http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/engineering/ en-us Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:03:11 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048098/posts China's breathtaking transformation of their own country over the past couple of decades is accompanied by robust new Chinese enterprises all over the world. In this report on China's activities in Africa, the Chinese are seen to be involved in infrastructure projects across this vast continent. Everything about Africa is writ large - during the past twenty years, as China's economy exploded, Africa's population doubled. There are now over 900 million people living in Africa, and collectively the Africans have lower per capita wealth than the peoples of any other continent. But the potential in this vast land mass of... Eco World http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048098/posts#comment Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:03:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042961/posts AIRLINES are desperate. With jet fuel over $4 per gallon and still climbing, American, United and other major carriers are raising fares, cutting flights, trimming fleets and laying off pilots. They're also ordering fuel-efficient Boeing 787s and Airbus A350XWBs — the new generation of plastic planes. These new aircraft promise 20-percent-lower fuel consumption. Replacing heavier traditional aluminum alloys, 50 percent of their skins, panels and load-bearing structures are comprised of lighter, stiffer carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) composites. Then add the latest, most fuel-efficient engine technology. Sounds good. But beneath these advantages danger lurks — novel maintenance challenges for which neither airlines nor... Crosscut/The Seattle Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042961/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jul 2008 16:38:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2037558/posts It was probably the most ingenious student prank of all time. In June 1958, Cambridge awoke to see a car perched at the apex of an inaccessible rooftop, looking as if it were driving across the skyline. The spectacle made headlines around the world and left police, firefighters and civil defence units battling for nearly a week to hoist the vehicle back down before giving in and taking it to pieces with blowtorches. The shadowy group of engineering students who executed the stunt were never identified and the mystery of how they did it has baffled successive undergraduates and provided... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2037558/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:18:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034767/posts The enormous steel ball you see in the photos (and the incredible video below) is the world’s largest ‘tuned mass damper’ and sits near the top of the world’s largest completed skyscraper on earth, taipei 101 in taiwan. the idea behind a tuned mass damper is quite simple: as a building sways (resulting from high winds, earthquakes etc), its tuned mass damper, essentially a finely tuned and ridiculously heavy pendulum, will move in opposition to the structure’s oscillations and minimise any movement. if that makes no sense, watch the crude gif below. due to both the immense size of taipei... deputy-dog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034767/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:44:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031541/posts It's sweltering in Boston, and a dozen Tufts University coeds are out in shorts and tanks, attracting the usual stares. Only today the stares are for a different reason: the girls are huddled around a 750-pound machine that looks like a spaceship, long and wide with a bubble-shaped cockpit open to reveal a mass of pipes and wires. It's actually a solar car—one they've built from the ground up and hope to race next year. Suddenly sparks fly, and the girls jump back. They may be engineering whizzes, but they know a hazard when they see one. They call a... Newsweek http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031541/posts#comment Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:10:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2031179/posts   In a move that will cheer up lovers of vehicles that can travel on both water and (very flat) land, students at a German engineering university have built a one-person hovercraft that uses an air thrust system to move and steer.Folks over at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences use a pneumatic propeller that pushes air through two channels. Each of the channels has a pair of flaps that behave like the thrust-reversing system of a turbo-drive to help a user easily maneuver left or right, go in reverse, and brake.The way the project is set up hints that... Gizmodo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2031179/posts#comment Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:01:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027349/posts Every nation could be described as a manifestation of a unique trait of character and most countries furthermore nurture, give emphasize to and celebrate this national identity of theirs. Some examples of such key national characters (please DO comment if you feel inclined to); USA: Liberty Italy: Creativity France: Refinement India: Spirituality Germany: Self-discipline Finland: "Sisu" (a Finnish term meaning "To have guts") Britain: Elevatedness Denmark: "Hygge" (a Danish word meaning "Good-naturedness", of mind as well as of deed) Spain: Passion China: Cultivation Russia: Chaos - just joking, I would actually say "Heart" (in the sense of having a big... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027349/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 22:43:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025610/posts India's tech companies, interested in capitalizing on their success in drawing IT outsourcing business from U.S. and other Western countries, are examining what they need to do to capture a broader range of the engineering services business. The National Association of Software and Service Companies in Delhi, India's leading IT trade group, commissioned a study by Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a McLean, Va.-based consulting firm, to examine the country's potential to gain a larger share of the offshore engineering services business, going beyond software engineering to a swath of industries, including automotive, aerospace, utilities, construction and industrial. The Booz Allen... Computer World http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025610/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 01:33:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019690/posts Mississippi State University, for the second consecutive year, earned top honors in the GM and US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Challenge X student engineering competition. Over the past nine months, the 2008 Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainability competition challenged 17 university teams from the US and Canada to re-engineer a Chevrolet Equinox that employs advanced powertrain technologies. The Mississippi State team designed a through-the-road parallel hybrid electric vehicle powered by a 1.9L GM direct injection turbo diesel engine fueled by biodiesel (B20). It used a GM F40 6-speed manual transmission and a Johnson Controls 300V NiMH battery pack in conjunction... www.greencarcongress.