Engineering
Categories
Not sure where to start? Choose a topic below.
Study estimates land available for biofuel crops
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Using detailed land analysis, Illinois researchers have found that biofuel crops cultivated on available land could produce up to half of the world’s current fuel consumption – without affecting food crops or pastureland. Published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, the study led by civil and environmental engineering professor Ximing Cai […]
Newly developed cloak hides underwater objects from sonar
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In one University of Illinois lab, invisibility is a matter of now you hear it, now you don’t. Led by mechanical science and engineering professor Nicholas Fang, Illinois researchers have demonstrated an acoustic cloak, a technology that renders underwater objects invisible to sonar and other ultrasound waves. “We are not talking about […]
Are there still holes in aviation security, 10 years after 9/11?
Sheldon H. Jacobson, a U. of I. computer science professor and expert on aviation security, discusses what the future of airport security screening might look like, and what can be done to eliminate the threats of today, with News Bureau reporter Phil Ciciora. If aviation security checkpoint operations could be re-created from scratch, what would […]
Pediatric vaccine stockpile policies need to be revisited, researcher says
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Vaccine manufacturers and public health decision-makers need to collaborate in a more efficient and effective manner not only to reduce the likelihood of supply shortages for pediatric vaccines but also to maximize community immunity by using vaccine doses to increase coverage, according to research published by a University of Illinois researcher who […]
Ditch the gadgets while driving in Memorial Day weekend traffic
Tens of millions of drivers will take to the nation’s highways in the 14 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend. With driver distraction thought to be the cause of nearly 80 percent of all automobile accidents in the U.S., resulting in about 2,600 deaths, 330,000 injuries and 1.5 million instances of property damage […]
Study: Cell-phone bans while driving have more impact in dense, urban areas
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new study analyzing the impact of hand-held cell phone legislation on driving safety concludes that usage-ban laws had more of an impact in densely populated urban areas with a higher number of licensed drivers than in rural areas where there are fewer licensed drivers, according to a University of Illinois researcher. […]
Team finds link between stomach-cancer bug and cancer-promoting factor
CHAMPAIGN, lll. – Researchers report that Helicobacter pylori, the only bacterium known to survive in the harsh environment of the human stomach, directly activates an enzyme in host cells that has been associated with several types of cancer, including gastric cancer. Chronic infection with H. pylori is a well-documented risk factor for several forms of […]
U. of I. team is top U.S. finisher in Solar Decathlon competition
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A team of students from the University of Illinois won second place today (Oct. 16) in the 2009 Solar Decathlon design competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Winners of the international contest were announced this morning in Washington, D.C., by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Poneman. The interdisciplinary team […]
Ultrathin LEDs create new classes of lighting and display systems
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new process for creating ultrathin, ultrasmall inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and assembling them into large arrays offers new classes of lighting and display systems with interesting properties, such as see-through construction and mechanical flexibility, that would be impossible to achieve with existing technologies. Applications for the arrays, which can be printed […]
Rethinking Brownian motion with the emperor’s new clothes
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In the classic fairy tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” Hans Christian Andersen uses the eyes of a child to challenge conventional wisdom and help others to see more clearly. In similar fashion, researchers at the University of Illinois have now revealed the naked truth about a classic bell-shaped curve used to describe […]
New silver-based ink has applications in printed electronics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new ink developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows them to write their own silver linings. The ink, composed of silver nanoparticles, can be used in electronic and optoelectronic applications to create flexible, stretchable and spanning microelectrodes that carry signals from one circuit element to another. The printed microelectrodes […]
High-speed signal mixer demonstrates capabilities of transistor laser
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scientists at the University of Illinois have successfully demonstrated a microwave signal mixer made from a tunnel-junction transistor laser. Development of the device brings researchers a big step closer to higher speed electronics and higher performance electrical and optical integrated circuits. The mixing device accepts two electrical inputs and produces an optical […]