Industry News

July 2019
A Material that can Make Solar Cells More Efficient
Researchers at Siberian Federal University, together with colleagues from the Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden), discovered new properties of material based on palladium, which can increase the performance of solar cells. Palladium diselenide is a promising material whose properties have not
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Date:
07/31/2019
Centimeter-Long Snail Robot is Powered with Light
Researchers at the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, Poland used liquid crystal elastomer technology to demonstrate a bio-inspired microrobot capable of mimicking the adhesive locomotion of snails and slugs in natural scale. The 10-millimeter long soft robot harvests energy from a laser beam and ca
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Date:
07/31/2019
NRL Pigment Package for Ships Lowers Solar Temperature Load

NRL is currently working with Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Systems Engineering Directorate, Ship Integrity & Performance Engineering (SEA 05P) to transition the new pigment combination into a military specification. The most recent vessel to receive it was USS George Washington (CVN 73).

WASHINGTON -- A pigment package designed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to slow discoloration of the exterior coating on surface ships has started to make its way into the fleet and is producing early, positive results. NRL researchers created the pigment combination to satisfy the fleet requirement for the N
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Date:
07/31/2019
Transphorm's $18.5M Contract to Produce RF GaN Epi for Navy
GOLETA, Calif.— Transphorm Inc. announced that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Naval Research (ONR) has exercised a three-year $15.9 million option on an existing $2.6 million base contract with the company. This contract, N68335-19-C-0107, administered by Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Div
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Date:
07/31/2019
Emerson Collaborates with Dragos on Cybersecurity Protection

Emerson and Dragos, Inc. have signed a global agreement that will enable power producers and water utilities to further strengthen the security of their critical assets.

PITTSBURGH — Emerson and Dragos, Inc., developer of the Dragos Platform for industrial cybersecurity asset detection, threat detection and response, have signed a global agreement that will enable power producers and water utilities to further strengthen the security of their critical assets. Emerson will in
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Date:
07/31/2019
Advance in Understanding of All-Solid-State Batteries

Schematic of Li metal/Li6PS5Cl interface cycled at an overall current density above the CCS.

HARWELL, UK -- All-solid-state batteries, a battery design composed of all solid components, have gained attention as the next major advance beyond lithium ion batteries because of their potential to store more energy while being safer to operate. When capable of being produced in commercial quantities, solid-state ba
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Date:
07/31/2019
Mouser Electronics Opens Customer Service Center in Vietnam
Mouser Electronics, Inc. announced the opening of its Vietnam Customer Service Center, in Ho Chi Minh City. This new customer service center, located in the iconic Bitexco Financial Tower, will support local electronic design engineers, buyers and hardware innovators, helping them to locate the newest products fo
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Date:
07/30/2019
Mouser Electronics Signs Global Agreement with Formerica
Mouser Electronics, Inc., the authorized global distributor with the newest semiconductors and electronic components, announces a global distribution agreement with Formerica Optoelectronics, a pioneer and leading provider of optical interconnect solutions. Using innovative technologies that offer higher energy ef
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Date:
07/30/2019
Rittal North America Opens Rapid Design Center in Houston
HOUSTON – Rittal expanded its operations by opening an innovative new Rapid Design Center located in its Oil & Gas Competency Center in Houston, Texas. Built to improve process efficiency, the massive 85,000-square-foot facility is equipped with high-efficiency automated technology to deliver modifi
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Date:
07/30/2019
Electric Car Research Boosted by Cobalt-Free Battery

Arumugam Manthiram, a leading researcher from UT's Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Austin TX - The elimination of cobalt -- an expensive chemical component currently required to power our smartphones and laptops -- from lithium-ion batteries has been the goal of Texas Engineer Arumugam Manthiram for much of his career. When paired with a graphite anode (the terminal on a battery through w
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Date:
07/30/2019
3D-Printed Rocket Fuel Comparison at James Cook University
James Cook University scientists in Australia are using 3D printing to create fuels for rockets, and using tailor-made rocket motors they've built to test the fuels. JCU lecturer in mechanical engineering Dr Elsa Antunes led the study, which made use of the revolutionary and rapidly advancing 3D printing technology
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Date:
07/30/2019
Powercast: 3 FCC Approvals for Over the Air Wireless Power

Powercast long-range wireless power technology gains FCC approval to power on-shelf retail applications like wirelessly illuminated product packaging, interactive end cap displays and electronic paper displays (EPD) such as electronic shelf-edge labels.

