Making News, Part III, December 2009

A reminder about the Black Engineer of the Year Awards, Stem Global Competitiveness Conference to be held in Baltimore in February 2010. It was announced yesterday that the keynote speaker for the 5th Annual Stars & Stripes Dinner, Feb. 19th, at the Conference, will be Gen. Norton A. Schwartz. Read article Τ The National Science...

Innovations for Space and Beyond, December 2009

Researchers at Oregon State University are using the cockroach as inspiration for "the world's first legged robot to be able to run easily over rough terrain." Assistant professor John Schmitt, MO G '95, of OSU explains why running cockroaches are the model. "If we ever develop robots that can really run over rough ground, they...

In the News, Part III, December 2009

The idea of 'geo-engineering' as a last resort to cutting carbon emissions on Earth made it onto NBC's "Nightly News." A segment on December 26th highlighted several proposed ways "mankind (could) engineer nature." According to network correspondent Donna Friesen, the coverage means one of two things, "either invest more into this type of science, or...

Awards & Achievement, Part II, December 2009

Last week, The White House announced President Barrack Obama's appointments to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. Two of the seven appointed to the Advisory Board are engineers, and Dr. Paul G. Kaminski (MA B '66) is a Tau Bate. Dr. Kaminski is currently Chairman and CEO of Technovation, Inc. Read press release for more Τ...

Merry Christmas Tau Bates

On behalf of Tau Beta Pi Headquarters, we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas [Images courtesy of toxel.com Adobe Photoshop tutorials.] ΤΒΠ

In the News, Part II, December 2009

Two engineering professors at Carnegie Mellon University "are developing a computerized training tool to help cryosurgeons improve their techniques and realize better clinical results." They have been awarded a grant from The National Cancer Institute to continue their work. The goal is to offer cryosurgeons a practical way of practicing "using 'cryoprobes' to freeze and...

Engineering FYI: Chapter-Related, Part II, December 2009

A group of professors at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have been working for the past decade to prevent another tragedy like the one in 1999, when six Worcester firefighters died fighting a five-alarm fire. After the fire, David Cyganski (MA A '75) asked, "What can we do to help?" Today, Dr. Cyganski and the group from...

Making News, Part II, December 2009

Tau Beta Pi partner, the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS), recently highlighted a typical day in the life of a US Air Force engineer. Lieutenant Colonel Karl Deerman works on network engineering, manages a team of nearly 50, and recently completed a project that entailed transferring an entire communication system, so that thousands of people...

Innovation & Achievement, December 2009

Thomas Sugar, PA D '92, is working with the Military Amputee Research Program and his own team on developing a new "Spring Ankle with Regenerative Kinetics, nicknamed SPARKy." "The device uses lightweight energy-storing springs to provide a flex that traditional devices" cannot offer. Sugar continues to work on the device and has four subjects who...

Government Policy and Engineering, December 2009

NASA and Google are claiming to have developed ways "to monitor both the carbon and dioxide pollution and the levels of forest destruction that contribute to global warming." The timing is good as the world awaits a possible "climate deal" at the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009. NASA's technology would be a satellite...