Select Page

Fulton Schools In The News

March

2024
  • ASU honors student awarded fellowship for women, gender minorities interested in aerospace industry

    ASU honors student awarded fellowship for women, gender minorities interested in aerospace industry

    Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student Ritisha Das, who is also majoring in mathematics, is among fewer than 50 students selected recently from more than 450 applicants for a 2024 Brooks Owens Fellowship. Das will do a three-month internship as a systems engineer working on satellites with Airbus U.S. Space & Defense in Arlington, Virginia. The fellowship program also provides students with one-on-one mentoring and meetings with congresswomen, astronauts, CEOs and company founders. Das intends to earn a doctoral degree in preparation for a career in rocket science. She hopes to become an astronaut who does research missions for NASA.

  • In Latest A.I. War Escalation, Elon Musk Releases Chatbot Code

    In Latest A.I. War Escalation, Elon Musk Releases Chatbot Code

    Battles are bubbling up to control the future of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology and being waged by prominent tech companies and wealthy entrepreneurs, especially Elon Musk (pictured). Much of the conflict revolves around debate over open sourcing, which reveals coding for all to use and view. Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor of computer science in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, contends open sourcing today’s AI technology is the safest approach, even though prominent companies such as xAI and Meta are not necessarily open-sourcing the technology. Some engineers argue that AI must be guarded against interlopers while others say the benefits of transparency outweigh the harm.

  • A Real Social Security Office Gave Me A Flyer With A Scam Phone Number On It

    A Real Social Security Office Gave Me A Flyer With A Scam Phone Number On It

    Even though a recent scam attempt meant to fool potential victims that they were communicating with a real U.S. Social Security Administration Office was detected and revealed, the incident still raises warning signs about scammers impersonating officials at government agencies. Recent experimental studies have also demonstrated that a significant percentage of people gave information to those impersonating scammers. Adam Doupé, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and director of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations comments on how even unsophisticated scammers can be successful.

  • Can An A.I. Make Plans?

    Can An A.I. Make Plans?

    There is significant controversy in the field of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology about whether large language models like the popular ChatGPT — which has demonstrated its capabilities in such things as writing essays and Shakespearean poetry — are also capable of actual reasoning and planning. The article focuses on recent work by Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor on the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and three of his colleagues whose research paper shows AI’s reasoning limitations, but notes AI can still function as an effective idea generator as part of a larger architecture that includes external verifiers. 

  • 9 ASU students, alumni among finalists for Presidential Management Fellows program

    9 ASU students, alumni among finalists for Presidential Management Fellows program

    For a third straight year, ASU is among the U.S. universities with the most finalists for the Presidential Management Fellows program. Dhrasti Dalal, a Fulton Schools biomedical engineering graduate student, is among the nine finalists selected to apply for two-year appointments that will prepare them for leadership roles in the U.S. government. Dalal is currently a graduate teaching assistant in the School of Biomedical and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools. ASU’s Office of National Scholarships Advisement provides preparation and advisement for students interested in applying for participation the Presidential Management Fellowship program.

  • Colorado’s I-70 Has America’s Most Notorious Ski Traffic. Is There a Solution?

    Colorado’s I-70 Has America’s Most Notorious Ski Traffic. Is There a Solution?

    Heavy motor vehicle traffic along one of the most scenic mountain corridors in the U.S. results in enough congestion to create traffic jams that make what could be a one-hour drive take most of the day. The snowy, icy conditions often result in vehicles spinning and sliding on the stretch of the Interstate 70 highway. Steven Polzin, research professor at ASU’s School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, explains why coming up with a solution to the problem can be complicated. For instance, widening the road would speed up traffic but also raise concerns about negative impacts on the environment, Polzin says.

  • ASU index ranks 12 companies as ‘trailblazers’ for equality in the workplace

    ASU index ranks 12 companies as ‘trailblazers’ for equality in the workplace

    At the recent ASU Difference Engine organization’s launch of the Women’s Power and Influence Index, several U.S. corporations were recognized as gender equality trailblazers. The index, established to address gender inequality in the workplace, was created by ASU’s California Center Broadway in Los Angeles. The center is a partnership of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the W. P. Carey School of Business. the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at ASU. The index’s founding executive director says the organization aims to solve problems by developing solutions to social, political and economic inequality.

  • Federal official visits ASU to build upon microelectronics partnership, address semiconductor goals

    Federal official visits ASU to build upon microelectronics partnership, address semiconductor goals

    The assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Ramin Toloui (pictured) came to Arizona recently to promote plans to open access for U.S. companies to the international semiconductor industry talent pipeline. The effort will be supported through a collaboration of the state department and the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering to diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem. Toloui toured ASU’s MacroTechnology Works, where Fulton Schools researchers are seeking to advance semiconductor development. The government agency wants to leverage ASU’s technical expertise and international industry relationships to help overcome constraints hampering progress by U.S. semiconductor manufacturing companies.

    See also: How ASU is helping the State Department secure microchip supply chains, Arizona Republic, March 8

    Top State Department official visits ASU to kick off international semiconductor supply chain initiative, ASU News, March 7

  • Advancing Women In Construction Club At ASU Encourages Women To Break Barriers

    Advancing Women In Construction Club At ASU Encourages Women To Break Barriers

    The relatively small number of females in the building professions has kept many women from pursuing or remaining in careers in the construction industry. At ASU, the student Advancing Women In Construction club, which is associated with the National Association of Women in Construction, is working to reverse the trend. Commenting on the challenges facing women in their fields are club members Abby Noel, a civil engineering undergrad, Megan Mehas, a construction management and technology undergrad, and doctoral student Monica Perrin, an assistant teaching professor and construction management graduate student in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools, which includes the Del E. Web School of Construction.

  • ASU ranked No. 9 among worldwide universities for US patents

    ASU ranked No. 9 among worldwide universities for US patents

    For the third time in the past decade ASU has been ranked by the National Academy of Inventors in the top 10 among patent-producing universities in the U.S., having most recently placed seventh among the top U.S. patent-producing universities and ninth worldwide. Fulton Schools faculty members helping ASU attain the high ranking include Associate Professor Elham Fini (pictured) and Assistant Professor Christian Hoover in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. ASU research produced 107 patents last year. Fini’s work includes developing novel low-carbon materials for use in construction. Hoover’s research interests includes multi-scale material characterization, materials and structural testing.

  • MyACTome acquired by health care management organization

    MyACTome acquired by health care management organization

    Seeking to help loved ones cope with debilitating mobility and cognitive challenges, Thurman Lockhart, a biomedical engineering professor in the School of Biological and Heath Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, years ago developed technology that provides smartphone-based fall risk detection. The venture became the basis for a startup that has recently been acquired by Phoenix-based Healthcare Outcomes Performance Co., one of the biggest musculoskeletal health care management companies in the U.S. The company plans to integrate the Lockhart Monitor into its digital patient outcome tracking platform that will provide real-time information to clinicians.

  • Mechanical Trees Capture CO2

    Mechanical Trees Capture CO2

    Despite an urgent need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere to avert harmful environmental impacts, CO2 emissions continue to rise. Klaus Lackner, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools, is among the leading innovators in carbon capture technology that can remove CO2 from the air. The mechanical trees he has led the way in developing through work in ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions could significantly reduce the CO2, but it will take a vast deployment of Lackner’s technology to adequately reduce the growing threat to Earth and its inhabitants.

    See also:‘Once-Unthinkable’ Ways We Can Cool the Planet, Newser, March 10

  • New bill aims to restrict public safety use of drones in Arizona

    New bill aims to restrict public safety use of drones in Arizona

    A new bill recently introduced in the Arizona’s Senate would put tighter regulations on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mainly drones. The move is prompted by concerns about unrestricted drone use becoming a security threat. If the bill becomes law, it could affect acquisition of drones from state agencies, including police and fire departments, along with private companies who subcontract drones from state agencies. Drone expert Timothy Takahashi, a professor of practice in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, says drones could contain malware that could be activated by a hostile actor.

February

2024
  • GlobalResolve service-learning program expands students’ perspectives

    GlobalResolve service-learning program expands students’ perspectives

    Fulton Schools aerospace engineering honors student Taryn Wilson is among ASU students who have spent time contributing to work in Barbados to help communities with a regenerative agroforestry project. Other groups of ASU students are working on a water accessibility and affordability project in Mexico. The endeavors are part of GlobalResolve, a program in ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College, that aims to enhance students’ education through participation in real-world community improvement programs in other countries. Wilson, who is in her third semester with Global Resolve, says the program provides students rewarding opportunities to help find solutions in conservation, biodiversity, environmental sustainability, human rights and other critical areas.

  • ASU introduces trailblazing ‘stackable microcredentials’ pilot

    ASU introduces trailblazing ‘stackable microcredentials’ pilot

    Professors Lenore Dai and Subbarao Kambhampati (pictured) are among ASU faculty members involved in enabling students to interact with leaders and other professionals in the microelectronics industry. Those efforts make students aware of the skills and education required for careers in the semiconductor and related high-tech industries. Kambhampati is a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. Professor Dai is the Fulton Schools vice dean of faculty administration. Part of these efforts is a new stackable microcredentials pilot program designed to give students opportunities to upskill in areas of the tech industry in which demand for new skills and expertise is on the rise.

  • Biden administration taps $366M to fund clean energy for Native American tribes and rural areas

    Biden administration taps $366M to fund clean energy for Native American tribes and rural areas

    Native American reservations and communities in other rural areas, including some tribal lands in Arizona, will get access to renewable energy through 17 projects to be funded by the U.S. government. The projects are to be done in 20 states and involve 30 tribes. A $9 million project will partner ASU and the Hopi tribe in building solar energy panels and battery storage. It will provide a reliable source of power as well as cleaner energy for the tribe’s members, says Kristen Parrish, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. The article has also been published by U.S News & World Report, The Washington Post, ABC News and more than 20 additional news outlets.

  • ASU summit calls for innovations in atmospheric water harvesting technology

    ASU summit calls for innovations in atmospheric water harvesting technology

    Experts in a wide array of science, engineering and related technological fields gathered to explore targeting the Earth’s atmosphere to meet the challenge of providing adequate water for the needs of the planet’s inhabitants into the future. Paul Westerhoff, an ASU Regents Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and director of the Fulton Schools Global Center for Water Technology, moderated the Atmospheric Water Harvesting Summit. The idea has already attracted interest from industries, including from the semiconductor manufacturing, health care and home appliance sectors, as well as from the military and data centers, Westerhoff noted.

  • What is carbon capture? And why is Hillsborough County looking into it?

    What is carbon capture? And why is Hillsborough County looking into it?

    Looking to take steps in response to the threat of climate change, Florida’s state government leaders are proposing the use of carbon capture systems. Among carbon capture technologies that have drawn the most attention is a “mechanical tree” that extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The system was developed through research in the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Klaus Lackner, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Florida legislators, other government officials, researchers and industry representatives are now debating the pros and cons of using carbon capture technology. Read more: First ‘MechanicalTree’ installed on ASU’s Tempe campus

  • Microchip Makes Emerging Tech More Accessible to Embedded Engineers

    Microchip Makes Emerging Tech More Accessible to Embedded Engineers

    Microchip Technology Inc. reports it is expanding opportunities for innovation and making emergency technology more available to engineers with its new user-friendly development kit for embedding processing and computing acceleration. The company says the kit enables rapid testing of application concepts, developing firmware applications, programming, and a debugging user code. Steve Osburn, a Fulton Schools assistant teaching professor in computer science and related areas, says students are already using the new technology to get valuable hands-on experience in developing solutions to real-world engineering challenges.

  • ASU faculty honored for contributions to extreme heat research

    ASU faculty honored for contributions to extreme heat research

    For their work to help prepare the world to take on the challenges presented by the rise in excessive extreme heat as one of the planet’s most critical environmental challenges, five ASU researchers have been recognized with a 2024 Media Achievement Award from the American Association of Geographers. The team includes Ariane Middel, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. The team’s efforts have helped educate the public about the threat of extreme heat and prompted heat-mitigation efforts by government agencies, including changes in public policy in Arizona. Numerous major media outlets have reported on the team’s efforts.

  • Drive Time Show Podcast: Conscription & Ageing

    Drive Time Show Podcast: Conscription & Ageing

    Conscription into military service had been a long-standing practice throughout history that today has been almost universally replaced by all-volunteer armies. Conscription provided a mechanism by which people in societies that are fragmenting into tribal communities could work with others, thereby fostering social cohesion, says Brad Allenby, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and founding chair of the Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations, and National Security. On this podcast, Allenby discusses the societal ramifications of a waning sense of national duty reflected by a lack of conscription today, when all branches of the U.S. military have fallen short of their enlistment goals.

  • U.S. unveils new ITSI initiative to build resilient international microelectronics supply chain

    U.S. unveils new ITSI initiative to build resilient international microelectronics supply chain

    The Fulton Schools will have a major role in ASU’s involvement in a new cooperative venture being initiated under the International Technology Security and Innovation Fund created by the U.S. CHIPS Act of 2022. U.S. semiconductor manufacturers will be part of an effort to strengthen an international supply chain for their industry. As part of the effort, the U.S. Department of State has awarded ASU a multimillion-dollar cooperative agreement to help establish the agreement. The plan involves a multi-regional initiative to be led by the Fulton Schools to support the State Department’s effort to develop and diversify a global semiconductor ecosystem.

  • Structural cascade: Broken rods were just a symptom of RI’s Washington Bridge crisis

    Structural cascade: Broken rods were just a symptom of RI’s Washington Bridge crisis

    In engineering, the term “necking” is used to describe how a steel rod fails under tension. There’s evidence that necking contributed to the recent structural failure of a major bridge in Rhode Island. But Barzin Mobasher, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, stresses that other factors were involved in causing the threatening deterioration of the Washington Bridge. Mobasher and another engineering professor talked to Rhode Island news media about what public officials everywhere can do to be aware of signs of such infrastructure erosion and to prevent the occurrence of similar threats to public safety in the future.

    See a follow-up article in which Barzin Mobasher is also quoted: Was their ‘necking’ on bridge rods and should it have been caught? RIDOT backpedals on answer, Providence Journal, February 29

  • Arizona State University to Help Lead Semiconductor Supply Chain Diversification Initiative

    Arizona State University to Help Lead Semiconductor Supply Chain Diversification Initiative

    The U.S. State Department will be supported by the Fulton Schools in leading a new initiative aimed at boosting  semiconductor assembly, testing and packaging capabilities in International Technology Security and Innovation partner countries in the Americas and Indo-Pacific region. The State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs has awarded ASU a cooperative agreement that includes funding for the project. The goal of the initiative is to equip workforce development programs to assist partner nations in building workforce skills to advance technology and spur economic growth.

    See also: ASU, federal officials launch initiative to boost microelectronics supply chain, workforce, Phoenix Business Journal, February 21

  • Innovations In Light Rail Expansion: How Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Enters the Mix

    Innovations In Light Rail Expansion: How Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Enters the Mix

    An innovative concrete mix that is more environmentally friendly and economical than convention mixes is being used in the Phoenix area, thanks in part to Barzin Mobasher, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Mobasher has overseen use of the advanced fiber-reinforced concrete in the expansion of the Valley Metro light rail line. The new material is bolstering the sustainability of the rail system’s infrastructure, improving cost efficiency and reducing time needed for the labor to boost the system’s resiliency. Research led by Mobasher has also helped to reduce emission of greenhouse gases in the production of cement for the new form of concrete.

  • ASU ranked No. 9 worldwide for US patents in 2023

    ASU ranked No. 9 worldwide for US patents in 2023

    ASU has moved up two places to reach 9th place on the National Academy of Inventors rankings of the Top 100 Worldwide Universities fueling innovation through research and development advances that earned U.S. utility patents. Among the recent ASU patent winners are Assistant Professor Christian Hoover and Associate Professor Elham Fini, faculty members in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, and Associate Professor Jennifer Blain Christen, a faculty member in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering. Both schools are part of the Fulton Schools. ASU joins Harvard, Stanford and MIT among the universities currently ranked in the academy’s top 10.

  • ‘The problem was severe in July’: Expert analyzes Washington Bridge for NBC 10 I-Team

    ‘The problem was severe in July’: Expert analyzes Washington Bridge for NBC 10 I-Team

    A news team looking for an expert in the durability and weakness of various construction materials came to Barzin Mobasher to assess the cause-and-effect factors that led to dangerous cracking on a major bridge in Rhode Island. Mobasher, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, looked at inspection records and photos of the damage to the bridge to assess structural stress conditions that likely caused the cracks on the large bridge. He explained that more than simply a cosmetic repair will be needed to make the bridge safe and prevent future problems. Officials are now waiting for a full structural analysis of the bridge’s support systems to determine if it can be adequately repaired or instead needs to be replaced.

