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

This is no pie-in-the-sky urban farm design. Italian architect Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale, or Vertical Forest, is actually being built, and will soon add a splash of green to the Milan skyline.

The design features two residential towers with staggered balconies that allow an array of trees and shrubbery to grow outside each abode.  Advantages of such a setup, beyond adding verdant beauty to a city, include shading inhabitants in the summer while permitting more sunlight in the winter, protection from noise pollution, and air purification.

The Bosco Verticale is now under construction in Milan, Italy

Called “the most exciting new tower in the world” by the Financial Times, Bosco Verticale will eventually grow the equivalent of over 100,000 square feet of woodland. FT also reports that the buildings are to be the first in a series of eco-friendly renovations planned for the city. Boeri has dubbed the project BioMilano, and his vision features more green housing, the restoration of abandoned farms on the city outskirts, urban gardens, and Metrobosco, a ring of trees to encircle Milan.

Images:
© Stephano Boeri

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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.

Imagine if someone gave you up to $41,000 in cash to realize your dreams. That – plus full tuition and other education-related benefits – is what the SMART scholarship offers students majoring in science, engineering and mathematics. SMART scholars also get paid summer internships and a job placement after graduation.

ASEE invited eight current SMART scholars to spend a day in Washington, D.C., and talk about what got them into engineering:

Brian Wybrecht
Civil Engineering

Carlos Manuel Torres, Jr.
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Ebone Pierce
Mechanical Engineering

Isabel Anderson
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

Jaclyn Mathis
Materials Engineering

Lonnie T. Parker
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Nicholas Silva
Electrical Engineering

Tamara Cottam
Aerospace Engineering

Emma Cardini, a structural engineer, inspects the Washington Monument

A little over a month ago, residents of the DC Metro Area (including our eGFI staff) were stunned to experience what for many of us was our first major earthquake. While fortunately the 5.8 quake caused no significant harm or loss of life, many buildings and monuments are still in need of inspection to ensure their structural soundness.

As a result, this week one lucky team of engineers completed their most most exciting assignment yet: rappelling down the Washington Monument to check for cracks and other earthquake damage. Among them was structural engineer Emma Cardini, who has also inspected some pretty impressive facades, including the Chicago Tribune Tower and the Bridge of the Americas in Panama. Still, nothing compares with the capital bird’s eye view she literally enjoys on her latest job.

The view of the city is “awesome,” as is working on the monument, she said in a Washington Post profile. “For an engineer, it’s Disney World.”

WJE’s Dan Gach and Emma Cardini inspect Washington Monument Sept. 28

Cardini, 32, is part of a specially trained “difficult access team” of engineers and architects sent to examine hard-to-reach structures for Chicago-based Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates. Rappelling down facades not only allows for close inspection of areas that scaffolding and aerial lifts can’t reach, it’s faster and more efficient because fewer personnel need to be involved on the site.

To access the facade, the engineering team had to open a long-shuttered hatch and observation windows at the top of the monument, install the lines, strap on safety harnesses, and slowly begin lowering themselves down from the pyramid-shaped cap. That’s where a large, inch-wide crack was discovered and where the team expected to find the most damage. The work is fairly straightforward. Team members have masonry tools to remove loose mortar or stone, and a soft mallet whose tap can audibly reveal weaknesses. Each also carries a two-way radio and an iPad loaded with information from the 1999 restoration of the monument, allowing visual confirmation of damage.

The daredevil crew finished their inspection of the monument yesterday, and is expected to tackle the spires of the National Cathedral next.

Read more about the daring mission on our Teacher Blog

Amanda Crosby, right, and Belinda Dods of New Zealand celebrate placing the final screw on the deck of their house

What does it take to build a solar village, where homes not only are designed to create more energy than they use but are comfortable and cool to look at, too? Some 19 student teams from U.S. and international colleges found out this past weekend as they began installing their entries to the 2011 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. The answer: lots of hands-on work involving hammers, wrenches, plumbing, and construction cranes.

The flurry of activity capped the students’ two-year effort to prepare for the competition (we covered the 2009 one here), which this year takes place from September 23 to October 2.