PITTSBURGH -- Powercast Corporation announced that its radio-frequency (RF)-based long-range over-the-air wireless power technology has received three new certifications from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – totaling seven since 2007 – adding retail applications to the company’s existing FCC ap
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Date:
07/29/2019
Camera can Watch Moving Objects Around Corners

Objects -- including books, a stuffed animal and a disco ball -- in and around a bookshelf tested the system's versatility in capturing light from different surfaces in a large-scale scene.

David Lindell, a graduate student in electrical engineering at Stanford University, donned a high visibility tracksuit and got to work, stretching, pacing and hopping across an empty room. Through a camera aimed away from Lindell - at what appeared to be a blank wall - his colleagues could watch his every move. That's because, h
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Date:
07/29/2019
'Deforming' Solar Cells Could be clue to Improved Efficiency
Deformations and defects in structures of photoelectric technologies shown to improve their efficiency University of Warwick physicists demonstrate that strain gradient can prevent recombination of photo-excited carriers in solar energy conversion Increasingly important as devices become miniatu
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Date:
07/29/2019
Energy from Seawater

The Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant on Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles is an example of a coastal wastewater treatment operation that could potentially recover energy from the mixing of seawater and treated effluent.

Salt is power. It might sound like alchemy, but the energy in places where salty ocean water and freshwater mingle could provide a massive source of renewable power. Stanford researchers have developed an affordable, durable technology that could harness this so-called blue energy. The paper, recently published
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Date:
07/29/2019
Engineers use Heat-Free Tech for Flexible Electronics

Martin Thuo and his research group have printed electronic traces on gelatin.

AMES, Iowa - Martin Thuo of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory clicked through the photo gallery for one of his research projects. How about this one? There was a rose with metal traces printed on a delicate petal. Or this? A curled sheet of paper with a flexible, programmable LED display.
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Date:
07/29/2019
Expanding Functions of Conducting Microbial Nanowires

UMass Amherst microbiologist Derek Lovley and colleagues introduce a new method of tuning conductive nanowires, offering a 'toolbox of wires to choose from with a million-fold range in conductivity.'

AMHERST, Mass. - In the latest paper from the Geobacter Lab led by microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he and colleagues report "a major advance" in the quest to develop electrically conductive protein nanowires in the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens for use as
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Date:
07/29/2019
A Computer That Understands how you Feel

Kragel is combining machine learning with brain imaging to learn more about how images impact emotions.

Could a computer, at a glance, tell the difference between a joyful image and a depressing one? Could it distinguish, in a few milliseconds, a romantic comedy from a horror film? Yes, and so can your brain, according to research published this week by University of Colorado Boulder neuroscientists. "Machine learning technology is
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Date:
07/26/2019
Next-Gen Membranes for Carbon Capture

CO2-selective polymeric chains anchored on graphene effectively pull CO2 from a flue gas mixture.

A major greenhouse gas, CO2 produced from burning fossil fuels is still mostly released into the atmosphere, adding to the burden of global warming. One way to cut down on it is through a carbon capture: a chemical technique that removes CO2 out of emissions ("postcombustion"), preventing it from entering th
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Date:
07/26/2019
Optimal Design of Molecular Systems
The chemist Dr. Sabine Richert from the University of Freiburg has been awarded a German Research Foundation (DFG) grant of 1.8 million euros for an Emmy-Noether junior research group. Under her leadership, the group will explore over the next six years which molecular properties materials need to have in order to
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Date:
07/26/2019
Shaping Light with a Smartlens
Camera performance on mobile devices has proven to be one of the features that most end-users aim for. The importance of optical image quality improvement, and the trend to have thinner and thinner smartphones have pushed manufactures to increase the number of cameras in order to provide phones with better zoom, lo
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Date:
07/26/2019
Solar Energy Becomes Biofuel Without Solar Cells

This is professor Peter Lindblad

Soon we will be able to replace fossil fuels with a carbon-neutral product created from solar energy, carbon dioxide and water. Researchers at Uppsala University have successfully produced microorganisms that can efficiently produce the alcohol butanol using carbon dioxide and solar energy, without needing to us
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Date:
07/26/2019
One Size Fits All? A New Model for Organic Semiconductors

This is a representation of carrier mobility in hard inorganic materials (upper figure, band transport) and flexible organic solids (lower figure, flexibility induced transport mechanism).

