2011 news highlights - Engineering
© 2011 EPFL
Images sent from space, diffusing low-tech mines, composite materials for lighter cars, and smaller and more efficient electronics are some of the headlines from the School of Engineering this year at EPFL.
February – Good waves for saving lives
Composed of diverse elements—mostly plastic with little metal—improvised explosive devices are very difficult to detect. In cooperation with two Colombian universities, scientists at EPFL’s Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory have developed a device enabling the remote explosion of these mines by using the energy from their electromagnetic impulses.
March – SwissCube satellite sends back its first images
One year after its launch, SwissCube, the first-ever Swiss satellite, has fulfilled its mission: photographing airglow, a luminous phenomenon in the upper atmosphere. The team in charge of this project had to wait until the satellite stop rotating too fast and find a way to reset the computer system at a distance.
May – Guardian Angels, one out of two EPFL projects selected by Europe
From the 26 projects submitted projects, the European Union has accepted two of EPFL’s proposals for the final selection. Guradian Angels is one of them. Led by the teams of Adrian Ionescu (EPFL) and Christopher Hierold (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), it seeks to design and produce completely new electronic components that are energy autonomous, integrated into our daily lives, and inexpensive.
September – Lightening the load with composite materials
Cars are a conundrum – they have to haul a ton or two of metal just to move a single person from one place to another. EPFL’s Laboratory of Composite and Polymer Technology is participating in a European research project to develop innovative materials for the automotive industry in order to minimize the ecological impacts of traffic in the long run.
October – A guiding light for new directions in energy production
October's issue of Nature Photonics focuses on optofluidics, the study of microfluidics—the microscopic delivery of fluids through extremely small channels or tubes—combined with optics. In a review written by Demetri Psaltis, Dean of EPFL's School of Engineering, he and his co-authors argue that optofluidics is poised to take on one of this century's most important challenges: energy.
November – A touchscreen you can really feel
Integrated Actuators Laboratory researchers have invented a new generation of tactile surfaces with haptic effects – users can feel actual raised keys under their fingers. This technology is being designed for smartphones, tablets, computers, and vending machines. It could have many applications, particularly in improving access to electronic media for the visually impaired.
December – First molybdenite microchip
Molybdenite, a new and very promising material, can surpass the physical limits of silicon in terms of miniaturization, electricity consumption, and mechanical flexibility. Scientists at the Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures have made the first molybdenite microchip, with smaller and more energy efficient transistors.