Industry News

August 2018
Air Pollution Can Put a Dent in Solar Power
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Ian Marius Peters, now an MIT research scientist, was working on solar energy research in Singapore in 2013 when he encountered an extraordinary cloud of pollution. The city was suddenly engulfed in a foul-smelling cloud of haze so thick that from one side of a street you couldn't see the bui
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Date:
08/30/2018
High-Performance Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells

Non-fullerene polymer solar cells exhibit high performance and are easy to commercialize.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) has driven their efficiencies to above 10% to reach a viable level for commercialization. However, the increase in the photoactive layer thickness has resulted in lower efficiency levels, which therefore brings much complex manufacturing process. A research team, led by Professor
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Date:
08/30/2018
Murata Invests in MEMS Sensor Manufacturing in Finland
Smyrna, GA – Murata announced that is expanding its MEMS sensor manufacturing by building a new factory in Vantaa, Finland to increase the sensor production capacity. Total value of the investment is five billion yen. With the expansion, the company estimates to create 150–200 new jobs in 2018–2019. The ME
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Date:
08/28/2018
Gas-Sensing Drones Draw NSF Backing

Rice University postdoctoral researcher Riccardo Petrolo shows one of several autonomous aerial drones being prepared to monitor for pollutants. The National Science Foundation awarded a grant to the Rice lab of electrical and computer engineer Edward Knightly to develop the platform.

Rice University researchers, in a collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and Houston nonprofit Technology For All (TFA), are developing a fleet of autonomous aerial drones that coordinate with each other to detect, track and model the environment and let neighborhoods know of airborne perils that can be
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Date:
08/28/2018
New Molecular Wires for Single-Molecule Electronic Devices

The proposed wire is 'doped' with a ruthenium unit that enhances its conductance to unprecedented levels compared with previously reported similar molecular wires.

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology designed a new type of molecular wire doped with organometallic ruthenium to achieve unprecedentedly higher conductance than earlier molecular wires. The origin of high conductance in these wires is fundamentally different from similar molecular devices and suggests a
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Date:
08/28/2018
Next-Generation Material in Energy Storage Devices

The fabrication schematic diagram of FeCo-selenide//Fe2O3 asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC). The FeCo-selenide and Fe2O3 electrodes serve as positive and negative electrodes respectively that both show excellent electrochemical performance. In addition, the fabricated ASC was connected to form a series circuit to light the "CUMT" board, which can be viewed as a promising candidate for large scale hybrid devices applications.

In a paper to be published in the forthcoming issue of NANO, a team of researchers from the China University of Mining and Technology have fabricated an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) based on FeCo-selenide nanosheet arrays as positive electrode and Fe2O3 nanorod arrays as negative electrode. There is evidence that F
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Date:
08/28/2018
A Novel Nanoactuator System Has Been Developed

Gold nanoparticles tethered on a BSA-protein-protected gold surface via hairpin-DNA are moved reversibly using electric fields, while monitoring their position and DNA conformation optically via changes of its plasmon resonance (by color).

Researchers at University of Jyväskylä (Finland) and University of Tampere (Finland) together with BioNavis Ltd (Finland) have developed a novel nanoactuator system, where conformation of biomolecule can be tuned by electric field and probed using optical properties of gold nanoparticle. Over the past deca
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Date:
08/28/2018
Developing Novel Light Beams From Synchrotron Radiation
A new study has demonstrated a method that produces novel light beams from synchrotron light sources, opening up a new way to generate X-ray beams. Structured light, created using the process of generating and applying light to a surface, is important in many of today's devices, such as 3D scanners, dual photo
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Date:
08/27/2018
Water Vapor Annealing Technique on Diamond Surfaces for Next-Generation Power Devices

Schematic illustration of the formation of OH-terminated diamond (111) surface by water vapor annealing of H-terminated one.

Kanazawa - Diamonds are adored for their dazzling beauty, often displayed in exquisite jewelry. But, this solid form of carbon is also renowned for its outstanding physical and electronic properties. In Japan, a collaboration between researchers at Kanazawa University's Graduate School of Natural Science an
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Date:
08/27/2018
Federal R&D Increased 3% Between Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017
Federal obligations for research and development (R&D) totaled an estimated $118.3 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, an increase of 2.8 percent from total federal R&D obligations in FY2016. Total obligations for research declined 0.3 percent to $66.5 billion in FY2017. Data are from the most recent Su
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Date:
08/27/2018
Getting a Charge out of MOFs

At left, a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of an iron BDP MOF crystal; at right, an iron BDP MOF single-crystal device bonded to a platinum microelectrode array.

