Engineering Discoveries

NSF's public investment in science, engineering, education and technology helps to create knowledge and sustain prosperity. Read here about the Internet, microbursts, Web browsers, extrasolar planets, and more... a panoply of discoveries and innovations that began with NSF support.

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		Cheaper Plastic Solar Cells in the Works South Dakota State University’s Diane Hinkens describes her work in an interdisciplinary research collaboration that is trying to design, synthesize and eventually fabricate a more efficient and less costly solar cell Released  January 13, 2009
		Lab Tests Show Wind Turbine's Air Flow Researcher describes NSF-supported wind tunnel experiments that mimic atmospheric airflow around wind turbines to advance our understanding of real wind farm conditions Released  November 25, 2008
		Nanoparticles Taught to Swim NSF-supported research team at Penn State creates nanoscale motors powered by catalytic reactions that convert chemical energy into motion Released  November 20, 2008
		Gut Reaction: Digestion Revealed in 3-D James Brasseur and his multidisciplinary team image the dynamic mixing of fluids and nutrient exchange in the human digestive system Released  October 17, 2008
		How to Make Adhesive as Good as a Gecko Materials scientist Ali Dhinojwala and his team use nanotechnology to develop adhesive tapes that stick better than a gecko’s foot Released  October 16, 2008
		Students Give High Marks to First U.S.-Japan Glass Science School Meeting brings U.S. university students and researchers together with their Japanese counterparts to talk about new developments and potential collaborations in glass research Released  August 21, 2008
		Teaching Computers How to Write Fast Software Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University develop a framework to replace the human programmer in high performance numerical library development Released  August 8, 2008
		Natural Bio-Army Trained to Fight Cancer Bioengineer Tarek Fahmy and colleagues are engineering new nanoscopic and microscopic biomaterials to stimulate the body’s production of killer T-cells to fight infectious diseases Released  August 8, 2008
		Supercapacitors Could Be Key to a Green Energy Future John Chmiola, a doctoral student at Drexel University, is doing groundbreaking work on supercapacitors Released  July 30, 2008
		Stem Cell Research Goes Beyond Biology Todd McDevitt tells how engineering can help us understand stem cell differentiation and develop approaches to realize the potential of stem cells for regenerative therapies Released  July 17, 2008
		Scientist Explores Invisible Environmental Helpers Researcher uses his expertise in catalysis to impact major environmental issues Released  April 25, 2008
		2007: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities reported last year Released  January 30, 2008
		The Science of All Things Squishy NSF-funded Emory researcher shares the excitement of cutting-edge physics phenomena with kids of all ages Released  August 16, 2007
		Life Can Be a Strain From enormous mining trucks to human knee implants, sensor technology is teaching us when enough is enough Released  February 21, 2007
		2006: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported activities highlighted last year Released  January 9, 2007
		Nanotubes Not for Toothpaste . . . Yet Researchers Squeeze Even Rock-Hard Materials Through Minuscule Carbon Tubes Released  July 25, 2006
		Purple Haze Ancient pigment reveals secrets about unusual state of matter Released  July 11, 2006
		Micro Pills Could Deliver Drugs on Demand Temperature-sensitive capsules release chemicals at tightly controlled rates Released  March 27, 2006
		From Fingerprints to Fiberprints Forensic technique leads to new method for creating nanofibers Released  February 15, 2006
		Istanbul Overdue for Earthquake Retrofit Researchers present concerns to Turkish Prime Minister Released  January 5, 2006
		Computer Program Streamlines Complex Work Scheduling Chemical engineers develop an algorithm that could transform scheduling Released  December 6, 2005
		New Sensor Based on Human Organ Is No Tin Ear Precision micromachining yields life-size, precise, artificial cochlea Released  November 3, 2005
		Earthquake Study Suggests Simple Building Fixes Can Save Lives Code enforcement may have prevented dozens of deaths in Turkish temblor Released  October 13, 2005
		The World’s Smallest Fountain Pen? New microscope tips use capillary action to print patterns tens of nanometers across Released  October 5, 2005
		Modified Collagen Could Be a Boon for Medicine Altered protein could help shape the growth of engineered tissue Released  September 20, 2005
		Waves of Power New buoys convert the ocean's energy into electricity Released  May 17, 2005
		Creative Minds Mingle: Robotics at the Junction of Art and Engineering What happens when the real world meets the virtual one? Or, when the art world meets the world of engineering? A New York art professor and her students find out, through the eyes of a roaming robot named Kiru. Released  May 6, 2005
		Robots in the OR -- Stat! Penelope the robot may free nurses to do more "human" tasks Released  April 28, 2005
		Nano-engineered Powders Tackle Toxic Chemicals Thirsty grains act fast to clean up messes Released  April 28, 2005
		Artificial Heart Valves Face the Curdled Milk Test A graduate student and her colleagues have developed what they think is a better way to test artificial heart valves. Using curdled milk as a blood substitute, their approach could improve preclinical testing of new devices, saving money and lives. Released  April 26, 2005