Process Engineering

A team of University of Florida researchers has invented a way to rapidly detect traces of TNT or other hidden explosives simply by shining a light on any potentially contaminated object, from a speck of dust in the air to the surface of a suitcase. “We have to find explosives quickly, inexpensively and, particularly, reliably,” said Rolf Hummel, a UF professor emeritus of materials science and engineering who heads the lab where the method was invented.

The development provides in

ULIS SAS of France, a European leader in the field of low-cost infrared detectors for thermal imagery, has launched its latest, third-generation, uncooled 160×120 pixels microbolometer detector – the UL 02 05 1 – which operates at room temperature. The low cost of the device is one of its strongest selling points. By dividing the price of the system by three or even by four through the use of innovative microbolometers, ULIS has made infrared imagery available to markets such as industrial survei

Coatings used to protect the exposed wooden parts of buildings have to withstand all kinds of weather. To avoid over-frequent renovation, architects, builders and house-owners are advised to look for a reliable quality label. The relevant European standard is being revised.

A weather-beaten mountain chalet might look charming – but assaults by heat and cold, rain and sunshine, will eventually destroy even highly weather-resistant timber like larch. Outdoor paint or varnish is expecte

EUREKA project E! 2007 FACTORY PACK 2000 developed much more than a new packaging process for large items such as furniture and stone flooring. The system includes an advanced vision system, uses only one recyclable packaging material, offers additional environmental benefits by using less material and producing less waste – and is set to generate a 30% increase in turnover for the Italian lead partner, Aetna.

The project initially developed a new recyclable plastic packaging materi

Researchers master self-assembly of novel nanodots

Using pulsed lasers, researchers have coaxed the metal nickel to self-assemble into arrays of nanodots – each spot a mere seven nanometers (seven billionths of a meter) across – one-tenth the diameter of existing nanodots.

Because the method works with a variety of materials and may drastically reduce imperfections, the new procedure may also bolster research into extremely hard materials and efforts to develop ultra-dens

Want a tennis racket that propels balls faster than a race car or a sturdy ship hull that never rusts? Finding the recipes for such remarkable materials – called amorphous metals – should be easier using a new computational approach developed by Carnegie Mellon University physicist Michael Widom.

Described in an upcoming issue of Phys. Rev. B (September 1, 2004), this method already has been used to virtually generate recipes for more than 1,700 structures, many of which have never b