“Cold Tube” Cools Without Air Conditioning

Chilled panels use less energy than conventional A/C and work in open spaces.

Organic Material for Next-Generation HVAC Technologies

An enhanced polymer could be used for more energy-efficient systems with a smaller carbon footprint.

Ultra-Thin, Energy-Efficient Photodetector Integrated with Gorilla Glass

This could lead to the commercial development of smart glass, with applications ranging from imaging to advanced robotics.

High-Capacity Optical Data Storage Disk

Using gold nanomaterials, this disk can hold data securely for more than 600 years.

Synapse-Like Phototransistor

The technology could help computers process visual information more like the human brain.

Next-Generation Computer Chip Has Two Heads

The chip combines two functions — logic operations and data storage — into a single architecture, paving the way to more efficient devices.

Smart Window Improves Energy Efficiency of Buildings

A customizable smart window harnesses and manipulates solar power to save energy and cut costs.

Wearable Cooling and Heating Patch

The patch could serve as a personal thermostat and save energy.

Spin Capacitor for Energy-Efficient Electronics

The capacitor could enable a new generation of electronics that will require less power and generate less heat.

Relaxor Piezoelectric Single-Crystal Multilayer Stacks for Energy Harvesting Transducers (RPSEHT)

Applications include powering portable electronic devices and sensors, and harvesting waste mechanical energy for aircraft, automobile, and other transportation equipment.

Shape Sensing Innovations Dramatically Improve Structural Design Tools

These advances are useful for transportation, infrastructure, and aerospace.

Potassium-Oxygen Battery Stores Clean Energy

Researchers have developed a more efficient, more reliable potassium-oxygen battery with a cathode that stores the energy produced by a chemical reaction in a metal-oxygen or metal-air battery....

Tiny Device Speeds up Memory While Saving Power

Smart objects are required to store and retrieve massive amounts of data quickly without consuming too much power. Millions of new memory cells could be part of a computer chip and provide that...

Combustion Gas Heat Exchanger

Two very challenging problems facing the U.S. and the world are energy security and global climate change, largely due to dependence on fossil fuels. Cost-effective technologies have been developed that are...

Module or Discrete Power?

Engineers today are feeling the pressure to get more done in less time, be experts in multiple disciplines, and use their resources more efficiently to maximize profits. This environment is shifting the way...

Thin-Film System Converts Heat from Electronics into Energy

Nearly 70 percent of the energy produced in the United States each year is wasted as heat. Much of that heat is less than 100 °C and emanates from things like computers, cars, or...

Design of an Energy-Efficient Critical Angle Lens Reflector

The critical angle lens reflector has commercial applications that supersede ordinary mirrored reflectors. The physics of the critical angle lens reflector are based on the optics...

Generating Electrical Power from Waste Heat

Directly converting electrical power to heat is easy; however, converting heat into electrical power is not as easy. To address this issue, a tiny silicon-based device was developed that can...

Advances in Laser Welding Technology

There have been many changes in laser technology over the past 30 years. With each advancement comes new challenges and opportunities. The CO₂ laser with 10-micron wavelength was king for many...

“Light-Written” Photonic Memory Devices

Light is the most energy-efficient way to move information; however, light shows one big limitation: it is difficult to store. Data centers, for example, rely primarily on magnetic hard drives in...

Lightweighting in Aerospace Component and System Design

Lightweighting design is an extensively explored and utilized concept in many industries, especially in aerospace applications, and is associated with the green aviation concept. The...

Ancient Pigment Can Boost Energy Efficiency

Egyptian blue, derived from calcium copper silicate, was routinely used on ancient depictions of gods and royalty. Previous studies have shown that when Egyptian blue absorbs visible light, it then...

New Laser for Improving Telecommunications and Computing

The first laser based on the wave physics phenomenon called bound states in the continuum (BIC) has been developed. The technology could revolutionize the development of surface...

Q&A: University of Virginia’s Patrick Hopkins Studies How to Regulate a Material’s Thermal Conductivity

Professor Hopkins and University of Virginia colleagues — in collaboration with materials scientists at Penn State, the University...

Evaluating Effects of Exhaust Heat Recovery Systems on Fuel Economy and Emissions

The exhaust heat recovery system (EHRS) in an automobile captures the thermal energy from exhaust and transfers it to the engine coolant. As the car warms up,...

Auxiliary Power Solutions for 1500 VDC Photovoltaic Systems

Photovoltaic systems are continually evolving to improve their efficiency and financial viability. One trend is to move to larger strings of cells giving higher dc voltages to be...