  • Tempe startup to roll out EV charging around Valley after ASU pitch competition award

    Tempe startup to roll out EV charging around Valley after ASU pitch competition award

    Tempe-based electric vehicle charging startup BreatheEV won funding at the recent ASU Innovation Open business pitch competition. The company will use the funding to expand its sites in the Phoenix area. BreathEV was one of eight teams that won a combined $400,000 in funding from among the 27 student-led startups from around the world to compete. Breathe EV co-founder Max Bregman said the event also gave student teams valuable opportunities for business networking. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools of Engineering, said the Innovation Open is providing student startups both a way to bring news ideas to the marketplace and to make an impact with what they are learning about engineering. The article was also published on the Arizona Technology Council website.

  • Black ASU researcher’s hydration backpack designed to better fit plus-sized community

    Black ASU researcher’s hydration backpack designed to better fit plus-sized community

    A new outdoor gear brand, Conscious Gear, developed through research by ASU’s Charlotte Bowens, features a hydration backpack designed to comfortably fit larger people. The idea for Vestapak arose from Bowen taking on the challenge of getting physical fit and losing weight while being borderline diabetic. The backpack makes it easier for people to move and to stay hydrated during exercise. Bowen, administrative director of the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, was aided by Local First Arizona, a business accelerator for Black Entrepreneurs in Arizona.

    Read more: ASU staffer’s design for outdoor recreation gets national attention, ASU News

  • Welcome to Silicon Desert: How Biden helped boost an Arizona boomtown

    Welcome to Silicon Desert: How Biden helped boost an Arizona boomtown

    Phoenix and the surrounding area are among the locales where the U.S. Chips and Science Act is sparking large investments into manufacturing sites for the components that are powering modern electronics. Dozens of companies have been coming to the region to supply the vast new high-tech factories. In addition, ASU is taking steps to help meet the demand for engineers for these industrial facilities. Two of ASU’s newest Fulton Schools, the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks and the new School of Integrated Engineering, focus on education and research in areas geared to developing an engineering workforce pipeline for the expanding semiconductor chips manufacturing sectors.

  • Who Tests If Heat-Proof Clothing Actually Works? These Poor Sweating Mannequins

    Who Tests If Heat-Proof Clothing Actually Works? These Poor Sweating Mannequins

    Among new technologies used to find ways humans can cope with a warming climate is a mannequin that sweats. Wired with sensors, with cables and pipework under its surface, and pores that open and excrete liquid when it gets warm, ANDI was developed for a team of ASU researchers, including Konrad Rykaczewski an associate professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, and Ariane Middel, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence. Both schools are part of the Fulton Schools. Beyond revealing the impacts of heat on humans, ANDI enables researchers to test cooling strategies to help people persevere in hot environments. (Full access to WIRED articles is limited to subscribers. Others can view a limited number of articles over a designated time period.)

  • AI Technology & The First Amendment

    AI Technology & The First Amendment

    Arizona lawmakers want to regulate use of artificial intelligence, or AI, in producing video images and other recordings, making it a felony to distribute fake visual and sound-recording material. Under the proposal, violations could result in a prison term. Lawmakers in other states are also considering ways to stop these “deep fakes,” but civil rights activists contend regulating AI-generated images and speech would violate free-speech rights. Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor and AI expert in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, comments on the growth in the use of deep fakes. He sees the issue continuing to challenge the legal system.

  • Google Rebrands Its AI Chatbot as Gemini to Take On ChatGPT

    Google Rebrands Its AI Chatbot as Gemini to Take On ChatGPT

    Google is unveiling its new Gemini Advanced chatbot to improve its share of the artificial intelligence, or AI, market against OpenAI’s successful subscription service ChatGPT Plus. Google is consolidating many of its AI products through its new Gemini AI model, which it heralds as the new foundation for its AI services. Google will offer access to the most powerful version of its chatbot and to OpenAI’s new GPT store, which offers custom chatbot functions. AI expert Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says it will be interesting to see how Google demonstrates it has made meaningful improvements. (Full access to WIRED articles is limited to subscribers. Others other can view a limited number of articles over a designated period of time.)

  • Urban transit agencies fear ‘death spiral’ as fewer people ride public transportation after COVID

    Urban transit agencies fear ‘death spiral’ as fewer people ride public transportation after COVID

    The growing work-from-home trend, continuing concern about the spread of the COVID-19 disease and fear of urban crime are among reasons public transit systems in cities are in a downward spiral. Urban transportation agencies are concerned the drop in ridership will lead to decreases in bus and rail service, worsening the hardship on commuters and transit operations. Steven Polzin, a professor and transportation researcher in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Build Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says the situation is creating the most widespread mass transit crisis in the U.S. in the past half-century. Even government subsidies and fare hikes are unlikely to provide a solution, Polzin says.

  • Los Angeles’s Floods Show Why Sewers Matter

    Los Angeles’s Floods Show Why Sewers Matter

    Sewers and drainage systems are among things that rarely come to mind when people think about what is essential to the safety of their communities. Two atmospheric river storms that have battered a large swath of Southern California should provide a lesson about the danger and damage that can result from inadequate sewer and drainage infrastructure, says Mikhail Chester, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and director of ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering. A state of emergency was declared in the Los Angeles area as people evacuated some places in the region. Chester and others note that climate change could cause more frequent atmospheric rivers.

  • New Direct Air Carbon Capture System Captures Water, Too

    New Direct Air Carbon Capture System Captures Water, Too

    A U.S. startup company has attracted funding to move its new carbon capture and water recovery system to the market. A carbon capture study coauthored by Professor Klaus Lackner, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and founding director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, helped to generate support for the carbon capture technology industry (Lackner is misidentified in the article as a University of Arizona researcher). He affirms the moisture capture function of the new technology as a being a novel advance in the field.

  • ASU’s online programs ranked among best in the nation

    ASU’s online programs ranked among best in the nation

    Three ASU online graduate degree programs rank among best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. Among them, three Fulton Schools graduate programs were ranked among the top 10. The Fulton Schools master’s in engineering programs overall rank No. 7 for U.S. military veterans. The school ranked No. 7 in online graduate programs in industrial engineering, No. 5 in online engineering management graduate programs and No. 4 for online electrical engineering programs. In 2023, ASU Online had  more than 88,000 degree-seeking, online students, and more the 90,000 graduates of online programs.

  • How bad is Tesla’s hazardous waste problem in California?

    How bad is Tesla’s hazardous waste problem in California?

    At least 25 California counties have sued the automaker Tesla, claiming the company’s hazardous waste disposal violated state health and safety codes. Used lubricating oils, brake fluids, lead acid batteries, aerosols, antifreeze, waste solvents, paint and e-waste are among the contaminants listed in the allegations. It’s possible Tesla simply had a breakdown in its hazardous waste management plan, says Treavor Boyer, a professor and chair of the environmental engineering program in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools. Nevertheless, Boyer says, the situation appears to be a violation of California mandates that are more stringent than federal regulations.

  • DoD officials convene at ASU to learn about university-led microelectronics hub

    DoD officials convene at ASU to learn about university-led microelectronics hub

    The leader of U.S. Department of Defense microelectronics and engineering efforts recently met with ASU officials and faculty members at Skysong, The ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, to discuss progress being made by the new ASU Southwest Accelerated Prototyping Hub. Established to jump-start microelectronics research and development projects funded by the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, the hub now has 130 partners from corporations, startup companies, national laboratories and academic institutions. Among other things, the hub will provide small businesses the means to prototype lab-to-fab technologies, says Krishnendu Chakrabarty, Fulton Professor of Microelectronics in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and the hub’s chief technology officer.

  • ASU team awarded $1.9M grant from EPA to support wildfire preparedness across Arizona

    ASU team awarded $1.9M grant from EPA to support wildfire preparedness across Arizona

    A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant will fund research at ASU aimed at giving Arizona communities effective defenses against the harmful impacts of wildfire smoke. Wildfires in the state and elsewhere across the U.S. are increasing due to climate change and other factors, resulting in releases of dangerous pollutants and gases, says Jean Andino, an associate professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, who will lead the research project. Andino will work with Megan Jehn, a professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Melissa Guarardo, an assistant research professor in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation.  

  • How do you design clothes for children undergoing chemo?

    How do you design clothes for children undergoing chemo?

    A cross-disciplinary project is teaming ASU engineering and fashion students to design clothes to meet the needs of children undergoing chemotherapy. The project is being by supervised by Associate Professor Shawn Jordan, interim director of the School of Integrated Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and ASU School of Art Associate Professor Galina Mihaleva. Jordan and Mihaleva say students are collaborating effectively to design clothes that reflect fashion aesthetics while also incorporating technology such as sensors and microcomputers to monitor the health conditions of the youngsters. Art and engineering students have had different ideas about what to do, the professors say, but are finding common ground to best serve the children.  

  • How SRP uses lasers and AI to maintain aging Arizona dams

    How SRP uses lasers and AI to maintain aging Arizona dams

    Salt River Project, or SRP, the utility operation that provides water and power to the Phoenix metro area and much of central Arizona, is working with ASU researchers to use new technologies to maintain efficient operation of its facilities. SRP will use Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, to assess the conditions of turbines at its dams and Digital Twin technology to assess the need for maintenance of dams. Ricardo Eiris, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says the technologies will enable more precise evaluation of wear and tear on SRP facilities. The ASU/SRP collaboration will also provide education to ASU engineering students. (Access may require subscribing or signing up for access.)

    Eiris was also interviewed in news video reports about the project on local TV news programs. See ABC15 News, 3TV/CBS 5 News, KPHO-PHX (CBS 5 News)

January

2024
  • ASU professor on Neuralink’s next steps as first human trial of brain implant begins

    ASU professor on Neuralink’s next steps as first human trial of brain implant begins

    Recent research aimed at enabling advances in medical technology is raising hope that a device now undergoing testing could make it possible for people with paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts. Bradley Greger, an associate professor of neural engineering in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, talks about progress being made in neural engineering and the development of this type of control device by entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Neurolink company. Greger says more rigorous research and testing will be required, but he thinks the technology could be available by prescription from physicians and surgeons in several years.

    See more coverage: KJZZ News (NPR), News Medical-Life Sciences, Medriva, The Associated Press, BBC, Australian Broadcast Co., Ma Clinique, Pravda, Gadget , Futuro Prossimo, Morning Wave in Busan

  • A win for the environment and the economy in the Southwest

    A win for the environment and the economy in the Southwest

    Climate solutions that will also provide economic opportunities is a major motivating feature of a new ASU-led initiative funded by the National Science Foundation, or NSF. The Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine, or SWSIE, is among proposals the NSF selected to establish a Regional Innovation Engine to develop research and technology transfer hubs. SWSIE will combine expertise from more than 50 partners from academia, industry, nonprofit and entrepreneurial organizations, and local and regional governments. ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory  is leading efforts for SWSIE, supported by ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The project will also draw insight from faculty members in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools.

    See also: ASU launches water and climate-focused ‘Regional Innovation Engine’, AZ Big Media, January 30

    ASU to lead first-of-its-kind regional innovation engine to confront climate change, KJZZ (NPR), February 1

  • LLM Search Engine Shamelessly Spins Fluff

    LLM Search Engine Shamelessly Spins Fluff

    Artificial intelligence, or AI, based search engines and large language models, or LLMs, can offer valuable capabilities. But there are also risks of significant shortcomings when combining the use of LLMs and AI-based search engines in particular ways, says Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor and AI expert in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. LLMs essentially search by imagination and are prone to “hallucinate” when used with AI-based search engines, Kambhampati says. In addition, a recent legal battle between The New York Times and OpenAI, shows how language model makers could face lawsuits for diverting traffic from the original websites from which search engines are drawing information.

  • Theta Rau Offers A Brotherhood For Engineering Students While Developing Professionalism

    Theta Rau Offers A Brotherhood For Engineering Students While Developing Professionalism

    The photo shows members of ASU’s chapter of Theta Tau participating in the co-ed fraternity’s game night. But most of the national student organization’s activities aim to provide its members career development pursuits to prepare them for productive careers in engineering. Theta Tau members are getting opportunities to improve their resumes, network and build relationships with fellow students and engineering professionals, develop organizational and communication skills, and find internships. A leader of the fraternity says the group is always looking for new members who are passionate about developing professional skills and participating in community service projects.

  • Combatting Urban Heat: The Breakthrough Research of ASU’s SHaDE Lab

    Combatting Urban Heat: The Breakthrough Research of ASU’s SHaDE Lab

    Researchers in ASU’s Sensible Heatscapes and Digital Environments, or SHaDe, Lab are continuing to draw on expertise in engineering, computer science, geography, environmental science, sustainability and related fields in their quest to discover more effective climate control strategies to mitigate heat in urban environs like those of Phoenix and its neighboring desert cities and towns. Lab director Ariane Middel (pictured), an associate professor in the  School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, has been overseeing an expansion of the lab’s efforts that includes a steady increase in international partners. The growing scope and scale of research endeavors promise to produce significant solutions to climate challenges.

  • Preparing for the age of AI scams

    Preparing for the age of AI scams

    Advances in artificial intelligence, or AI, technology make it easy to replicate peoples’ voices and to then manipulate them to perpetuate scams. Only several seconds of an AI recording is enough to clone and reproduce individuals’ voices in ways that infuse them with emotional tone, says Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor and AI expert in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the Fulton Schools. On this podcast, Kambhampati and others talk about the proliferating use of AI to propagate fakery on the internet and by telephone. He says the trend is unfortunately casting a bad light on AI, a technology that otherwise has the potential for socially beneficial uses.

    See a separate post of the podcast here: Preparing For The Age of AI Scams, NPR, January 25

  • The Opioid Crisis Is Now Being Tracked with Wastewater

    The Opioid Crisis Is Now Being Tracked with Wastewater

    Advances in wastewater epidemiology have made it possible to detect opioids and other drugs in sewage systems, enabling public health agencies to discover signs of the spread of disease and increases in drug use in various areas. Such wastewater testing techniques helped to detect the presence and spread of the virus that causes COVID when the disease first erupted and became a pandemic. As such wastewater monitoring improves it’s more likely it will be used to also test for other chemicals and substances that are indicators of a variety of health threats, says Erin Driver, an environmental engineer in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Rolf Halden, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools.

  • The Libres Project: Interdisciplinary Approach to Ending Gendered Violence In El Salvador

    The Libres Project: Interdisciplinary Approach to Ending Gendered Violence In El Salvador

    Intimate partner violence, femicide and sexual violence that disproportionately affects women and girls are among the forms of gender-based violence a team of ASU researchers is working to help stop in El Salvador. Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, is the co-principal investigator assigned to coordinate the public transportation aspects of the project. The goal is to improve the safety of people using public transportation and in public places, especially women and LGBTQ+ community members. The team plans to implement strategies and interventions and then assess how well those efforts are helping to reduce gender-based violence.

  • DOE program aims to enhance, protect America’s power grid

    DOE program aims to enhance, protect America’s power grid

    ASU will take the lead on one of 12 recently announced major projects aimed at providing the U.S. a more secure and resilient power grid. The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded ASU more than $4 million to fund grid modernization work to be supervised by Samuel Ariaratnam, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools. An expert in trenchless technology, Ariaratnam will oversee development of a water-jet underground construction tool to deploy electrical cables and conduits underground as part of a system that will reduce the risk of damaging existing utilities by eliminating the need for a hard drill bit while also reducing costs and construction times.

  • Crafting Clean Water in the Navajo Nation

    Crafting Clean Water in the Navajo Nation

    A cross-cultural collaboration is teaming environmental engineers, scientists and artisans in developing a water filtration system for the Navajo Nation, which extends across parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Pollutants in the region have long made it necessary for residents to transport water themselves or have it delivered from distant sources. The project entails providing water in ways that accommodate Navajo culture, such as water filtration systems that serve the needs of makers of the Navajo Nation’s prized handcrafted pottery. Environmental engineer Otakuye Conroy-Ben, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools, and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, comments on challenges the project presents in achieving culturally centered technological advances.

  • What Annoys Subbarao the Most?

    What Annoys Subbarao the Most?

