Archive for 'Summer: Annual Report'
Expanding the potential of MRI for diagnosing breast cancer
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
In the world of medical imaging, no single technology provides all the answers for the critical procedure of breast cancer biopsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for example, produces clear, highly revealing images of potential breast cancer lesions, but lacks practicality in obtaining a biopsy sample. Ultrasound imaging, on the other hand, is less revealing than [...]
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With second company, laser researchers are seeing new light
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Two professors have formed a startup company to commercialize a nanoscale laser structure that could benefit a wide range of industries. Intraband LLC was co-founded in 2008 by Philip Dunham Reed Professor Dan Botez and Professor Luke Mawst and has received recent funding from the U.S. Army and Navy Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. Botez [...]
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New ‘wave’ of energy research
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
A renewable energy source that could serve the majority of the U.S. population often flows by unnoticed, even as it continuously rolls and crashes onto the shores of a country searching for petroleum alternatives. Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD student Jennifer Vining has brought the attention of Wisconsin Electric Machines & Power Electronics Consortium researchers [...]
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Nanoscale silicon: A really cool hot spot
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
Silicon’s ability to dissipate heat, a property called high thermal conductivity, is part of the reason it is a popular material for electronics applications. Yet when silicon is reduced to the nanoscale, it displays a very different property, becoming an efficient thermoelectric material that can convert heat into electricity (a process called energy harvesting) or [...]
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Preparing kids for college
Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 by perspective.
The Engineering Summer Program When a group of high school students gets together to decide the best way to text while riding a bicycle, the expected result would probably involve mangled spokes and a broken limb or two. But during the UW-Madison Engineering Summer Program (ESP), high school juniors and seniors approach such problems as [...]
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They dig the outdoors
Posted on 29. Sep, 2011 by perspective.
Geological engineers live and work for the environment Most of the people who were in the Geological Engineering Program (GLE) with me got involved because we enjoy the outdoors,” says Sam Freitag (pictured). “We liked all the time we got to spend on camping trips for geology and doing outdoor field work, but we also [...]
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Teaching the societal side of engineering
Posted on 29. Sep, 2011 by perspective.
Outreach initiative engages middle-school students and teachers When Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Amy Wendt (right) was in ninth grade, her teacher asked the class if anyone liked math. Sitting in the front row, Wendt eagerly put up her hand. Then she realized she was the only one. Now, Wendt is helping math and science [...]
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From the Menominee Forest to Madison
Posted on 29. Sep, 2011 by perspective.
Engineering a path for American Indian transfer students If a UW-Madison faculty member is late to work, it’s likely due to traffic. When Diana Morris, dean of instruction at the College of Menominee Nation (CMN), was late one morning, it was because a bear was sitting on her car. CMN is located at the southern [...]
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EXPO, olympiad, student exchange
Posted on 29. Sep, 2011 by perspective.
THOUSANDS EXPERIENCE SCIENCE AT SUCCESSFUL ENGINEERING EXPO Standing anywhere in the Engineering Centers Building atrium April 14, 15 and 16, it was impossible to ignore the bass thundering out of a very large stereo speaker located at the north end of the building. This was no ordinary speaker. “Just last night,” said electrical engineering PhD [...]
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Creating pathways to engineering success
Posted on 28. Sep, 2011 by perspective.
As the University of Wisconsin-Madison celebrates the “Year of the Wisconsin Idea,” recognizing a century of contributions to the greater public good, it’s worth reflecting on how ingrained that tradition has become in engineering. The Wisconsin Idea drives us to extend the benefits of UW-Madison work to the citizens of the state and beyond. We [...]
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Growing solar, at the speed of light (almost)
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Drawing on somewhat of an “old-school” crystal-growth method, Milton A. and J. Maude Shoemaker Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor Tom Kuech and graduate student Kevin Schulte are studying how rapid synthesis affects the chemistry and electrical properties of gallium arsenide. Their results could point the way to faster, less costly manufacturing processes for solar cell [...]
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A Bright Idea
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
At age 15, Dan Ludois tried to convince his grandparents that the best way to run electricity to a shed in the corner of their farm was to use recycled parts from a microwave. At the time, his grandparents weren’t entirely convinced of the teenager’s technical credibility, but Ludois kept the idea in the back [...]
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Environmental engineering, for stem cells
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Most stem cell researchers handle their samples very delicately. Chemical and Biological Engineering Associate Professor Sean Palecek prefers to pull them, add chemicals or pulse them with current. Palecek is using embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to study how cells differentiate and how to guide that differentiation. Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult human [...]
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Probing the mysteries of nanoscale wear
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Kevin Turner is working with Illinois-based Advanced Diamond Technologies (ADT) andcollaborators at the University of Pennsylvania to design and fabricate high-performance, wear-resistant diamond probes for atomic-force microscopy, or AFM. AFM is a widely used research technique for measuring the nanoscale topography of surfaces. A sharp probe with a point that has [...]
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Solar researchers freeze out cancer
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
One method for treating cancer involves injecting a patient with a metal probe in close proximity of a tumor. The probe is then rapidlycooled to the point of freezing and killing the surrounding tissue. Called a cryoprobe, the technique is gaining traction in medicine, but the procedure isn’t as simple or fast as many doctors [...]
