All Engineering Articles
  • Why we need more graduates to enter the trades

    Brian Stack Education

    Every month or so, a community member or parent in my high school sends me an article that talks about how schools need to spend more time investing in the trades. The latest share came from the Hechinger Report’s Matt Krupnick, who wrote about how after decades of pushing bachelor’s degrees, the U.S. needs more tradespeople. Krupnick went on to share how states like California are spending millions of dollars on campaigns to revive the reputation of vocational education. California’s efforts are at the heart of a debate raging across our country. Trades have often had an "image" problem, being seen as a less-desirable alternative to college. This is wrong.

  • Travel2020: Summer travel at airports may be heading for slowdowns, showdowns

    Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

    It may be the summer of love in some parts of the country, but it could also be the summer of slowdowns as well, especially for passengers flying on American Airlines or anyone trying to snake through U.S. airport security lines. American is in a standoff with its mechanics union, waging accusations of staging slowdowns in the midst of contract talks happening between the two entities. Meanwhile, as the Trump administration moves manpower to the southern border, U.S. flyers stand to see slowdowns at TSA checkpoints as they try to catch their flights.

  • Climate science’s growing bipartisan appeal

    Michelle R. Matisons Civil & Government

    Florida became embroiled in an interesting controversy a few years back. It was widely reported that then-Gov. Rick Scott placed a cabinetwide moratorium on using climate change terminology. Now, in an informative about-face, the Sunshine State’s current governor, Ron DeSantis, has instituted a new climate science position held by Florida Chief Science Officer Dr. Tom Frazer. This position is just one example of the growing appeal of climate science across party lines.

  • New York-area pipeline halted, Keystone XL persists

    Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & Environmental

    Pipelines have become one of the biggest issues in U.S. environmental politics since the 2016 Standing Rock protests against Energy Transfer's Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The main issues opponents raise are groundwater contamination and spills. These concerns can be found across the country, as pipeline opponents in the Northeast recently defeated a 37-mile, $1 billion natural gas project, the Williams Companies’ proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Pipeline. Intended to connect natural gas fields from Pennsylvania through New Jersey to New York, the pipeline application has been rejected on a technicality, citing potential copper and mercury contamination in water.

  • Before you plan your next trip, take a look at Mobility-as-a-Service

    Bambi Majumdar Transportation Technology & Automotive

    We can't think of life without Netflix. What if there was a Netflix of transportation to change the way we travel? As fantastic as that may sound, it's already happening and we should get ready to sit back and enjoy the ride. A new McKinsey & Company report states that the future of U.S. urban transportation lies in Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). Rapid population growth and expanding urban spaces are leading to increased pollution and road congestion. New-age mobility possibilities can provide some solutions to combat these issues by offering means of alternative transportation.

  • New discovery could solve the world’s ocean plastics problem

    Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & Environmental

    A study recently published in Nature seems to suggest that there is "a significant increase in open ocean plastics in recent decades," going back nearly 60 years. The study was based off a 2015 investigation that estimated there were between 4.8 trillion and 12.7 trillion pieces of plastic entering the ocean every year. However, there’s been a potential breakthrough by scientists at Berkeley Lab that may change everything we know about plastic and plastic waste. Published in Nature Chemistry, the Berkeley Lab researchers found a new way to assemble plastic elements and reuse them "into new materials of any color, shape or form."

  • US tariffs on Chinese imports grow

    Seth Sandronsky Civil & Government

    The cost of trade between China and the U.S. is rising. Tariffs, or taxes, on $200 billion of Chinese imports to the U.S. rose from 10% to 25% one minute after midnight on May 10. "The tariff increase inflicts significant harm on U.S. industry, farmers and consumers," Douglas K. Barry, director of communications and publications for the U.S.-China Business Council told MultiBriefs in an email. "American agricultural exports to China are particularly impacted. According to our recent survey, some states' exports were down 50%. The entire American agricultural sector is feeling the stress."

  • Boeing confirms alert system malfunction in 737 Max 8

    Michelle R. Matisons Transportation Technology & Automotive

    In the grand scheme of deadly airline problems, Boeing’s latest crash debacles rate high on the list. Whenever an airplane crash occurs, there’s wild speculation concerning who and what to blame, and such is the case in the instances of downed Boeing 737 Max 8s. The company has now come forward admitting to a safety feature malfunction that could have caused the high-profile, high-fatality crashes. 737 Max 8 software includes an alert system that informs pilots about problems and malfunctions in-flight. The problem is that an important alert light feature was sold to Boeing customers as "optional."

  • Smart injection machines and their adjustment principles under Industry…

    Dr. Tober Sun Manufacturing

    To attain accurate mold filling analyses, we must consider a machine’s movements, including screw acceleration and deceleration in the injection process; the machine reaction at the moment when filling turns into packing; and the machine’s protection behaviors for preventing injection pressure from being too high. Currently, the core of molding equipment is injection machines. Therefore, under Industry 4.0, smart machine applications will rely on injection machine design. In this article, we will discuss how injection machine manufacturers apply injection information collected from the injection process to enhance product quality.

  • What’s next for plane manufacturing after Boeing 737 Max 8 fallout?

    Michelle R. Matisons Manufacturing

    On March 10, a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane crashed in Ethiopia, killing 157 people. This happened only months after the same type of plane went down in Indonesia, killing 189 people. This leaves much cause for discussion regarding Boeing and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) complicity in the accidents. Was the 737 Max 8 rushed to market, resulting in hundreds of deaths? Crash victims’ families are filing lawsuits while the Justice Department probes the 737’s FAA certification, given the model’s deadly faults.