    From the viewpoint of his decades of experience as a computer science teacher and researcher, Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, sees things he likes and does not like about paths the field is taking, particularly in regard to the rapidly emerging use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology and Large Language Models, or LLMs. First of all, AI and LLMs are not actually intelligent or knowledgeable in the basic human sense. AI and LLMs are instead merely retrievers of information, although very prolific retrievers, Kambhampati says. LLMs can only guess about what is correct, and cannot verify information they gather, only accumulate it, he adds. One of  his current focuses in the field is finding ways to develop and encourage better human-AI interaction that might actually aid human reasoning.

    See Also, LLMs are just like Toothpaste, Analytics India Magazine/AI Origins & Evolution, January 3

  • Sowing The Seeds Of Innovation: Flinn Foundation Grants Awarded to ASU Labs

    Sowing The Seeds Of Innovation: Flinn Foundation Grants Awarded to ASU Labs

    Pursuits by ASU researchers to help people with autism are among  efforts that have earned them Flinn Foundation seed grants to advance their work. Among the grant recipients are Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes and James Adams, President’s Professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, also part of the Fulton schools, and the undergraduate program chair for material science and engineering. They will use the new funds to explore expanding the use of microbiota transplantation to help control some of the more severe impacts of autism.

  • Waymo’s Driverless Cars Aim to Revolutionize Freeway Travel

    Waymo’s Driverless Cars Aim to Revolutionize Freeway Travel

    The pioneering autonomous vehicle technology company Waymo plans to bring driverless cars to Phoenix freeways for testing. The company’s leaders envision a future in which driverless cars substantially reduce travel times, skillfully navigate highway traffic and produce more streamlined and efficient transportation systems. Aviral Shrivastava, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, has been studying and advancing driverless automobile technology for about a decade. His work currently focuses on developing algorithms designed to enable automobiles to replicate the behavior of human drivers while prioritizing safety.

    See also: What to know about Waymo’s plan to drive on freeways, ABC 15 News Arizona, January 10

  • Brain Bank Researcher Featured in Emmy-Winning Documentary on Nanoplastics

    Brain Bank Researcher Featured in Emmy-Winning Documentary on Nanoplastics

    New research reveals the potential for plastics to have impacts on the brain and its cognitive functions. Details are reported in the recent PBS documentary “We’re All Plastic People Now,” which won an Emmy Award. Among those featured in the documentary are David Davis, a University of Miami research professor and associate director of the Brain Endowment Bank, and Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering at ASU. In the film, Halden presents tests results showing individuals can have 80 or more plastic-related compounds circulating in their blood. More findings are to be published later this year. The documentary’s director is pictured with his Emmy Award.

  • Facilities developments meet growing demand across ASU campuses

    Facilities developments meet growing demand across ASU campuses

    ASU’s major investments to expand educational resources for students are reflected in a substantial list of new buildings and facilities to be constructed on the university’s campuses. One of the most extensive projects is Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 12 on the Polytechnic campus, scheduled to open in 2025. It will be the new home of the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, one of the Fulton Schools, which will include office, meeting, instructional, research and collaboration spaces. In addition, renovations at the Bateman Physical Science Center on the Tempe campus will provide more classrooms and labs for undergraduate engineering and natural sciences education.

  • A ‘living skin’ is protecting the Great Wall of China, scientists say

    A ‘living skin’ is protecting the Great Wall of China, scientists say

    Tiny, rootless plants and microorganisms known as biocrusts are helping to protect some landmark sites and other valuable lands by forming miniature ecosystems that are preserving culturally and historically important environments. Among those places is the Great Wall of China, which is in an area where two-thirds of the land is extensively stabilized by biocrusts. Emmanuel Salifu, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, who studies nature-based sustainable engineering solutions, explains how biocrusts could be used in efforts to address structural conservation challenges around the world through their capacity to improve the structural integrity, longevity and durability of earthen structures.

  • LLMs are just like Toothpaste

    LLMs are just like Toothpaste

    Increasingly versatile artificial intelligence, or AI, technology is prompting urgent legal questions about what constitutes plagiarism and the parameters of copyright ownership. With the expanding abilities of Open AI, ChatGPT and large language models, or LLMs, debate is heating up about the broad ramifications of these unrestrained information retrieval tools. Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, at Arizona State University and the director of the Yochan Lab, leads research on decision-making and planning in the context of human-aware AI systems. He comments on the challenges and complexities involved in trying to navigate a path through the quandaries revolving around such issues.

  • Fixing the plastic problem

    Fixing the plastic problem

    Fulton Schools faculty researchers, students and alumni are among those leading the way in efforts to find solutions to the growing problems caused by plastic pollution. That is one of the major thrusts of research at the Biodesign Center for Health Engineering directed by Rolf Halden, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools. Charles Rolsky, a Fulton Schools graduate who has collaborated with Halden, is carrying on the work as science director of the nonprofit Plastic Oceans International. In addition, Fulton Schools mechanical engineering doctoral student Garvit Nayyar (pictured) is working on making a less harmful plastic with materials that decompose rather than pollute.

     

  • Revolutionary Charging Station in Quartzite Paves the Way for a Sustainable Future

    Revolutionary Charging Station in Quartzite Paves the Way for a Sustainable Future

    Nxu, a company based in Tempe and Mesa, Arizona, is opening a megawatt plus charging station in the town of Quartzsite, between Phoenix and Los Angeles, that will be equipped primarily to serve electric powered semi-trucks. The company’s management foresees a growing need for services for commercial freight trucks that run on electricity and expanding business opportunities across the U.S. and internationally. Steven Polzin, a professor and transportation researcher in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Build Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, agrees with that outlook, but says today’s charging stations will need to be prepared to adapt as electric vehicle technology begins to evolve.

    See Also: Nxu working to create megawatt plus charging for commercial EV trucks in Quartzsite, Fox 10 News Phoenix, December 29

    The Future of Electric Commercial Vehicles: Introducing the Next Generation of Charging Solutions, Motor Mouth, January 1

December

2023
  • Arizona State University is building Science and Technology facility on Mesa campus

    Arizona State University is building Science and Technology facility on Mesa campus

    A major construction project on ASU’s Polytechnic campus to be completed next year will provide facilities for the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, one of the Fulton Schools. The Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 12 will be part of the new Polytechnic Innovation Zone within a newly established Innovation Research District. With labs for research in additive manufacturing, robotics for smart manufacturing and industry automation, cyber manufacturing and operations research, semiconductor manufacturing, and manufacturing systems for the energy sector, the Fulton Schools will expand efforts to prepare students to provide engineering solutions for major societal challenges. Read more from the East Valley Tribune and the Arizona Republic in posts below dated December 15 and December 5.

  • To avoid solar graveyard, panel recycling is increasing in the United States

    To avoid solar graveyard, panel recycling is increasing in the United States

    A touted benefit of moving away from using fossil fuels has been that it would help reduce harmful pollutants in the atmosphere. But one of the growing energy sources that was to provide clean energy now poses an emerging pollution challenge that could hinder the battle against climate change. The disposal of an increasing number of old solar energy panels that have reached their retirement age is today contributing to the problem. The situation makes it crucial to step up efforts to recycle solar panels, which will prevent them from becoming a pollutant, says Meng Tao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, one of the Fulton Schools. While solar panel recycling is increasing somewhat, Tao notes there are logistical and policy obstacles to be overcome to pave the way for adequately expanding these operations.

    See Also: Entrepreneur Recycles Metal and Other Parts of Old Solar Panels, VOA (Voice of America News), December 28

    Urban mining: Solar panel recycling is on the rise in the United States, Nation World News, December 26

    ‘Urban Mining’ offers green solution to old solar panels, The News International, December 24, KPVI news, Pocatello, Idaho, December 23, and The Jakarta Post, Indonesia, December 23

  • AI breakthroughs at ASU: Speech restoration, cancer cell tracking, and fall prevention with wearables

    AI breakthroughs at ASU: Speech restoration, cancer cell tracking, and fall prevention with wearables

    Research by faculty members in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, is exploring the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology to help provide solutions to health threats. Professor Bradley Greger is using AI to assist patients in communicating their thoughts by using a non-invasive technique to help gain an understanding of language processing in the brain. Patients will be able to speak mentally, and an AI tool can interpret their thoughts into clear language. Assistant Professor Christopher Plaisier is experimenting with using AI to track cancer cell life cycles to help treat and manage certain cancers. Professor Thurmon Lockhart is designing wearable devices to track data like body posture and blood pressure to make near-accurate fall predictions.

  • NXP Semiconductor partnership to boost manufacturing packaging in Arizona

    NXP Semiconductor partnership to boost manufacturing packaging in Arizona

    MacroTechnology Works, ASU’s flagship microelectronics research and development facility, continues to expand the scope of its engineering related endeavors. A partnership of the Arizona Commerce Authority and the NXP Semiconductors company will enhance the capabilities of MacroTechnology Works in microelectronics packaging. The collaboration will provide more opportunities to train students, particularly Fulton Schools engineering students, in the production of semiconductors and advanced manufacturing systems. Sally Morton, the executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, says the partnership represents a step toward “the future of university research” that will prepare students to become leaders in many facets of advanced manufacturing enterprises and processes.

  • ASU inaugurates US-ASEAN Center in partnership with Department of State

    ASU inaugurates US-ASEAN Center in partnership with Department of State

    The goal of the new United States and Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or U.S.-ASEAN, Center in Washington, D.C., is to strengthen cultural and economic relationships between the U.S. and those associated Asian nations. The center’s recent opening was celebrated by officials from the U.S. Department of State and ASU, which will have a leading role in the center’s government, industry and academic partnerships through the new U.S.-ASEAN Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Program to develop work-ready engineers and scientists. Jeffrey Goss, executive director of the office of Global Outreach and Extended Education, part of the Fulton Schools, says ASU and the new center will work to build economic opportunity for decades to come.

  • ASU staffer’s design for outdoor recreation gets national attention

    ASU staffer’s design for outdoor recreation gets national attention

    Charlotte Bowens’ ultralight hydration vest, designed to help larger people more easily drink water while exercising, was chosen by readers of the national newspaper USA Today as one of the best gifts for outdoor enthusiasts. She later won $10,000 for the vest developed by her startup company, Conscious Gear, in a Demo Day pitch competition held by ASU’s J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute, followed by an equal amount in ASU’s Global Sport Institute Venture Challenge  pitch competition. Bowens, administrative director for the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, now  plans to offer more Conscious Gear products.

  • Scholarship supports the Theory of Embedded Intelligence in students’ honors theses

    Scholarship supports the Theory of Embedded Intelligence in students’ honors theses

    ASU’s Mensch Prize provides six $1,000 awards each year to students in ASU’s Barrett, The Honor College, who complete their thesis work on a project that focuses on applications of the Theory of Embedded Intelligence in engineering and applied sciences, social sciences, humanities, physical sciences, biological sciences or fine and performing arts. The winners of the 2023 awards include Ashley Tse, now a Fulton Schools biomedical engineering graduate student, and Erin Burgard, a senior environmental engineering student. Applications to compete for 2024 Mensch Prizes are now available through January 12. Students who apply are advised to connect what they learn from the theory to ideas and endeavors that would have beneficial effects on society.

  • Arizona State Plans $185M Science and Technology Building

    Arizona State Plans $185M Science and Technology Building

    Through one of the largest investments on any of ASU’s campuses, work is underway on the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 12, or ISTB12, on the university’s Polytechnic campus in Mesa. The university is pursuing partnerships with private industry for the work to be done in an area being called the Polytechnic Innovation Zone, which will include the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, one of the Fulton Schools. The goal is to work with industry partners to make advances in aviation, renewable energy, human-technology integration, digital manufacturing and other related areas, with a strong focus on project-based learning and interdisciplinary research laboratories.

    See Also: ASU makes massive Polytechnic investment, Ahwatukee Foothills News, Dececmber 15

  • Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing medical research

    Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing medical research

    Advances in the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology to restore people’s language abilities after they have suffered brain damage, to expand knowledge about the growth of cancer cells and to develop tools to prevent injuries from falls are among the notable steps being made in separate efforts by Professor Thurman Lockhart, Associate Professor Bradley Greger (pictured) and Assistant Professor Christopher Plaisier in the School of Biological Health Systems and Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools. While warnings continue to be voiced about potential drawbacks of using AI in many engineering applications, researchers are also touting the ability of AI to gather and process information as an effective aid to progress in medical research.

  • Students collaborate on wearable tech for hospitalized children

    Students collaborate on wearable tech for hospitalized children

    ASU engineering and fashion students collaborated on designing and fabricating clothing that featured integrated technology to help youngsters undergoing chemotherapy. Students in an Embedded Systems Design course created clothing to help calm the children and monitor their health conditions. Students in a Fashion Design and Wearable Technology course designed garments that are soft, warming and adaptable to the administering of medical treatment. Shawn Jordan, an associate professor in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, had co-taught the design course a year ago with Galina Mihaleva, an associate professor at the fashion design school. Their collaboration led to the recent project for the young patients.

  • Students connect at Ignite storytelling event

    Students connect at Ignite storytelling event

    ASU’s Changemaker Central, an organization of students interested in leading social change, recently presented its storytelling event Ignite. Each semester, it gives speakers opportunities to talk about their ideas, passions and personal experiences. Opening the most recent Ignite session was Fulton Schools undergraduate biomedical engineering student Cohen Jefferies, whose studies focus on biomedical devices. His talk at this event focused on his experiences in discovering personal strengths. His fellow students talked about their experiences as an international student, practicing mindfulness, and the college freshman experience, among other subjects.

  • How Arizona universities are dispelling fear, shifting the conversation surrounding AI

    How Arizona universities are dispelling fear, shifting the conversation surrounding AI

    The abilities of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology to write and create images has teachers wary of students using AI to do class assignments. ASU has developed guidelines teachers can use to dictate how students can or can’t use AI. Teachers say they want students to be educated about AI use but not as a tool for cheating. Fulton Schools computer engineering doctoral student Frank Liu leads an ASU student committee that wants to participate in ASU’s decision making regarding AI. Liu says AI can be used in positive ways, for instance by helping teach students how to write well instead of writing for them.

  • Dutch delegation visits ASU, tours lab and fabrication space

    Dutch delegation visits ASU, tours lab and fabrication space

    Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, (at far left in photo) recently joined dozens of representatives of the semiconductor and manufacturing industries in the Netherlands and Belgium on a tour of ASU’s MacroTechnology Works facility. The group included Netherland’s prime minister and the minister-president of Flanders, a part of Belgium. There was also a panel discussion and other conversations about the goals, challenges and values shared by the three countries and the potential for all to work closely together to foster innovation that will provide a path to a productive future. Fulton Schools of Engineering Vice Dean of Research and Innovation Zachary Holman also participated in the day’s activities.

  • New fishing technology ‘lighting the way’ to sustainable future

    New fishing technology ‘lighting the way’ to sustainable future

    Development of a solar-powered light that doubles as a buoy to reduce bycatch of endangered sea turtles, sharks and marine mammals while maintaining fish catches has earned the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for Jesse Senko, an assistant research professor in ASU’s College of Global Futures. The innovation, which is lifesaving for the marine animals it protects, was aided by Jennifer Blain Christen, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools. Christen led an engineering team that developed the illuminated buoy that is crucial to the overall effectiveness of the bycatch reduction system.

  • Entrepreneurial ventures win more than $100K in funding at ASU Demo Day

    Entrepreneurial ventures win more than $100K in funding at ASU Demo Day

    A neurofeedback device designed to help people with ADHD — Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — earned a team of Fulton Schools biomedical engineering students recognition from entrepreneurs who judged projects presented at the recent ASU Demo Day event. Biomedical engineering graduate student Michael Li is the chief operating officer and co-founder of the venture called Captavate. The project evolved from the personal experience of another biomedical engineering graduate student, Abyssinia Bizuneh, who was diagnosed with ADHD. Bizuneh is now chief executive officer of Captavate, which won $20,000 to advance its project. Fulton Schools students are involved in two other startup ventures that were awarded funding based on their Demo Day presentations.

  • Here’s what we know about ASU’s $185 million expansion at its Polytechnic campus in Mesa

    Here’s what we know about ASU’s $185 million expansion at its Polytechnic campus in Mesa

    Construction is underway on a major expansion of ASU’s Polytechnic campus, including a more than 173,000 square foot, three-story building that will be the largest investment in the history of the campus. The new facility — ASU’s 12th Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building — will house the newest of the Fulton Schools, the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks. The expansion coincides with recent U.S. congressional actions providing billions of dollars to boost semiconductor production. The school’s new facility will include classrooms and research labs for robotics for smart manufacturing and industry automation, cyber manufacturing and operations research, semiconductor manufacturing and manufacturing systems for the energy sector.

