Industry News

July 2018
Three £5 million energy research hubs and a new £1 million network in solar energy that will build multidisciplinary collaborations between universities, academic bodies and industry were announced today by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The three Supergen Energy hubs will
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Date:
07/27/2018

New Geometric Shape Used by Nature to Pack Cells Efficiently

a) Scheme representing planar columnar/cubic monolayer epithelia. Cells are simplified as prisms. b) Scheme illustrating a fold in a columnar/cubic monolayer epithelium. Cells adopt the called "bottle 23 shape" that would be simplified as frusta. c) Mathematical model for an epithelial tube. d) Modelling clay figures illustrating two scutoids participating in a transition and two schemes for scutoids solids. Scutoids are characterized by having at least a vertex in a different plane to the two bases and present curved surfaces. e) A dorsal view of a Protaetia speciose beetle of the Cetoniidae family. The white lines highlight the resemblance of its scutum, scutellum and wings with the shape of the scutoids. Illustration from Dr. Nicolas Gompel, with permission. f) Three-dimensional reconstruction of the cells forming a tube. The four-cell motif (green, yellow, blue and red cells) shows an apico-basal cell intercalation. g) Detail of the apico-basal transition, showing how the blue and yellow cells contact in the apical part, but not in the basal part. The figure also shows that scutoids present concave surfaces.

As an embryo develops, tissues bend into complex three-dimensional shapes that lead to organs. Epithelial cells are the building blocks of this process forming, for example, the outer layer of skin. They also line the blood vessels and organs of all animals. These cells pack together tightly. To accommodate the curvi
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Date:
07/27/2018
Europe Thrives on Renewables Despite Unpredictable Weather

This graphical abstract shows the impact of long-term weather variability on the operation of the European power system and how this scales with uptake of wind and solar power out to 2030. We find that ambitious decarbonization leads to much greater influence of long-term weather patterns, with a 5-fold increase in operational variability by 2030. Several relevant metrics can be reasonably approximated by linear functions of variable renewable penetration, providing a shortcut for estimating the impacts of intermittency.

Researchers in Ireland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom have shown how long-term weather patterns affect wind and solar renewable energy technologies across Europe. Using 30 years of meteorological data, the scientists have examined and further modelled the impact of renewable energy on the electricity sector ou
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Date:
07/26/2018
WASHINGTON - The science questions that could be answered by an electron ion collider (EIC) - a very large-scale particle accelerator - are significant to advancing our understanding of the atomic nuclei that make up all visible matter in the universe, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, En
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Date:
07/25/2018
Organic Solar Cells Used in Roof Tiles Generating Power

A solar tile

An international team of materials scientists from France, Russia and Kazakhstan found a way to boost the efficiency of organic solar cells several times. The new study, published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, has shown that ordered structures based on organic molecules can be used to produce solar power
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Date:
07/25/2018
Feds Back Rice U. Study of Nanoscale Electrocatalysis

Rice University's Stephan Link and Christy Landes are both professors of chemistry and of electrical and computer engineering.

HOUSTON - The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences has awarded Rice University researchers $1.1 million to study single nanoparticles and their ability to act as electrocatalysts. The Rice laboratories of Christy Landes and Stephan Link, both professors of chemistry and of electrical and comput
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Date:
07/25/2018
Hydrogen and Plastic Production: Catalyst With Dual Function

Dulce Morales, Steffen Cychy, Stefan Barwe, Dennis Hiltrop, Martin Muhler and Wolfgang Schuhmann (from left)

Chemists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have developed a new, low-cost catalyst for plastic production. It turns a biorefinery product into a starting material for the synthesis of plastics, which could represent a sustainable alternative to widespread PET. At the same time, the potential energy source hydrogen ca
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Date:
07/24/2018
New Video Game Teaches Teens About Electricity

This is a screenshot from Wired.

A new video game, designed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, gives teenagers an understanding of electricity by solving a series of puzzles in a bid to encourage more of them to study engineering at university. The game, called Wired, is available to download and play for free from today, and teach
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Date:
07/24/2018
Creating Material to Miniaturize Telecommunication Devices

Modern communication systems often employ optical fibers to carry signals across or between devices, combining more than one function into a single circuit. However, signal transmission requires long optical fibers, which makes miniaturizing the device difficult. Instead of long optical fibers, scientists have started testing planar waveguides. In the Journal of Applied Physics, investigators report on a laser-assisted study of a type of glass that shows promise as a material for broadband planar waveguide amplifiers. This is a microscopy image of ultrafast laser ablation craters in tellurite-based glass

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Modern communication systems often employ optical fibers to carry signals across or between devices. The integrated optics in these devices combine more than one function into a single circuit. However, signal transmission requires long optical fibers, which makes it difficult to miniaturize th
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Date:
07/24/2018
A New 'Periodic Table' For Nanomaterials

Molecules interact and align with each other as they self-assemble. This new simulation enables to find what molecules best interact with each other to build nanomaterials, such as materials that work as a nano electrical wire.