The judges won’t have an easy time picking the winner from this ‘hood full of ingenious–and distinct–homes springing up near the Washington Monument.  Middlebury College’s traditional-looking “self-reliant” farmhouse, for instance stands in stark contrast to Team Belgium’s futuristic E-Cube. In keeping with its Chesapeake Bay preservation theme, the University of Maryland’s WaterShed features a V-shaped green roof and constructed wetland to help filter “gray water” from the shower. By contrast, City College of New York students designed a modular Solar Roofpod that could turn unused space atop skyscrapers into an energy-efficient penthouse.

Here are some photo highlights from the build – for more information and student interviews, check out our story here. Stay up-to-date on Solar Decathlon happenings on the DOE blog.

SCI-Arc/Caltech students work to finish the interior of their house

Team New York’s house appears ready for public tours

Ohio State students work on sanding their handrail

University of Maryland student Isabel Enerson focuses her attention towards landscaping as the team prepares their house

A student from Canada’s team works on the solar panels at the team house

Photos: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

Michigan State University, East Lansing

Civil Engineering

“As a young kid, I would spend hours playing with Legos. I loved having thousands of them at my disposal to design whatever I could dream up. In fifth grade, I was assigned a project to write about where I saw myself in 20 years. I explained to my teacher that I enjoyed playing with Legos, and she said that I should consider engineering.”

Planning a road trip this summer? Whether en route to a beach, lake, or national park, there are plenty of engineering landmarks to admire along the way — including the interstate highway system along which most travelers must pass. Here are some designated engineering destinations worth braking for:

Hoover Dam: More than a million visitors a year tour this National Landmark (pictured at the top) that towers 725 above the Colorado River 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, NV. Read ASEE’s Prism magazine columnist Henry Petroski on the dam’s 75th anniversary.

Lookouts on Chicago’s Willis Tower Sky Deck and Grand Canyon skywalk.

Erie Canal, Albany to Buffalo, N.Y. Completed in 1825, the canal opened a commercial route from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes. An historic civil-engineering landmark.

Mississippi River levees: The great Mississippi flood of 1927 spurred efforts to improve the river’s channel and navigation, protect its banks, prevent future floods and promote commerce – the most complex domestic engineering problem yet tackled by the U.S. government. The resulting $12 billion worth of levees, basin improvements, channel stabilization and floodways held until Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Calif. The elegant span across San Francisco Bay (pictured above) turned 75 this Memorial Day weekend. It opened to pedestrians on May 27, 1937 and for traffic the following day; the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed it a $35 million steel harp. At 4,200 feet, the bridge was the longest span in the world until the New York’s Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened in 1964. Seven overseas bridges have surpassed both U.S. spans.

Brooklyn Bridge, New York, N.Y. Completed in 1883, the iconic East River span was once the longest suspension bridge and is just one of the city’s many iconic structures — along with the Holland Tunnel, Statue of Liberty, and subway system — designated historic civil-engineering landmarks by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Mount Washington Cog Railway, near Bretton Woods, N.H. America’s first cog railway, the coal-powered train has been ferrying tourists and researchers to the summit of Mt. Washington, the northeast’s highest peak at 6,288 feet, from the Marshfield base station for over a century. No. 18 on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ historic mechanical-engineering landmarks.

Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. At 555 feet – 5.125 inches, this popular destination in the nation’s capital is the world’s tallest stone structure.

Penobscot Narrows Bridge & Observatory, Maine. The 2,120-foot span outside Bangor is the first of its kind in the United States and has a Washington Monument-style obelisk with sweeping views of the mountainous countryside.

Shippingport Atomic Power Plant, Shippingport, Pa. The country’s first nuclear plant went online in 1957 (pictured above a year before its opening) and is one of more than 200 historic mechanical-engineering landmarks designated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge, between Cornish, N.H., and Windsor, Vt. Finished in 1866, this 204-foot span across the Connecticut River was the longest covered bridge in the country until Ohio’s Smolen-Gulf bridge opened in 2008.

Court Avenue, Bellefontaine, Ohio: A stretch near the courthouse built in 1891 is considered the first street paved with concrete in America.