    See also: ISTB12 to be major economic boost in region, ASU News, December 5

  • 6 best jobs in the world that combine purpose, profit and planet

    6 best jobs in the world that combine purpose, profit and planet

    A study shows a large majority of people would take a new job if it gave them not only a better paycheck but also opportunities offering work-life balance and professional and personal fulfillment. For Valeria Amaya Espinosa De Los Monteros, that job would be environmental engineering. She’s working toward that goal through studies in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Her passion is to gain skills enabling her to help provide communities the technology, infrastructure and related resources they need to thrive. She sees an engineer’s role as the “perfect combination of science and social work,” and goes into detail about her choice to be an engineer in a related article on the Kaplan International Pathways website.

November

2023
  • These Clues Hint at the True Nature of OpenAI’s Shadowy Q* Project

    These Clues Hint at the True Nature of OpenAI’s Shadowy Q* Project

    Reports and rumors are swirling around the creation of a computing program named Q* that can supposedly solve complex mathematical problems through advanced computing capabilities that some experts are worried will lead to more powerful artificial intelligence models, stoking fear the new program could erode safety in the use of AI technology. Many are now conjecturing about the potentially troubling ramifications of such developments. Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton schools, speculates on how the way Q* works might present serious threats by enabling the program to evade human control, but he does not predict that this can or will happen.

  • Tech Hubs grant puts ASU at ground zero for medical device manufacturing

    Tech Hubs grant puts ASU at ground zero for medical device manufacturing

    ASU expects to be stepping to the forefront in the vibrant medical device manufacturing field. The Tech Hubs program, authorized by the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, is investing in various regions across the country to transform them into globally competitive innovation centers. The Medical Device Manufacturing Multiplier Strategy Development Consortium, or MDM2, led by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, has been awarded one of the Tech Hubs grants by U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. Marco Santello, a professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, will have a leadership position in the MDM2 consortium.

  • Four researchers recognized with 2023 Tim Oke Award

    Four researchers recognized with 2023 Tim Oke Award

    Among recent recipients of the International Association for Urban Climate’s Tim Oke Award for exceptional contributions to climatology and related environmental and ecological fields is the organization’s president, Ariane Middel, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. Middel’s pioneering roles in developing innovative sensing methods to assess the impacts of heat exposure, furthering knowledge of thermal landscapes in urban environments, establishing the field of urban climate informatics, and leadership within the community of urban climate experts are among outstanding achievements that earned Middel the honor. Zhihua Wang, an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, another of the Fulton Schools, is one of the award winners. Read more details on page 60 of the association’s newsletter.

  • SRP to work with ASU to assess condition of watershed through use of lidar

    SRP to work with ASU to assess condition of watershed through use of lidar

    The Salt River Project, or SRP, company is employing the capabilities of the latest lidar laser technology, which can use laser light to detect structural or operational problems with turbines at the dams essential to maintaining the utility’s hydropower resources and services. The work is being aided by student researchers in the School Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. They are conducting a hydropower-related study that will help SRP assess the lifecycle of its systems and determine if maintenance is needed. It’s one of 24 projects ASU is now doing with SRP.

  • The secret web of life in our soil

    The secret web of life in our soil

    Farming, construction and similar land-altering human activity disturbs the native layer of biocrust on the surface of Arizona’s desert soil. Once that biocrust is gone, conditions are ripe for the intense dust storms that afflict large areas throughout much of the state. It can require decades for the biocrust to grow back sufficiently to prevent those storms. ASU researchers are working on ways to help remedy the problem through devising methods to suppress airborne dust. The research team includes faculty members Emmanuel Salifu, Edward Kavazanjian and Matthew Fraser in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Salifu and Fraser are featured in a video about the project.

  • ASU creates hub of coursework for careers in booming microelectronics industry

    ASU creates hub of coursework for careers in booming microelectronics industry

    ASU has created a website specifically to serve people interested in being trained for jobs and careers in Arizona’s growing microelectronics industry. The website provides information about the newly formed Microelectronics Workforce Development Hub designed to help map a road to employment for not only for people who aspire to earn an engineering degree but also for those who want to retrain for a new career. The effort will be supported by multiple online education opportunities. The Hub, however, is also expected to offer hands-on training in operations critical to the microlectronics industy, says Professor Binil Starly, director of the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, part of the Fulton Schools. The school already has a short introductory course for people with a high school diploma to get an introduction to the use of robots in microelectronics manufacturing.

  • ASU center brings faculty together to research human-robot solutions

    ASU center brings faculty together to research human-robot solutions

    Fulton Schools faculty members and researchers are leading efforts to advance human-robot collaboration. Through ASU’s Center for Human, Artificial Intelligence, and Robot Teaming, led by Fulton Schools Professor Nancy Cooke, Wenlong Zhang, an associate professor in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, is enabling robots to work with researchers to improve artificial intelligence. Rakibul Hasan, an assistant professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, is exploring how to strengthen data privacy. Pooyan Fazli, an assistant professor in the School of Arts Media and Engineering, is working to facilitate teamwork between robots and humans. Heather Lum, an assistant in The Polytechnic School, is researching how to use robots to improve communication and cooperation between humans and dogs in search and rescue operations. 

  • How Arizona’s roads could change to accommodate autonomous trucks

    How Arizona’s roads could change to accommodate autonomous trucks

    It’s looking like large vehicles equipped with autonomous technology, powered by a variety of energy sources and sometimes connected to each other, are soon to become a part of trucking industry operations. This has engineers trying to accurately forecast how these trucks might impact roads on which they will travel. Hasan Ozer, (at left in photo) an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, will be applying his expertise in pavement materials, design and analysis to help determine what can be done to fortify pavement against the wear and tear these large and heavy vehicles could inflict on roads.

  • No place in the US is safe from the climate crisis, but a new report shows where it’s most severe

    No place in the US is safe from the climate crisis, but a new report shows where it’s most severe

    While efforts have expanded in recent years to stave of global warming and other detrimental impacts of climate change related to human activity, there is still a critical need to ramp up these endeavors. The work required to adequately reduce the threat is far from complete, says Margaret Garcia, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Continued warming means that reversing the trend will require more intensive actions to achieve the level of climate resiliency necessary to avoid increasingly dire environmental consequences, Garcia says.

  • Inspiring stories of top 50 women in tech in the US by Wire19

    Inspiring stories of top 50 women in tech in the US by Wire19

    As the U.S. has continued to solidify its place among the world’s leading producers of technological progress, the nation has seen a particularly notable surge of contributions by women. Their research and development achievements are driving advances in STEM fields and providing innovations important to many industries. Among them is Celeste Fralick, who earned a doctoral degree in computer science, with a concentration on predictive analytics and neuroscience, in the Fulton Schools. Fralick is now a former senior principal engineer and chief data scientist for the McAfee tech company who previously held a similar position with Intel. Her book about infusing analytics into the Internet of Things is scheduled for publication soon.

  • EV chargers in Arizona: How hard is it to find them?

    EV chargers in Arizona: How hard is it to find them?

    Electric vehicles, or EVs, are being touted as a wave of the future in automotive transportation and the U.S. government is investing in stimulating EV production and ownership. In Arizona, as in many places, EV charging stations are few and far between, but  some entrepreneurs and companies are planing to open or expand recharging operations in anticipation of growing demand. Steven Polzin, a professor and transportation researcher in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Build Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says there are both challenges to significantly increasing EV use and potential incentives that could boost their desirability and thereby increase the availability of charging stations.

  • Fixing the Climate Crisis

    Fixing the Climate Crisis

    Excessive levels of greenhouse gases, specifically carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a growing threat to Earth’s climate and inhabitants. Experts say any feasible solution requires extensive ventures by the world’s major governments. Success hinges on development and deployment of advanced technology designed to combat the growing crisis. One of the emerging CO2 removal tools is the “mechanical tree” developed at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, led by “the intellectual godfather of carbon removal,” Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. He says the big question isn’t whether the technology will work, but how much governments around the world are willing to invest in it. The article looks at endeavors to push forward with atmospheric greenhouse gas removal endeavors and the challenges those efforts face.

  • Semiconductors are all over the news in Arizona, but what are they?

    Semiconductors are all over the news in Arizona, but what are they?

    Tens of billions of dollars are being invested in semiconductor industry ventures in Arizona, making the state one of the hotspots for the establishment and expansion of operations that produce the devices being described as the brain of modern electronics. Researchers whose work is driving innovation in semiconductors include Krishnendu Chakrabarty, a professor of microelectronics in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools. Chakrabarty has a leading role in ASU’s contributions to the Center for Hetergenous Integration of Micro Electronics Systems, which involves 14 universities funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.

  • AI in the classroom: does it have a place?

    AI in the classroom: does it have a place?

    While some teachers accept students’ use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology, others are spurning its use in their classrooms. Subbarao Kamhampati, a professor of computer science in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, explains the various capabilities and limitations of AI software, including the popular ChatGPT program, and how their differences could help educators decide what versions of AI are acceptable for students to use in performing coursework. Several Arizona teachers talk about their experiences with students’ use of these technologies. A curriculum and instruction professional compares today’s challenges with AI to concerns that arose with the emergence of the internet.

  • An IPCC For AI Is A Failure Mode

    An IPCC For AI Is A Failure Mode

    At a recent international AI Safety Summit, leading experts in areas ranging from government, geopolitics and public policy to economics, technology, environmental issues and artificial intelligence, or AI, technology, explored ideas for how to ensure AI’s increasing powers will be used for productive endeavors rather than as a tool to launch efforts that would threaten societal cohesion and stability. Brad Allenby, a professor of engineering and ethics in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, examines the potential for progress and the dangerous pitfalls that could result from such an approach to dealing with the complex challenges of managing AI.

  • ASU researchers create new AI technology for air traffic controllers

    ASU researchers create new AI technology for air traffic controllers

    Much recent news about advances in artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies has focused on warnings about the potential for its use in less than socially beneficial ouruits. But one research project led by Yongming Lui, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, promises to make air traffic control operations safer and more effective. With funding from NASA, Liu is using AI to automate air traffic control systems to help controllers and pilots anticipate and avoid situations that would pose dangers to air travelers.

  • AI voice phishing that gave this family a terrible nightmare

    AI voice phishing that gave this family a terrible nightmare

    On a Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company, or JTBC, news program in South Korea, Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, is interviewed about the expanding abilities of rapidly advancing technologies to create images and sounds that make the unreal look real. Increasingly more capable tools and technologies continue to enable making video images and sounds — including those replicating human voices — that are all but indistinguishable from video and sound of actual events and human speech. Experts like Kamhampti are warning of the growing potential for such misleading fakery to result in provoking reactions that could threaten harm to society.

    See Also: Analyst says ‘nothing surprising’ about Musk’s ‘Grok‘ Reuters, November 7
    Kambhampati says Elon Musk’s new artificial intelligence model — a bot called Grok — is not an especially groundbreaking advance in smart technology as some reports are describing it.

  • Taking semiconductor manufacturing to new heights

    Taking semiconductor manufacturing to new heights

    Manufacturing microelectronics in space could eliminate long, painstaking and costly steps involved in making semiconductors. A research team funded by the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and NASA’s Space Production Application program is working to make that possible. The project has enlisted Ying-Chen “Daphne” Chen, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, as a co-primary investigator in a collaborative effort with government agencies and industry experts to produce the blueprint to achieve the project’s goal. The article was originally published in Full Circle, the news section of the Fulton Schools website.

October

2023
  • Using ChatGPT for accounting? You may want to think again

    Using ChatGPT for accounting? You may want to think again

    The AI-enabled language model technology ChatGPT has shown its abilities to do some things as well or better than people can do them. But many things might be better left to human intelligence — like accounting. That’s because some experts are finding ChatCGT is not always good at math. Paulo Shakarian, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says accounting requires capabilities in logic that the technology does not possess. Shakarian’s tests have shown ChatGPT to be less than acceptably accurate for things like accounting, which requires translating words into mathematical equations.

  • ‘These levels are crazy’: Louisiana tap water sees huge spike in toxic chemicals

    ‘These levels are crazy’: Louisiana tap water sees huge spike in toxic chemicals

    Drought and rising sea levels have are combining to bring salty water from the ocean up the Mississippi River, making much of the region’s water undrinkable. Public health experts say the saltwater intrusion could eventually corrode the region’s aging water infrastructure, leach heavy metals into the drinking water and create other problems. Water systems engineer Treavor Boyer, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says that one technique being used to ease the problem — mixing fresh water with seawater — is instead creating ideal conditions for increasing levels of disinfection byproducts.

  • ASU’s new medical school will integrate engineering with medicine

    ASU’s new medical school will integrate engineering with medicine

    By focusing on an integration of engineering and medicine, ASU’s new medical school expects to redefine the roles of physicians and reshape the way the school’s graduates think about healthcare. The idea is to teach doctors how to be problem solvers like engineers, says Heather Clark, director of the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools. Students will be encouraged to consider how medical instrumentation they are learning to use could be improved by developing more advanced technology, Clark says. Graduates will earn MD degrees along with master’s degrees in engineering.

  • ASU researchers find increasing concentrations of microplastics in Valley soil samples

    ASU researchers find increasing concentrations of microplastics in Valley soil samples

    Accumulations of microplastics in soils aren’t typically described with the same sense of alarm as proliferations of harmful substances and materials elsewhere, such as in the oceans. But high concentrations of microplastics in and on the ground can pose the same severity of toxicological risks to the environment. The Phoenix urban area is facing that problem. Alarming findings by Professor Matt Fraser, associate director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, Professor Pierre Herckes in ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences and doctoral student Kanchana Chandrakanthan are reported in the research journal Science of the Total Environment.

    See Also: A look at the hidden threat lurking in Phoenix soil, AZ Big Media, October 31

  • Dauphin Island Sea Lab luncheon takes a deep dive into plastic pollution

    Dauphin Island Sea Lab luncheon takes a deep dive into plastic pollution

    Charlie Rolsky earned a doctoral degree at ASU, where he did groundbreaking research at the ASU Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, focusing on marine and aquatic plastic pollution, a major threat to ecosystems and environments around the world. Rolsky was the keynote speaker at the recent Dauphin Island Sea Lab Foundation’s annual Marine Environmental Awards. He is now director of science for Plastic Oceans International and director of research for the Shaw Institute in Maine, where he does contaminant monitoring, marine mammals health surveys and plastics pollution research. He has collaborated with Fulton Schools researchers on several  microplastics pollution projects.

  • To save solar panels from landfills, US startup is smashing them instead

    To save solar panels from landfills, US startup is smashing them instead

    An industrial plant in the desert near Yuma, Arizona, is home to We Recycle Solar, a company at the forefront of a growing business sector. The plant smashes old solar energy panels, extracting bits of valuable materials in the process. It is helping to keep landfills from getting overloaded with used solar panels, while also setting the stage to benefit from a growing market for recycled materials. Meng Tao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, foresees a coming flood of materials from old solar panels being used to meet an exploding demand for recycled materials in a multibillion dollar market.  

    See Also: To Save Solar Panels From Landfills, Startup Is Smashing Them Instead, Bloomberg, October 24 (Access to article is available only to subscribers.)

  • Cybersecurity threats that keep experts up at night

    Cybersecurity threats that keep experts up at night

    Even as a teenager, Adam Doupé (pictured) found it easy to send his high school friends email informing them the messages came from Santa Claus. It was, of course, all in fun. But it soon dawned on Doupé how that capability could be used for nefarious purposes. Today, the associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and leader of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations works to find ways to overcome the vulnerabilities of the today’s internet, in the hope of helping to protect people from the “monsters” of cybersecurity — each of which he has given appropriately sinister names.

  • ASU’s New Quantum Computing Pathway Looks To Break Binary With New Courses

    ASU’s New Quantum Computing Pathway Looks To Break Binary With New Courses

    Taking a pioneering step toward the future of electrical engineering education, ASU is establishing a formal quantum computing pathway for students preparing for electrical engineering careers. Christian Arenz, assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, helped to open the pathway this semester with a class he taught called quantum mechanics for quantum information science. The class is designed to establish the basic language of quantum mechanics before students progress to more specific quantum computing studies. The emerging field is seen as having the potential to revolutionize entire industries and reshape the technological landscape.

  • The government is calling on tech leaders for help in crafting AI legislation

    The government is calling on tech leaders for help in crafting AI legislation

    With rapidly proliferating use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology in an expanding array of areas from business, economics and corporate strategy to media, education, entertainment and more, the U.S. Senate is holding hearings about potential regulation of AI. There are serious concerns about AI eroding privacy, public trust, legal accountability and even weakening national security. Paulo Shakarian, an associate professor, an AI and machine learning expert in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and in ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations Affiliates, discusses the delicate balances that need to made to produce regulations that reduce threats AI can pose without limiting innovation and restricting vital information.

