Like last year, we at eGFI have chronicled the most awe-inspiring innovations and stories, so in case you missed one, we present:

The Most Popular, Interesting, Weird, or Just Plain Cool eGFI Blog Posts of 2011

In a world increasingly affected by climate change, unexpected droughts are a harsh reality for many farmers whose livelihoods depend on regular rainfall. That's why Edward Linacre, an industrial design graduate student from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, decided to invent a device that can literally harvest water from thin air.

Airdrop, as it's called, recently won the prestigious James Dyson Award, which grants Linacre over $14,000 to develop the product. It was selected from among 500 entries from 18 different countries for its simple design and revolutionary approach to irrigation.

Do you spend hours browsing Facebook every day? Chances are, you probably do. But here's something about Facebook that you might not know: just like tech giants Google and Apple, Facebook is also looking to hire lots of engineers.

The social networking site has just announced that it plans to open an engineering office in New York City, according to a press release. The office will be led by Sekan Piantino, a Facebook engineer who has helped with the development of the News Feed and Timeline and now manages the teams that maintain Facebook Messages and Chat.]]>

Do you spend hours browsing Facebook every day? Chances are, you probably do. But here’s something about Facebook that you might not know: just like tech giants Google and Apple, Facebook is also looking to hire lots of engineers.

The social networking site has just announced that it plans to open an engineering office in New York City, according to a press release. The office will be led by Sekan Piantino, a Facebook engineer who has helped with the development of the News Feed and Timeline and now manages the teams that maintain Facebook Messages and Chat. The office will open in early 2012, and the company is already accepting applications. Engineers at Facebook work on designing new infrastructure and tools, managing large data sets, and building mobile applications. Some positions include security engineers, network engineers, and user interface engineers.

Now that sounds like a career worth friending.

This has been a guest post by Gol Arastoopour

Yves Rossy really likes jumping out of planes. At 52, the Swiss fighter pilot is the first person daring enough to strap a jet-powered wing to his back and soar over landmarks such as the English Channel, the Swiss Alps, and the Grand Canyon - feats which have earned him the nickname "Jetman."

Although Rossy's primary career has been that of pilot and daredevil, his journey to become Jetman produced him many engineering achievements as well. For the past two decades, Rossy has spent much of his free time pursuing a goal of flying with as little assistance as possible.]]>

Yves Rossy really likes jumping out of planes. At 52, the Swiss fighter pilot is the first person daring enough to strap a jet-powered wing to his back and soar over landmarks such as the English Channel, the Swiss Alps, and the Grand Canyon – feats which have earned him the nickname “Jetman.”

Although Rossy’s primary career has been that of pilot and daredevil, his journey to become Jetman produced him many engineering achievements as well. For the past two decades, Rossy has spent much of his free time pursuing a goal of flying with as little assistance as possible. This quest began in 1993 with the development of wingsuits and later an inflatable wing. In 2004, Rossy decided to turbo charge his wing using small jet engines, and changed the wing material to a sturdier carbon fiber.

Since then Jetman has been making successful flights all over the world, with some lasting as long as 18 minutes. He continues to make improvements to his unique jet-wing system and to hone his skills at handling the wing. Here’s an amazing new video where he manages to fly in formation with two adjacent airplanes:

Perhaps those jet packs we imagine for the future might not be so far off.

Computer chips and electronic circuitry made from diamonds? Sounds like just bling, but nanodiamond-based components for microelectronic devices not only are very robust; they’re inexpensive.

Developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University, the devices are made by depositing a thin nanodiamond film on a layer of silicon dioxide and then vacuum-packaging it.]]>

Computer chips and electronic circuitry made from diamonds? Sounds like just bling, but nanodiamond-based components for microelectronic devices not only are very robust; they’re inexpensive.

Developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University, the devices are made by depositing a thin nanodiamond film on a layer of silicon dioxide and then vacuum-packaging it. Electrons flow through the vacuum between the components rather than through materials like solid-state chips, so they don’t produce as much heat. Potentially, they can operate at higher speeds while using less power than silicon-based devices, says Jimmy Davidson, a research professor of electrical engineering. They’re also very tiny. One diamond carat would create a billion chips, so they’re cost-competitive with silicon, and sturdy enough to withstand temperatures ranging from 900 degrees to minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Possible applications include military electronics, circuitry for spacecraft, and sensors that operate in high-radiation areas. In fact, Davidson says, his nanodiamond chips would be ideal for fail-safe circuitry in nuclear reactors. Perhaps Pink Floyd said it best: Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Story originally appeared in the November 2011 issue of Prism magazine