Osaka, Japan - Organic materials that can conduct charge have the potential to be used in a vast array of exciting applications, including flexible electronic devices and low-cost solar cells. However, to date, only organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have made a commercial impact owing to gaps in the understanding of
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Date:
07/24/2019
Ultrathin Transistors for Faster Computer Chips

Schematics of the new transistor: the insulator in red and blue, and the semiconductor above

For decades, the transistors on our microchips have become smaller, faster and cheaper. Approximately every two years the number of transistors on commercial chips has doubled - this phenomenon became known as "Moore's Law". But for several years now, Moore's law does not hold any more. The miniaturization has
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Date:
07/24/2019
Valleytronics Core Theory for High-Efficiency Semiconductors

A diagram on the formation of valley domain in molybden disulphide, a 2D crystal material, and its current signal control.

A DGIST research team discovered a theory that can expand the development of valleytronics technology, which has been drawing attention as a next generation semiconductor technology. This is expected to advance the development of valleytronics technology one level further, a new magnetic technology of next generation th
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Date:
07/24/2019
New Material for Wearable Devices to Restore Conductivity

Contrary to typical materials, the electrical conductivity of which decreases when the shape of the materials is changed by an applied tensile strain, the new material developed by the KIST research team shows a dramatic increase in conductivity under a tensile strain of 3,500%.

The research team of researcher Hyunseon Seo and senior researcher Dr. Donghee Son of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology's (KIST, president: Byung-gwon Lee) Biomedical Research Institute and postdoctoral candidate Dr. Jiheong Kang and Professor Zhenan Bao of Stanford University (chemical engineering) ann
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Date:
07/24/2019
A new Concept for Self-Assembling Micromachines

Wheel mounting in seconds: as soon as a non-uniform electric field is switched on, the chassis of a microvehicle pulls its own wheels into wheel pockets. After just over a second, all the wheels are in place.

In the future, designers of micromachines can utilize a new effect. A team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have presented a concept that enables the components of microvehicles, microrotors and micropumps to assemble themselves in an electric field. The new co
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Date:
07/24/2019
Marktech Awarded Veteran-Owned Small Business Certification
Latham, NY, USA –  Marktech Optoelectronics, Inc. announced the achievement of its veteran-owned small business certification (VSOB). This Marktech VSOB certification, awarded by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, via its Center f
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Date:
07/24/2019
AVX Completes its Largest Global MLCC Manufacturing Facility
FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. – AVX Corporation recently completed a major, $150 million expansion of its flagship multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia. The expansion added 250,000 square feet to the original facility, which now encompasses 450,000 square feet of Class 1K and Class 10K cleanrooms, state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and testing technology, and warehousing space designed to support the safe storage and global export of products, and squarely established the Penang site as AVX’s largest MLCC manufacturing facility. The Penang expansion will support the continued evolution of the company’s extensive portfolio of high-performance, high-reliability passive components designed to meet
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Date:
07/22/2019
Sectigo Partners with NetObjex to Protect the Edge of IoT
ROSELAND, N.J. – Sectigo (formerly Comodo CA) announced a secure edge computing technology pact with NetObjex. The collaboration provides enterprises and manufacturers with a secured, trusted computing infrastructure that extends from IoT edge devices to the cloud and blockchain. “By collaborating with Sec
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Date:
07/19/2019
Atomically Precise Models Improve Fuel Cell Understanding

The initial positions of the atoms in this computer model of a solid-oxide fuel cell were based on observations of the actual atomic configuration using electron microscopy. Simulations using this model revealed a previously unreported reaction (red path) in which an oxygen molecule from the yttria-stabilized zirconia layer (layer of red and light blue balls) moves through the bulk nickel layer (dark blue balls) before forming OH on the nickel surface.

