Archive for ICACC’10
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Video of the week: Jeff Stevenson on solid oxide fuel cells
Jeff Stevenson is a Laboratory Fellow in the Energy Materials Group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and has been working on SOFCs for more than a decade. This video, shot at the recent ICACC’10 conference in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides some history on the development of these fuel cells, and discusses some of the remaining science and manufacturing challenges that are hindering their widespread commercialization.
Stevenson also discusses some of the work being done by the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance, a government-industry collaboration, that is working on methods to employ SOFCs that can make cleaner use of coal and other fossil fuels for energy generation, and describes some of the “early adopters” of SOFC systems, such as systems being used for auxiliary power units (APUs) used by some tractor-trailer operators.
Besides working at PNNL, Stevenson serves as an associate editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society and reviews and edits manuscripts in the field of SOFCs.
7 minutes.
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Video of the week: Biomedical applications of multifunctional nanomaterial systems
I got a chance to interview Muhammet Toprak at the recent ICACC’10 conference. Toprak is a researcher in the Multifunctional Materials Division of the KTH – Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In this video, Toprak discusses his work as part of a cross-functional team that is working to assemble and test nanoparticle systems for biomedical applications. In particular, they have been working on the synthesis, characterization and in vitro compatability (with immune-competent cells) of tunable superparamagnetic Fe3O4–SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles.
In general, the systems Toprak is working on are similar to those that were discussed in last week’s video regarding drug-delivery systems. Toprak’s materials are conceived as being as being able to deliver a payload, but they are first working on using them to improve imaging of biological tissue sites. For example, he discusses how particles loaded with both magnetic materials (such as iron) and fluorescent dyes could help with imaging a specific tumor, first, before treatment, to plan a surgical approach, and second, during the surgery to indicate if and where residual tumor cells need to be removed.
8 minutes.
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Video of the Week: Jay Singh reports on ICACC’10
Jay Singh, trustee of ACerS Engineering Ceramics Division and chief scientist at the Ohio Aerospace Institute, was interviewed at the 34th Int’l Conference and Exposition on Advanced Ceramics and Composites that took place in Daytona Beach, Fla. from January 24-29, 2010.
In this discussion, Singh shares highlights from the conference, and discusses some of the global challenges facing today’s ceramists.
Run time: 7 minutes.
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Video(s) of the week: Ceramic matrix composite brakes
I’m currently in Daytona Beach, Florida for the ICACC’10 conference. One of the keynote speakers was the University of Bayreuth’s Walter Krenkel. Krenkel invented a liquid silicon infiltration process for the manufacture of SiC-based ceramics for disks and pads in high performance brake systems.These brakes are hard and heat resistant, plus their light weight translates into less spun mass at the wheels.
The downside is that ceramic brake systems are still expensive. So, while it will still be a while before these brake systems make it into the typical Ford or Toyota. Nevertheless, ceramic composite brakes are common in F1 racing and increasingly in high-performance, luxury-level cars.
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John Blottman on bioinspiration and jellyfish
Credit: Ole Kils
I’m blogging now from ACerS’ Electronic Materials and Applications conference in Orlando, where it is a pleasant 70 degrees. Next week I shift over a few miles to Daytona Beach for the ACerS’ ICACC’10 conference.
Yesterday’s keynote speaker was John Blottman from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. Blottman is a mechanical engineer who works on sensors and sonar systems development with the ONR’s Undersea Warfare Center. He is working with a diverse team of engineers and biologists in a Multi-University Research Initiative team that includes academic institutions, federal labs, DoD labs and private-sector support.
Blottman had some interesting concepts to share, not the least of which is that there is a big difference between biomimicry and bioinspiration. The former tries to duplicate nature; the latter uses insights from nature as a starting point to build upon.
While not a biologist, he became interested in the topic a few years ago when the Navy made the development of autonomous, independent systems a priority. Think sonar buoys that might never have to be repaired, refueled or moved by an external force.
He noted that when you look at animal species, you can break their activities down into several biomechanical and biosensory subcategories such as propulsion, energy gathering, self awareness (and self preservation), location sensing, texture sensing, communications with other animal life, and so on.
After looking at several species, Blottman and his colleagues became intrigued with jellyfish, an animal that has been around for millions of years that has relatively primitive but effective motor and sensory abilities, and has a remarkable talent to adapt itself to nearly every water environment. Intrigued may not fully convey how much Blottman and his group are into jellyfish – he was proudly sporting his cool jellyfish tie during the conference.
Using a variety of electronics, smart materials, polymers, piezos and other off-the-shelf materials, some prototype jellyfish-like propulsion contraptions have been successfully tested. While these are still relatively crude, they provide an important proof-of-concept that is providing encouragement for further work.
I hope to have a video of his lecture and a short interview with Blottman in the next few weeks.
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