MOFs - or metal-organic frameworks - are highly customizable porous network solids featuring cages that can come in many sizes and can attract and hold a variety of chemical components, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen gases. And it's this versatile specificity that gives MOFs so much potential for
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Date:
08/27/2018
AVX Receives 4-Star Supplier Excellence Award from Raytheon
FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. -- AVX Corporation was recently honored with a 4-Star Supplier Excellence Award from Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business unit. Now in its twelfth year, the annual Raytheon IDS Supplier Excellence Awards recognize suppliers who have provided outstanding service and partnership in
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Date:
08/27/2018
A Novel Graphene Quantum Dot Structure Takes the Cake

Electrons arranged in a wedding-cake like structure, a concentric series of insulating (red) and conducting (blue) rings, due to magnetic confinement in graphene. The height of each tier represents the energy of the electrons in that tier.

In a marriage of quantum science and solid-state physics, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used magnetic fields to confine groups of electrons to a series of concentric rings within graphene, a single layer of tightly packed carbon atoms. This tiered "wedding cake,&quo
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Date:
08/24/2018
Chemists from the University of Waterloo have successfully resolved two of the most challenging issues surrounding lithium-oxygen batteries, and in the process created a working battery with near 100 per cent coulombic efficiency. The new work, which appears this week in Science, proves that four-electron conv
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Date:
08/24/2018
Computing Catalysts

Reaction mechanism showing a proton transfer from the superacid catalyst to isobutylene. This is the first step in the PIB polymerization process.

PITTSBURGH ... Polyisobutylene (PIB) is a workhorse polymer that is found in a multitude of products, ranging from chewing gum, to tires, to engine oil and gasoline additives. Although commercially produced in large quantities since the 1940s, PIB chemistry was a mystery - scientists weren't sure how the reaction mec
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Date:
08/24/2018
Brownies Reach For The Stars With New Space Badge

This is Girlguiding and STEM.

Girlguiding, the Royal Astronomical Society and the UK Space Agency have teamed up to give girls and young women in the UK unique and exciting opportunities to engage with astronomy beyond the classroom. As part of the partnership, the Royal Astronomical Society, through its RAS 200: Sky & Earth programme
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Date:
08/23/2018
Improved Thermal-Shock Resistance in Industrial Ceramics

At high temperatures, ceramics are susceptible to thermal-shock fractures caused by rapid temperature-changing events, such as cold water droplet contact with hot surfaces. In a novel interdisciplinary approach, engineers at the University of New Mexico report in AIP Advances the use of a cheap, simple, water-repelling coating to prevent thermal shock in ceramics. These are snapshots of hot surface and cold droplet interaction at 3 milliseconds at 300 degrees Celsius: (a) on as-received alumina ceramics and (b) on an engineered hydrophobic surface.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ceramic materials are used in nuclear, chemical and electrical power generation industries because of their ability to withstand extreme environments. However, at high temperatures, ceramics are susceptible to thermal-shock fractures caused by rapid temperature-changing events, such as cold wa
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Date:
08/22/2018
Improved Understanding of Industrial Electrode Processes

Part of the Bochum research team: Alexander Botz, Denis Öhl and Tsvetan Tarnev (from the left)

In the industrial production of chlorine, recently special electrodes have been introduced, which consume much less current than conventional systems. The method requires oxygen which is introduced into hot, highly concentrated sodium hydroxide solution, in which it is poorly soluble. It is still unclear how in
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Date:
08/22/2018
Powerbox presents Enhanced Rail Power Solutions at Innotrans 2018
From low power board-mounted DC/DC converters up to fully customized power solutions delivering multi-kilowatts, PRBX-ERPS is one of the most flexible and adaptable power solutions for railway applications. Designed to reduce time to market and meet specific rail industry requirements, PRBX-ERPS building blocks and
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Date:
08/22/2018
Powerstax appoints new Design Engineer
Harit recently completed his Masters in Electrical Power Engineering from University of Greenwich with Distinction. “I really appreciated the warm welcome I received from everyone at Powerstax,” Harit comments “I am proud to be starting my career at a company where I can be involved in the complete design cy
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Date:
08/22/2018
Calculating a New Design

Dr. Wei Xiong (left) and Dr. Albert To in Pitt's ANSYS Additive Manufacturing Research Laboratory.

PITTSBURGH ... A research collaboration led by the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering is one of 15 national projects to receive nearly $8.8 million in Department of Energy (DOE) funding for cost-shared research and development initiatives to develop innovative technologies that enhance fos
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Date:
08/21/2018
Asia's First Fully Solar-Powered Quadcopter Drone
Aircraft that can take off and land directly without the need for a runway - such as helicopters and quadcopters - are attractive for personal, commercial and military applications as they require less physical space and infrastructure compared to traditional fixed wing planes. A team from the National University of
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Date:
08/21/2018
Seeking a New Element in Artificial Intelligence: Trust
BROOKLYN, New York, Tuesday - For decades, the cybersecurity community has devised protections to fend off malicious software attacks and identify and fix flaws that can disrupt the computing programs that are central to all aspects of life. Now, a team of researchers from New York University Tandon School of En
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Date:
08/21/2018
A GPS for Inside Your Body

This is MIT professor Dina Katabi.