Simulations from researchers in Japan provide new insights into the reactions occurring in solid-oxide fuel cells by using realistic atomic-scale models of the active site at the electrode based on microscope observations as the starting point. This better understanding could give clues on ways to improve performance an
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Date:
07/19/2019
Machine Learning in the Discovery of new Polymers

The ML workflow consists of two different steps of prediction; the forward and backward predictions. The objective of the forward prediction is to create a set of prediction models that describe various polymeric properties (e.g., thermal conductivity, glass transition temperature) as a function of chemical structures in the constitutional repeat units.

A joint research group including Ryo Yoshida (Professor and Director of the Data Science Center for Creative Design and Manufacturing at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics [ISM], Research Organization of Information and Systems), Junko Morikawa (Professor at the School of Materials and Chemical Technology, To
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Date:
07/19/2019
$4.6 Million Award to Train Cybersecurity Professionals
A five-year, $4.63 million award from the National Science Foundation will enable a multi-disciplinary team of researchers at the University of Arkansas to recruit, educate and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. The program will provide the knowledge and tools necessary to protect network a
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Date:
07/18/2019
Vietnam Finds Common Ground with America over Huawei

Viettel's President and CEO Le Dang Dung. Vietnam's state-owned mobile carrier is wary of doing business with China's Huawei.

The U.S. might be loosening restrictions on Huawei, but China’s socialist neighbor is holding the line. Oddly enough, the free world is anything but unified on Shenzhen’s scandal-ridden telecom giant. The U.S. led the charge against Huawei, but after an industry revolt, it could be business as usual (l
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Date:
07/18/2019
UTSA Launches Open Source Software to Secure Cloud for Users

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has launched Galahad, an open source revolutionary user computer environment (UCE) for the Amazon Cloud. The software impedes the ability of adversaries to operate within the AWS by making it more difficult to co-locate (either through the use of insiders, compromised hypervisors, witting or unwitting peers, or remote access) with targets, while also requiring adversaries consume more resources.

(San Antonio) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has launched Galahad, an open source revolutionary user computer environment (UCE) for the Amazon Cloud. The technology, which is named after the Arthurian knight that ultimately secured the Holy Grail, will fight to protect people using desktop ap
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Date:
07/17/2019
New Safer, Inexpensive way to Propel Small Satellites

Purdue University researchers have created a novel micropropulsion system for nanosatellite applications using a liquid fed pulsed-plasma thruster.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Finding inexpensive solutions for propelling CubeSats is one of the most critical components of the rapidly growing industry of commercial launches of satellites the size of a loaf of bread. The small size and relatively low cost have made CubeSats popular choices for commercial launches in
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Date:
07/16/2019
Engineering Team Develops 'Beyond 5G' Wireless Transceiver

The 'end-to-end transmitter-receiver' chip boasts a unique architecture combining digital and analog components on a single platform, resulting in ultra-fast data processing and reduced energy consumption.

Irvine, Calif. - A new wireless transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies into 100-gigahertz territory, quadruple the speed of the upcoming 5G, or fifth-generation, wireless communications standard. Labeled an "end-to-end transmitter-receiver" by its cr
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Date:
07/16/2019
Research Shows Black Plastics Could Create Renewable Energy

The process by which plastics are converted to carbon nanotube material.

Research from Swansea University has found how plastics commonly found in food packaging can be recycled to create new materials like wires for electricity - and could help to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the future. While a small proportion of the hundreds of types of plastics can be recycled by conven
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Date:
07/16/2019
Get up and go Bots Getting Closer, Study Says

This robot shape and complex sensors are the result of one single print. The sensors can sense strain and pressure.

