September 2005 ISSUE
world watch
have duct tape, will travel
BY GAIL HELGASON
Freelance Writer
 |
A Mill Less Technical |
A mechanical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge is devoting her engineering skills to low-tech technologies for Africa. Mechanical Engineering ( New York ) reports that Amy Smith, who served for two years in the Peace Corps, is developing a new type of grain mill to make life much easier for women.
Traditionally, the women grind their grain by hand. A motor-driven mill would be the choice replacement in many ways — but expensive to maintain.
Ms. Smith took a different tack. She invented a mill that uses blowing air to separate flour from grain. Its construction is rugged and it’s much cheaper than existing mills.
Other projects include a $20 water testing kit as an alternative to existing $1,000 models, and a low-tech clamp to help nurses control intravenous fluid during epidemics.
The Greening of Ancient Cairo
Until recently, you wouldn’t find much green space in Cairo — only about 30 square centimetres per citizen, in fact.
That ratio has improved, however, and civil engineers were a big part of the solution. Civil Engineering (Reston, Va.) reports that the new Al-Azhar Park project has added 300,000 square metres of park space to the ancient city, while restoring an 800-year-old wall and a 700-year-old minaret.
The excavation and restoration proved to be significant undertakings, the publication notes. Engineers and architects restored the tower by inserting eight steel rods vertically into the shaft and using steel anchors to connect it to the mosque.
The visual link with the past has been praised as improving the quality of life of citizens.
Two Minutes for Slashing Costs
A new electric heating technology developed by a North Dakota company has been effective in slashing the heating costs of a Quebec regional hockey rink by almost half.
The Electric Thermal Storage technology stores low-cost electricity in the form of heat for use in heating 24 hours a day. The equipment, manufactured by the Steffes Corporation of Dickinson, N.D., stores heat during low-cost, off-peak hours and then releases it during normal working hours or peak periods. The heat is stored within high-density ceramic brick that Steffes manufactures.
A hockey rink in Lachenaie, Que., cut its heating costs from $7,400 to $3,890 annually by using the technology. A spokesperson for Hydro Quebec terms the technology a “demand management tool” that achieves savings depending on the size of unit and the space heated.
Online Degree, Labs and All
Turns out you really can get your degree online. But, unlike what your spam may have led you to believe, you’ll have to work for it.
What’s billed as the world’s first wholly online bachelor’s degree program in electrical engineering is being developed by Three State University of New York, the Engineering News-Record ( New York ) reports. Even the labs will be online, says the dean of the Watson School of Engineering, one of the three schools involved.
Expansion of the program into other engineering disciplines is expected to follow.
Moving Thoughts
People who make prosthetics have long dreamed of crafting artificial limbs that can be controlled through thought. That day may be a lot closer than we think, reports Mechanical Engineering (New York).
The publication says two researchers in St. Louis have finished a study that enabled patients to play a game on a computer — simply by thinking.
Daniel Moran, an assistant professor of bio-medical engineering at Washington University, and Eric Leuthardt, a neurologist from Barnes Jewish Hospital, performed the study on four epilepsy patients. They used electrocorticography, which measures and records the brain’s electrical signals directly from its surface.
The patients were connected to a video game, which was also connected to the electrocorticography sensors. The patients were soon able to play the game by moving a cursor up or down, using only their thoughts. The control rate was 90 per cent in 15 minutes.
Stop, Truck!
Forcing large trucks to stop on a dime may become easier, thanks to a new technology developed for the California Highway Patrol by the state’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Mechanical Engineering (New York) reports that the device exploits air safety brakes commonly found on tractor-trailer rigs. Held in off-position by positive air pressure, air brakes are activated when pressure is lost by the system for any reason.
This could occur, for example, when a highway patrol officer taps into the back of a rogue truck with a cruiser.
Advocates note that the technology is inexpensive and simple, and can be operated with little training.