A real renaissance in European manufacturing was the focus of a briefing chaired by European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin today. The briefing highlighted the EMO MILANO 2003 Fair in Milan, the world’s largest trade event for the machine tools, robots and automation industries which attracted over 1600 exhibitors from 38 countries and 200,000 visitors. It also emphasised the contribution of EU research in support of the European manufacturing industry. Currently, Europe provides for 52% of t

Scientist have created a new material which could save the electronics industry millions of pounds each year and could also be more effective.

Several attempts have been made over the last twenty years to make gold nitride but now a researcher at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne has solved the puzzle.

Gold is used extensively in the electronics industry, as a conductor of electricity in products such as computers, mobile phones and smart cards. This is because it is relatively

In Friday’s edition of Applied Physics, TU Delft researchers will publish an article on how coatings are made and why they so often let go. “Finally, after 30 years, we know exactly what happens,” says Dr. Guido Janssen, materials expert at TU Delft and first author of the article to be printed in the prestigious American journal. Together with his colleagues at the Netherlands Institute for Metals Research (NIMR), he has brought the coating of very small components one step closer.

Ta

ATLANTA – Song™, Delta Air Lines’ new low-fare air service, has reduced the time that arriving aircraft return to service to 45-50 minutes, significantly shorter than the industry standard, according to a paper being presented at the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®)

“To passengers, this means that they’ll be able to access more flights per day, so there will be greater frequency and more convenience,” comments

The addition of buckyballs or carbon nanotubes to nematic liquid crystals changes their properties and makes them low-cost alternatives for holographic and image processing applications, according to Penn State electrical engineers.

“By incorporating nanotubular and nano carbon 60 structures into liquid crystals, we make the nonlinear optical properties a million times bigger than all other existing materials,” says Dr. Iam-Choon Khoo, professor of electrical engineering.

Khoo, work

A new way of generating electricity from flowing water could mean that in the future you will never have to charge up your mobile phone again. Instead of a normal battery, mobile phones could be fitted with a battery that uses water – you just need to pressurise it regularly.

Research published today by the Institute of Physics journal, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering reveals a new method of generating electric power by harnessing the natural electrokinetic properties of a li

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Lifa Air Oy Ltd have jointly developed a room filter that traps particles, toxic gases, bacteria and viruses in the incoming air. Low-priced and energy-efficient, the filter can be fitted in the existing air-conditioning systems. Room-specific filtering of inlet air has been attracting increasing international attention in the face of the possibility of a terrorist strike with chemical warfare agents introduced into the HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air-

On 19 October 30 cars will be jostling for position at the start of the 7th World Solar Challenge in Darwin, Australia. After winning in 2001 with Nuna I, the Nuon Solar Team, from the Netherlands, will be bidding to retain their title.

The strong team of twelve from Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam are determined to beat the world record and try to average 100 km/h, compared to 91.81 km/h in 2001. Nuna II uses advanced space technology, provided to the team th

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new class of nanometer-scale structures that spontaneously form helical shapes from long ribbon-like single crystals of zinc oxide (ZnO). Dubbed “nanosprings,” the new structures have piezoelectric and electrostatic polarization properties that could make them useful in small-scale sensing and micro-system applications.

Just 10 to 60 nanometers wide and 5-20 nanometers thick – but up to several millimeters long – the new st

It is hard to imagine that graphite, the soft “lead” of pencils, can be transformed into a form that competes in strength with its molecular cousin diamond. Using a diamond anvil to produce extreme pressures and the ultra-brilliant X-ray beams at the Advanced Photon Source in Illinois, scientists with the High-Pressure Collaborative Access Team (HPCAT)* have surmounted experimental obstacles to probe the changes that graphite undergoes to produce this unique, super-hard substance. The study is report

Cerulean International Limited, the Oxford, UK-based subsidiary of the British nanomaterials company Oxonica Limited, has announced that its new product Envirox is to be commercially evaluated by Stagecoach UK, with a view to adopting the product over Stagecoach’s 7000 strong UK bus fleet.

Using new technology, Cerulean has developed Envirox, a product based on a well-established oxidation catalyst, that has now been formulated for use within the fuel, delivering a cleaner and more complete

An invention being developed jointly by the Low Temperature Engineering Group at the University of Southampton and BOC Edwards could help turn the dream of hydrogen technology into reality. In future, electricity, and in some applications useful heat, could be generated in a fuel cell through the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, with water being produced at the end of the process.

Howard Stone, an Engineering Doctorate student, and his supervisor Dr Neil Richardson of the School of Engine

An industrial engineer at Purdue University has created a method to increase the efficiency, profitability and capacity of recycling operations for electronic products such as computers and television sets.

The work also promises to open up a new area of research in a field known as scheduling.

More than 1.5 billion pounds of electronic equipment is processed every year in the United States, and the quantity of discarded personal computers is expected to rise substantially over the

The new TWT-1650 wind-powered generator presented in Pamplona has 36-metre vanes which, in a circular movement, sweep an area greater than that of a football pitch and which can withstand extremes of weather, including winds of up to 110 kilometres an hour.

This device, made by Grupo Mtorres in collaboration with the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE), is beginning its commercial life, after three years of tests.

The new model, with a power of 1,650 kilow

Increased use of renewable sources is central to the European Commission’s energy policy. The EU has set itself the goal of doubling renewable sources’ share of overall energy production to 12% by 2010. It was a step in the right direction when the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) voted to adopt procedures proposed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). These actions would establish the traceability of photovoltaic (PV) solar cell references to SI standards. Thi

MIT engineers report a new approach to creating three-dimensional samples of human tissue that could push researchers closer to their ultimate goal: tissues for therapeutic applications and replacement organs. The technique could also help answer questions in cell and developmental biology.

The team “seeded” human embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to differentiate into a variety of specialized cells, onto a biodegradable polymer scaffold. By treating the scaffold/stem cell stru