  • ASU researchers work to save the rainforest by putting a new value on it

    ASU researchers work to save the rainforest by putting a new value on it

    A group of six ASU researchers is among finalist teams in the $10 million XPRIZE Foundation competition to find effective ways to measure the worth of rainforests and their biodiversity. Drawing on knowledge of indigenous people and artificial intelligence, or AI, analysis, the teams will go to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil to develop viable sustainability strategies for the land. Among the ASU team members is Pavan Turaga, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and director of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering. The teams hope to provide a model communities can use as a roadmap to successful environmental preservation.

  • Older adults are vulnerable in a warming climate. Better buildings could help protect them

    Older adults are vulnerable in a warming climate. Better buildings could help protect them

    Amir Baniassadi, who earned a doctoral degree in the Fulton Schools’ civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program, is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Harvard Medical School and a consultant at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He’s collaborating works with doctors, architects and fellow engineers to assess heat vulnerability and how buildings could be constructed to reducing health risks from rising global temperatures. Baniassadi has been named a  a 2023 STAT Wunderkind for his commitment to expand knowledge to reveal how built environments affect the well-being of older adults.

  • Gilbert fares poorly in ‘green’ study

    Gilbert fares poorly in ‘green’ study

    WalletHub, a financial website, recently looked at the 100 largest U.S. municipalities, comparing them in several important areas – environment, transportation, energy sources and lifestyle and policy. For the second year in a row, the town of Gilbert, east of the Phoenix metro area, ranked among the least green among its peer cities and towns. Brad Allenby, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, provides some perspective on how cities can most effectively boost and manage projects aimed at going green and reap benefits from those endeavors.

  • ASU Neuroscientists Weigh In On The ‘Link” Between Risk And Reward in Human Testing

    ASU Neuroscientists Weigh In On The ‘Link” Between Risk And Reward in Human Testing

    Elon Musk’s Neuralink company is beginning tests on a human brain implant designed to assist people with paralysis and other neurological disorders. Past testing of such technology has experienced failures that raise concern about the risks of human trials for Neuralink’s device. Some medical researchers caution that using brain-computer interface devices could cause severe health problems if not performed correctly. Bradley Greger, an associate professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, sees potential for new treatments for neurological disorders, including for spinal cord injuries, paralysis and nervous system disorders. But he also stresses the need for especially careful testing, analysis and clinical trials.

  • TEDI-London Appoints Professor Lisa Brodie as its Executive Dean

    TEDI-London Appoints Professor Lisa Brodie as its Executive Dean

    The Engineering and Design Institute in London, or TEDI-London, a Fulton Schools partner, will soon have new executive dean. Lisa Brodie will play a key role in TEDI’s ongoing ventures with the school’s founding partners, which include ASUKing’s College London, and UNSW Sydney. Brodie has extensive experience in educational leadership and school administration, and has directed the design, development and introduction of a problem-based learning approach to engineering education. TEDI has a focus on project-driven degree programs in global design engineering and combines resources with its partners to address pressing global engineering-related challenges.

  • This MIT system can harness solar energy to produce green hydrogen

    This MIT system can harness solar energy to produce green hydrogen

    Technology that uses heat from the Sun to split water and hydrogen is the basis for a proposal by researchers to produce completely green, carbon-free hydrogen fuel. Engineers are working on the architecture for a system powered by renewable solar energy that would produce emission-free solar thermochemical hydrogen. Such a system could dramatically change much of the world’s energy future, says Christopher Muhich, an assistant professor of chemical engineering in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools.

    See Also: MIT engineers to generate clean hydrogen using 40% of sun’s heat, DPA Magazine (design products & applications), October 16

    New System can Efficiently Harness the Sun’s Heat to Split Water and Generate Hydrogen, AZO CleanTech, October 17

  • Robotaxies debuted in two U.S, Cities, Only S.F. has a problem with it

    Robotaxies debuted in two U.S, Cities, Only S.F. has a problem with it

    San Francisco’s rollout of robotaxies revealed public tensions about the use of autonomous automobiles. The California city has, along with Phoenix, been a laboratory for how people react to riding in the self-driving vehicles or sharing the road with them in heavily trafficked urban areas. Phoenix has experienced various reactions, including some hostility, but overall reacted somewhat less negatively than San Francisco’s drivers. Acceptance has been a slow and cautious evolution, says Professor Ram Pendyala, the director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, whose research includes transportation systems engineering and travel behavior analysis, but he foresees these vehicles someday being almost as commonly used as cell phones. (Access to the complete article is limited to subscribers.)

    See Also: Feds asking if robotaxis pose a risk to pedestrians after several crashes, WHIO TV7, October 20

  • ASU student awarded prestigious Google fellowship for cybersecurity research

    ASU student awarded prestigious Google fellowship for cybersecurity research

    Kyle Zeng is the first ASU student to earn a Google Phd Fellowship. A doctoral student in the  School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, Zeng will have a research mentor at Google as he pursues work to reveal and find solutions to today’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities.  Tiffany Bao, associate director of research acceleration at ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations, says Zeng’s success reflects the resources the Fulton Schools provide to students  and the positive societal impacts ASU’s engineering research is achieving. Zeng will now join other accomplished doctor students from around the world to conduct cutting-edge research.

  • Chip Industry Talent Shortage Drives Academic Partnerships

    Chip Industry Talent Shortage Drives Academic Partnerships

    Facing a growing challenge to produce innovations in semiconductor chips, high-tech manufacturing companies are competing for workers amid a shortage of potential employees with skills to meet market demand for the quantity and quality of their products. The situation is spawning partnerships of chip makers, government institutions and universities. One such collaboration involves a new college course developed by ASU and the Advantest and NXP companies on radio frequency testing to train engineers to work in the chips testing industry. Professor Kyle Squires, dean of ASU’s Fulton Schools, comments on the potential of such partnerships to boost the careers of new engineers and strengthen U.S. technology leadership. Photo courtesy of Pixabay

  • Lakers legend Rick Fox built a house that can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere

    Lakers legend Rick Fox built a house that can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere

    Former pro basketball star turned actor, Rick Fox, is turning his attention to leading a search for methods of cleaning up the Earth’s climate. After a hurricane in the Bahamas, Fox’s native country, severely damaged most of the homes and displaced thousands of people, Fox worked with an architect and materials scientists on ways to make concrete without using the carbon-intensive cement that can trigger climate change. Dwarak Ravikumar, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools, says robust analysis of the new manufacturing method is essential to understanding its climate impact and assessing its scalability.

  • NMSU fueling cyber security, grid innovations

    NMSU fueling cyber security, grid innovations

    Since earning a doctoral degree in computer science from the Fulton Schools in 2009, Satyajayant Misra has become a professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering and an associate dean of research in New Mexico State University’s College of Engineering, as well as a Los Alamos National Laboratory affiliated scientist. Misra now leads the university’s Cybersecurity Resilience Research Group, which is working to make electrical grids more reliable, efficient and less vulnerable to cyberattacks. Other efforts include developing microgrids integrating renewable energy sources and greener technologies, and helping to transition from coal and diesel fuel to cleaner and more energy-efficient wind and solar power and to all-electric and hybrid vehicles.

  • ASU selected as Microeletronics Commons hub

    ASU selected as Microeletronics Commons hub

    Along with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the University of Southern California, the Research Foundation for the State University of New York and other leading research institutions, ASU has been chosen as one of eight regional hubs for a new U.S. Department of Defense program to accelerate the prototyping and “lab-to-fab” transition of semiconductor technologies. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, gives details about progress in microelectronics ASU engineering researchers and other hub members will pursue as part of efforts to ensure the nation’s military forces will have a reliable supply of the most advanced microchips for technologies critical to their missions.

  • New Force Lab at ASU Features National Firsts In High-Pressure Research

    New Force Lab at ASU Features National Firsts In High-Pressure Research

    Alexandra Navrotsky, a professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, and the School of Molecular Sciences, is one of the principal investigators in ASU’s new Facilities for Open Research in a Compressed Environment Lab. The lab is expected to enable significant advances in knowledge of how materials behave under extreme conditions. Experts in materials throughout the world will be invited to collaborate in work at the facility furnished with state-of-the-art equipment. Work at the lab could help expand knowledge of how Earth and many exoplanets formed and evolved, Navrotsky says.

  • Addressing low enrollment of Hispanic engineering students

    Addressing low enrollment of Hispanic engineering students

    The American Society for Engineering Education reports that an extremely low percentage of Hispanic college engineering students earn master’s degrees or doctoral degrees in their fields. David Flores Prieto (pictured at right), a biomedical engineering doctoral student and graduate research associate in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, is among those advocating for more Hispanic and Latino students at ASU to pursue careers and higher-level degrees in STEM fields. Prieto discusses his ideas for getting more of these students interested in STEM and advanced degrees in those professions. An ASU undergraduate biomedical engineering student tells how Prieto’s efforts have aided her academic success.

  • TSMC in the US: can Taiwan’s chip giant overcome a culture clash?

    TSMC in the US: can Taiwan’s chip giant overcome a culture clash?

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC — which leads the semiconductor industry in using the most state-of-the-art chip production technology — is moving machinery into its new fabrication plant in Arizona, the company’s first large manufacturing base in America. The company is also trying to develop talent for its workforce by supporting several local engineering schools. One big challenge for TSMC may be overcoming different cultural perspectives on conducting business and managing relationships with employees, government and other industries. Michael Kozicki, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, says TSMC also faces a very different job fluidity environment in Arizona than in Taiwan.

  • 2023’s Greenest Cities in America

    2023’s Greenest Cities in America

    What does it mean to be green from an urban environmental point of view? In this special feature by the WalletHub’s financial writer, Professor Brad Allenby, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, provides some pertinent perspectives and keen insights on why and how cities should invest in “going green.” What are the benchmarks that define green cities and how can individuals support such efforts without big costs and overwhelming efforts? How can municipalities attract green businesses and renewable energy companies? What kinds of government policies and investment strategies would work best for developing sustainable eco-friendly urbanization? See the “Ask the Experts” section of this report.

    See Also: San Diego Ranked ‘Greenest’ City in the U.S. Thanks to Clean Energy, Environment Policies, Times of San Diego, October 9

    What are the ‘greenest: US Cities?, Smart Cities Dive, October 6

  • ASU launches project management bachelor’s degree

    ASU launches project management bachelor’s degree

    With some of the largest industries creating a growing need for project management professionals — including aerospace and defense, manufacturing bioscience and health care — ASU has seen a recent jump in students enrolling in its project management master’s degree program. The program is based in the university’s College of Integrative Sciences and Arts in the School of Applied Professional Studies, but program leaders hope to form partnerships to offer the degree in other ASU schools, particularly the Fulton Schools and the W.P. Carey School of Business. A labor market analytics group says the degree program provides students skills to that can lead to careers in the high-demand project management industry. The article has also been published by AZ Big Media.

September

2023
  • Experts explain if AI can help children learn

    Experts explain if AI can help children learn

    Artificial intelligence, or AI, technology is showing a capacity to be an effective teacher. Reports of AI successfully helping some students become proficient at solving complex problems in mathematics has sparked suggestions it could be incorporated into other areas of education. But AI expert Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor of in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the Fulton Schools, says college students who have developed critical thinking skills may benefit from AI. But he cautions that AI might not be suited to help young students whose brains are still developing and who need human interaction and emotional support in their early learning years.

  • ASU Space welcomes 2nd cohort of student ambassadors

    ASU Space welcomes 2nd cohort of student ambassadors

    Fulton Schools students make up more than half of the undergraduates in the newest cohort of ASU Space Student Ambassador program. The competitive leadership and professional development program’s student ambassadors help represent and bring attention to ASU Space among fellow ASU students, faculty and staff, as well as external organizations and ASU industry partners. The new ambassadors will have opportunities to build professional relationships, attend conferences, volunteer at community events, network with space industry professionals and explore how their academic focus areas can contribute to the space industry.

  • The race for semiconductor supremacy

    The race for semiconductor supremacy

    In a documentary exploring efforts the by the U.S. to regain its role as a leader in semiconductor chip manufacturing and providing an overview of the current global semiconductor manufacturing industry, Professor Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, comments on the fast pace of today’s engineering advances and the engineering students who are eager to contribute to developing the new technological capabilities that such progress will make possible. Fulton Schools materials science and engineering graduate student Mark Li from Kazakhstan comments on his goal to work in the semiconductor industry, saying he was attracted to the U.S. and ASU because of the entrepreneurial opportunities they offer to aspiring inventors like himself.

  • Lifelong learning opportunities coming to Rio Verde

    Lifelong learning opportunities coming to Rio Verde

    ASU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is partnering with the Rio Verde Community Association to bring  the institute’s program that provides learning experiences to communities of adults age 50 and older  to the Rio Verde community in near the Phoenix area. Among the first offerings of the educational outreach program will be the presentation “Will Artificial Intelligence Destroy Our Economic, Social, and Political Systems?” led by Brad Allenby (standing in photo), a professor of engineering and ethics in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools.

  • SRP invests $2.6 million in innovative research projects at Arizona universities

    SRP invests $2.6 million in innovative research projects at Arizona universities

    As part of research and development efforts to upgrade electrical power systems in the greater Phoenix metro area, the Salt River Project utility company is investing $2.6 million in more than  30 projects with several of Arizona’s universities. Projects involving ASU faculty researchers include those using recent technology advances to maintain SRP hydropower resources. Ricardo Eiris, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, leads the project. Another team led by Eiris is using new technology to model SRP hydropower assets that will set a new standard for proactive maintenance and modernization or SRP’s hydropower fleet.

  • Taiwan Should Aspire To Make Itself ‘Indigestible’ To China, Says Expert

    Taiwan Should Aspire To Make Itself ‘Indigestible’ To China, Says Expert

    Hoping to bolster its defenses to guard against a potential Chinese military incursion, Taiwan is studying tactics Ukraine is using to push back against Russia’s aggression. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense is exploring tactics that would exploit China’s vulnerabilities in case of an invasion. Braden Allenby, a professor  in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and author of “The Applied Ethics of Emerging Military and Security Technologies,” says it’s an especially complicated strategic challenge. Allenby advises Taiwan to take steps to make an invasion of the country an unpalatable and burdensome proposition for China.

  • Crow: Universities must ‘up their game’ to embrace artificial intelligence

    Crow: Universities must ‘up their game’ to embrace artificial intelligence

    Amid ethical issues and related concerns about the proliferating use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology, ASU President Michael Crow says higher education must move forward in adapting to AI and promote its use in positive ways that enhance learning. AI expert Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, likens the reactions to the rise of AI to concerns in the past that the invention of the calculator would keep young students from learning math. Crow and Kambhampati both see AI posing some threats to academic integrity but also see its possibilities for helping to make education more accessible and personalized.

  • New asphalt binder alternative is less toxic, more sustainable than conventional blend

    New asphalt binder alternative is less toxic, more sustainable than conventional blend

    A new asphalt-binding material called AirDuo developed by Ellie Fini, an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, diminishes emissions of toxic fumes while also increasing the materials overall sustainability. That especially helps to reduce health hazards to workers installing the material. The binding mixture is made from low-carbon, bio-based materials that offer an alternative to more toxic petroleum products. More testing of the material at ASU and possibly in Tucson and Flagstaff will aim to increase the effectiveness of AirDuo paving. The article previously appeared on the ASU News website.

  • Students, faculty across ASU helping community with telehealth innovations

    Students, faculty across ASU helping community with telehealth innovations

    Through its Luminosity Lab, the Fulton Schools is contributing to efforts to provide more and better medical services to the greater ASU community. One of the lab’s endeavors is participation in a project to aid Phoenix Children’s hospital in offering more accessible telehealth experiences for children at the hospital and their parents. It’s part of other efforts through which the lab is joining ASU’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Zoom Innovation Lab and The Design School in helping the ASU Health, Counseling and Wellness program increase access to health care services for various groups that are underserved.

    More recent Luminosity Lab news: Primer: ASU helping to develop personalized AI tool, Fox 10 News-Phoenix

  • Little Luxuries Made With Captured Pollution Hint at Big Frontiers in Climate Science

    Little Luxuries Made With Captured Pollution Hint at Big Frontiers in Climate Science

    Ways in which carbon capture techniques are used today to create popular consumer products might help build support for efforts to remove the harmful carbon dioxide that has been accumulating in the Earth’s atmosphere for many decades. Those techniques could be the basis for developing more effective and sustainable ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels that cause much of the unhealthy carbon dioxide accumulations. Direct-air capture systems like those pioneered by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, founding director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, and others, present the possibility of atmospheric carbon dioxide extraction without the need to radically rebuild modern infrastructure.

