Transistors Repurposed as Microchip Clock Address Security Flaws

A new approach uses commercial chip fab materials and techniques to fabricate specialized transistors to serve as the building block of the timing device. Read on to learn more.

Electrochemical Sensors Based on Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

Researchers at NASA Ames Research Center developed an electrochemical, bead-based biological sensor based on Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) combining a magnetic concentration of signaling molecules and electrochemical amplification using wafer-scale fabrication of microelectrode arrays. Read on to learn more.

Rapidly Testing Stretchable Sensors

Engineers have developed a new technique for making wearable sensors that enables medical researchers to prototype and test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods. Read on to learn more.

Closing the Design-to-Manufacturing Gap for Optical Devices

A new method enables optical devices that more closely match their design specifications, boosting accuracy and efficiency. Read on to learn more.

Thicker, Denser, Better Electrodes May Hold the Key to Advanced Batteries

The improved method for fabricating battery electrodes may lead to high-performance batteries that would enable more energy-efficient EVs, as well as such benefits as enhancing power grid storage, according to Hongtao Sun, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State.

Additive Manufacturing Model-Based Process Metrics

Inventors at the NASA Langley Research Center have developed a novel method to model and ingest point-wise process data to evaluate an additive manufacturing build and its file for issues by highlighting potential anomalies or other areas where the build may have issues with fusion of the material.

Automated Tow/Tape Placement System

NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed a simplified, tool-less automated tow/tape placement (ATP) system. This invention enables several benefits that mitigate limitations associated with conventional ATP systems. Read on to learn more.

A Lightweight Material Stronger than Steel

Scientists at the Columbia University, University of Connecticut, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory were able to fabricate a pure form of glass and coat specialized pieces of DNA with it to create a material that was not only stronger than steel, but incredibly lightweight.

Improving Battery Performance with More Efficient Electrodes

To improve battery performance and production, Penn State researchers and collaborators have developed a new fabrication approach that could make for more efficient batteries that maintain energy and power levels.

Origami-Inspired Robot Uses Single Motor for Self-Folding and Movement

Centimeter-scale walking and crawling robots are in demand both for their ability to explore tight or cluttered environments and for their low fabrication costs. Pulling from origami-inspired construction, researchers have crafted a more simplified approach to the design and fabrication of these robots.

A Novel Way to Convert Heat to Electricity

Researchers have fabricated a novel device that could dramatically boost the conversion of heat into electricity. If perfected, the technology could help recoup some of the recoverable heat energy that is wasted in the U.S. at a rate of about $100 billion each year.

A Sintering Method to Fabricate Large Perovskite Devices

A Penn State-led team of researchers have created a new process to fabricate large perovskite devices that is more cost- and time-effective than previously possible — and may accelerate future materials discovery.

A Cobot Spot Welder Promises Ergonomic Safety and Productivity Gains

Pro Spot International was founded in 1984 by Ron Olsson, shortly after coming to America from Sweden. Almost 40 years later, Pro Spot is one of the leading companies in automotive repair tools.

Building a Better Prosthetic to Restore Mobility for Amputees

Prosthetic technology has seen incredible advancements over the past three decades, but the socket, one of the device’s most important parts, has remained relatively unchanged.

Multi-Material Digital Light Processing 3D Printing

Researchers from Japan and Singapore have developed a new 3D-printing process for the fabrication of 3D metal–plastic composite structures with complex shapes.

Using 3D Printing to Strengthen Jet Engines

Skoltech engineers have used a 3D printer to fabricate — and investigate the mechanical characteristics of — samples of bronze-steel alloys previously unknown to materials science.

Inflatable, Shape-Changing Spinal Implants Could Help Treat Severe Pain

The device uses soft robotics, ultra-thin electronics, and microfluidics.

Highly Sensitive, Mass Producible Organic Photodetectors

Incorporating new green-light absorbing transparent organic photodetectors into organic-silicon hybrid image sensors could be useful for applications such as light-based heart-rate monitoring, fingerprint recognition and devices that detect the presence of nearby objects

A New Fabrication Process Produces Smart Textiles

By incorporating a special type of plastic yarn and using heat to slightly melt it — a process called thermoforming — the researchers were able to greatly improve the precision of pressure sensors woven into multilayered knit textiles, which they call 3DKnITS.

Challenges of Fabricating and Coating Laser Crystals

Because laser crystals are sensitive optical components and are often used with high-power lasers, depositing the correct coatings onto them without introducing any defects is essential.

Upside-Down Design Expands Wide-Spectrum Super-Camera Abilities

Plasmonics is a technology that essentially traps the energy of light in groups of electrons oscillating together on a metal surface.

Robots Created with 3D Printer

Robotic assistants are expected to become increasingly marketable as caregivers; however, the external hard structure of current caregiving robots prevents them from establishing a safe human-robot interaction....

Constructing 3D Models of Mineralized Tissue On-Demand

A technique to grow 3D tissue constructs, similar to human bone, in a laboratory environment has been developed by bioengineers at NASA Johnson Space Center. Problems arise when...

New Optical Component Used to Create AR/VR Headsets and Eyewear

Consumers are looking for augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) glasses that are compact and easy to wear, delivering high-quality imagery with socially acceptable optics that...

Simplifying Sensor Fabrication with Adhesive Compounds

Epoxy and silicone compounds serve a critical role as adhesives in electronics.

Inkjet Printing of Metamaterials

Metamaterials that manipulate microwave energy can be fabricated using low-cost inkjet printing.

Kirigami-Style Fabrication at the Nanoscale

This method fabricates 3D nanostructures for electronics, manufacturing, and healthcare.

Nanothin Piezoelectrics for Self-Powered Electronics

The nanothin material could advance self-powered electronics, wearable technologies, and even deliver pacemakers powered by heartbeats.

Simple, Fuel-Efficient Rocket Engine for Cheaper, Lighter Spacecraft

The engine could make rockets not only more fuel-efficient, but also more lightweight and less complicated to construct.