http://www.aoe-eta.ca/ A.O.E. - Eta Chapter Website en-us Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:06:33 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly A.O.E. - Eta Chapter Website News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.aoe-eta.ca/images/title.png http://www.aoe-eta.ca/ http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17 I thought this was a really interesting article about the state of the education system in regards to girls & science. Quote: Below are five myths about girls and science that still endure, according to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) program: Source: LiveScience.com Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:06:33 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16 Written in 2005 by then-vice-president Angie, this article is an anecdote of what it was like for her to discover and join an engineering Sorority, despite her deep set stereotypes of them. Mon, 04 Sep 2006 22:02:37 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15 Quantum Computing is definitely the next forthcoming "leap" in computing technology. The article is an interview with one of the foremost experts on the field, Mechanical Engineering professor at MIT, Seth Lloyd. Quote: Seth Lloyd, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, is among the pioneers of quantum computing: he proposed the first technologically feasible design for a quantum computer. If humans ever build a useful, general-purpose quantum computer, it will owe much to Lloyd. Earlier this year, he published a popular introduction to quantum theory and computing, titled Programming the Universe, which advanced the startling thesis that the universe is itself a quantum computer. Source: Technology Review Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:32:16 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14 A somewhat biased source, but still a very interesting article. Fast food is certainly hurting our society much more than we think. Quote: Here is a great statistic to bite into: Cooking four normal sized hamburgers in a fast food joint emits the same amount of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) as driving a current model car for 1,000 miles. Source: Treehugger.com Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:29:41 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12 It looks like the big dig isn't all one big disaster. One engineer who worked on the project took materials that were destined for landfills (concrete slabs, steel beams, etc.) and used them to build his house! Quote: "These materials are as good as you can get," said Pedini, a 51-year-old civil engineer who spent a decade working on the construction of the maze of bridges and tunnels that make up the Big Dig. "We were being paid money to junk this stuff. There's something inherently illogical about it." So instead of dumping top-shelf materials, recycle them. When it's time to dismantle temporary highways, for example, their beams and concrete slabs would be sent to the construction site of its second use: a public housing project, municipal parking garage, prison, even as a replacement bridge. Source: Boston CBS Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:24:01 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11 An MIT chemical engineer explains why new technologies could finally make "heat mining" practical nearly anywhere on earth. Quote: So far, we've been able to harvest only a tiny fraction of geothermal energy resources, taking advantage of places where local geology brings hot water and steam near the surface, such as in Iceland or California, where such phenomena have long been used to produce electricity. But new oil-field stimulation technology, developed for extracting oil from sources such as shale, makes it possible to harvest much more of this energy by allowing engineers to create artificial geothermal reservoirs many kilometers underground Source: Technology Review (MIT) Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:20:58 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10 I was first introduced to Boston's Big Dig project when I visited there in 2001. There was no denying that Boston's roads were a problem... it took us almost 20 minutes to figure out how to get *into* our hotel even though we could see it across the street!... and then as we were walking Boston's historic streets we came across this massive hole of a construction site. My father told me that they were intending to fix Boston's horrible roads by constructing a massive highway underneath the existing city. It seemed to me like an amazing, yet dangerous, idea. Perhaps I wasn't so far off the mark. Quote: The faulty bolt and epoxy assemblies that led to more headlines about Boston’s Big Dig/Central Artery Tunnel Project was just the kind of engineering who-done-it engineers find irresistible. Was the wrong epoxy used? Was the design faulty? Or was poor installation the reason for the failure? “Tension anchors such as this are required to have a factor of safety (by code) of at least 4. Considering that, it appears that the assembly had been holding for a while and gave way,” posts a reader on Eng-tips.com. “That points more so toward an installation anomaly, likely exacerbated by vibration or other repetitive loading, or potentially a material failure (excessive creep under load, embrittlement, corrosion, etc.), or as usual, some combination of those.” The investigation, which found faulty assemblies, was sparked by the July 10 death of a 39-year-old woman after 12 tons of cement ceiling panels fell on the car her husband was driving inside the I-90 connector tunnel more than two weeks ago. Source: Design News.com Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:27:39 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9 Source: DesignNews.com Looks like we work harder than ever for our paycheck as engineers. Quote: From taking on supervisory and budgetary functions to learning new skill sets, to broadening their responsibilities, today's design engineers are doing far more than they ever had before. Roughly 50 percent say they are working in more areas than they did a year ago. Kody Baker, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer agrees, "Yes, we are doing far more than just designing products," he says. He's a project manager, manufacturing engineer, product designer, R&D engineer, test engineer, CAD systems specialist, CAD instructor/mentor, and more, juggling many roles in his job as a mechanical application engineer at Honeywell. Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:17:30 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8 Often in design we can look to Nature to find interesting and unique solutions to everyday problems. Behind the link is a showcase of such designs inspired by nature. Source: Slate.com Quote: This spring, organizers say, Georgia Institute of Technology pulled off the first conference dedicated to bio-inspired design research in an array of disciplines. As biologists and engineers put more energy into collaborating and creating courses for undergraduates, large corporations are also warming up to biodesign—or at least to the PR boon it can generate. All of this is good news. But for the budding field to thrive, its promise must not be oversold. Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:17:17 GMT http://www.aoe-eta.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7 Apparently, more energy can be derived from Corn Waste (the stalks left behind) than can be derived from Corn Based ethanol! Source:Mongabay.com Quote: After the corn harvest, whether for cattle feed or corn on the cob, farmers usually leave the stalks and stems in the field, but now, a team of Penn State researchers think corn stover can be used not only to manufacture ethanol, but to generate electricity directly. Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:17:09 GMT