  • Undergraduate Research: How ASU students can fast-track their careers

    Undergraduate Research: How ASU students can fast-track their careers

    ASU students, graduates and faculty members attest to the benefits of research done in their undergraduate’ years that has proved beneficial to their higher education and careers. Fulton Schools electrical engineering student Yibo Chen talks about how his work under the mentorship of Shahnawaz Sinha, an associate research professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, helping him do rewarding work in the Fulton Schools Grand Challenges Scholars Research Stipend program. The Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative program has also provided students a path into productive research pursuits.

  • Research and development hub based at ASU gets nearly $40M in funding from CHIPS Act

    Research and development hub based at ASU gets nearly $40M in funding from CHIPS Act

    The Fulton Schools will lead ASU’s Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub as one of eight research and development hubs that are getting $238 million in the first official allocation from the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. As part of the Microelectronics Commons program established under the CHIPS Act, work by the hubs will focus on speeding up the transition from research labs to development and manufacture of advanced microelectronics. The hub at ASU will be the first major national security-oriented research and development laboratory built in Arizona, according to ASU President Michael Crow.

    See Also: ASU receives $39.8M federal grant to create microelectronics innovation hub, ABC 15 News Arizona

    Read more in the Phoenix Business Journal (access available only to subscribers) and the Department of Defense News

  • Why sewage may hold the key to tracking diseases far beyond COVID-19

    Why sewage may hold the key to tracking diseases far beyond COVID-19

    Science and engineering advances have enabled a growing number of the disease-causing organisms called pathogens to be detectable in wastewater. That capability is making sewage a potential major source of the signs of several viral maladies and other serious health threats, including COVID-19. It has enabled Erin Driver, an assistant research scientist at ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, to engage in effective wastewater surveillance efforts that have provided valuable information about the source, emergence and spread of disease. Driver, who earned a doctoral degree in civil, environmental and sustainable engineering from the Fulton Schools, says a growing number of scientists and engineers are now using these testing techniques that ASU researchers have helped to develop and put into practice.

  • Chip-Integrated Metasurface-Based Full-Stokes Polarimetric Imaging Sensors

    Chip-Integrated Metasurface-Based Full-Stokes Polarimetric Imaging Sensors

    A research group led by Yu Yao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and her collaborators developed a chip-integrated metasurface-based Full-Stokes polarimetric imaging sensors that surpass conventional imaging sensing technologies. Traditional polarimetric imaging systems have required complicated optical components and moving parts to achieve comparably sharp and accurate imaging. Researchers say applications of advanced imaging sensors could improve autonomous vision, industrial inspection, space exploration,  biomedical imaging and other sensing and imaging capabilities valuable to society.

  • New global consortium to advance net zero hydrogen

    New global consortium to advance net zero hydrogen

    An international research project will seek to set the stage for a hydrogen economy through the work of the Global Hydrogen Production Technologies Center, which will bring together experts from 20 universities, including ASU, to make hydrogen a major affordable and accessible source of energy. Meng Tao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, will lead the project’s water catalysis efforts to use electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. The project’s team intends to not only advance cutting-edge hydrogen technologies, but also address economic and policy dimensions essential to developing a global hydrogen economy.

    See Also: Cranfield leads UK collaboration in global hydrogen initiative, Business Weekly (United Kingdom), September 19

  • AZ Inno Under 25 2023: Meet 8 of Arizona’s young innovators

    AZ Inno Under 25 2023: Meet 8 of Arizona’s young innovators

    Some promising new products and problem-solving ideas are coming from Arizona’s startups and other business ventures in a wide range of industries. The new company creators include some entrepreneurs under the age of 25. Among them is Fulton Schools third-year biomedical engineering student Theodore Cavender (at bottom left in photo). Cavender co-founded Vulcreate, which helps fellow entrepreneurs develop their products using advanced 3D visualization and modeling. His company team has grown to six people who are developing product prototypes for companies around the world. Cavender hopes to expand Vulcreate’s services to help fellow entrepreneurs also patent and market new products.

  • SRP, Arizona State University collaborating on hydropower fleet maintenance

    SRP, Arizona State University collaborating on hydropower fleet maintenance

    Students of Thomas Czerniawski are helping to maintain and preserve the hydropower assets on Salt River Project’s watershed of the two SRP grant-funded studies focused on preserving and maintaining the value of the hydropower assets on SRP’s watershed. Students will use lidar technology to assess wear and tear on the hydropower turbines at two large SRP sites. Another student team will use digital technology to hydropower assets with the goal setting a new standard for proactive maintenance and modernization across SRP’s hydropower fleet. Czerniawski is an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools.

  • ASU researchers look to cut construction time and cost through concrete

    ASU researchers look to cut construction time and cost through concrete

    Switching from traditional steel rebar framework to an innovative mix of smaller steel fibers promises to make heavy construction projects less expensive and require less time. Experiments in the lab of Barzin Mobasher, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, shows the new method can work in a wide variety of building endeavors. The new steel fibers were recently used successfully for a project to enhance the Phoenix area’s Valley Metro Light Rail system. An ASU workshop is bringing researchers from across the work to examine the benefits of this alternative concrete mixing and and reinforcement process.

    See Also: ASU Concrete Lab Tour, Fox 10 News-Phoenix

  • Phoenix-area AI expert says legislation on the evolving technology is essential

    Phoenix-area AI expert says legislation on the evolving technology is essential

    Sixty U.S. senators had the first of a planned series of meetings to explore establishing regulations to control the use of today’s artificial intelligence, or AI, technology. Prominent figures in the technology industry participated in the discussion. Government leaders voiced concern about the potential for AI to be used to threaten national security, election integrity and the economy through spreading misinformation. AI expert Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, comments that such concerns should be taken seriously. He agrees there is the potential for severe harm resulting from the use of AI’s ability for deceitful and menacing purposes.

  • How heat is inhibiting Arizona from generating more solar power

    How heat is inhibiting Arizona from generating more solar power

    Arizona is among places in the world that get the most sunlight. Surprisingly, however, the hotter than average heat from sunlight experienced in the state’s desert regions — like Phoenix — creates conditions that keep those areas from generating comparable amounts of solar power than what would be produced by sunlight in cooler environments. Nick Rolston, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, talks about research he and colleagues are doing to develop the next generation of energy materials and devices that might help generate more solar power from sunlight in hotter locales.

  • New Student Regent Representing ASU Will Be The First From A Rural Background In Years

    New Student Regent Representing ASU Will Be The First From A Rural Background In Years

    Fulton Schools electrical engineering student David Zaragoza has begun his two-year team as member of the Arizona Board of Regents. Raised in Yuma, Zaragoza became the first student board member who grew up outside a metropolitan area to serve on the board in the past several years. He says his rural upbringing will factor into his decision making as a Regents board member. Zaragoza intends to “elevate those voices” of students from outlying communities to help ensure the governing body of Arizona’s state universities recognizes their needs. He is the first student regent to be selected by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.

  • ASU ranks No. 8 among US universities issued US utility patents in 2022

    ASU ranks No. 8 among US universities issued US utility patents in 2022

    Recent rankings of U.S. universities earning U.S. utility patents in 2022 place ASU at number eight nationally. The list highlights American innovation and showcases universities that are leaders in advancing the country’s innovation ecosystem. Among those inventions is a flexible wearable robotic device to treat a painful physical condition called plantar flexion contractures and technology for developing highly efficient power electronics using a novel semiconductor material. The first project involved Fulton Schools faculty member Thomas Sugar in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks. The second involved Fulton Schools faculty member Houqiang Fu in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering.

  • Safety of Autonomous Vehicles Will Partially Rely on the Public Embracement of its Technology

    Safety of Autonomous Vehicles Will Partially Rely on the Public Embracement of its Technology

    Many experts say our ground transportation environment could be made more accessible, affordable and safer by the use of autonomous vehicles. But there are potential complications that make widespread acceptance and deployment of self-driving automobiles challenging. Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Build Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, provides his perspective on integrating autonomous modes of transportation into our complex urban landscapes. In an extensive talk, he looks at the technical, economic, environmental and educational questions and issues that will factor into influencing the general public’s outlook on the use of autonomous vehicles.

  • Biodesign Institute receives $3M NSF grant to develop DNA-enabled nanoelectronics

    Biodesign Institute receives $3M NSF grant to develop DNA-enabled nanoelectronics

    A new generation of electronic applications at the molecular scale would provide the increase in computing power needed to expand the horizons of the semiconductor industry. A $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an advanced manufacturing process to help attain that goal has been awarded to Josh Hihath, a professor in the  School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors. His team of researchers will develop a new manufacturing process using DNA to create ultrahigh-density nanoelectronic systems, combining DNA nanotechnology and synthetic biology. The project will also give students opportunities to learn about emerging technologies.

  • Engineering major brothers land internships at Los Alamos National Laboratory

    Engineering major brothers land internships at Los Alamos National Laboratory

    Brothers Carlos and Miguel Chacon got the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned as ASU engineering students in recent internships in their home state. Graduates of Los Alamos High School in New Mexico, they returned to the town this summer to work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, famous for the work done there as part of the World War II-era Manhattan Project. Carlos and Miguel, whose studies have focused on robotics, say learning experiences they’ve had as engineering students in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, and ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College, helped them prepare for their endeavors at the national research lab.

  • “It’s like a sweatbox:” Houston bus stops reach dangerous temperatures this summer

    “It’s like a sweatbox:” Houston bus stops reach dangerous temperatures this summer

    It’s not just the heat, it’s the humidity, say urban climate experts such as Ariane Middell, an assistant professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. And what is intensifying the effects of heat and humidity in urban environments is often infrastructure that exposes people rather that protects them from unhealthy extreme heat and humidity. That situation inhibits the body’s ability to cool itself, Middel says. For defense against such debilitating situations, she and other researchers in the field say there is a relatively affordable way to help people in cities beat the heat: plenty of shade cover provided by built structures, leafy trees and other large sheltering vegetation.

    See Also: Midnight runners: the athletes up late to beat the scorching heat, The Guardian, August 30

    Research team with UCLA associate professor, ASU faculty examines shade deserts, Daily Bruin (UCLA), September 5

  • Valley researchers working to use AI to improve lives

    Valley researchers working to use AI to improve lives

    Amid frequent warnings about the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology in problematic and harmful ways, there are also reminders about how its abilities could aid society. Among the more promising potential for productive AI applications are in health care, says Hasti Seifi, an assistant professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. Seifi, whose expertise includes human-computer interaction, is on an ASU research team funded by the National Institutes of Health to find ways to help people who are blind or have limited vision. Seifi and fellow researchers foresee AI playing a key role in helping those who face the challenges of visual impairment.

  • A solid battery solution: ASU engineering team works to advance solid-state battery technology

    A solid battery solution: ASU engineering team works to advance solid-state battery technology

    As the world shifts toward electric drivetrains, demand increases for optimal electric vehicle (EV) battery solutions. Lithium-ion batteries, currently used in EVs, present challenges in terms of range, safety, weight, and infrastructure strain. Many researchers, such as Candace Chan, an associate professor of materials science for the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, are exploring solid-state batteries as a solution. These batteries utilize solid electrolytes, offering improved safety and potentially enabling the use of lithium metal in anodes, increasing charging capacity and EV range. Chan is also working on manufacturing methods for efficient solid-state batteries. While promising, commercialization is a long-term goal due to the complexities involved. 

August

2023
  • Gannett Pauses AI Written Articles

    Gannett Pauses AI Written Articles

    News media operations are taking advantage of the abilities of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology by using it to write some of the simpler news articles, typically reports on sporting events. But even in such a rudimentary role, problems are arising. Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says AI use could become even more problematic if it’s used for more serious subject matter that requires detailed, nuanced reporting on events that have important public impacts. For ethical reasons, he adds, news media should also inform readers when news articles are produced by AI instead of reporters.

  • Mass Transit releases 2023 40 Under 40 honorees

    Mass Transit releases 2023 40 Under 40 honorees

    Two transportation experts who earned degrees in their fields in the Fulton Schools civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program have been spotlighted by Mass Transit magazine as significant contributors to the transit industry’s advancement. Rumpa Dey is an accomplished transportation engineer who has helped to make strides in transportation accessibility, mobility and safety using innovative technologies. Sanjay Paul is recognized as an outstanding business leader in the industry and has provided creative transportation solutions for both government programs and private companies. Dey and Paul have also been recognized by Engineering News Record as part of 2023’s new cohort of 20 transportation professionals under age 40 who are among the industry’s top achievers and leaders.

  • ASU launches students into NASA’s RockOn! program

    ASU launches students into NASA’s RockOn! program

    Arizona State University is fostering accessible avenues for student engagement in space exploration. Aerospace engineering undergraduate students, Sadie Cullings and Noelle Geddis, participated in NASA’s RockOn! program, thanks to support from ASU’s Interplanetary Initiative and other departments. During the program, they designed a Geiger counter, which was launched into suborbital space to study radiation beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The experience expanded their passion for the space industry. Eric Stribling, a faculty member in ASU’s Interplanetary Initiative, emphasized that RockOn! not only imparts technical skills but also promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering inclusivity in space exploration. Cullings now has clear post-graduate plans in the space industry, highlighting the program’s impact on career choices.

  • Arizona could have opportunities to import, create more water in the future

    Arizona could have opportunities to import, create more water in the future

    With drought and other challenges facing Arizona leaders in ensuring the state’s future will include adequate and dependable sources of water, a variety of potential options are being explored. Paul Westerhoff, chair of ASU’s environmental engineering program and a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, describes strategies being considered. Those include importing water from major rivers and the Gulf of California and atmospheric water capture. Westerhoff emphasizes that any option will require adequate funding sources, new, complex and extensive infrastructure systems, upgraded purification processes and possibly investment in a revolutionary hydrogen energy economy.

  • First-Year ASU Student Helps Close Engineering Gender Gap

    First-Year ASU Student Helps Close Engineering Gender Gap

    New Fulton Schools student Claire Gunderson isn’t letting the fact that there is a comparatively low percentage of women among mechanical engineers deter her from pursuing career aspirations in the field. Her interest in that branch of engineering sprung from working with her father on his cars as she grew up. This semester, Gunderson, a National Indigenous Recognition Scholar, has begun studies optimistically and with an extracurricular goal to join a Society of Automotive Engineers Formula SAE Club competition that challenges students to design and build high-performing racecars.

    See Also: Incoming student plans to build a future — and cars — with ASU, ASU News

  • Deepfake scams have arrived: Fake videos spread on Facebook, TikTok and Youtube

    Deepfake scams have arrived: Fake videos spread on Facebook, TikTok and Youtube

    Deceptive deepfake images are becoming prevalent on major social media platforms — especially computer-manipulated images of celebrities and other widely known people, particularly those in the entertainment business. New technological capabilities enable making more realistic fake images of people that also mimic their real voices. Many videos using those images are designed to scam viewers into investing money in various phony ventures. Subbarao Kambhampati, an expert in computer science and artificial intelligence technology, and professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Reality, part of the Fulton Schools, says deepfake images can today be made by almost anyone with a smartphone and a computer.

  • Japan Wants To Develop A Military Metaverse To Maintain Edge In Battlefield Technology

    Japan Wants To Develop A Military Metaverse To Maintain Edge In Battlefield Technology

    Japan is fortifying its military defenses through applying the latest technological advances, including more effective cyber defense, satellite and drone technologies. Braden Allenby, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and author of “The Applied Ethics of Emerging Military and Security Technologies,” says the buildup of new defense systems has been prompted by growing weaponization of new technologies for military defense by some of Japan’s potential military adversaries, specifically technologies that can deceptively create false scenarios to mislead and neutralize opponents’ defense operations, part of new strategies being called cognitive warfare.

  • Microbes for the mind

    Microbes for the mind

    New treatments developed by ASU researchers are brightening the outlook for treating people with autism and children with the rare disorder called Pitt-Hopkins syndrome. It’s the result of decades of work to find such treatments. Progress has been aided by the work of Fulton Schools Professors James Adams and Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown. Adams, director of ASU’s Autism/Asperger’s Research Program, and Brown, director of the Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, first hypothesized that microbiotic transplant therapy could improve the conditions of people with autism. Such microbiome treatments are now among the more promising of the advances raising hopes of better treatments for health disorders that cause physical, mental and developmental problems.