Medical processes like imaging often require cutting someone open or making them swallow huge tubes with cameras on them. But what if could get the same results with methods that are less expensive, invasive and time-consuming? Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) le
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Date:
08/20/2018
Electrons Congregate so it Could be Useful to 'Valleytronics'

Elliptical orbits of bismuth surface electrons in a large magnetic field. The orientation and interference patterns of the electronic states reveal that the electrons prefer to occupy a single valley. Image created using a theoretical model of the data.

A Princeton-led study has revealed an emergent electronic behavior on the surface of bismuth crystals that could lead to insights on the growing area of technology known as "valleytronics." The term refers to energy valleys that form in crystals and that can trap single electrons. These valleys p
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Date:
08/20/2018
CELEST: New Benchmarks in Energy Storage Research

Doctoral candidate Niyousha Karimi Paridari studies electrochemical properties of various materials for use in new energy storage technologies.

Electrochemical energy storage is a key technology of the 21st century. Now, the Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Ulm & Karlsruhe (CELEST), one of the most ambitious research platforms in this area worldwide, has started operation. It combines finding-oriented research with close-to-practice development an
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Date:
08/17/2018
Color Effects From Transparent 3D Printed Nanostructures

Light hits the 3-D printed nanostructures from below. After it is transmitted through, the viewer sees only green light -- the remaining colors are redirected.

Most of the objects we see are colored by pigments, but using pigments has disadvantages: such colors can fade, industrial pigments are often toxic, and certain color effects are impossible to achieve. The natural world, however, also exhibits structural coloration, where the microstructure of an object causes va
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Date:
08/17/2018
HOUSTON -- American Electric Technologies, Inc. announced that it has completed the closing of the previously announced agreement to sell certain assets of its M&I Electric Industries, Inc. subsidiary to a subsidiary of Myers Power Products, Inc. The Company also announced the resignation today of its Ch
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Date:
08/15/2018
App That Will Extend Your Smartphone Battery Life
New research out of the University of Waterloo has found a novel method to extend the battery life of smartphones for up to an hour each day. The researchers have developed an app which smartphone users can use to reduce the energy consumption of their devices without any significant impact on perfor
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Date:
08/15/2018
Molecular Switch Detects Metals in the Environment

When a metal ion is inserted, the molecule changes geometry, acting as an on/off switch.

An international team, led by researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has designed a family of molecules capable of binding to metal ions present in its environment and providing an easily detectable light signal during binding. This new type of sensor forms a 3D structure whose molecules ar
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Date:
08/15/2018
AVX to Participate in Panel Discussion at COMVEC 2018
FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. – AVX Corporation has been invited to participate in a technical panel discussion about artificial intelligence and machine learning for commercial vehicles at the COMVEC 2018 conference and exposition, which will take place September 11–13 in Rosemont, Illinois, and will focus on disruptive te
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Date:
08/15/2018
Computational Method for Designing a New Type of 2D Carbons
Zeolites are porous minerals that occur both naturally but also are being synthesized artificially. Because of their stability and durability, they are used in industrial water purification, catalysis, adsorption, and even in blood-clotting powders (e.g. QuickClot used by the US military). A recent applicati
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Date:
08/14/2018
Stretchable Electronics as Multipurpose as Your Smartphone

This is the device compared to a US dollar coin.

By stacking and connecting layers of stretchable circuits on top of one another, engineers have developed an approach to build soft, pliable "3D stretchable electronics" that can pack a lot of functions while staying thin and small in size. The work is published in the Aug. 13 issue of Nature Electronics. As a proof of concept
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Date:
08/14/2018
Another Step Forward on a Universal Quantum Computer

This is a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond with two crossed wires for holonomic quantum gates over the geometric spin qubit with a polarized microwave.

Yokohama, Japan - Researchers have demonstrated holonomic quantum gates under zero-magnetic field at room temperature, which will enable the realization of fast and fault-tolerant universal quantum computers. A quantum computer is a powerful machine with the potential to solve complex problems much faster th
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Date:
08/13/2018
Over hundreds of millions of years of evolution, the magical nature has given birth to a myriad of biological materials which serve either as the skeletons of the organisms or as defensive or offensive weapons. Although these natural structural materials are derived from relatively sterile natural components, su
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Date:
08/13/2018
Four Argonne Experts Collect Dept. of Energy Honors

The Department of Energy gave Distinguished Achievement awards to Argonne's Andrew Burnham, Keith Hardy, Amgad Elgowainy and Jeongwoo Han in June. The researchers help advance transportation, sustainability and mobility at the laboratory.

