Innovation & Learning

Fast Company recently featured a unique solution to stalled construction sites. Inflatable buildings are a new concept by Woods Bagot that would create a temporary structure to be used until the project and funding started back up.

The modular units, called Icebergs, are “steel structures wrapped in high-tech plastic fabric called EFTE.
Read the article here for more information

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The National Research Council released a report advising the continuation of the clean vehicle research initiative, including hydrogen technologies along with advanced combustion engines and electric vehicles.

The report was “the third in a series of reviews on the FreedomCAR program to advance the technologies essential for components and infrastructure for a full range of affordable, clean energy, efficient cars and light trucks.”

The Chair of the committee that performed the review was Dr. Vernon P. Roan, FL A ’58, Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida. Read the press release

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The AP is reporting that the University of Iowa has installed a small wind turbine on campus “to be used primarily as a teaching tool for engineering students.” The turbine will also produce some usable power.

Read the article for more on the 37-foot turbine and other efforts at the university’s green energy district.

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