Process Engineering

An MIT device that makes the world’s most precise rulers—with “ticks” only a few hundred billionths of a meter apart—could impact fields from the manufacture of computer chips to space physics.

The Nanoruler is 10 to 1,000 times faster and more precise than other methods for patterning parallel lines and spaces (known collectively as gratings) across large surfaces more than 12 inches in diameter. Such large surfaces are key to a number of applications involving gratings, such as larger waf

In a major advance for cryogenics, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a compact, solid-state refrigerator capable of reaching temperatures as low as 100 milliKelvin. The refrigerator works by removing hot electrons in a manner similar to an evaporative air-conditioner or “swamp cooler.”

When combined with an X-ray sensor, also being developed at NIST, the instrument will be useful in semiconductor manufacturing for identifying trace conta

EUREKA project E! 2339 EUROENVIRON GRINDING project has developed an alternative, flexible and environmentally friendly manufacturing technology for the production of gears that can reduce production times from months to a matter of days.
It can be used for all kinds of gears and joints made from treated alloyed steel, heat-resistant nickel or titanium alloys, such as those used in turbine and jet engine blades.

The current production process for industrial gears is expensive in terms of

Scottish company IceRobotics has taken a further step towards bringing its innovative robotic milking technology to market thanks to a second round investment package of £430,000. This includes £75,000 from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts), the organisation that invests in UK creativity and innovation.

IceRobotics has developed a sophisticated vision-based sensor that can precisely target and track a cow’s teats, capturing the 3D coordinate data required to

Purdue University researchers have developed a new method to quickly and inexpensively create microfluidic chips, analytic devices with potential applications in food safety, biosecurity, clinical diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and other industries.

“This development democratizes the preparation of microfluidic biochips,” said Michael Ladisch, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. “This brings the design and manufacture of these devices

Space exploration and underground mining both take place in extreme environments – so perhaps it is not too surprising that technology developed for one field is now being applied to the other.

ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme is accelerating space technology spin-offs to the mining and the minerals industry sector. In a recent workshop with representatives from the sector, several potential areas were identified as being suitable for cooperation.
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