Cascade Tunnel, Everett, Wash. A series of two tunnels, the second one, built in 1929 and still in operation, connects Chelan County in the east with King County in the west. At 7.8 miles, it’s America’s longest railroad tunnel.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel: Opened to acclaim in 1964, this 20-mile, four-lane wonder crosses over and under open waters where the Chesapeake meets the Atlantic off Virginia and Maryland. Its series of high bridges, low trestles, two mile-long tunnels, and man-made islands was dubbed an “outstanding civil engineering achievement” by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Rollercoasters! Anywhere, any time. Read about New Jersey’s Kingda Ka ride for info on one of the world’s tallest coasters.

Images:

U.S. Department of the Interior
Anirudh Koul/Flickr
U.S. Department of the Interior/Wikipedia

We have previously reported on many green initiatives related to building and roadway materials: smog-eating cement, concrete that can heal itself when it detects cracks, and pavement with solar-storing technology.

Now, civil engineers at Purdue University are working to design a cost-effective mixture for road construction and bridge support.

The lightweight mixture is composed of shredded tires and sand, and it is useful for supporting the area of roads and bridges that bears a majority of the weight or pressure, especially those areas built over soft, weak soil deposits. The mix can also be used as backfill behind retaining walls and to strengthen slopes prone to landslides.

According to a 2007 EPA report, 7.5 million tons of rubber end up as waste every year, most of it from vehicle tires. And only around 35 percent of tires are recycled. The Indiana Department of Transportation has used the new mixture on nine different projects and so far 1.1 million tires have been put to use, resulting in a material cost saving of $1.2 million.

On top of that, because the mix is more easily compacted than other materials, it uses less energy. And that’s a money-saver too.

Image: vagawi / flickr

Ask most engineers what drew them to the discipline, and crunching equations in the classroom probably doesn’t top any list. Studying explosions, building things, saving the planet—that’s more like it.  A growing number of programs now give undergraduates a crack at cutting-edge research—often on socially relevant projects. Want to save lives when tsunamis strike? How about landing a robot on Mars or designing bomb-proof embassies? Check out our continuing series of posts on the country’s coolest engineering classes, which demonstrate that the fundamentals can still be fun.

After Japan’s devastating tsunami, did you wonder about building safer shelters? Students at Oregon State University’s College of Engineering in Corvallis not only get to design such structures; they can test them against the forces of nature in the Tsunami Wave Basin, the world’s largest, most sophisticated facility for studying earthquake-generated monster swells.

How fast does water rush through streets? What about debris? Could a vertical evacuation shelter work? From the impact of sediment scouring to global warming’s effect on shorelines, the scenarios that researchers can model and measure in the 160-foot-long tank are as vast as the sea itself. Since the $6.4 million facility — which is part of the National Science Foundation’s earthquake simulation research network — opened in late 2003, hundreds of undergraduates and local middle school students have participated in tsunami shelter challenges.

Among them are students in Professor Michelle Teng’s junior fluid mechanics class at the University of Hawaii, which she co-teaches with structural engineering professor and tsunami researcher Ron Riggs.  The students are about to ship their tsunami shelter models to the OSU wave basin, where they will get a real-time view of how well the structures fare through tele-observation on April 26.

“The project has not only introduced the knowledge of tsunami hazard to our students but also demonstrated the new tools (remote learning, tele-observation and collaborations between different universities) in modern engineering education, ” notes Prof. Teng, who has taught the tsunami shelter class for the past three years.

What rivets most students, however, is witnessing the surge’s destructive powers first hand as it levels mock towns and turns their projects to debris. “I’ve never had a project that people reacted to like this one,” says Daniel Cox, OSU professor of civil and construction engineering and former director of the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, which includes the tsunami basin. “They really can identify with it.” Watch a test run below:

This year, Prof. Cox  has had the ultimate up-close reality check–conducting tsunami research in Japan. He found at least one connection between the tsunami structure challenge and the Japanese tsunami disaster. The principal of Nakahama Elementary School, realizing his students had no time to evacuate to higher ground, guided everyone to the roof of the earthquake-resistant building just steps from the coast. All lived and were rescued.