Engineering & Technology Design

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 jun 2014

Team of researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professors Scott White, Jeffrey S. Moore & Nancy Sottos and graduate students Brett Krull, Windy Santa Cruz & Ryan Gergely, have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate. The new regenerating materials are capable to fill in large cracks and holes by regrowing materials. The team advanced their previous research on vascular materials and using specially formulated fibers that disintegrate, the researchers can create materials with networks of capillaries similar to biological circulatory systems. For regenerating materials, two adjoining, parallel capillaries are filled with regenerative chemicals that flow out as a result of damage. A gel is formed when the two liquids mix with each other, spreads and fills the gap created by the damage. Finally the gel hardens into a strong polymer and restores plastic's mechanical strength. In addition to variety of commercial usage, these self-repair materials will find particular use for parts and products that are difficult to replace or repair, like in aerospace applications. Read on...

University of Illinois News Bureau: Regenerating plastic grows back after damage
Author: Liz Ahlberg

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 may 2014

Researchers from MIT, Lisa Freed and Martin Kolewe, used fabrication techniques from microelectronics industry to make thin sheets of biorubber with microscale rectangular holes of uniform dimensions and then stacked these with precise positions of pores one over the other. The stacking process was done with the help of a programmable machine adapted from electronics industry used to stack thin material layers to build circuit boards and integrated circuit (IC) packages. Researchers demonstrated pore patterns that could produce 'interwoven musle-like bundles' out of mouse muscle cells and rat neonatal heart cells. According to Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic of Columbia University, this new scaffolding allowed the researchers to form tissue that mimics an important structural quality of heart tissue called 'anisotropy'. Freed and Kolewe say that their research provides unprecedented level of control over arrangement of pore networks and can lead to 'a whole new design space' to further experiment the 3-dimensional factors that influence cell alignment and tissue formation and could serve as a platform for the development of implantable organ tissue. Read on...

MIT Technology Review: A Manufacturing Tool Builds 3-D Heart Tissue
Author: Mike Orcutt

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 apr 2014

Most robotic components that are currently used are hard, large and heavy and therefore limit their speed and motion. But researchers like Saul Griffith are trying to change that. He is using soft, inflatable materials that are lighter, faster and even substantially strong. Soft in this context would signify lighter weight, lower cost, more efficient, more resilient, higher dynamic range, and tunable. Some of the examples of soft engineered robots in the current research include gripping eggs (George Whitesides at Harvard University), inflatable robotic arm, inflatable vehicle etc. Moreover the research have potential to be utilized in medical applications - prosthetics, aiding stroke victims, lessening spinal cord injuries, soft external muscles for aging population etc. Read on...

Engineering: Rethinking Rigidity in Design
Author: Tom Spendlove

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 14 feb 2014

China's manufacturing goods industry with its modern mass production factories and cheap labor is one of the most dominant and competitive in the world. Will 3D printing affect and transform Chinese manufacturing? In the article, authors of the latest book 'Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing', Melba Kurman and Hod Lipson, share their insight and opinion on how 3D printing technology changes the dynamics of the Chinese manufacturing sector. Among the skeptics is Terry Gou, the CEO of one of the largest manufacturer, Foxconn. But the industry is now adopting the technology, although a bit late as compared to US and Europe. There are now seven 3D printer manufacturers located in China and the world's largest 3D printer manufacturer Stratsys, based in US, planning to open its office there. Moreover the technology will also assist China to evolve into high-end manufacturing and related services. Chinese government is considering it as priority and mentions it in their 12th Five Year Plan. The key goals include - investment in R&D; move up the value chain and focus on high-end & high-margin manufacturing in biotech, IT, innovative materials etc; upgrade skills of the labor force. During the course to achieve the goals there will be challenges. 3D printing technology may not totally displace the current mass manufacturing but it has the potential to find its own niche for premium custom products and services, both for the domestic and global markets. Read on...

