The head of Purdue University’s civil engineering school was picked Friday as dean of Texas A&M’s engineering college and overseer of all of the A&M System’s engineering programs. M. Katherine Banks was selected by the A&M System Board of Regents as dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering and vice chancellor for engineering. Banks will be the first woman …
UF creates Engineering Innovation Institute, names first director
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The inaugural director has been selected for the newly created Engineering Innovation Institute at the University of Florida. Erik Sander, whose previous position was director of industry programs at the College of Engineering, has been appointed the director of the college’s Innovation Institute, which is dedicated to developing essential innovation skills in the next generation of engineering …
Creating Adaptable Computers R&D could change way people do science
Throughout the 50 or more years of the modern computing era, virtually all machines ranging from laptops to smart phones have had one feature in common: a fixed, conventional “one size fits all” processor. This means that software developers must craft applications to match the inflexible design of the processor, rather than the other way around. Within the next 10 …
Manufacturing method paves way for commercially viable quantum dot-based LEDs
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers may help resolve the public debate over America’s future light source of choice: Edison’s incandescent bulb or the more energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp. It could be neither. Instead, America’s future lighting needs may be supplied by a new breed of light emitting diode, or LED, that conjures light from the invisible world of quantum …
Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment Names Director
Dr. Kirk Hatfield has accepted an appointment as the Founding Director of the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment. Dr. Hatfield received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from University of Iowa and his Ph.D. degree from University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Following graduation, he joined the University of Florida Department of Civil Engineering in 1987. He currently serves as …
UF researchers refine system to detect explosive materials
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Airport security workers this year will employ an array of pre-boarding detection measures to scan for deadly materials smuggled into the luggage of the world’s 625 million passengers expected to travel this year. None, however, yet uses what researchers at the University of Florida believe is the world’s first explosive detection system that utilizes ultraviolet light to zero …
Florida’s hurricane lessons could save homes, lives in tornado-prone areas
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Scientists combing through the destruction left behind by the massive twister that swept through Tuscaloosa, Ala., last month say beefing up building codes and retrofitting existing homes with building techniques honed in hurricane-battered Florida could save property and lives in tornado-prone areas throughout the country. “Since Hurricane Andrew struck Florida back in 1992, Florida’s building construction professionals …
New pixel technology could pave way for next generation of consumer electronics
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The technology that makes your smart phone’s display screen fast, bright and lightweight could be coming to your television or laptop, thanks to a new type of light emitting transistor created by University of Florida researchers. The new transistor design resolves a key issue that has kept the organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, technology used in small …
UF leads world in reconfigurable supercomputing
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers say their supercomputer, named Novo-G, is the world’s fastest reconfigurable supercomputer and is able to perform some important science applications faster than the Chinese supercomputer touted as the world’s most powerful. In November, the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, for the first time ever, named the Chinese Tianhe-1A system at …
Engineering students’ ‘Chem-E-Car’ places nationally
The University of Florida AIChE Chem-e-Car Team placed 2nd out of 32 universities in the Distance Competition and won the award for the Most Consistent Performance (best average distance between the two runs). As Cougar rolled to the finish, its creators held their breath. The car, fueled entirely by chemical reactions, had passed the rigorous safety test. It was consistent …