November 26, 2013

Nanotech Innovation Keeps Surfaces Clean and Transparent
A spin-off company from Penn has found a way to solve the problem of keeping surfaces clean, while also keeping them transparent.

Nelum Sciences, created under an UPstart program in Penn’s Center for Technology Transfer, has developed a superhydrophobic coating that can be sprayed onto any surface. The water-based solution contains nanoscopic particles that add a nearly invisible layer of roughness to a surface. This increases the contact angle of the material to which these particles are applied.
http://www.upenn.edu/spotlights/nanotech-innovation-keeps-surfaces-clean-and-transparent

November 27, 2013

BYU engineers turn to origami to solve astronomical space problem
Partnership with NASA could send origami to final frontier

BYU engineers have teamed up with a world-renowned origami expert to solve one of space exploration’s greatest (and most ironic) problems: lack of space.
Working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a team of mechanical engineering students and faculty have designed a solar array that can be tightly compacted for launch and then deployed in space to generate power for space stations or satellites.
http://news.byu.edu/archive13-nov-origami.aspx