Attention Iron Man fans. Powered suits of armor like the one designed by fictional industrialist/engineer Tony Stark may soon save or improve the lives of real people. In 2011, a motorized exoskeleton created by engineering students at the University of California, Berkeley allowed classmate Austin Whitney to walk across the stage to receive his diploma. Now, English athlete Claire Lomas is making medical history as the first paraplegic to use an exoskeleton to get around home and town.

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Filed under: Biomedical, e-News, Explore Engineering, Trailblazers | Comments Off on Britain’s Bionic Athlete Claire Lomas

Tags: athelete, Biomedical, Claire Lomas, Electrical, exoskeleton, London Marathon, Paralympics, ReWalk, robotic suit, Robotics

There are garage start-ups and then there’s the wood-shop-turned-invention-factory in the garage where Jack Andraka, 15, dreamed up a prize-winning science fair project that could change how cancer is detected and treated.

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

Tags: Biomedical, cancer, grand champion, Intel Science and Engineering Fair, ISEF, Jack Andraka, nanotube

Gabrielle Palermo, Susanna Young, and Clay Tyler assembling a G3Box. Photo Courtesy Arizona State University

Ever dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur? If so, you’re in good company – over half of U.S. millennials (ages 18 to 34) say they want to start a business or already have done so, according to a recent survey from the Kaufmann Foundation. Even more exciting is the fact that nowadays, starting a business does not necessitate leaving school, as more and more universities are striving to accommodate entrepreneurial students.

In this new eGFI blog series, we bring you four inspiring stories of undergraduate engineering students who have successfully patented their original ideas, teamed up with classmates and professors to launch businesses, and navigated the startup world, all while keeping up with their coursework.

So step aside, Bill Gates – the days of dropout turned entrepreneur may be numbered.

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Filed under: Agricultural, Biomedical, Civil, e-News, Environmental | Comments Off on Student Inventors: Gabrielle Palermo and G3Box

Tags: Biomedical, Environmental, Giving Back, Student Inventors

Jessica Ashmead and Annicka Carter are behind OptiGuide, a new medical device for lighting incisions during surgery

Ever dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur? If so, you’re in good company – over half of U.S. millennials (ages 18 to 34) say they want to start a business or already have done so, according to a recent survey from the Kaufmann Foundation. Even more exciting is the fact that nowadays, starting a business does not necessitate leaving school, as more and more universities are striving to accommodate entrepreneurial students.

In this new eGFI blog series, we bring you four inspiring stories of undergraduate engineering students who have successfully patented their original ideas, teamed up with classmates and professors to launch businesses, and navigated the startup world, all while keeping up with their coursework.

So step aside, Bill Gates – the days of dropout turned entrepreneur may be numbered.

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Filed under: Biomedical, e-News, Mechanical | Comments Off on Student Inventors: Jessica Ashmead, and Annicka Carter

Tags: Biomedical, Mechanical, Student Inventors

Science fiction stories have served as inspiration for many a brilliant engineer, and Ayanna Howard is no exception. At age 11 she discovered the show Bionic Woman, where a badly injured athlete is given artificial limbs that grant her superhero-like abilities, and decided that she wanted to create technologically advanced prosthetics when she grew up. Howard later realized that medical school held little appeal to her, and instead opted to pursue robotics.

It’s fortunate that she did. After completely her PhD in electrical engineering at the University of Southern California, Howard went on to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she led research teams to develop software for Mars-roving robots.

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Filed under: Aerospace, Biomedical, Computer, e-News, Electrical | 2 Comments »

Tags: Aerospace, Biomedical, Computer, Electrical, Trailblazers