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

	Turning Air into Water
	Jetman: Flying Soon to a Landmark Near You
	Vertical Forest Coming Soon to Milan
	And Now: Flavor-Shifting Ice Cream
	Solar Decathalon 2011 Powers Up
	The World’s Sweetest Printer
	Water Bottles to Illuminate a Million Homes
	Airbus Presents a Futuristic Vision of Air Travel
	Students Create an App to Diagnose Malaria
	Berkeley Engineers Help Student Walk
	Underwater Scooters are the New SCUBA
	Virgin Oceanic Goes Many Leagues Under the Sea
	Cynthia Breazeal Wants You to Make Friends with Robots
	New Shirt Measures Athletes’ Performances
	Watson vs. The World

Like our new magazine cover? Snatch up the 44″ x 25″ poster

What do the blockbuster movie Avatar, high-performance sports gear, the Angry Birds phone app, and pollution-eating bacteria have in common? They are among a host of fascinating innovations developed by engineers and featured in the newest edition of the American Society for Engineering Education’s (ASEE) Engineering, Go For It magazine.

The publication is now available in our online store. You can find a free preview of the magazine here.

The kid-friendly magazine is part of ASEE’s campaign to inspire more K-12 students, particularly young women and underrepresented minorities, to pursue engineering careers. Illustrating how engineers make a difference in the world, the new edition includes:

• Stories featuring robots that imitate animals, Hollywood special effects, clean energy innovations, and technological advances giving athletes a winning edge.
• Engaging profiles on an array of engineering careers and disciplines.
• Fresh, cutting-edge examples of engineering innovations that are transforming fields from aerospace and medical care to architecture and materials science.
• Interviews with eight students currently participating in the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship sponsored by the Department of Defense and administered by ASEE

In addition to producing a print magazine, eGFI blogs weekly for students and teachers, and can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

This year was a busy one for engineers all over the world. From inventing bendable computer screens to unlocking a secret room in a 4,500-year-old pyramid, scientists and engineers broke new ground in numerous ways.

We at eGFI have also been busy chronicling the most awe-inspiring innovations and stories, so without further ado, we present:

The Most Popular, Interesting, Weird, or Just Plain Cool eGFI Blog Posts of 2010

	Dubai Raises World’s Tallest Building
	Chilean Miners Rescued With Help From Engineers
	Neuroengineering: Illuminating the Brain
	Printing in 3D: From Toys to Organs
	Underwater Sculptures Revive Coral Reefs
	Flying Car Approved and Ready for Takeoff
	BP Oil Cap Holds
	Science and Engineering of the Winter Olympics
	Follow the Solar-Brick Road
	Meet Computer Engineer Barbie!
	Electricity Borne on the Shoulders of Giants
	Searching for Alien Earths: The Kepler Space Telescope
	Oil Reserves to T-Pain: The Story of Auto-Tune
	New Mall in Kazakhstan is World’s Largest Tent
	Glowing Trees Could Replace Street Lights

Ever wish your ride to school didn’t take so long? Try climbing aboard this jet-powered school bus, and you may have a few more minutes to sleep in this morning.

Made by master mechanic Paul Stender (of speeding port-a-potty fame), this school bus is made of aviation grade metals, fitted with a jet engine, and can reach speeds up to 367mph! Watch it in action below:

While the Jetsons lived in the far-off year 2062, one aspect of their futuristic world will become a reality next year: flying cars!

We previously reported on the Transition, the two-seater drivable aircraft that the Massachusetts company Terrafugia has been developing over the past four years.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently approved the vehicle, and the company expects it to be available by the end of 2011.

Designed by a team of MIT engineers, the Transition can drive on roads and highways, fly for 460 miles, and fit into a regular-sized garage.

Federal approval of the vehicle was delayed because it is 110 pounds over the weight limit for a light sport aircraft, a result of all the safety equipment it needed to satisfy both aviation and federal motor vehicle standards.  But now, the Transition has been granted a special exemption.

Because of its added safety features for road driving, the Transition has better crash survivability than most light sport aircraft. And if conditions turn bad up in the air, it can simply land and drive home.

Not only that, but the Transition will be the most environmentally friendly plane in the skies because it runs on normal unleaded gasoline instead of aviation fuel.

Unfortunately, however, the vehicle isn’t as fast as traditional small aircraft, and it lacks the range and cargo capacity of other planes its size.

Those of you hoping to get behind the wheel of the Transition will need both a pilot’s license and a driver’s license – as well as cash to cover the costs: retail price is expected to be $194,000.

With 70 orders already received by Terrafugia, it seems as though our world will resemble the space-age reality of the Jetsons sooner than we thought!

Image: Terrafugia

A D-series supersonic jet from MIT (MIT/Aurora Flight Sciences)

In the next three decades, air traffic is predicted to double, which will require a lot of fuel and potentially increase harmful emissions.