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Plastics techniques, for people
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Six years ago, Mechanical Engineering Professor Lih-Sheng (Tom) Turng and then-PhD student Adam Kramschuster brainstormed how to use their expertise in polymer processing to make a larger difference for society. Out of their discussions came the idea to transfer polymer fabrication techniques to the field of tissue engineering—and the pair are now part of a [...]
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A global view of the very small
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
In an engineering lab at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (UPRM) , a student takes pictures of a nanomaterial by controlling a microscope with a computer. What makes this scene unique is that the microscope isn’t beside the computer or even in the next room. Rather, it’s located in the basement of the UW-Madison [...]
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Finding the right path
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
A team led by Materials Science and Engineering Professor Chang-Beom Eom has developed a new approach for creating powerful nanodevices, and the discoveries could pave the way for other researchers to begin more widespread development of these devices. Particular metal-oxide materials have a unique magneto-electric property that allows the material to switch its magnetic field [...]
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Mentor for innovators
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Erwin W. Mueller Professor and Bascom Materials Science and Engineering Professor of Surface Science Max Lagally serves as a bridgebetween the UW-Madison laboratories where cutting-edge technologies are developed and the companies taking those devices to market. “When I was in graduate school during the Sputnik era, the motivation in academia was to create more academics,” [...]
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Get the skinny on lean
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
After 10 years of working with various manufacturing firms, Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Leyuan Shi has produced a software tool that will help manufacturers implement quantitative management strategies for significant results. Shi, an optimization expert, says quantitative management is about matching tasks, such as custom orders, with available resources, such as idle machines. She [...]
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CQPI: Celebrating 25 years of quality research
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
The offices of the Center for Quality and Productivity (CQPI) are housed in the UW-Madison Engineering Centers Building, but the center’s real work happens in hospitals, intensive care units, nursing stations and other healthcare settings around the country. Founded in 1985 by Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Emeritus George E.P. Box and the late Professor [...]
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Manufacturing a bright future
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
In the early 2000s, Milwaukee-based Phoenix Products was facing a host of challenges, including increasingly slow deliveries to customers,out-of-control inventory and high employee turnover. By 2004, the issues had reached a crescendo for the special-purpose lighting equipment manufacturer. “We had been running overtime every Saturday for a year and a half,” recalls Phoenix Chief Executive [...]
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Eagle eye: Bioinspired optics provide new views of the body
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Inspired by the eyes of various animals, Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Hongrui Jiang (right) and his collaborators are creating innovative optical technologies for surgical tools, surveillance and electronic devices. “Instead of just duplicating natural designs, we want to understand what features are beneficial in what way and combine those benefits to create something [...]
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Engineering the future of energy policy
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
On August 14, 2003, transmission lines in Ohio drooped into trees, causing a chain reaction that resulted in a record blackout across the Northeastern United States and part of Canada, affecting more than 50 million customers. Prompted in part by the blackout, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Policy Act in 2005, which included a [...]
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Smart tech for smart comm
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
As smart phones and other wireless devices become ever more prevalent, the amount of data flowing through wireless networks is rapidly increasing. This data flow eventually connects back to the Internet, typically via cell towers that connect to base stations through fiber optic cables. As demand increases, bottlenecks in the base stations can occur and [...]
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Power plants: Technologies for green fuel
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
California bay trees and clumps of Cladophora algae in the shallows of Madison’s Lake Mendota may not, at first glance, appear to have much in common. However, both species are seeding the future of biofuels research at UW-Madison. Assistant Professor Brian Pfleger (pictured, with Botany Professor Linda Graham) is working to turn sugars from biomass [...]
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Less pain, more gain
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Silver-lined bandages prevent infection and promote healing A scientist trained for eight years in the medical field and a native of developing India, Ankit Agarwal has seen his fair share of pain. Shadowing numerous doctors, Agarwal has witnessed firsthand patient pain and discomfort, especially in those suffering from chronic wounds—burns or ulcers that could take [...]
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Breathing room
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Technology idea will treat lung ailments Teaching his first course in spring 2008 on biomedical engineering entrepreneurship, Matt Ogle quickly learned the downside of scheduling a class for three hours on a Friday afternoon. Competing against an early weekend, Ogle’s class began with six students and eventually settled into the semester with a die-hard roster [...]
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Improving the cutting edge
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Tiny tools—small enough to poke an individual lens on a ladybug’s eye—are getting more durable, thanks to ultrathin nanocrystalline diamond coatings developed by materials science graduate Patrick Heaney (MS ‘07, PhD ‘09) and his new company, NCD Technologies. Heaney is refining techniques he developed and patented as a graduate student to enhance the performance of [...]
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Building a culture of innovation
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by perspective.
Looking through recent patent disclosures from the UW-Madison College of Engineering provides a lesson in intellectual potential. Consider a few examples: Electrical and computer engineers Robert Blick and Minrui Yu developed a laser-drilling technique capable of drilling precise holes at the nanometer scale. Mechanical engineers Rolf Reitz and Reed Hanson created a “clean compression” process [...]