Four researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory -- Andrew Burnham, Keith Hardy, Amgad Elgowainy and Jeongwoo Han (now with Exxon) -- have earned Distinguished Achievement awards for helping to reimagine transportation, sustainability and mobility. Argonne's Burnham, an
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Date:
08/10/2018
RALEIGH - The PowerAmerica Institute at N.C. State University, a member of Manufacturing USA, recently awarded funding to six new member projects that will enhance wide bandgap technologies in the United States. In addition, PowerAmerica awarded funding for 20 projects to be led by existing members for a total of $20 million in project funding for this cycle. A detai
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Date:
08/08/2018
A new Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining study has found that using ethanol from corncobs for energy production may help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in China, if used instead of starch-based ethanol. China has committed to limiting its emissions by 2030, and biofuel is considered the key to lower emiss
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Date:
08/08/2018
3D-Printed Shape-Shifting Soft Robots Crawl, Jump, Grab

This is a time-lapse photo for various designs of developed magnetic active material.

ADELPHI, MD. - New 3-D printed robotic structures can squeeze in tight spaces like a crack in the wall of a cave, jump over trip wire or crawl under a vehicle - all complex Army-relevant functions impossible for humans to perform safely. Investigators at the Army's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN), loc
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Date:
08/08/2018
Seed Coats Could Lead to Strong, Tough, Flexible Materials

Characteristic features of the seedcoat of Portulaca oleracea , an annual succulent commonly known as verdolaga or purslane. A) Photograph of the P. oleracea flower, B) Photograph of the tiny black seeds from P.oleracea , C) SEM image of the P. oleracea seedcoat, D) a magnified area of the seedcoat of P.oleracea.

DURHAM, N.H. - Inspired by elements found in nature, researchers at the University of New Hampshire say the puzzle-like wavy structure of the delicate seed coat, found in plants like succulents and some grasses, could hold the secret to creating new smart materials strong enough to be used in items like body ar
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Date:
08/08/2018
HOUSTON (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Electric Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) announces that it has entered into an agreement to sell the U.S. assets of its M&I Electric Industries, Inc. subsidiary to Myers Power Products, Inc. The purchase price for the assets will be $17.3 million resulting in cash proceed
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Date:
08/07/2018
NAI Responds to China Tariff Issues
Troy, MI – NAI has formulated a response strategy to the immediate sourcing issues associated with the China Tariff disputes. NAI is experiencing a very recent trend with companies shifting the sourcing of their procurements to North American production facilities as a hedge, until the longer-term tariff di
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Date:
08/07/2018
Electrodes for All-Solid-State Batteries

The batteries were made by stacking various layers via thin-film deposition methods. The LNMO/Li3PO4 interface showed spontaneous migration of Li ions and had an unprecedentedly low resistance.

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology have addressed one of the major disadvantages of all-solid-state batteries by developing batteries with a low resistance at their electrode/solid electrolyte interface. The fabricated batteries showed excellent electrochemical properties that greatly surpass those of
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Date:
08/06/2018
Gregory S. Rocque Appointed as President of Positronic
Positronic, a global manufacturer of high reliability electronic connector products based in Springfield, Missouri, USA, has appointed Gregory S. Rocque as President of the Company. Rocque will lead the efforts and execution of continued change and growth for the Company, while invigorating Positronic as a thought le
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Date:
08/03/2018
Marketing 'Virtual Audit' Technology
Case Western Reserve University, through its Great Lakes Energy Institute, recently entered into a one-year agreement with Johnson Controls to further develop and begin marketing the new technology--software which uses smart-meter electricity datasets to conduct a "virtual" energy audit of a commercial or
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Date:
08/03/2018
Fast, Cheap, and Colorful 3D Printing

This brightly colored dragon was produced by 3D printing, using gold nanorods as photosensitizers.

People are exploring the use of 3D printing for wide-ranging applications, including manufacturing, medical devices, fashion and even food. But one of the most efficient forms of 3D printing suffers from a major drawback: It can only print objects that are gray or black in color. Now, researchers have tweaked th
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Date:
08/02/2018
Large Supercrystals Promise Superior Sensors

Sandia National Laboratories researcher Hongyou Fan holds a vial of gold supercrystals he will characterize in the X-ray scattering instrument to his right.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Using an artful combination of nanotechnology and basic chemistry, Sandia National Laboratories researchers have encouraged gold nanoparticles to self-assemble into unusually large supercrystals that could significantly improve the detection sensitivity for chemicals in explosives or drugs. "Our supercrys
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Date:
08/02/2018
TTI, Inc. Acquires Compona AG of Switzerland
TTI, Inc announced the acquisition of privately held Compona AG of Switzerland and the company’s German subsidiary Cosy Electronics GmbH. Both Compona and Cosy are specialty distributors of interconnect products and provide services such as in-house assembly of specific connector ranges and full support on cu
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Date:
08/02/2018
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