The technology centre GAIKER of the Basque Country is working on a project whose aim is to develop intelligent polymers and discover their opportunities. Similarly, it will study the possibilities to introduce those polymers in the existing structures in order to promote their applicability and to create new enterprise initiatives.

GAIKER researches in polymers the elaboration and transformation of intelligent materials. For that aim, it develops its own technologies and then adjust them to

“Recalling products because of design flaws in the packaging can be prevented.” Packaging experts badly needed in industry

Delft researcher Roland ten Klooster will defend his thesis on Monday the 30th of September at TU Delft. He has developed systematic plan for the development of packaging for products. Ten Klooster: “There are number of aspects play a part in the development of packaging, my model helps the packaging designer to see, and use these aspects.” In his thesis, Ten Kloo

Last night an innovative ‘airbag’ car jack developed in conjunction with engineers from Sheffield Hallam University won yet another major national award, when Leeroy Brown beat off stiff competition to scoop the coveted Consumer Award at the BBC’s Tomorrows World Awards, in association with NESTA.

He collected the £5000 prize at a glittering awards ceremony, held at London’s Television Centre. Leeroy had secured his place at the awards by winning his round of BBC ONE’s Best Inventions, broa

Large changes unnecessary for multimodal transport

Multimodal transport is not in need of redesigned networks, rather of well designed ones. This is one of the conclusions from the PhD research of Rob van Nes, who will defend his thesis on Wednesday 25 September at TU Delft. “A highway with too many on and off ramps actually becomes a main road. This might be handy, but it is not effective.” Van Nes, who carried out his research at TRAIL research school, laid the theoretical foundati

MIT team is part of project

A 150-ton magnet developed in part by MIT engineers is pulling the world closer to nuclear fusion as a potential source of energy.

Over the last three years “we’ve shown that we can design a magnet of this size and complexity and make it work,” said Joseph V. Minervini, a senior research engineer at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) and Department of Nuclear Engineering. Minervini leads the MIT team involved in the project.

Penn State engineers have optimized an energy harvesting circuit so that it transfers four times more electrical power out of vibration – the ordinary shakes and rattles generated by human motion or machine operation.

Using their laboratory prototype, which was developed from off-the-shelf parts, the Penn State researchers can generate 50 milliwatts. Although they haven’t tried it, they believe the motion of a runner could be harnessed to generate enough power to run a portable electron

To make super-durable and strong details it is necessary to use so-called diamond composites, i.e. materials (matrixes) with incorporated tiny diamonds. The matrix is to be durable, strong, wear-proof as well as monolithic by structure ensuring chemical interaction with diamonds. To avoid internal tension this matrix must have physical characteristics close to diamond ones. In other case the detail will collapse under load.

Carbide materials fit all these requirements because they are strong

A high-fidelity spectrometric system for studying the behavior of drops and particles in industrial flame reactors has been constructed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in collaboration with researchers at the University of Arizona. The instrument was used to study the potential of thermal combustors for reducing the volume of liquid nuclear wastes for safe, long-term storage.

Vitrification of radioactive waste into glassy solids is the most popular approach f

Instant detection for chemicals, explosives, and biohazards

A little over a year after September 11, a laser technique is lighting a new path to homeland security. In recent Army laboratory research, this technique instantly detected and identified various explosives.

Preliminary results indicate that it can also tell the difference between several close relatives of anthrax.

Recent breakthroughs now let it detect any known substance, at least in theory. The laser t

Researchers have discovered how to weld together single-walled carbon nanotubes, pure carbon cylinders with remarkable electronic properties. The discovery could pave the way for controlled fabrication of molecular circuits and nanotube networks.

Pulickel Ajayan, professor of materials science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., and his colleagues in Germany, Mexico, the U.K., and Belgium used irradiation and heat to form the welded junctions.

This is the first time

Accident Leads to Important Discovery

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., have created large symmetrical crystals that rarely occur in nature. These crystals could be harder than conventional engineering materials. The accidental discovery was made during attempts to make superconducting nanostructures with a simple technique used to create carbon nanotubes.

Pulickel Ajayan and Ganapathiraman Ramanath, faculty members in materials science and eng

A high-mileage, low-pollution car built by students at the University of California, Davis, will drive from Hockenheim, Germany to Paris, France between Sept. 22 and 25 as part of the Challenge Bibendum, a competition run by tire manufacturer Michelin to promote new technology in automobiles.
UC Davis is the only university represented among 70 participants including auto industry giants Ford, DaimlerChryser and Honda. Graduate students Eric Chattot, Thomas Dreumont and Charnjiv Bangar from the

Art conservators have been slow to adopt lasers as restoration tools, preferring their trusty scalpels and solvents to untried technologies. But the first systematic study of the long-term effects of lasers on paintings should help ease their doubts: the results show that lasers can be superior restoration tools without sacrificing the safety of priceless works of art.

The findings are reported in the Sept. 15 print edition of Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Ch

In a Technology Foundation STW project, Coen van Gulijk has developed a new concept for a robust soot filter for diesel engines. As well as filter stages, the filter has an open canal so as to exclude the danger of blockage and thus fire.
The new soot filter consists of series of perforated ceramic foams. The surface of the ceramic is impregnated with a catalyst on which the incoming soot particles are burnt and released as gases. Ash particles from impurities in the diesel, which enter the filte

Researchers say they have developed the world’s strongest, lightest solids. Called aerogels, the sturdy materials are a high-tech amalgam of highly porous glass and plastic that is as light as air.

#In light of the events of Sept. 11 and a heightened interest in homeland security, these new materials show promise as lightweight body armor for soldiers, shielding for armored vehicles, and stronger building materials, the researchers say.

The materials could also be used for better

The basque technology centre CIDETEC is working on a project about lithium-polymer energy with the collaboration of the companies CEGASA and ZIGOR.

Actually, they are in the first stage of the project. Initially, they analysed the structure, design and development of different electrode materials with multiple characteristics (cathode and anode) to use lithium-polymer in batteries.

The results of the project enabled the development of a lab-scale prototype of a rechargeable