  • 16 ASU students offered Fulbright US Student Program awards

    16 ASU students offered Fulbright US Student Program awards

    The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards more than 2,000 grants each year to support college students to do research, independent studies, graduate studies, teaching or artistic projects in other countries. Winners for the 2023-2024 academic year include Fulton Schools student Isabella Werner, who graduated in May, earning a bachelor’s degree computer systems engineering with a specialization in cybersecurity. The Fulbright Award will enable her to go to the Slovak Republic to be a teaching assistant in English at a high school in the town of Sečovce. Werner’s goals are to cultivate leadership skills and broaden her experience before pursuing a master’s degree in business administration.

  • U.S. needs to invest in training, recruiting to expand semiconductor workforce

    U.S. needs to invest in training, recruiting to expand semiconductor workforce

    While there are extensive efforts to grow the semiconductor supply chains in the U.S., the industry is still facing an outlook for significant worker shortages in coming years, particularly positions for engineers and computer scientists. Companies will need to find future employees not only at universities but also at community colleges, says Trevor Thornton, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools. Thornton is partnering with the Maricopa Community Colleges in the greater Phoenix metro area to provide lectures and other instruction on semiconductor technology and manufacturing at the system’s schools. Students can then come to ASU for advanced studies and lab experience in microelectronics.

  • Can 3D Printing Make Retreaded Tires Greener?

    Can 3D Printing Make Retreaded Tires Greener?

    Professor Timothy E. Long recently joined the Fulton Schools but isn’t leaving behind an innovative endeavor he’s been involved in at Virginia Tech. He is continuing to provide expertise in polymers for a project that promises to produce a significant environmental benefit — developing techniques and materials for tire retreading that produces less waste. The project calls for combining skills in mechanical and materials engineering and advances in 3D scanning and printing. Long is certain to bring lessons from the project to his classes in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, and as director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Sustainable Macromolecular Materials and Manufacturing.

  • Fiber-reinforced concrete saves time and money over rebar

    Fiber-reinforced concrete saves time and money over rebar

    In his work to advance the use of new and improved materials in construction engineering, Barzin Mobasher, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, has been overseeing the application of fiber-reinforced concrete in the repair and extension of the Phoenix light rail system. While the overall costs of using the reinforced concrete can be high, the material enables significant savings over time in several ways, including by eliminating the need for conventional rebar material. Mobasher says the use of the fibers in concrete has made the construction process easier and faster, exceeding his initial expectations of its advantages.

  • Arizona is a hub for driverless cars. Here’s why — and what’s next for autonomous vehicles

    Arizona is a hub for driverless cars. Here’s why — and what’s next for autonomous vehicles

    Driverless taxis from the Waymo company’s fleet of autonomous automobiles are now operating in a 180-square-mile area within the greater Phoenix, Scottsdale and Chandler metro areas, making the company the world’s largest fully autonomous, paid ride-hailing service. Self-driving vehicle technologies and systems have evolved over more than a decade, but there are still challenges to overcome in building public trust in driverless cars. Junfeng Zhao, an assistant professor in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, and founder of the Battery ELectric and Intelligent Vehicle Lab, joins a conversation about Arizona’s growing role as a testing ground for autonomous vehicles.

  • A garden of innovation: Mayo Clinic, ASU seed grant to fund medical discoveries

    A garden of innovation: Mayo Clinic, ASU seed grant to fund medical discoveries

    ASU researchers will team with Mayo Clinic physicians to seek solutions to complex medical challenges with support from the Mayo Clinic and ASU Alliance for Health Care Seed Grant Program. The recently announced 2023 grant projects will fund efforts involving several Fulton Schools faculty members, including Professor Chitta Baral, Assistant Professor Ashif Iqubal and Assistant Professor Yingzhen Yang in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, Assistant Professor Julianne Holloway and Associate Professor Hamidreza Marvin in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Associate Professor Mehdi Nikkhah, Associate Professor Rosalind Sadleir and Assistant Professor Jessica Weaver in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering and Assistant Professor Xiangfan Chen in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks.

  • Quantum powers researchers to see the unseen

    Quantum powers researchers to see the unseen

    Applying discoveries in quantum mechanics, researchers can now do ultrasensitive thermal imaging at room temperatures. The advance expands what infrared detectors can sense. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is now providing Virginia Tech funding to increase sensing capabilities through the work of a research team that includes Yu Yao, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, whose expertise includes optoelectronic devices. The project aims to enhance infrared detectors so they can monitor body temperature, spot forest fires, track rockets, missiles and airplanes, and possibly do early disease detection.

  • Phoenix has sealed 100 miles of streets with cool pavement so far

    Phoenix has sealed 100 miles of streets with cool pavement so far

    Phoenix recently marked the 100th mile of the city’s streets coated with cool pavement, a light gray or blue shade material that reflects sunlight, thereby lowering road temperatures. Since 2020, multiple neighborhoods in the city have received this treatment, which will extend to 118 miles by the end of the year. By reflecting more sunlight than blacktop, cool pavement reduces surface temperatures by up to 12 degrees Fahrenheit. Ariane Middel (pictured), an urban climatologist and associate professor in the School for Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says the project is a significant step forward toward combating urban heat.

  • ASU honors student combines music, augmented reality in prestigious research program

    ASU honors student combines music, augmented reality in prestigious research program

    Movinya Gunatilaka’s journey along the way to her goal of earning a degree through the Fulton Schools’ computer systems engineering program took an enlightening extracurricular turn this summer. Gunatilaka’s interest in the field of augmented reality and her love of music drew her to the Fulbright-MITACS Globallink Research Internship program at McGill University in Canada, which brings together students from universities throughout the world to do research in science, engineering, social sciences and the humanities. Gunatilaka, a student in ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College, worked on a project to create a musical immersion experience using augmented reality. She says the experience reinforced her decision to pursue a master’s degree in computer engineering.

  • San Francisco asks regulators to stop approval of robotaxi expansion after recent blunders

    San Francisco asks regulators to stop approval of robotaxi expansion after recent blunders

    California’s public utilities commission recently granted permits to taxi services using autonomous vehicles in San Francisco. But soon, city officials and residents voiced concerns about the safety of the vehicles and a city attorney submitted a court motion asking regulators to reconsider allowing driverless taxis in the city, citing the vehicles’ potential interference with public safety forces, public transportation systems, construction and traffic flow. But transportation engineer and researcher Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineer and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says advances in technology are making the vehicles much safer than in the past and he is confident they can perform well.

  • ASU experts explore national security risks of ChatGPT

    ASU experts explore national security risks of ChatGPT

    ChatGPT is showing the potential for artificial intelligence technology, or AI, to both benefit and threaten society. So, ASU tech experts are exploring how to erect safeguards against nefarious uses of ChatGPT. Nadya Bliss, executive director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative, and professor of practice in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says strong defenses are needed against the many kinds of security risks CHATGPT can pose. Nancy Cooke, a professor in The Polytechnic School, another of the Fulton Schools, directs the Center for Human, Artificial Intelligence, and Robot Teaming, which is exploring legal and ethical issues that could arise as robots and AI become more autonomous.

  • ASU engineering, honors graduates land job at renowned Los Alamos National Laboratory

    ASU engineering, honors graduates land job at renowned Los Alamos National Laboratory

    Only a few months after his studies in the Fulton Schools helped him earn a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from ASU, Connor Morse is a research and development engineer at the historic Los Alamos National Laboratory. There he joins fellow recent ASU honors graduate Bryan Carlton, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees through studies in the Fulton Schools focusing on robotics and autonomous systems. Morse was drawn to the job at the laboratory — known for its role in the outcome of World War II — by the opportunity to have a positive impact on humanity. Carlton looks forward to contributing to advances in ways will that will help strengthen national security.

  • ASU Sets Out to Create Microelectronics Hub in the Southwest

    ASU Sets Out to Create Microelectronics Hub in the Southwest

    Fulton Schools leaders are spearheading a proposal for the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub, or SWAP, recently submitted to the National Security Technology Accelerator as part of the Microelectronics Commons, a U.S. Department of Defense program funded by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. The SWAP Hub’s purpose would be development of artificial intelligence hardware and other technologies for defense applications. Associate Professor Zachary Holman, SWAP Hub program director and vice dean of the Fulton Schools Office of Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, says work is already underway with funding partners to implement the vision of the new program. The photo was taken at the recent the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub workshop.

  • Five U.S. universities to offer courses about sustainable plastics

    Five U.S. universities to offer courses about sustainable plastics

    ASU is among the five universities recently awarded one of several $500,000 grants from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The funds are designated for use in creating seven curriculum modules designed to prepare students to be part of the next generation of sustainability leaders in the nation’s workforce. The project at ASU will involve a team of researchers in the Fulton Schools and the W.P. Carey School of Business that will develop the curriculum for this project.

    See Also: U.S. universities funded to provide plastics recycling programs, Waste & Recycling magazine, August 14

    Kickstart: A circular plastics education, Plastics News, August 11

  • Here’s how Arizona is fueling the semiconductor talent pipeline

    Here’s how Arizona is fueling the semiconductor talent pipeline

    Arizona is emerging as a leader in semiconductor talent and production. With more than $60 billion in investments since 2020, the state is at the forefront of the industry. Arizona’s workforce growth is driven by training programs, universities and partnerships. Collaborative efforts with Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company led to a successful Semiconductor Technician Quick Start program, benefiting a diverse group of students. Professor Sally Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, says Arizona’s economic growth is also supported by its construction workforce and by programs like those in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, part of the Fulton Schools, which is providing impactful research and development to help grow the state’s technology industries.

  • What is the potential for Arizona’s water? Expert weighs in

    What is the potential for Arizona’s water? Expert weighs in

    Water levels in the Colorado River are declining, raising concern in Arizona and other western states about the outlook for future water supplies. But water experts like Paul Westerhoff, a professor in the School of Environmental Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, say there are water-use strategies that can help ensure lower river water levels won’t always have severe consequences. The key is using various qualities of water from various sources for different applications, Westerhoff says. Untreated wastewater, for example, can be used for some purposes without being purified, while advances in atmospheric water capture could provide high-quality water suitable for many uses.

  • Robots mimic human reactions to extreme heat

    Robots mimic human reactions to extreme heat

    Engineers and scientists are developing diverse new methods to study the impacts of rising global temperatures. In Arizona, an epicenter of heat warnings this summer, one venture by ASU researchers involves a robot that simulates human sweating as a way to reveal precisely how people can be affected — and endangered — by exposure to extreme heat. The robot named ANDI (pictured) is an outdoor thermal manikin designed to provide a deeper understanding of hyperthermia, which is threatening growing numbers of people around the world due to global warming. The research team leaders are Konrad Rykaczewski, an associate professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, Ariane Middel, an associate professor in the School for Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, and Jennifer Vanos, an associate professor in the School of Sustainability.

    See Also: How extreme summer weather can increase risks of strokes, heart attacks and car crashes, Daily Mail (United Kingdom), August 5

    Sweating, shivering mannequin aids research on how bodies respond to extreme temperature, FOX Weather, August 1

    Sweating, shivering, breathing robots teach humans how extreme temperatures affect the body, WBUR-Boston (NPR), June 27

    ANDI the “manikin” helps researchers better understand heat and the human body, Arizona PBS (Horizon), July 26

  • Incoming student plans to build a future — and cars — with ASU

    Incoming student plans to build a future — and cars — with ASU

    New Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student Claire Gunderson, a National Indigenous Recognition Scholar, comes to ASU with skills as in art, photography, welding and automobiles. She chose ASU for the “boundless opportunities” it offers, including the Fulton Schools Sun Devil Motorsports Formula SAE program, which she plans to join. In addition to gaining advances technical skills and getting hands-on experience in engineering, Gunderson also plans to get experience as a community leader through the ASU Next Generation Service. Corp.

  • Making cybersecurity a national priority

    Making cybersecurity a national priority

    Major federal government efforts to strengthen U.S. security now include a new National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy to help meet the country’s needs for robust cyber workplaces and taking the lead in developing a digital economy. The School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, already has a curriculum to produce well-trained cyber professionals that has been adopted by higher education organizations throughout the world. One of the school’s leading cybersecurity experts, Assistant Professor Yan Shoshitaishvili, director of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations, talks about the new government strategy and ASU’s ability to support it.

  • Determination to Make a Difference

    Determination to Make a Difference

    “Reasons for Hope,” a new documentary film by Jane Goodall, one of the world’s leading conservationists, highlights projects that are protecting and enhancing the Earth’s environment. Among endeavors Goodall reports on are those led by Klaus Lackner, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and founding director of  the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. The documentary focuses on Lackner’s pioneering technology to remove carbon dioxide from air to help clean up the atmosphere and to store carbon underground to be used to support plant growth in greenhouses.

  • New scholarship empowers students to take charge of environmental stewardship

    New scholarship empowers students to take charge of environmental stewardship

    Fulton Schools civil, environmental and sustainable engineering doctoral student Taylor Fisher is one of three ASU students recently awarded an ASU Canon Solutions America Environmental Equity Scholarship. The scholarship awards established by Canon Solutions America, Inc., and ASU’s African and African American Faculty and Staff Association support work by students demonstrating an strong interest in environmental protection. Fisher is working on using nanomaterials to remove biological contaminants from drinking water. She has done field work through a research exchange program with the University of South Africa and plans to continue her work in a postdoctoral position in Africa before pursuing a university career in the U.S.

  • New technique to recover lead in end-of-life solar panels

    New technique to recover lead in end-of-life solar panels

    Effective recycling of materials from solar energy panels has been a continuing challenge, especially because of the toxic lead materials in the panels’ photovoltaic modules. Now research led in part by Meng Tao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, shows promise for enabling development of a method for recovery of the lead materials from the panels as part of the recycling process. The process is designed to allow recovery of lead after being converted to it metallic form, which will enable the material to sold back to the solar energy industry for safe reuse.

  • ASU professor developing safety framework for autonomous vehicles

    ASU professor developing safety framework for autonomous vehicles

    Autonomous automobiles are likely going to increasingly be a part of our transportation options in the not too distant future. But along with the navigating systems and other control features being developed to get these vehicles ready for wide use, engineers are also working to ensure these cars have adequate and dependable safety systems. Junfeng Zhao, a mechanical engineer and assistant professor in The Polytechnic School, one of the Fulton Schools, is developing ways to test such new safety systems thoroughly and responsibly. He hopes his research will help lead to advances that will encourage government regulatory agencies and drivers to gain confidence in self-driving cars.

July

2023
  • TSMC, ASU form partnership to boost student recruitment, faculty research

    TSMC, ASU form partnership to boost student recruitment, faculty research

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, known as TSMC, and the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering have formed a partnership to enhance student support, training, and recruitment, as well as faculty research. The collaboration aims to strengthen ASU’s relationship with the leading semiconductor chip manufacturer, TSMC, and deepen ties between the university and the Phoenix community. ASU will provide a skilled workforce to support TSMC’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology in the US. The partnership includes educational commitments, talent pipeline expansion, non-degree professional education, student support, and faculty engagement. The collaboration seeks to benefit the industry and community, fostering stable employment and boosting the local economy. (Access to the full content of Phoenix Business Journal online is available only to subscribers.)

    See also: New Prototyping Facility to Grant Semiconductor Space Access to Students and Startups’, BollyInside, July 28 

    ASU, TSMC announce partnership for workforce and research innovation’, ASU News, Jul 28

  • ASU, Mexico advance CHIPS Act support

    ASU, Mexico advance CHIPS Act support

    Fulton Schools faculty members led a workshop to help kickoff ASU’s effort to bring the semiconductor industry into Mexico in support of the objectives of the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen manufacturing, supply chains and national security. Professors Michael Kozicki and Terry Alford offered the workshop to a large group of faculty members from more than 25 institutions of higher education throughout Mexico. The country’s ambassador to the U.S. addressed workshop participants, saying the event helped set the stage for pursuing the larger goal of positioning North America to be more globally competitive in the high-tech marketplace.

  • How your gut can tell you more about your relationships

    How your gut can tell you more about your relationships

    Research is revealing connections between our brains and our guts that can have impacts on our communications skills and the quality of our relationships. Fulton Schools Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, talks about results of her recent studies with a health expert that indicate interactions between the human gut and brain correlate with couples’ satisfaction with their relationships. People with less diversity among the microbiomes in their guts tend to have less successful relationships. Listen to a podcast discussion about the research and related studies.

