Engineering Innovation, January 2010

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is joining with Oshkosh Corp. and Eck Industries “to develop lighter, stronger metals using nanotechnology.

Funding for the research project will come from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “The goal is to produce lighter-weight metal castings of aluminum and magnesium that will have the strength of cast steel.”

Read article for more about plans “to disperse nano particles evenly through molten metals.”

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The preliminary public debut of the Puffin, a newly developed hovercraft, took place this week at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.

The design of the Puffin is attributed to NASA Langley engineer Mark D. Moore, and his colleagues at Massachusetts and Georgia institutes of technology, the National Institute of Aerospace, and M-Dot Aerospace.

NASA plans for the new technology to be available for both military and civilian purposes and should allow for cruising speeds of up to 150 mph. Read more about the Puffin and its electric propulsion technology.

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Celebrating its tenth year, The Infinity Project, is a national award winning engineering curricula that was developed by the SMU Lyle School of Engineering, Texas Instruments, National Instruments, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and others.

To date, the Project has “impacted over 5,000 students in 38 states,” showing students the value in math and science to encourage them to pursue engineering careers. Read the full news release for more information

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