Robotics researchers at the University of California San Diego have for the first time used a commercial 3D printer to embed complex sensors inside robotic limbs and grippers. But they found that materials commercially available for 3D printing still need to be improved before the robots can be fully functional. Researchers who speci
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Date:
07/16/2019
Bourns Acquires KEKO-Varicon d.o.o. Žužambrek

KEKO-Varicon overvoltage protection
products

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Bourns, Inc. announced that a member of the Bourns group of companies has acquired all shares of KEKO-Varicon d.o.o. Žužambrek (KEKO-Varicon) from its three shareholders, consisting of two members of the MSIN Group and one minority shareholder. KEKO-Varicon is a leading manufacturer of ov
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Date:
07/16/2019
A Material for Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity

The photomontage shows a sample of solid, pure niobium before coating (left), and coated with a thin layer of Nb3Sn (right).

At present, niobium is the material of choice for constructing superconducting radio-frequency cavity resonators. These will be used in projects at the HZB such as bERLinPro and BESSY-VSR, but also for free-electron lasers such as the XFEL and LCLS-II. However, a coating of niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) could lead to co
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Date:
07/15/2019
'Artificial Intelligence' fit to Monitor Volcanoes

This is an interferogram of the December 2018 eruption of Etna in southern Italy, based on Sentinel-1 satellite images. Interferograms spatially map ground surface movements.

More than half of the world's active volcanoes are not monitored instrumentally. Hence, even eruptions that could potentially have rung an alarm can occur without people at risk having a clue of the upcoming disaster. As a first and early step towards a volcano early warning system, a research project headed by
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Date:
07/15/2019
Coupled Exploration of Light and Matter

White-light reflectivity spectra recorded around a filling factor of 2/3, revealing clear signatures of optical coupling to the quantum Hall state.

The concept of 'quasiparticles' is a highly successful framework for the description of complex phenomena that emerge in many-body systems. One species of quasiparticles that in particular has attracted interest in recent years are polaritons in semiconductor materials. These are created by shining light onto a se
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Date:
07/15/2019
Green Light for a new Generation of Dynamic Materials
Developing synthetic materials that are as dynamic as those found in nature, with reversibly changing properties and which could be used in manufacturing, recycling and other applications, is a strong focus for scientists. In a world-first, researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Ghent
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Date:
07/15/2019
2D Perovskite Materials Have Unique, Conductive Edge States

Topographical view of the surface of the perovskite layer (l) and electrical current image of the same layer showing the conductive edges.

A new class of 2D perovskite materials with edges that are conductive like metals and cores that are insulating was found by researchers who said these unique properties have applications in solar cells and nanoelectronics. "This observation of the metal-like conductive states at the layer edges of these
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Date:
07/15/2019
Fluorine Speeds up Two-Dimensional Materials Growth

These are SEM images of graphene domains growing. They showed that 2 seconds was enough for a domain to grow to ~400 μm and that ~1 mm domains were formed after 5 seconds. The statistical growth rate is more than three orders of magnitude faster than typical graphene growth and three times faster than the previous record realized with a continuous oxygen supply.

Back in 2004, the physics community was just beginning to recognize the existence of truly two-dimensional (2D) material, graphene. Fast forward to 2019, scientists explore a breadth of different 2D materials, expecting to uncover more of their fundamental properties. The frenzy behind these new 2D materials li
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Date:
07/15/2019
High-Performance Sodium Ion Batteries Using Copper Sulfide

This is a schematic model demonstrating grain boundaries and phase interfaces formations.