To combat this, NASA challenged six different research groups to radically redesign the passenger aircraft in order to increase fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and allow planes to take off on shorter runways.

The D-series commercial aircraft (MIT/Aurora Flight Sciences)

One of these teams was a group of researchers from MIT. Last week they unveiled their D-series plane. It uses 70% less fuel than traditional aircraft because it has thinner, longer wings, a smaller tail, and an engine located at the rear of the plane instead of on the wings. In addition, the D-series is shaped differently than its predecessors. Two long, tubes form the body of the plane, instead of the conventional single fuselage. That tubular design is what has earned the plane the nickname “double bubble.”

A design for a passenger aircraft by GE (NASA/GE Aviation)

NASA calls this initiative the “N+3” to signify that the aircraft industry must be revolutionized in three generations.  The agency has also assigned certain groups to design a passenger plane that could travel at supersonic speeds. In their recent report on the results of this challenge, NASA pointed out that while some of the designs might seem a bit retro on the outside (see image above from GE), looking under the hood is likely to yield more technical wonders:

“You may see ultramodern shape memory alloys, ceramic or fiber composites, carbon nanotube or fiber optic cabling, self-healing skin, hybrid electric engines, folding wings, double fuselages and virtual reality windows.”

With any luck, we can expect to see the designs created for this program take to the air in 2035.

Dates

Illinois Aerospace Institute summer camp – IAI

IAI is a one-week residential program for students grades 9-12 interested in learning about the fields of aerospace engineering and aviation.Though most of the students who attend are from the Midwest, students come to us from all over the U.S. and internationally. Many have some sort of experience with the aerospace field, through model rockets, remote control airplanes, or having a family member who is a pilot, but no experience is necessary; just an interest in learning about the field of aerospace engineering.The Institute is held on the campus of the University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign. Students stay at in a University Residence Hall with live-in camp councelors. Students will learn about a variety of topics regarding aerospace engineering through classroom sessions, laboratories, demonstrations, and hands-on activities.

COSTS: The $700 fee includes lodging, all meals, and instructional costs. A deposit check for $100 must accompany the application. The deposit check will be refunded if the application is not accepted. The $600 balance is due June 11, 2010. A $10.00 cancellation fee will be accessed if the cancellation occurs after acceptance. No refunds will be made after June 11, 2010. Limited financial aid is available based on need.

TO APPLY: Applications must be postmarked by April 15. Enrollment is limited, so register early.

The Illinois Aerospace Institute is sponsored by the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois and NASA’s Illinois Space Grant Consortium. To apply, send the completed application form, along with:

• List of coursework in math and science, including grades
• Letter of recommendation from a math or science teacher
• Letter describing your interest and experiences in astronomy, aviation, or aerospace

• $100 deposit using one of the following payment options:

• Pay by check made payable to: The University of Illinois
• Pay by credit card via the National Space Grant Foundation and include a copy of your receipt

Please see the Website for more, and updated information.

We all know Leonardo Da Vinci as the famous Italian Renaissance painter behind the Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile, but you may not know that he was also a prolific inventor and, by modern standards, an engineer. Da Vinci was constantly sketching and planning new contraptions, from parachutes and flying machines to musical instruments, many of which would not be realized for hundreds of years after his death.

Recently Discovery Channel News reported that Da Vinci had yet another unrealized masterpiece in his oeuvre: the flawless design of a colossal horse statue. For a long time historians and engineers thought that the horse had never been made because of technical difficulties, however recently researchers have discovered that this was not the case. Leonardo’s ingenious bronze casting system was perfect, and, had he had sufficient materials to make the statue, it would have likely succeeded.

In 1482 the Duke of Milan comissioned Leonardo to build the largest equestrian statue in the world, which would act as a monument to the Duke’s father. Leonardo spent over 20 years perfecting the design and the casting process, a difficult challenge considering the scale of the project (the horse was to stand 24 feet and weigh over 70 tons). In the end he managed to make a clay model, but invading French soldiers destroyed it in 1499. Here’s an animated visualization of Leonardo’s work:

Click here to view the embedded video.

A number of efforts have been made to produce modern to-scale replicas of Leonardo’s horse. One now stands in Milan, and two are located in the U.S (in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Atlanta, Georgia).

Leonardo’s horse replica in Milan (San Siro hippodrome)

Other engineering projects of Da Vinci’s included cannons and tanks to be used in battle, gliders based on the wings of bats, and mechanical bridges and hydraulics systems. While many of these endeavors remained incomplete due to a lack of resources, today there has been a revived interest in seeing these amazing machines realized.

Replica of Da Vinci’s flying machine in London, 2006

You can see modern replicas of some of Leonardo’s inventions in a travelling exhibit called Da Vinci the Genius, currently in Tampa, Florida. Go here for more information.

Image: Milan horse from goatling/Flickr