Yahoo News: How 3D Printing Will Transform Chinese Manufacturing
Authors: Melba Kurman, Hod Lipson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 14 feb 2014

3D printing is the latest manufacturing technology that can create objects by depositing material layer by layer directly from a digital file. Development of individualized products based on customer specifications and needs is an advantage of the technology. It is used for both prototyping and manufacturing in variety of industries like medical applications, architecture & construction, industrial design, automotive, fashion etc. According to Andrew Maher, 3D printing can provide operational efficiencies as the products can be manufactured in proximity to the point of delivery and consumption. Survey by DHL Supply Chain mentions that 3D printing will become prominent in the next 10 years while several companies are in the process of introducing the technology into their operations in next 3 to 5 years. Read on...

Brisbane Times: Shape of things to come
Author: Carolyn Cummins

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 sep 2013

Scientists are combining two existing technologies - spray based coating of nanoparticles developed by the team led by Dr. Paula Hammond of MIT and nanoparticle manufacturing technology called PRINT (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates) platform developed by researchers led by Dr. Joseph DeSimone of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Dr. William R. Kenan Jr. of North Carolina State University - to mass produce uniform nanoparticles with customized layers of material that can carry drugs or other molecule for variety of uses in drug delivery, vaccines, wound healing etc. According to Dr. Paula Hammond creating highly reproducible batches of precisely engineered coated nanoparticles is important for the safe manufacture of drugs and regulatory approval, specifically in case of cancer therapies. This combination of two technologies shows great promise for the future of nanomanufacturing. Read on...

Nanotechnology Now: Nanoparticles, made to order - inside and out: New research enables high-speed customization of novel nanoparticles for drug delivery and other uses
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 20 sep 2013

Open source hardware design trend is beginning to impact the world of innovation although it is lagging behind open source software in many aspects. Some of the reasons for its slow growth include concerns about IP theft, physical aspects of the design which makes it costly and difficult to reproduce and licensing issues. But in the long run benefits exceed the concerns. It speeds up prototyping of the existing, shared work, feedback from communities and minimal cost to entry. With these advantages open source hardware is capable of enhancing professional engineering. Read on...

EDN Network: Power to the people - the democratization of engineering
Author: Suzanne Deffree

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 sep 2013

Manufacturing sector around the world is undergoing difficult times due to the adverse global economic conditions. With certain changes happening in China, low-cost manufacturing is shifting to Vietnam and India. Australian companies are also exploring opportunities in Taiwan, which is a hub of electronics hardware development. Taiwan continues to find success in high IP manufacturing sectors like ICT, electronics components and parts, semiconductor and smartphones, by balancing low-cost labor and R&D capabilities. The article explores the dynamics of manufacturing industry in Taiwan with examples of success of various companies and their strategies. Read on...

Electronics News: Flexibility, focus and drive - the future for manufacturing
Author: Isaac Leung

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 jul 2013

Professor John Rogers of Materials Science & Engineering at University of Illinois and his team is successfully exploring the possibilities in healthcare by fabricating devices from highly adaptive and sophisticated materials that could perform as electronic enhancements (with continuous and minimal intervention) to manage proper functioning of human body organs. Moreover he expects these designs and inventions to enable surgeons to use their fingertips as instruments; treat patients with implants that dissolve in human body after performing their work; electronic sutures that monitor surgical wounds for infection and healing; electronic tattoos on anywhere in the body to track blood flow and hydration and many more. Read on...

Illinois Alumni Magazine: Mind-bending electronics from the lab of UI scientist John Rogers promise to revolutionize health care in the plugged-in world of tomorrow
Author: Jim McFarlin

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 04 jul 2013

Neri Oxman of MIT's Mediated Matter Group is an artist and a designer and her work focuses on the principle that process of design is more important than the finished products. According to her approach, 'Material Ecology', nature can provide strategies for making multipurpose buildings and objects that have better performance and can be produced with less energy and waste. Her group intends to change the way designers build their products and advocates that designers should direct their designing abilities to develop processes and should take environment into consideration. She believes that materials are the new software in the design and manufacturing processes due to the digital fabrication technologies like 3D printing. She is working on projects where 3D printing techniques are modified to provide integrated objects and shapes printed with multiple materials giving them variable properties. In another project she is exploring the possibility of weaving through a 3D printer instead of the conventional sequential layering of materials. Ms. Oxman collaborates in her multiple projects with various researchers - Fiorenzo Omenetto of Tufts University, James Weaver of Harvard University, Craig Carter of Material Science at MIT. Read on...

MIT Technology Review: Redesigning Product Design
Author: Courtney Humphries

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