Researchers presented a new strategy for extending sodium ion batteries' cyclability using copper sulfide as the electrode material. This strategy has led to high-performance conversion reactions and is expected to advance the commercialization of sodium ion batteries as they emerge as an alternative to lithium ion
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Date:
07/15/2019
Dataforth Announces Partnership with eagle.io
Dataforth Corporation has partnered with eagle.io to enable customers to use their MAQ20 system and eagle.io’s cloud-based software to build an IoT cloud-based remote monitoring system. Designed to remotely monitor environmental sensors, their website states that eagle.io enables users to “acquire data in real-t
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Date:
07/15/2019
AVX Fuels Vehicle Prototyping through Deep Orange
FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. – AVX Corporation will fuel the next chapter of Clemson University's flagship vehicle prototype program Deep Orange with new equipment and lab space at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). The 9,000-square foot lab – named the AVX Mobility S
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Date:
07/12/2019
How Individuals use Technology to Engage with their Cultures
As the nation continues to get more diverse, it's common for immigrant populations in the United States to identify with two or more cultures at the same time. In a new article published in Lingua, M. Sidury Christiansen argues for a redefinition of how we see transnationalism or the movement of people, ideas an
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Date:
07/12/2019
TTI Designs Freedom Shirt to Support Wounded Warrior Project
Fort Worth, Texas – TTI, Inc., a leading distributor of electronic components, continued the company’s tradition of supporting our country’s men and women in uniform by creating a specially designed t-shirt celebrating America’s Independence Day. This year’s t-shirt design, “Let Freedom Ring,”
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Date:
07/11/2019
Canada's First Utility-Scale Microgrid
CHICAGO /PRNewswire/ -- S&C Electric Company, a smart grid leader improving power reliability and delivery worldwide, and North Bay Hydro Services, an Ontario-based municipal electric utility affiliate services provider, announced the completion of North Bay's Community Energy Park project with the successful insta
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Date:
07/10/2019
Designer Proteins Form Wires and Lattices on Mineral Surface
RICHLAND, Wash. - The goal of the research, published July 11 in the journal Nature, was to engineer artificial proteins to self-assemble on a crystal surface by creating an exact match between the pattern of amino acids in the protein and the atoms of the crystal. The ability to program these interactions could enabl
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Date:
07/10/2019
Funding for new Semiconductor Research Centre Announced

An artist's impression of the new Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM).

A new state-of-the-art facility that will bring together groundbreaking research with technology development in the field of semiconductor science and engineering is to be built at Swansea University, following the announcement of a major £30 million capital investment by the UK Research Partnership Investment Fu
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Date:
07/10/2019
Nanoscale Visualization of Optical Behavior of Dopant in GaN

Results of cathodoluminescence analysis applied to Mg ion-implanted GaN (left) and three-dimensional distribution of Mg atoms introduced into GaN as visualized by atom probe tomography (right).

In Gallium Nitride (GaN) implanted with a small amount of magnesium (Mg), NIMS succeeded for the first time in visualizing the distribution and optical behavior of the implanted Mg at the nanoscale which may help in improving electrical performance of GaN based devices. Some of the mechanisms by which introduced Mg
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Date:
07/09/2019
Fusion Scientists Develop 'Nano-Scale Sculpture Technique'

Fabrication procedures of "the nano-scale sculpture technique" by using a focused ion beam - electron beam (FIB-SEM) device. The upper series shows the schematic view of the fabrication by Ga ion beam. The images of (1) and (4) in the bottom series are the electron microscope (SEM) image corresponding to image (1) and image (4) in the upper series. The region shown by the yellow rectangle in image (4) is suitable for TEM observation.

A research team of fusion scientists has succeeded in developing "the nano-scale sculpture technique" to fabricate an ultra-thin film by sharpening a tungsten sample with a focused ion beam. This enables the nano-scale observation of a cross-section very near the top surface of the tungsten sample us
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Date:
07/09/2019
Semiconducting Nanotubes that Form Spontaneously

The tubes consist of several walls that are perfectly uniform and just a few atoms thick. They display optical properties that make them perfect for use as fluorophores or photocatalysts.

If scientists could find a way to control the process for making semiconductor components on a nanometric scale, they could give those components unique electronic and optical properties - opening the door to a host of useful applications. Researchers at the Laboratory of Microsystems, in EPFL's School of Enginee
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Date:
07/08/2019
Columbia and Harvard Advance Research in Ultracold Molecules

A computer image of the dissociation process of an ultracold molecule.

