Process Engineering

The Department of Homeland Security is backing research on lab-on-a-chip sensors that might guard the nation’s food supply better than the current system of tamper-resistant lids and freshness dates.

Whitaker investigator David Beebe, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed a process to make on-demand, miniature sensors for a wide variety of poisons, including naturally occurring contaminants and intentionally introduced toxins.

The sensors can be constructe

Devin Balkcom, a student in Carnegie Mellon University’s doctoral program in robotics, was looking for a challenge when he decided to develop the world’s first origami-folding robot as the subject of his thesis. Origami, the ancient Japanese art of paper sculpture, looks deceptively simple at first glance.

“It’s something we humans can do well, but we don’t understand the mechanical details,” said Balkcom. “Because a five-year-old child can learn to fold origami, we assu

Wind tunnel tests of scale-model humpback whale flippers have revealed that the scalloped, bumpy flipper is a more efficient wing design than is currently used by the aeronautics industry on airplanes. The tests show that bump-ridged flippers do not stall as quickly and produce more lift and less drag than comparably sized sleek flippers.

The tests were reported by biomechanicist Frank Fish of West Chester University, Penn., fluid dynamics engineer Laurens Howle of the Pratt School of Engin

A group of researchers at the Public University of Navarre, together with Volkswagen Navarra, have designed an individual system for the intelligent detection of cracks in links in production assembly lines to which a detector of wear and tear in bolts has been incorporated.

The project is part of the joint working agreement that Volkswagen Navarra have had with the Public University of Navarre since 1997 and which has produced a number of results in the field of applied R+D. In this case i

Imagine throwing out your old shrimp shells after dinner–in a bag made of shrimp shells. In his doctoral dissertation, Mikael Gällstedt at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden describes how we can make environmentally friendly packing out of garbage.

The number of grocery packages is constantly growing. Most packages are made of plastic, which both adds to the mountains of waste and uses oil reserves. There are good reasons to look for smart, environmentally friendly alternatives.

Researchers at Purdue University are working with industry to develop an “intelligent” system that could save U.S. companies $1 billion annually in manufacturing costs by improving precision-grinding processes for parts production.

“Precision grinding is currently an art that relies heavily on the experience and knowledge of employees who have been in the business for years,” said Yung Shin, a professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the Purdue portion of the research. “The problem