The approach was developed by Daniel Packwood of Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) and Taro Hitosugi of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. It involves connecting the chemical properties of molecules with the nanostructures that form as a result of their interaction. A mac
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Date:
07/23/2018
Nanocrystals Emit Light by Efficiently 'Tunneling' Electrons

Left: schematics of the tunnel junction formed by two edge-to-edge silver single crystal cuboids with an insulating barrier of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The top inset shows that photons are generated through inelastic electron tunneling. The device performance can be engineered by tuning the size of the cuboids (a, b, c), the gap size (d), and the curvature of silver cuboid edges. Right: TEM image of the tunnel junction, where the gap is around 1.5 nm.

Using advanced fabrication techniques, engineers at the University of California San Diego have built a nanosized device out of silver crystals that can generate light by efficiently "tunneling" electrons through a tiny barrier. The work brings plasmonics research a step closer to realizing ultra-compact li
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Date:
07/23/2018
DOE Invests $64 Million in Advanced Nuclear Technology

Hyun Gook Kang, associate professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer, is the principal investigator.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $64 million in awards for advanced nuclear energy technology to DOE national laboratories, industry, and 39 U.S. universities in 29 states. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been awarded $800,000 for analysis of nuclear power plants' accident propagation and
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Date:
07/20/2018
Future Electronic Components to be Printed Like Newspapers

Roll-to-roll laser-induced superplasticity, a new fabrication method, prints metals at the nanoscale needed for making electronic devices ultrafast.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A new manufacturing technique uses a process similar to newspaper printing to form smoother and more flexible metals for making ultrafast electronic devices. The low-cost process, developed by Purdue University researchers, combines tools already used in industry for manufacturing metals on
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Date:
07/19/2018
Processing Tricks Allow Creation of New Laser Material

By doping alumina crystals with neodymium ions, engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new laser material that is capable of emitting ultra-short, high-power pulses -- a combination that could potentially yield smaller, more powerful lasers with superior thermal shock resistance, broad tunability and high-duty cycles.

By doping alumina crystals with neodymium ions, engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new laser material that is capable of emitting ultra-short, high-power pulses--a combination that could potentially yield smaller, more powerful lasers with superior thermal shock resistance, br
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Date:
07/18/2018
Electric Car Batteries Use Electrolytes For Longer Ranges
College Park, Md. -- The success of electric car batteries depends on the miles that can be driven on a single charge, but the current crop of lithium-ion batteries are reaching their natural limit of how much charge can be packed into any given space, keeping drivers on a short tether. Now, researchers at the Un
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Date:
07/17/2018
Electronic Stickers Streamline Large-Scale Internet of Things
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Billions of objects ranging from smartphones and watches to buildings, machine parts and medical devices have become wireless sensors of their environments, expanding a network called the "internet of things." As society moves toward connecting all objects to the internet
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Date:
07/17/2018
New 3D Printing Camp Inspires Teens in STEM
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ­— The technology of 3D printing is exploding across numerous industries from 3D-printed homes to healthcare devices and components used in space craft and aircraft. Middle and high school students in a new Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University summer camp learned first-hand last week
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Date:
07/17/2018
How to Build Efficient Organic Solar Cells

This is Feng Gao, associate professor at Linköping University, Sweden.

Twenty-five researchers from seven research institutes have put their heads together to draw up rules for designing high-efficiency organic solar cells. The research is led by Feng Gao, associate professor at Linkoping University, Sweden. Organic solar cells, made from carbon-based materials, present unique ad
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Date:
07/16/2018
Emotional Robot Lets You Feel How It's 'Feeling'
ITHACA, N.Y. - Cornell University researchers have developed a prototype of a robot that can express "emotions" through changes in its outer surface. The robot's skin covers a grid of texture units whose shapes change based on the robot's feelings. Assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering
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Date:
07/16/2018
An Easy Perovskite Catalyst for the Oxidation of Sulfides
Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a ruthenium-based perovskite catalyst that shows strong activity even at low temperatures (down to 313 K). The reusable catalyst does not require additives, meaning that it can prevent the formation of toxic by-products. The oxidation of sulfides is a
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Date:
07/13/2018
Strengthening US Manufacturing Using Advanced Robotics

Robot assembly.

Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) has awarded $1.4 million in project funding to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as part of its first round of funding to strengthen U.S. manufacturing. ARM selected projects that will generate timely impact on the national manufacturing landscape and serve as examples of
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Date:
07/13/2018
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. - Sager Electronics expands its hours of operation, today announced its selection as NMB Technologies 2017 Distributor of the Year. NMB Technologies awarded the honor at the 2018 Electronics Distribution Show (EDS) held May 15-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada. "NMB is delighted to recognize
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Date:
07/13/2018
Singapore - Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) is partnering with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to develop innovative and energy-efficient solutions in the recycling and recovery of resources from electrical and electronic waste (e-waste). The agreement
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Date:
07/13/2018
Can Ultrashort Electron Flashes Help Harvest Nuclear Energy?
The lab of Fabrizio Carbone at EPFL and their international colleagues have used ultrafast Transmission Electron Microscopy to take attosecond energy-momentum resolved snapshots (1 attosecond = 10-18 or quintillionths of a second) of a free-electron wave function. Though unprecedented in itself, the scientists al
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Date:
07/12/2018
A Step Closer to Single-Atom Data Storage

LEFT: STM image of Holmium single atom magnets. RIGHT: and Cobalt helper atoms on magnesium oxide.

Despite the rise of solid-state drives, magnetic storage devices such as conventional hard drives and magnetic tapes are still very common. But as our data-storage needs are increasing at a rate of almost 15 million gigabytes per day, scientists are turning to alternative storage devices. One of these are singl
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Date:
07/11/2018
Salt Leads to Cheaper and More Efficient Batteries
A new design of rechargeable battery, created using salt, could lead the way for greener energy. Researchers at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) have joined forces with a specialist group at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences on designs for the novel en
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Date:
07/09/2018
New Microscopy Works at Extreme Heat

Afsaneh Rabiei is pictured here with the device she developed that can capture scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images in real time at temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius while applying stresses as high as two gigapascal.

A new microscopy technique allows researchers to track microstructural changes in real time, even when a material is exposed to extreme heat and stress. Recently, researchers show that a stainless steel alloy called alloy 709 has potential for elevated temperature applications such as nuclear reactor structures. "Alloy 709 is ex
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Date:
07/09/2018
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. - Sager Electronics announces its certification to the latest industry standards: ISO 9001:2015 and AS9120B. The ISO 9001 quality management system is a tool designed to help organizations improve efficiencies and customer satisfaction. The latest revision, ISO 9001:2015, has been update
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Date:
07/06/2018
Thermoelectric Generator Has Thermal Difference of Only 5ºC

Conventional thermoelectric generator (left) and newly developed thermoelectric generator (right).

Objects in our daily lives, such as speakers, refrigerators, and even cars, are becoming "smarter" day by day as they connect to the internet and exchange data, creating the Internet of Things (IoT), a network among the objects themselves. Toward an IoT-based society, a miniaturized thermoelectric ge
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Date:
07/06/2018
Bacteria-Powered Solar Cell Converts Light to Energy, Even Under Overcast Skies
University of British Columbia researchers have found a cheap, sustainable way to build a solar cell using bacteria that convert light to energy. Their cell generated a current stronger than any previously recorded from such a device, and worked as efficiently in dim light as in bright light. This innovation could
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Date:
07/05/2018
Nitride Semiconductor for Environmental Photovoltaics

(a) This is a copper and Copper Nitride. (b) Theoretical Calculation for P-type and N-type Copper Nitride. (c) Direct Observation of Fluorine Position in Fluorine-doped Copper Nitride. (a) An image of thin film copper plates before and after reacting with ammonia and oxygen. Copper metal has been transformed to copper nitride. (b) Copper insertion for an n-type semiconductor and fluorine insertion for a p-type semiconductor. (c) Nitrogen plotted in red, fluorine in green, and copper in blue. Fluorine is located at the open space of the crystal as predicted by the theoretical calculation.

A Tokyo Institute of Technology research team has shown copper nitride acts as an n-type semiconductor, with p-type conduction provided by fluorine doping, utilizing a unique nitriding technique applicable for mass production and a computational search for appropriate doping elements, as well as atomically resolved mi
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Date:
07/03/2018
Artificial Intelligence Accurately Predicts Distribution of Radioactive Fallout
Tokyo - When a nuclear power plant accident occurs and radioactive material is released, it is vital to evacuate people in the vicinity as quickly as possible. However, it can be difficult to immediately predict where the emitted radioactivity will settle, making it impossible to prevent the exposure of large nu
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Date:
07/02/2018
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