Leaders in the field of ultracold molecule research from Columbia and Harvard universities are teaming up to propel understanding of the quantum mechanics of chemical reactions. The partnership will result in the development of new, more precise techniques that will expand the field of ultracold chemistry to a curr
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Date:
07/08/2019
Molecular Energy Machine as a Movie Star

Tobias Weinert, biochemist at PSI, with the experimental set-up for the 'excitation query' crystallography at the SLS: An injector produces a 50 micrometer (like a hair) thin stream of a toothpaste-like mass with the protein crystals grown in it. A small laser diode, comparable to a conventional laser pointer, is guided over mirrors and lenses and focused to the same point where the X-ray beam of the SLS hits (not in the picture). For the photo, the laser was made visible by liquid nitrogen. In the experiment, the laser is then activated for a short moment, followed by the X-rays for the molecular film.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have used the Swiss Light Source SLS to record a molecular energy machine in action and thus to reveal how energy production at cell membranes works. For this purpose they developed a new investigative method that could make the analysis of cellular processes significantly mo
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Date:
07/08/2019
Quantum Satellite Combines Art with Science

SpooQy-1 was ejected from the Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer past the International Space Station's (ISS) solar arrays. This photograph was taken by an astronaut on the ISS.

A satellite built by the National University of Singapore (NUS) entered orbit in June carrying both a high-tech quantum device from the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) and a quotation from a play written for the NUS Arts Festival. SpooQy-1, as the satellite is known, is testing a quantum light source th
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Date:
07/08/2019
How to Finance Solar Power

Cover for 'Solar Power Finance without the Jargo'.

To borrow a quote from the famous 2011 publication, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, "3,766,800 exajoules of solar energy arrive on earth each year"--but how much of it are we using? And since Earth receives such a huge dose every year for free almost everywhere, why does it still only make up l
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Date:
07/08/2019
Tuning the Energy Levels of Organic Semiconductors

Dr. Frank Ortmann, cfaed Independent Research Group Leader

A diverse set of experiments supported by simulations were able to rationalize the effect of specific electrostatic forces exerted by the molecular building blocks on charge carriers. The study was published recently in Nature Communications. In electronic devices based on organic semiconductors such as solar cell
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Date:
07/08/2019
Magnetic Properties for Faster, Low-Energy Spintronics

We discovered a previously unseen mode of giant magneto-resistance, FLEET Ph.D. and study co-author Sultan Albarakati (RMIT).

A theoretical-experimental collaboration across two FLEET nodes has discovered new magnetic properties within 2D structures, with exciting potential for researchers in the emerging field of 'spintronics'. Spintronic devices use a quantum property known as 'spin', in addition to the electronic charge of convent
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Date:
07/08/2019
A New Way of Making Complex Structures in Thin Films
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Self-assembling materials called block copolymers, which are known to form a variety of predictable, regular patterns, can now be made into much more complex patterns that may open up new areas of materials design, a team of MIT researchers say. The new findings appear in the journal Nature Co
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Date:
07/05/2019
Sager Electronics Acquires Technical Power Systems
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. – Sager Electronics announced that it has completed the acquisition of Technical Power Systems (TPS). The addition of Technical Power Systems enhances the product set and design solution capabilities of Sager Power Systems, a specialized group within Sager Electronics, which launched in 20
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Date:
07/03/2019
Black (Nano)gold Combat Climate Change

Use of black gold can get us one step closer to combat climate change.

Global warming is a serious threat to the planet and the living beings. One of the main cause of global warming is the increase in the atmospheric CO2 level. The main source of this CO2 is from the burning of fossil fuels in our daily lives (electricity, vehicles, industry and many more). Researchers at TIFR have developed the solu
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Date:
07/03/2019
Activity of Fuel Cell Catalysts Doubled

An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has succeeded in optimizing the size of platinum nanoparticles for fuel cell catalysis so that the new catalysts are twice as good as the currently best commercially available processes. The picture shows the first authors: Dr. Batyr Garlyyev, Kathrin Kratzl, and Marlon Rueck (f.l.t.r.).

An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has built platinum nanoparticles for catalysis in fuel cells: The new size-optimized catalysts are twice as good as the best process commercially available today. Fuel cells may well replace batteries as the power source for elect
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07/03/2019
AI-Designed Heat Pumps Consume Less Energy

The method uses artificial intelligence to design next-generation heat-pump compressors.

