Engineering and Technology
Improving Electrode Microstructural Dynamics & Battery Performance – Dr Partha P. Mukherjee, Purdue University
Whether it be enabling renewable technologies, mobilising electric vehicles, or powering the electronic devices we carry, batteries are essential to modern life. As technology continues to advance, high-quality, long-lasting batteries are needed more than ever. Dr...
Wolfspeed & International Femtoscience – Creating a New Generation of Capacitors
Capacitors are a vital component in virtually every electronic device we use, and yet, innovations that make them more efficient have been a long time coming. Mr John Fraley and his colleagues at Wolfspeed, A Cree Company, and International Femtoscience are now...
Learning-Based Performance Optimisation of Uncertain Systems – Dr Ali Mesbah, University of California
Many systems in nature change in random, unpredictable ways over time. From the motions of microscopic particles in fluids to the daily price of stocks, random processes play a large role in systems we interact with every day. Also, because of our incomplete...
At the Forefront of Imaging & Remote Sensing – Innovative Imaging and Research (I2R)
Scientists and engineers often need tailored remote sensing instruments to understand complex phenomena. ‘Innovative Imaging and Research’, or ‘I2R’, located at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, is developing such instruments for particularly...
Collaborating to Study Interfaces in Miniaturised Materials – SFB 1083
Creating technologies from multiple materials with different physical properties can be hugely beneficial, but the process doesn’t come without its challenges. As we fabricate new devices, an understanding of the physics occurring at the interfaces where different...
Improving Aircraft Performance with Plasma Actuators – Drs Huu Duc Vo & Njuki W Mureithi, École Polytechnique de Montréal
Aeroplanes are required to change their trajectory many times during a flight. A system of adjustable surfaces that manage lift is typically used to meet this requirement. However, Dr Huu Duc Vo and Dr Njuki Mureithi from École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada, have...
Shaking Up the Physics of Vibration – Dr Wei-Chau Xie, University of Waterloo
Nuclear power plants may be some of the most secure structures in our society, but when subjected to earthquakes, they have the potential to cause major disasters. Dr Wei-Chau Xie of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, is now developing algorithms for...
Fostering Empathy in Engineering Education – Dr Nicola Sochacka, Dr Joachim Walther and Dr Shari Miller
Past research has found that engineering students graduate with less concern for the welfare of the public, and for the social implications of engineering design, than when they begin their studies. To address this issue, researchers from the University of Georgia...
Modelling Shock Waves and Particle Interactions in High-Speed Flows – Professor Gustaaf Jacobs, San Diego State University
Understanding how shock waves, flow dynamics and turbulence all interact and affect the distribution of particles has applications ranging from high-speed vehicles to explosions and even ocean sediment dynamics. Professor Gustaaf Jacobs at San Diego State University...
Statistical Methods for Small Data – Dr Rens van de Schoot, Utrecht University
Researchers are heavily reliant on statistical techniques that are based on large sample sizes. Therefore, attempts to gain useful information from small samples can often lead to biased, or incorrect conclusions. Dr Rens van de Schoot at Utrecht University has shown...
Harnessing Mobile Technology to Improve Student Retention – Dr Lori H. Silverman, Colytix Inc
Dr Lori Silverman, an expert in education and student retention, is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Colytix. The company, founded in 2016, is developing innovative tools for higher education students to improve success and retention rates in class, while...
Improving High Performance Data Analytics Platforms & Smart Systems: Resource Management and Middleware
Our rapidly increasing production of data is straining computer infrastructures to unprecedented levels. As researchers develop much-needed coping mechanisms, Dr Shikharesh Majumdar at Carleton University focuses on two important solutions to the issue: creating...
A Holistic Approach to the Energy Crisis – Dr Saniya LeBlanc, The George Washington University
Energy surrounds us in everything that we do – it’s in the sunlight that lights our world, it’s in the Earth beneath our feet, and it radiates from our own bodies. Yet we are currently facing an energy crisis like no other. New technologies are needed to push past...
Towards Low-Cost, Low-Impact Marine Renewable Energy – Drs Grace Chang and Craig Jones, Integral Consulting Inc.
As we move towards a sustainable future, there is a growing interest in marine renewable energy technologies such as marine hydrokinetic devices and offshore wind turbines. However, the viability of these technologies and the potential environmental effects associated...
Understanding the Effects of Severe Windstorms on Buildings – Dr John Ginger, James Cook University
As natural disasters are affecting an increasing number of people worldwide, risk mitigation by design is of primary concern to engineers. One of those engineers is Dr John Ginger, Professor of Civil Engineering and Research Director of the Cyclone Testing Station at...
