Materials & Manufacturing

Smaller Skin-Like Stretchable Electronics for Wearables

Researchers at Stanford have been working on skin-like, stretchable electronic devices for over a decade. Recently, they presented a new design and fabrication process for skin-like integrated circuits that are five times smaller and operate at one thousand times higher speeds than earlier versions. Read on to learn more about it.

Rising Star Award Winner 2024: Medical

Oonagh Hassett, Program Manager, Symphysis Medical from Galway, Ireland, is the 2024 Rising Star Award Winner for Medical.

Rising Star Award Winner 2024: Manufacturing

Stephanie de Boissieu, Vice President General Manager, Factory Automation, Emerson from Niedersachsen, Germany is the 2024 Rising Star Award Winner for Manufacturing.

Rising Star Award Winner 2024: Manufacturing

Jessica Polkinghorn, Senior Manager, Apple Inc. from Cupertino, California, is the 2024 Rising Star Award Winner for Manufacturing.

Shining the Spotlight on Rising Stars: WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

The Rising Star Awards program was launched in March 2024 as an initiative by SAE Media Group to recognize women engineers who are pushing boundaries, demonstrating outstanding innovation and leadership, as well as paving the way for countless others. In its inaugural year, the Rising Star Awards program received 205 nominations from organizations across the globe. Read on to learn about the winners.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on a new 3D printing technique that uses a nozzle that can change its size and shape during the printing process; one on advancing technologies for circular and material-efficient construction; one on how 3D printing can create geometrically complex structures needed to mimic nature; and one on converting a 1997 Chevy P30 delivery van into a fully electric vehicle.

Ultra-Sensitive Lead Detector Could Improve Water Quality Monitoring

Engineers have developed an ultra-sensitive sensor made with graphene that can detect extraordinarily low concentrations of lead ions in water. The device achieves a record limit of detection of lead down to the femtomolar range, which is one million times more sensitive than previous sensing technologies. Read on to learn more.

Machine Monitoring Enables Control of Cutting Forces

Reliable machine monitoring yields valuable real-time insights into ongoing processes; it is the basis for dependable, productive, and reproducible manufacturing and it helps machine operators to reach well-founded decisions on both short- and long-term improvements. Read on to learn more about it.

Optimizing Fluid Sensors for Industrial Process Measurement

When processing pharmaceutical products, how do you tell if a fluid is of high quality? If you are working with crude oil, how do you know how much you are extracting? If you are transporting water, how do you know the flow rate? Such questions, which impact confidence and bottom lines for water, food, life sciences, and oil and gas companies, are addressed by the manufacturers of flowmeters that are installed in pipelines and other equipment. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including Delta Motion's EtherCAT communication module, which adds to its flagship RMC200 Motion Controller family; Teledyne FLIR IIS' Dragonfly S 5MP, the first camera in the new Dragonfly S series to enter full production; Akribis Systems' SGR Series rod motor positioning module; and more.

Origami Inspires Shape-Shifting ‘Transformer Bots’

Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, North Carolina State University engineers have discovered a way to make a single plastic cubed structure transform into more than 1,000 configurations using only three active motors. Read on to learn more.

Iron Could Be Key to Less Expensive, Greener Lithium-Ion Batteries

Researchers are hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries. Read on to learn more.

Synthetic Mini Motor with Enormous Power

Researchers have developed an artificial motor at the supramolecular level that can develop impressive power. The wind-up motor is a tiny ribbon made of special molecules. When energy is applied, the...

Using Mushrooms to Control Robots

By harnessing mycelia’s innate electrical signals, the researchers discovered a new way of controlling “biohybrid” robots that can potentially react to their environment better than their purely synthetic counterparts.

Unique Nanodisk Holds Major Potential for Future of Photonic Research

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have for the first time succeeded in combining two major research fields in photonics by creating a nanoobject with...

This OLED Device is Thinner Than a Human Hair

A new type of OLED (organic light emitting diode) could replace bulky night vision goggles with lightweight glasses, making them cheaper and more practical for prolonged use, according to...

Bringing Circular Economy for Plastics One Step Closer to Reality

The chemical process can essentially vaporize plastics that currently dominate the waste stream and turn them into hydrocarbon building blocks for new plastics.

World’s Strongest Battery Paves Way for Light, Energy-Efficient Vehicles

When cars, planes, ships, or computers are built from a material that functions as both a battery and a load-bearing structure, the weight and energy consumption are...

Generative Design Pairs with Digital Manufacturing for Space-Ready Parts

NASA engineers partnered with digital manufacturer Protolabs for a generative design experiment at the recent PowerSource Global Summit, a technology conference held in Orlando. Read on to learn more about the space-ready parts that came out of it.

A Shape-Shifting Metamaterial Inspired by Push Puppets

UCLA researchers have developed a new type of metamaterial, a material engineered to possess properties with applications for soft robotics, reconfigurable architectures, and space engineering.

Crafting Safe, Long-Cyclable Lithium Metal Batteries for High Temperatures

A research team has developed a new generation of lithium metal batteries, representing a significant advancement in the field. Their innovation centers on microcrack-free polymer electrolytes which promise extended lifespan and enhanced safety at elevated temperatures.

Swimming Microrobots Deliver Cancer-fighting Drugs to Metastatic Lung Tumors

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver...

A New Model Offers Robots Precise Pick-and-Place Solutions

Pick-and-place machines are a type of automated equipment used to place objects into structured, organized locations. These machines are used for a variety of applications — from...

AI's Role in Advanced Medtech Manufacturing

AI is optimizing manufacturing efficiency, quality control, and supply chain management.

5Ws of Film-Balloon Soft Robots

A novel fabrication approach enables lightweight, untethered operation of soft robots with advanced biomimetic locomotion capabilities.