Researchers at EPFL have developed a method that uses artificial intelligence to design next-generation heat-pump compressors. Their method can cut the pumps' power requirement by around 25%. In Switzerland, 50 - 60% of new homes are equipped with heat pumps. These systems draw in thermal energy from the surrou
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07/03/2019
'Tsunami' on a Silicon Chip: A World First for Light Waves

PhD student and lead author Sahin Ezgi from the Singapore University of Technology and Design holds one of the experimental chips.

A tsunami holds its wave shape over very long distances across the ocean, retaining its power and 'information' far from its source. In communications science, retaining information in an optic fibre that spans continents is vital. Ideally, this requires the manipulation of light in silicon chips at the sour
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07/03/2019
Versatile solution for wireless light management
Tridonic’s basicDIM Wireless system based on Casambi’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology offers an interconnected and interoperable solution for the hassle-free wireless connectivity of luminaires.   Wireless light management opens a myriad of new possibilities. All the parties involved in inst
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Date:
07/02/2019
Analog Devices wins award for automotive power management
According to the Electronics Industry Awards judges, the LT8708 ‘shows innovation and demonstrates technical capabilities and usefulness that stand out from other automotive products’.   The award was presented to Shalini Palmer, Analog Devices’ EMEA Sales Director for Mobility, at the 2019 Electr
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07/02/2019
Building Trust in Artificial Intelligence
From telecommunications to road traffic, from healthcare to the workplace - digital technology is now an intrinsic part of almost every area of life. Yet how can we ensure that developments in this field, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence (AI), meet all our ethical, legal and technological co
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07/02/2019
Sampling of Quantum States of Light in a Silicon Chip

By exploring complex integrated circuits, photonic states can be generated and processed at larger scales.

Scientists from the University of Bristol and the Technical University of Denmark have found a promising new way to build the next generation of quantum simulators combining light and silicon micro-chips. In the roadmap to develop quantum machines able to compete and overcome classical supercomputers in solvin
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07/02/2019
A Cold-Tolerant Electrolyte for Lithium-Metal Batteries

Improvements to a class of battery electrolyte first introduced in 2017 -- liquefied gas electrolytes -- could pave the way to a high-impact and long-sought advance for rechargeable batteries: replacing the graphite anode with a lithium-metal anode.

Improvements to a class of battery electrolyte first introduced in 2017 - liquefied gas electrolytes - could pave the way to a high-impact and long-sought advance for rechargeable batteries: replacing the graphite anode with a lithium-metal anode. The research, published July 1, 2019 by the journal Joule, bu
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Date:
07/01/2019
Combing Nanowire Noodles

U-shaped nanowires can record electrical chatter inside a brain or heart cell without causing any damage. The devices are 100 times smaller than their biggest competitors, which kill a cell after recording.

Machines are getting cozy with our cells. Embeddable sensors record how and when neurons fire; electrodes spark heart cells to beat or brain cells to fire; neuron-like devices could even encourage faster regrowth after implantation in the brain. Soon, so-called brain-machine interfaces could do even more: mon
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07/01/2019
Danish Researchers Create Worldwide Solar Energy Model

The graphic shows the total solar energy production for all European countries in the period 2013-2017. Each tiny field represents a week's energy production: The brighter the color the more energy was produced.

Solar cells are currently the world's most talked-about renewable energy source, and for any future sustainable energy system, it is crucial to know about the performance of photovoltaic systems at local, regional and global levels. Danish researchers have just set up an historically accurate model, and all the
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07/01/2019
MiLiQuant: Putting Quantum Technology into Practice

A diamond on a parabolic light collecting lens is the main component of the new angular rate sensor.

Quantum technology is about to make the leap from scientific research to concrete applications. Contributing to this is the new MiLiQuant research project in which businesses and universities are cooperating to develop new applications for quantum technology. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (B
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07/01/2019
BioSA -- Bridging the gap with Biodegradable Metals

Scanning Electron Microscopy image of the first BioSA prototype.

Millions of patients all over the world undergo surgical procedures related to bone defect repair every year. With an ever-increasing life expectancy and the issues that come with a decaying skeleton, the number of interventions can only increase in the coming years. This is why orthopaedic surgeons are constantly lo
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Date:
07/01/2019
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