We demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of all-diamond integrated optic devices over large areas using a combination of photolithography, reactive ion etching and focused ion beam techniques.  We confirm the viability of this scalable process by demonstrating guidance in a two-moded ridge waveguide in type 1b single crystal diamond.  This opens the door [...]

Regrowing a fingertip cut off in an accident sounds like something from a futuristic movie.  But with innovative technology developed by the U.S. Army, such regrowth is possible today.  This research project and a hundred others were on display this month at the 26th Army Science Convention.  Some the greatest minds in science from around [...]

The electric grid may be able to handle more wind and solar power — way more — than previously thought, according to a new preliminary study.  The commonly accepted wisdom in the energy industry is that the grid could only draw something like 20 percent of its power from wind and solar resources before encountering [...]

The Army has developed a new material designed to keep walls from blowing apart and sending fragments flying at high speed during explosions.  The X-FLEX Blast Protection System, a wallpaper-like adhesive-backed tape developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center and Evansville, IN–based Berry Plastics Corp.’s Engineered Protective Systems division, [...]

A pair of research groups, working independently, report making graphene-based transistors that work at the highest frequencies reported to date.  The new transistors are a promising first step toward ultrahigh radio-frequency (RF) transistors, which could be useful for wireless communications, remote sensing, radar systems, and weapons imaging systems.  [TechnologyReview.com, 17 Dec 2008]

When the Steelers beat the Ravens Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward had another of their patented moments during the final drive.  The quarterback fired a low pass and the wide receiver slid and scooped the ball up just before it hit the turf.  In this case, the referees — and the camera — had [...]

If changing the batteries in the remote control or smoke detector seems like a chore, imagine having to change hundreds of batteries in sensors scattered across a busy bridge.  That’s why Kansas State University engineers are helping a semiconductor manufacturer implement its idea of an energy-harvesting radio.  It could transmit important data — like stress [...]

Alabama’s community colleges may offer a new associate’s degree in engineering next fall to meet industry demand.  Figures from Gov. Bob Riley’s Office of Workforce Development show that Alabama needs 1,100 new engineers a year.  Alabama Community College System Chancellor Bradley Byrne recently organized a meeting among deans at some of the state’s four-year and [...]

James Plummer, Dean of Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, warned that U.S. universities must change or reform engineering education to prevent further shortfalls in the discipline.  Change is also needed to become more competitive.  In the United States, as well as Europe and Japan, student interest in engineering is on the [...]

After spending nine months carefully building a 110-foot bridge, U.S. engineers then tried their best to knock it down again.  That apparently paradoxical behavior was designed to test a new bridge able to “remember” its shape after a quake modeled on the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Los Angeles, which killed 72 people and injured 9000.  [...]