Innovation, January 2015

For the past two years, Matthew R. Eatherton, Ph.D., P.E. (MO A ’97), has been developing a structural building component called a self-centering beam (SCB). “This self-centering beam would serve several purposes: protect lives, limit or eliminate structural repair costs, and reduce business downtime due to earthquakes.” Dr. Eatherton is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virgina Tech.

His “new approach allows the SCB to be fabricated in a shop and put in place by conventional field construction methods. It also uses approximately the same amount of steel as conventional seismic systems, thereby holding down its costs.” Read the news article for more details and biographical details on Dr. Eatherton.

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The 5th Annual Rube Goldberg Competition will take place at UCLA, hosted by the California Epsilon Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, on Sunday, February 22. Registration is now open with the early bird deadline on January 30 and the final deadline on February 8. Please contact Victor Yu, CA E 2015, at victor24yu”at”ucla”dot”edu if you have any questions regarding registration. See the event flyer for more information

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A recent paper published in the Journal of Applied Physics by two scientists at the University of Rochester, details “a powerful and precise laser-patterning technique that transforms metals into extremely water repellent, or super-hydrophobic, materials without the need for temporary coatings.” The colleagues are part of the University’s Institute of Optics. Click here to read the article, watch video of the metals, and learn about the many potential applications of the new properties.

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