Engineering Trends

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced that the Department of Energy “is awarding more than 5 million dollars to support U.S. wind energy development.”

The goal of these grants is to double the U.S. renewable energy generation capacity. Read the editorial from the Voice of America for more on the plans of the DOE to “provide funding to strengthen the U.S. midsize turbine market.”

Τ

MIT’s Technology Review reported on a new two stroke engine from EcoMotors International (MI), “which it says is up to 50 percent more efficient than most vehicle engines and pollutes far less than conventional two-stroke engines.”

Director for the Center of Automotive Research at Ohio State University, Dr. Giorgio Rizzoni (MI G ’81), says “(the engine) looks like a combination of different ideas, none of which are absolutely revolutionary.”

Ecomotor’s CEO Don Runkle, MI G ’68, explains in the article how the new engine improvements account for the 15 percent efficiency improvement.

Β

This weekend the University of Oklahoma will open its engineering practice facility to the public before their collegiate football game. Read the full article

The new facility, ExxonMobil Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility, has been in use by students since earlier this year. According to Dr. Tom Landers (TX B ’72), OU college of engineering dean, the 41,000-square-foot center has already helped recruit more engineering students.

Π