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019690/posts#comment Thu, 22 May 2008 14:45:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012963/posts Oilfield services companies will need to join forces in the next few years to avoid a downturn of the sector's own making, the chief executive of French oil services company Technip SA (TKPPY) said Wednesday. That could mean merging with each other or, for the first time in decades, with energy companies, Technip CEO Thierry Pilenko said. During a panel at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Pilenko floated the idea of international oil companies acquiring service firms as a way to manage a growing labor shortage facing the entire energy industry. International oil companies explore for and produce oil... Dow Jones Newswire via Rig Zone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012963/posts#comment Thu, 8 May 2008 12:52:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994414/posts If the British and French can design and build spectacular bridges at a modest or at least reasonable cost, why can’t we? Or maybe we can, but we haven’t tried it lately, at least not in Oregon. The question comes up because Peter DeFazio, our man in Washington, is chairman of the highways and transit subcommittee in the U.S. House. His committee will write the next highway bill, probably by the end of 2009. And when DeFazio led his colleagues on a fact-finding trip to Europe, he saw the viaduct at Millau. It’s the most spectacular bridge he has ever... The Corvallis Gazette Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994414/posts#comment Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:56:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994122/posts How the Chinese plan to modify the weather in Beijing during the Olympics, using supercomputers and artillery. To prevent rain over the roofless 91,000-seat Olympic stadium that Beijing natives have nicknamed the Bird's Nest, the city's branch of the national Weather Modification Office--itself a department of the larger China Meteorological Administration--has prepared a three-stage program for the 2008 Olympics this August. First, Beijing's Weather Modification Office will track the region's weather via satellites, planes, radar, and an IBM p575 supercomputer, purchased from Big Blue last year, that executes 9.8 trillion floating point operations per second. It models an area of... Technology Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994122/posts#comment Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:57:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963535/posts BAGHDAD — The Iraqi River Patrol Police station is training their trainers to maintain and troubleshoot their river craft while underway with a 10-day basic engineering course taught by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph Aldana, Naval Special Warfare Unit 3, Bahrain. Students are participating in the Basic Engineering course offered as a way to assist the river police in troubleshooting malfunctions of boat equipment and help them understand how the river craft operate. The topics taught within the Basic Engineering course are Internal Combustion; Basic Electricity; Marine Battery/Electricity; Backing Gaskets and Seals; Troubleshooting and Planned Maintenance System checks.... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963535/posts#comment Sat, 2 Feb 2008 00:20:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960986/posts MANHASSET, N.Y. " Is there a thread that ties engineers to Islamic terrorism? There certainly is, according to Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog at Oxford University, who recently published a paper titled, "Engineers of Jihad." The authors call the link to terrorism "the engineer's mindset." The sociology paper published last November, which has been making rounds over the Internet and was recently picked up by The Atlantic, uses illustrative statistics and qualitative data to conclude that there is a strong relationship between an engineering background and involvement in a variety of Islamic terrorist groups. The authors have found that graduates... EE Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960986/posts#comment Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:47:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948613/posts You're wading knee-deep in science if you're following the presidential primaries this year, but in some cases, the candidates' positions are as clear as mud. Stem-cell research, climate change, alternative fuels and creationism versus evolution in public education are acknowledged by even some of the most marginalized candidates. More broadly, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain and Barack Obama have directly criticized the current Bush Administration for its science policies, with accusations — based on numerous media reports — ranging from data distortion to research censorship. "I respect scientists and the scientific method, so I believe that policy should be... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948613/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jan 2008 05:14:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1944806/posts Engineering students around the country will be able to apply their education to a real-world challenge. The EcoCAR challenge, a contest sponsored by General Motors and the Dept. of Energy, will offer students the opportunity to design a car that gets maximum fuel economy and minimal emissions. The students’ requirements include designing and building advanced propulsion solutions that emulate vehicle categories from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) zero emissions vehicle requirements. The alternative technologies include electric hybrids, fuel cells, bio-fuels, lightweight materials, and high-tech aerodynamics. The EcoCAR challenge launches in the 2008-2009 academic year as a three-year program with... Consulting Specifying Engineer Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1944806/posts#comment Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:46:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936579/posts SUGAR LAND — The global demand for energy is keeping the Sugar Land offices of international engineering and construction leader Fluor Corp. busy — and growing. Sugar Land is home to Irving-based Fluor's energy and chemical division, the biggest source of the company's revenue. In 2006, the segment accounted for 38 percent of Fluor's $14.1 billion in revenue. And it's only becoming more prominent. For the first nine months of 2007, the energy and chemical unit brought in $6 billion, more than half the company's nearly $12 billion in revenue for that time frame. Sugar Land is at the center... Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936579/posts#comment Sat, 8 Dec 2007 12:58:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933011/posts One myth dogging the immigration debate is that employers are fibbing (or grossly exaggerating) when they claim that hiring foreign professionals is unavoidable because U.S.-born Ph.D.s are hard to come by. But a new report on doctorates from U.S. universities shows they're telling the truth, and then some. Foreign-born students holding temporary visas received 33% of all research doctorates awarded by U.S. universities in 2006, according to an annual survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. That number has climbed from 25% in 2001. But more to the point of business competitiveness, foreign students comprised... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933011/posts#comment Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:58:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1930659/posts Signs with the words "U.S. citizens and permanents only" greeted students at employers' booths at a recent career fair at Duke University, where I teach. In previous years only government jobs requiring security clearances were labeled off-limits to international students. Foreign-born engineering graduates told me they were disappointed that employers like General Electric, IBM, and Carmax as well as smaller companies would not even interview them. Recruiters told me they were frustrated that they could not fill critical positions. They have few options because the visas they need to hire foreign nationals simply aren't available. This visa shortage is a... Rediff http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1930659/posts#comment Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:46:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1930277/posts As baby boomers retire, aerospace and engineering companies in the Antelope Valley need an influx of new workers - homegrown, if possible. Like creosote, mesquite and other native plant species, Antelope Valley residents have an easier time putting down roots in the dusty Mojave Desert, home to Plant 42 and Edwards Air Force Base. "From an employer's perspective, we see much higher rates of turnover when we recruit young engineers from anywhere east of California," said Michael Huggins, chief of the Air Force Research Lab at Edwards. "They're not used to the desert environment and they're away from home." Using... Valley Press on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1930277/posts#comment Sun, 25 Nov 2007 17:34:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1925497/posts For decades, and most particularly since Sept. 11, 2001, commentators have noted the curious prevalence of higher education amongst members of radical Islamist movements. The idea that poverty is a "root cause" of radical terrorism can no longer be put forward without attracting snickers -- at least not without some further account of why it is the brightest and educationally best-equipped in poor societies who turn to violence. Of course, no one can be surprised that university campuses should serve as incubators of radicalism in the Muslim world, since they have served the same function here for so long. The... National Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1925497/posts#comment Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:58:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1923558/posts Visiting Sweden, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that Sweden is one of NATO’s most important partners and is welcome as a member in the rapid reaction force, should Sweden decide to join. On Friday Morning, NATO’s Secretary General met Sweden’s Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, one of the two places where Swedish troops come under NATO command as part of the ISAF force. They also discussed possible participation in NATO’s rapid reaction force (NRF), with Sweden saying a decision may be reached by the spring. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also promised to... www.sr.se http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1923558/posts#comment Fri, 9 Nov 2007 22:10:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1919418/posts Forget the conventional wisdom. U.S. schools are turning out more capable science and engineering grads than the job market can support. Political leaders, tech executives, and academics often claim that the U.S. is falling behind in math and science education. They cite poor test results, declining international rankings, and decreasing enrollment in the hard sciences. They urge us to improve our education system and to graduate more engineers and scientists to keep pace with countries such as India and China. Yet a new report by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, tells a different story. The report disproves many... Business Week http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1919418/posts#comment Thu, 1 Nov 2007 12:55:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1919343/posts COLTON, N.Y., Oct. 30 — The bridge that carries Route 56 over the Raquette River here is so ordinary that it has no name, only a number, 1027260. But for now it is a bridge like no other, studded with instruments like a cardiac patient, giving up secrets that may explain how to keep others from falling. Bridges are big, dumb pieces of steel and concrete, and mostly out of mind, until one collapses, as the Interstate 35W bridge did in Minneapolis on Aug. 1. Even now, three months later, no one is sure why that happened, but it has... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1919343/posts#comment Thu, 1 Nov 2007 05:25:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1909675/posts Arleigh Burke-class destroyers 'buckling' under stress, admits USN By Tara Copp Serious structural defects have been identified throughout the United States Navy's fleet of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Jane's can reveal. The navy (USN) has admitted that many of the 51 ships currently in service are buckling under the stress of higher-than-anticipated loads at sea. The impact of rough-sea slamming on the bow has led to warping of main transverse bulkhead beams and some of the cribbing, a source said. Repairs and strengthening work is already being carried out on the latest Flight IIA ships as well as vessels from the... Janes.Com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1909675/posts#comment Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:01:19 GMT