Top 10 Engineering Stories of 2023 on Tech Briefs

Throughout 2023, Tech Briefs published articles covering the latest trends and technologies in engineering. As technology continues to evolve, engineers are at the forefront of innovation, developing inventive solutions to the challenges the world is facing.

OpenAi’s ChatGPT unleashed a wave of renewed interest in artificial intelligence this year. From AI safety and EV battery breakthroughs to 3D printing with advanced and unusual materials as well as world’s first fully operational mech suit — these are few of the topics that appealed to our readers this year.

If you missed these most-popular engineering stories of 2023, see the list below.

10. How Risky is AI?

When AI is used for making health decisions, hiring decisions, financial credit decisions, or automobile-driving decisions, riskiness is a big deal. That is a fundamental problem with using AI for any critical applications — we don’t know how it goes about making its decisions. Associate Editor Ed Brown seeks the answer to this question in his blog.

9. An EV Battery that Works in Sub-Zero Temperature

Many owners of EVs worry about how their battery will perform in very cold weather. However, a new battery chemistry may have solved that problem. Researchers at U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories developed a new and safer electrolyte for Li-ion batteries that works as well in sub-zero conditions as it does at room temperature.

8. Using Coffee to Reduce Waste from 3D Printing

Coffee is a way of life and can do a lot of things — according to a new study from the University of Colorado Boulder, it also can help reduce the waste from 3D printing. The team has already experimented with using coffee grounds to craft jewelry, pots for plants, and even, fittingly, espresso cups. The technique is also simple enough that it will work, with some modifications, on most low-cost, consumer-grade 3D printers.

7. 3D Printing a Mini Vacuum Pump

Building an inexpensive, portable mass spectrometer that could be deployed in remote locations remains a challenge — mainly due to the difficulty of miniaturizing at a low cost, its necessary vacuum pump. Now, MIT researchers have 3D printed a peristaltic pump about the size of a human fist. The technology would be pivotal in a portable mass spectrometer that could help monitor pollutants, perform medical diagnoses in remote areas, or even test Martian soil.

6. Behold: The Oxygen-Ion Battery

Li-ion batteries are ubiquitous today, but that does not mean that they are the best solution for all areas of application. A team at TU Wien (Vienna) has developed an oxygen-ion battery that has some important advantages: It does not allow for quite as high energy densities as a Li-ion battery, but its storage capacity does not decrease irrevocably over time: it can be regenerated and thus may enable an extremely long service life.

5. Meet ARTEMIS — The World’s Fastest Walking Humanoid Robot

Not to be confused with any Lunar missions, ARTEMIS, the Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability, was designed by researchers at UCLA’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) as a general-purpose humanoid robot, with a focus on bipedal locomotion over uneven terrain. It’s also believed to be the first humanoid robot designed in an academic setting that is capable of running — super fast.

4. Using Ultrasound Waves to Move Objects

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a new method of moving objects using ultrasound waves. The research opens the door for the application of contactless manipulation in industries such as manufacturing and robotics, where devices wouldn’t need a built-in power source to move. It’s been demonstrated before that light and sound waves can manipulate objects, but the objects have always been smaller. The team has developed a method that can move larger objects using the principles of metamaterial physics.

3. Mech Suit Gives Humans 50X Strength

It’s about as useful as a human being — but amplified 50 times. That’s how Canadian engineer Jonathan Tippett describes his invention: Prosthesis, the world’s first fully operational mech suit — finished in early 2017 and standing 14 feet tall, weighing in at nearly 9,000 pounds with 200 horsepower, and 100 percent electric and human controlled. The all-terrain walking mech’s aim is to give humans the size and strength of giants.

2. 10 Surging Space Startups

From launch to in-space services, technology innovation is happening rapidly in space. The commercialization of low-Earth orbit in the past decade has fueled the emergence of many space startups. As startups continue to make strides into space and beyond, this article spotlights 10 fast-growing startups that are poised to disrupt space by bringing new innovations to market.

1. A Chat with an AI CAD Designer via ChatGPT

In the year where generative AI made its comeback, not surprisingly this article about ChatGPT received the most views on our website. The release of OpenAi’s ChatGPT unleashed a wave of renewed interest in AI. This language-based AI will surely affect professions like teachers, writers, and programmers, but how will it affect 3D CAD design and 3D printing? Read on.

Also see The Top 10 Most-Read Tech Briefs Stories of 2022.

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