Saving the World through Fertiliser and Fuel – Professors Colin A. Wolden and J. Douglas Way, Colorado School of Mines
At the turn of the century, two unassuming chemists collaborated on the seemingly mundane task of converting nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia. At the end of their collaboration, they had changed the course of our civilisation forever. At the Colorado School of...
A Three-Dimensional Model of Lung Cancer – Dr Samantha Meenach, University of Rhode Island
New and successful drug development for the treatment of lung cancer requires imaginative and creative thinking by scientists and doctors alike. Dr Samantha Meenach and her colleagues at the University of Rhode Island have developed an innovative approach for testing...
Big Student Experiences in Nanotechnology – Drs Andrea Holmes and Christina Wilson, Doane University
Nanotechnology is poised to be one of the most critical technologies of the near future, yet exposure to nanotechnology techniques is limited for many college students. Dr. Andrea Holmes and Dr. Christina Wilson of Doane University in Crete, Nebraska, are partnering...
Software for Realistic Simulations of Quantum Systems – Professor Hans De Raedt, University of Groningen
The potential capabilities of universal quantum computers have many of us excited, but there’s one problem – we aren’t close to building complex, functional quantum computers just yet. In the meantime, scientists need to test the capabilities of quantum computing...
Working in Space The Challenge for Mars and Beyond – Karen Feigh, Matthew J. Miller and Cameron Pittman
Professor Karen Feigh and Dr Matthew Miller from the Georgia Institute of Technology examine what support will be required when astronauts need to work outside in deep space, where communication with Earth takes tens of minutes. Software engineer, Cameron Pittman,...
Sustaining Industry into the Future – Professor Vladimir Strezov, Macquarie University
It is becoming increasingly critical to accurately assess our methods for producing energy, so that we can prosper without continuing to damage our planet’s delicate environment. Professor Vladimir Strezov and his team at Macquarie University are uncovering the...
Teaching a Computer to Sing – Jesse M. Heines and Daniel A. Walzer
As technology permeates more and more aspects of our daily lives, computer literacy and computer programming skills are more valuable than ever in the workplace. Professors Jesse Heines and Daniel Walzer of the University of Massachusetts Lowell are working at the...
Cuckoo Search Using Evolutionary Algorithms to Optimise Materials – Dr Ganesh Balasubramanian, Lehigh University
From the metal in our cars to the circuits in our phones, the materials we use in our everyday lives can be meticulously engineered on a molecular scale to suit our requirements. However, there are so many possible arrangements of atoms and molecules at this scale...
Exploiting Fibre Optics for Detecting Pipeline Leaks – Dr Bill Challener, GE Global Research
Some of the best ideas in science are ones that seem completely obvious – but only after someone else has thought them up. In the world of pipeline leak detection, Dr Bill Challener and his team at GE Global Research have dramatically extended the range of one of the...
How NASA’s Satellites Are Mapping the Way for Global Policy – Vanessa M. Escobar and Dr Molly E. Brown
NASA’s satellite technologies have provided a wealth of data about the planet, and can be tailored into usable products to support major decision makers across the world. Vanessa M. Escobar and Molly E. Brown are working to bring these data products to decision-making...
Indefinite Causal Order, Faster Computers and Fundamental Questions – Professor Philip Walther, University of Vienna
Quantum mechanics has greatly improved the speeds at which computers make calculations, but new research shows that quantum computers can be made to run even faster. Professor Philip Walther and his team at the University of Vienna have shown that the very orders in...
Stretchable Sensors Electronics on the Move – Dr Madhu Bhaskaran, RMIT University
Stretchable electronic devices have numerous applications in many fields, such as healthcare monitoring, communications and detecting dangerous substances. Dr Madhu Bhaskaran and her group at the RMIT University have developed an innovative new method for producing...
Creating the Eagle Nebula Pillars in the Lab – Drs Marc Pound, Jave Kane, Bruce Remington, David A. Martinez
The ‘Pillars of Creation’ is one of the most iconic images ever taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, but the processes that formed these colossal tendrils of the Eagle Nebula are still not entirely understood. To test emerging theories, Drs Marc Pound, Jave Kane,...
Finding Water in the Moon’s Shadows – Dr Craig Hardgrove, Arizona State University
The Moon’s poles are enriched in hydrogen, a key component of water-ice, but there’s still much to learn. Dr Craig Hardgrove and his colleagues at Arizona State University are leading the Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) mission, which aims to discover how much...
Hope for Humanity in the Energy Crisis: Astronomical Jets in a Lab – Professor Setthivoine You, University of Washington
If we consider Earth as a closed box in which humanity has only ever lived, the second law of thermodynamics says that in the end, inevitably, the box will reach a state of maximum disorder. So, in the long run, there are two important ways in which our species might...