JEMA has been contracted directly by the European Commission (commissioned through the European Fusion Development Agreement, EFDA) to design, construct and install 4 sources of power supply, each capable of producing 20 million watts of energy, for the European experimental fusion reactor installations located at Culham in the United Kingdom. The project is expected to last three years.
The contract is a sound example of the confidence these European agencies have in the work of JEMA, es
An electronic nose is so sensitive that it can distinguish between cigarette smoke and smoke from an office or factory fire. Developed by a European research consortium the device will help to end the vast number of false alarms recorded by fire brigades each year.
The researchers developed a demonstrator of the new device and now hope to complete a viable commercial product by October 2006.
The Intelligent Modular, multi-Sensor (IMOS) and networked fire detection system
University of Kentucky researchers have discovered a means of reducing gate leakage current of transistors in computer chips that will permit chip producers to continue developing more efficient and powerful chips with reduced power consumption.
Zhi Chen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, found that applying rapid thermal processing directly on gate insulators – used to control current flow of transistors in computer chips – can dramatically reduce the chips
In the mine, like in medicine, prevention is the best way of treatment. It means that it is easier to prevent an explosion than to fight with its consequences, which unfortunately turn sometimes into disasters. Explosion in coal mines happen, as a rule, because of accumulation of combustion agent – natural gas and/or slack – in the air underground. The natural gas and/or slack may explode spontaneously – simply because its concentration in the air has reached the critical value. To learn how much
Time evolution of the thermal properties during dehydration of sol-gel titania emulsions
Nanostructured titania (TiO2) has been extensively studied as a very promising material for applications in sensors, photocatalysis, solar energy conversion and optical coatings. As the properties of titania are determined by its different phases (i.e. rutile and anatase) and these phases depend upon the synthesis method employed, it is important to understand the change in properties that oc
Everybody complains about high energy prices. And yet it’s so easy to save electricity – simply by switching off electrical appliances completely, rather than leaving them ’idling’ in standby mode. The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI has been investigating possible ways of raising consumers’ awareness of the energy they waste by leaving appliances switched on.
In a single year, the electrical equipment in German households and offi
A team of Yale scientists have demonstrated a method to understand effective synthesis of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) for both their quality and quantity, according to a report published in the journal Nanotechnology.
Graduate student Eric Stern in the department of biomedical engineering along with his colleague Guosheng Cheng, associate research scientist in electrical engineering systematically varied and tested parameters for producing GaN NWs using an optical lithograp
Experts at Cardiff University have developed machinery so sophisticated that they can drill a hole narrower than a human hair.
Such precision has potentially major benefits in medical and electronic engineering.
The experts at the University’s multi-award-winning Manufacturing Engineering Centre, are drilling holes as small as 22 microns (0.022 mm) in stainless steel and other materials.
The human hair varies between 80 microns (0.08 mm) down to 50 microns
Professor Peter Hofmann and his team at the Competence Center Electrical and Electronic (EE) Architecture at the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) have successfully developed the first self-organizing electronic components. These so called autonomous units form the basis for complex technical systems of the future. For this purpose, the scientists have adopted the knowledge of complex systems found in nature.
Organisms are structured according to the modular assembly concept –
Currently, the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) is developing an innovative sensor system for human respiratory investigations which can also be applied in the space. Professor Stefanos Fasoulas and his expert team have created a high-performance miniaturised sensor which enables a simultaneous in-situ measurement of oxygen, carbon dioxide and volume flow rates.
In this regard, scientists of the Professorship for Space Systems and
A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researcher has come up with a method designed to improve the energy efficiency of water chillers that cool the nation’s large commercial buildings. The NIST method, if confirmed through experiments with full-scale chiller systems, could save as much as 1 percent of the 320 billion kWh of electricity used annually by chillers or an equivalent 920,000 barrels of oil a day, according to Mark Kedzierski, the NIST mechanical engineer who dev
Given the right support, there could be 5-10 million fuel cell vehicles globally by 2020…
The time horizon for the Hydrogen Economy is long – it is at least 20 years away for developed countries. But long term change requires short term change…
China, India and Brazil have already developed active programmes of research on hydrogen fuel cells, which are tailored to their own needs and development goals…
By developing their hydrogen roadmaps now, de
Echoes of a “hydrogen economy” are reverberating across the country, but a number of roadblocks stand in the way. One of the biggest, experts say, is the high cost of manufacturing fuel cells. A new research project at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute aims to tackle the challenge of mass production by using robots to assemble fuel cell stacks.
The project, which will combine the resources of Rensselaer’s Flexible Manufacturing Center (FMC) and Center for Automation Techno
Heraeus Launches the new VARIUS® System
Heraeus Noblelight GmbH, a company within the worldwide precious metals- and technology organisation Heraeus, will be represented at SOLARIA 2005 in Cologne by its Original Hanau SunCare Division. Original Hanau SunCare is the specialist for tanning lamps and UV technology for sunbeds. At SOLARIA, Original Hanau SunCare is launching the innovative VARIUS system, a system which offers high pressure output in a compact and flexible package.
Phosphate tungsten bronzes have been tested as cathodes in electrochemical lithium insertion cells
Since their discovery in 1830 the tungsten bronzes have been extensively studied due to their interesting chemical, electrical and optical properties. An interesting structural feature at the molecular level is the presence of long, empty tunnels. These tunnels can have other ions inserted into them to enhance and alter the properties of the base material.
This study, publis
Solar research at PSI takes a leap into the future today with the opening of the High-flux Solar Simulator. With this new instrument scientists will be able to carry out experiments under extremely high temperatures, independent of the weather.
The Laboratory for Solar Technology at PSI and the Professorship in Renewable Energy Carriers at ETHZ are jointly conducting research in high-temperature thermo-chemical processes to efficiently transform concentrated solar energy into sto
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