On Campus: Innovation & Opportunity

As part of President Obama’s new NASA budget, space missions must increase in duration. Space.com reports that researchers at MIT are testing new systems of artificial gravity in hopes of helping future astronauts “ward off debilitating loss of muscle and bone due to weightlessness on long missions.”

Laurence Young, MA B ’57, a MIT professor says, “you can treat the root cause of weightlessness by restoring gravity.” To do this Young is testing a device that uses a spinning centrifuge to create artificial gravity.

Read the full article for information on the next steps of artificial gravity

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Binghamton University State University of New York (BU) recently profiled Peter Watson, NY T 2010, as being a third-generation electrical engineer.

Watson’s father, Joe, also graduated from BU with a degree in electrical engineering. Peter plans to follow in his father’s footsteps by entering BAE’s three-year Engineering Leadership Development Program.

While at BU, Peter’s senior design project was “designing and building a working simulator of a hybridization scheme for a fuel-cell vehicle.” Peter teamed with fellow students Jonathan Pantano, NY T 2010, and Meghan Ludwig, NY T 2010. Read news story

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Grand Valley State University announced that the National Science Foundation has awarded research grants “to conduct biomedical engineering, math education, aquatic plant life, and fossil record research.”

According to an article from the AP, a large portion of the grant funds “will be used to develop a master’s program in biomedical engineering.”

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