  • Phoenix is Enduring its Hottest Month on Record, But Mitigations Could Make the City’s Heat Waves Less Unbearable

    Phoenix is Enduring its Hottest Month on Record, But Mitigations Could Make the City’s Heat Waves Less Unbearable

    As urban centers like Phoenix grow, they tend to significantly increase the number of buildings and other infrastructure with the kinds of surfaces that reflect and radiate heat into the environment. More paved roads and parking lots add to the plethora of “heat sponges” that store heat in the day and reflect it back into the surrounding atmosphere at night, preventing areas from cooling down, says Ariane Middel, an urban climatologist and an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. More shade-producing trees, reflective pavements, smaller parking lots and lighter roofs would make the metro area less prone to overheating in the future, Middel says.

  • $270M Materials-to-Fab Center to be built at ASU’s MacroTechnology Works in Tempe

    $270M Materials-to-Fab Center to be built at ASU’s MacroTechnology Works in Tempe

    Arizona State University and Applied Materials Inc. are collaborating on a $270 million Materials-to-Fab Center, which aims to accelerate the transformation of lab innovations into real-life solutions. The cutting-edge prototyping facility will provide ASU students with hands-on experience and training in microelectronics, meeting the demand for skilled workers in the industry. Kyle Squires, vice provost of engineering, computing and technology at ASU, said that Applied Materials’ equipment is world-class and will advance the research skills of ASU faculty and students. The university plans to continue building a strong research community and enhancing its ecosystem for turning ideas into prototypes.

    See also: ‘$270M Materials-to-Fab Center to be built at ASU’s MacroTechnology Works in Tempe’, Fagen Wasanni Technologies, July 28

    New Prototyping Facility to Grant Semiconductor Space Access to Students and Startups’, BollyInside, July 28 

    TSMC, ASU form partnership to boost student recruitment, faculty research’, Phoenix Business Journal, Jul 28

  • Shade is an essential solution for hotter cities

    Shade is an essential solution for hotter cities

    Urban planners should prioritize ridding cities and towns of “shade deserts” to give communities a stronger defense against the levels of heat that are exposing people to serious health risks. Ariane Middel, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, a part of the Fulton Schools, along with ASU research colleagues Jennifer Vanos and V. Kelly Turner, write that providing shade to shield people from the Sun is among the most effective and less costly ways to prevent harm from extreme temperatures, but those measures are frequently not a significant part of urban planning and climate-change mitigation strategies.

  • Shedding light on a dark problem

    Shedding light on a dark problem

    Bacterial biofilms are clusters of microorganisms that pose risks to water quality and engineered systems by causing corrosion, fouling, and clogging. Researchers are using LEDs connected to side-emitting optical fibers to effectively deliver UV-C light, reducing energy use by over 80%. Paul Westerhoff, a Regents Professor for the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, says that ultraviolet light has the ability to deactivate bacteria and microorganisms in water but that there are challenges in delivering light effectively to surfaces in pressurized water systems. The technique shows promise in improving the safety and efficiency of water treatment systems, including in challenging environments like the International Space Station. 

    See also: ‘Shedding light on a dark problem‘ Phys.Org, July 25

  • A sweaty robot may help humans understand impact of soaring heat

    A sweaty robot may help humans understand impact of soaring heat

    Amid the longest heatwave in Phoenix’s history, Arizona researchers have developed a humanoid robot called ANDI (Advanced Newton Dynamic Instrument) to study the effects of extreme heat on the human body. With an internal cooling system and sensors to assess heat distribution, ANDI simulates human responses without risking lives. The robot will enhance understanding of hyperthermia, a condition threatening more people due to global warming.  Konrad Rykaczewski, an associate professor of the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, says ANDI will shed light on how humans can adapt clothing and behaviors to cope with rising temperatures on a warming planet.

     

    See Also: ‘A sweaty robot may help humans understand impact of soaring heat’, Manila Times, July 22 

    ‘Sweaty robot might help humans as heat rises’, Taipei Times, July 23 

    ‘This sweating, breathing, and walking robot to unravel effect of heat on humans’, Social News XYZ,  July 24

    Scientists develop world’s 1st thermal robot to study heat stress in humans,’ Bizz Buzz, July 26

  • Automated car safety

    Automated car safety

    Advanced computer hardware and software, along with artificial intelligence, monitoring and data collection technologies, are being used by Yezhou Yang to develop ways to make autonomous automobiles safer. Yang , an associate professor of computer science and engineering in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, utilizes roadside cameras to closely record and examine a variety of traffic scenarios. Information and insights derived from analyzing those automotive travel environments provides information to guide the design of effective safety features that can be built into vehicle automation systems. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock 

  • Valley-based dating app uses AI to enhance user experience

    Valley-based dating app uses AI to enhance user experience

    An app designed to make matches between potential romantic partners through their similar tastes in music is one of the first dating apps to use artificial intelligence, or AI, technology. Named Vinylly, the app developed seven years ago now has a new AI feature — called a cocktail lounge feature. While the app may be an effective matchmaker, Subbarao Kambhampati, an AI expert and professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says the type of personal information Vinylly provides could be misused with ill intent. The company’s founder says the information gathered by the app is communicated only in the best interests of its users.

  • The U.S. is about to open a new window into Earth’s mysterious insides

    The U.S. is about to open a new window into Earth’s mysterious insides

    Several ASU faculty members and researchers, as well as ASU laboratories and related facilities, are involved in endeavors to probe the deepest reaches of Earth. Among the scientists and engineers is Fulton Schools Professor Alexandra Navrotksy, director of the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe at ASU. The aim of the work is to answer fundamental questions about the planet, including what makes Earth habitable, how life on the planet emerged and how geologic processes sustain life today. Researchers say their efforts could yield more information about the history of solar systems and the evolution of planets.

  • Grant to fund microfactories, technology transfer, economic development for Indigenous communities

    Grant to fund microfactories, technology transfer, economic development for Indigenous communities

    As part of a new pilot program called the Indigenous Innovation Network — Advancing Distributed Manufacturing Innovations in Tribal Communities, being funded by the National Science Foundation, Navajo Technical University will work with ASU’s Global Center for Technology Transfer to develop microfactories and technology centers in the Navajo Nation. To support the new program, the  School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, part of the Fulton Schools, will help to equip the new network’s sites with state-of-the-art technology under the direction of the school’s director, Professor Binil Starly. The endeavor is designed to promote economic growth and provide pathways to careers in ways consistent with traditional Navajo values.

  • ASU summer program draws students from around the world to tackle global challenges

    ASU summer program draws students from around the world to tackle global challenges

    Students from India, Indonesia, Mexico, Montenegro and the Philippines recently gathered at ASU for the two-week Sustainability and Innovation Summer Experience to devise solutions to the challenges defined in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, was among the ASU schools and programs that supported the event designed to equip students with skills and knowledge to promote change to improve their communities. The event included a visit to the ASU Luminosity Lab, where many Fulton Schools students have gained research experience since the lab opened almost seven years ago.

  • How extreme heat takes a toll on the mind and body, according to experts

    How extreme heat takes a toll on the mind and body, according to experts

    With the metro Phoenix area experiencing a summer that might break records for the number of days of excessive heat, health officials and others are warning about the consequences of exposure to the high temperatures. Among those experts are ASU faculty members who have been doing extensive research into the impacts of heat on the human body. Jennifer Vanos, an associate professor in ASU’s School of Sustainability, has been working with Fulton Schools faculty members to expand knowledge about the serious health risks posed by heat and high humidity. Many of the dangers — and how to avoid them — are detailed in this Fox10 News report. Read more about the ASU research.

    See Also: In Phoenix, The Robot Andi Assesses The Consequences Of The Heat Wave On The Human Body, Globe Echo World News, July 13

  • Q&AZ: Is it safe to bake cookies inside your car in Phoenix?

    Q&AZ: Is it safe to bake cookies inside your car in Phoenix?

    As temperatures rise in the desert, Arizonans are once again engaging in the summer tradition of baking cookies in their cars. While sustainable and entertaining, the thermodynamics behind the process brings up a conversation about food safety practices. Ariane Middel, an assistant professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, calculated that on a 100-degree day, the dashboard of a car parked in the sun spiked to 157 degrees Fahrenheit in 60 minutes. Middel says it may take over four hours for cookies to become safe to eat and also advises not to try this with poultry or anything else requiring thorough cooking, just to be safe.

  • ASU, Applied Materials establishing semiconductor research and development center in Tempe

    ASU, Applied Materials establishing semiconductor research and development center in Tempe

    Students will get hands-on experience in computer chip production at the Materials-to-Fab Center scheduled to open in 2025 in ASU’s MacroTechnology Works facility at the ASU Research Park in Tempe. The center, a collaboration of ASU and Applied Materials Inc., a global supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, will provide resources to accelerate materials engineering innovation and conduct research, development and prototyping to support the greater Phoenix area’s growing semiconductor industry. The company also plans to launch an endowment fund to provide scholarships to first-generation and underrepresented minority students in the Fulton Schools and create a fund to provide grants to women pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering at ASU.

    See Also: ‘Innovation and job-creation engine’: ASU, Applied Materials to create research center in Tempe, Arizona Republic, July 11

    Arizona State University and Applied Materials, Inc. to Create Materials-to-Fab Center, MarketScreener, July 11

    ASU, Applied Materials to create Materials-to-Fab Center at ASU Research Park, ASU News, July 11

    ASU and Applied Materials create Materials-to-Fab Center at ASU Research Park, AZ Big Media, July 11

    More news coverage: Printed Electronics Now, Power Electronics News, KJZZ (NPR) News, Arizona Today, AXIOS, Semiconductor Digest, Arizona Foothills Magazine, Campus Technology, Manufacturing Dive, Arizona Technology Council News, Asia Electronics Industry, ASM International

  • 5 ASU faculty receive NSF CAREER awards

    5 ASU faculty receive NSF CAREER awards

    The National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program funds work by those considered to be the nation’s most promising young faculty members to pursue progress in research, teaching and integration of education and research in science and engineering fields. Among five ASU faculty members to recently be awarded funding from the program, three are assistant professors in the Fulton Schools. Ayan Mallik, an electrical engineer, works to improve electrical systems’ performance and reliability. Ruijie Zeng focuses on reengineering agricultural drainage infrastructure to advance water resource management and conservation. Houlong Zhuang combines alloy design and quantum computing to create quantum algorithms to help develop new materials.

  • How ASU And Its Faculty Are Cracking Down On Dishonest Uses of AI

    How ASU And Its Faculty Are Cracking Down On Dishonest Uses of AI

    Artificially intelligent “ghostwriters” are a go-to technology for today’s college students prone to taking an easy path to completing writing assignments. Use of popular and easily accessible generative AI technologies like CHATGPT for schoolwork is a violation of ASU’s academic integrity policy, and university leaders are trying to crack down on violators. But Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, is among faculty members who want to actively discourage the use of AI when it amounts to cheating, but at the same time not suppress the creative ways AI could be used to enhance teaching and learning.

  • Improving Solar Cell

    Improving Solar Cell

    Kausar Khawaja talks about his transcontinental journey to further pursue advanced education in engineering at ASU. Born in Budga, India, Khawaja earned a bachelor’s degree from Aligarh Muslim University in India, a master’s degree from Dong-A University in South Korea, and is now pursuing a doctoral degree in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools. His research focuses on developing cost-effective and sustainable alternative materials for use in solar cells. Khawaja says he has gained an appreciation for the importance of research-based learning and hopes to contribute to research and development in his field for the benefit of his community in India.

  • America Is Wrapped In Miles Of Toxic Lead Cables

    America Is Wrapped In Miles Of Toxic Lead Cables

    Thousands of cables containing lead installed throughout the U.S. by telecom companies decades ago are still in places where they can be significant environmental and public health hazards through exposure to toxic materials, primarily lead. Braden Allenby, a professor in the School of Sustainability and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, is a former environmental health and safety official for American Telephone and Telegraph, which installed many of these cables from the late 1800s to the 1960s. He says many of the old lead-containing cables were left in the ground even after the industry began using safer plastic sheathing and fiber optics instead of lead.

  • Transfer student turns interest in electrical engineering into career with MyPath2ASU

    Transfer student turns interest in electrical engineering into career with MyPath2ASU

    Jared Gale graduated from the Fulton Schools with a degree in electrical engineering after getting help transferring from Central Arizona College through the MyPath2ASU program. Support from the program enabled Gale to make the transfer while minimizing the loss of academic credit and saving time and money. He also credits his success to campus organizations and programs that provided opportunities to enhance his education and work as a teaching assistant, and professors who gave him time to care for his daughter, and to his work in an undergraduate teaching program. He now has a job in environmental testing. Gale is pictured (at right) in the photo with Professor Stephen Phillips, director of the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools.

  • Modifying algae to make rare antioxidants in extreme environments

    Modifying algae to make rare antioxidants in extreme environments

    Genetically engineering algae has produced a pigment that can be used in medicine and textiles and for making seafood healthier. Those are among results of a collaboration between researchers at ASU’s Arizona Center for Algae Technology & Innovation and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, or KAUST. The research shows algae also has the potential for use as a sustainable solution for challenges in the food and health industries, says Kyle J. Lauerson, a KAUST assistant professor of bioengineering. Peter Lammers, a research professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says these algae also show promise for innovative industrial applications.

  • Scientists found a solution to recycle solar panels in your kitchen

    Scientists found a solution to recycle solar panels in your kitchen

    Growing use of solar power is a good thing, but a drawback is that recycling of old solar panels remains difficult and expensive. That could lead to the panels piling up in landfills, and environmental harm coming from the small amounts of toxic metals in the panels. Researchers are working on solutions. One may be using microwave technology — the kind used to heat food — to heat up parts of solar panels, making it easier to take them apart and recover materials. Meng Tao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and founder of a Tucson-based solar panel recycling company, talks about the challenges of recycling panels and some steps toward progress. The article is also published in The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington).

  • Alum, academic associate prepares engineering graduates for workforce

    Alum, academic associate prepares engineering graduates for workforce

    Facebook’s director of engineering, who has extensive experience in data security, privacy and governance, is now an academic associate in the Fulton Schools, with the goal of better preparing ASU engineering graduates for the challenges of the workplace in his areas of expertise. An ASU alumnus who earned a degree in computer science, Nishant Bhajaria went on to work for Uber, Google, Netflix, Intel and Nike. He will now apply what he has learned in industry to helping engineering faculty members enhance academic instruction and establishing corporate partnerships to provide more internship opportunities for students.

  • Experts give advice on selecting sunscreens

    Experts give advice on selecting sunscreens

    Frequently and thoroughly applied sunscreen lotion is critical to protecting people spending time outdoors in the hot, dry, sun-drenched Southwest. Among experts advocating for sunscreen use is Paul Westerhoff, a Fulton Schools professor of environmental engineering. He says it’s especially important to keep lathering on the lotion that protects against the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight, especially if you’re in a pool, river, lake, ocean or other places where sunscreen can dissolve or be washed off. Westerhoff and a dermatologist  emphasize that some sunblock products don’t have a high percentage of actual sunblocking ingredients, like zinc oxide. So, it’s important to reapply heavily and often.

June

2023

May

2023
  • Should we know where our friends are at all times?

    Should we know where our friends are at all times?

    Advances in location-finding technology is making it look as if the capability to find and track the movement of almost anyone, anywhere might become a reality. That possibility is raising questions about not only the potential for violation of peoples’ privacy but also for becoming a threat to their safety. Location sharing was introduced about six years ago by Google on its Map function. Since then, Snapchat launched Snap Map, allowing users to see where their contacts are at any time. Apple later merged the Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps into the “Find My”app. Katina Michael, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, raises concerns about the use of such systems leading to “uberveillance,” widespread surveillance of people by other people, companies and governments.

  • $70M Grant to ASU to Bolster Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute

    $70M Grant to ASU to Bolster Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute

    Fulton Schools researchers will be involved in a new U.S. Department of Energy Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute, helping ASU to oversee a coalition working with the Electrified Processes for Industry Without Carbon, or EPIXC, program. The goal is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in various industry sectors using cost-effective methods. EPIXC director Sridhar Seetharaman, the Fulton Schools vice dean of research and innovation, says the work is part of larger U.S. transition to a clean energy future. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, foresees the program producing new generations of engineering leaders prepared to make major strides in technological progress.

  • ASU researchers team with HyperX to predict gamer performance under pressure

    ASU researchers team with HyperX to predict gamer performance under pressure

    Research by the adidas-ASU Center for Engagement Science focuses on understanding human behavior and perception to improve athletic performance. But the research can apply to other endeavors in which people must perform well in high-pressure situations. A recent project involved a collaboration with a company that develops products for gamers to see if biometric data can predict drops in performance of both gamers and people in jobs that require working under pressure. The research team included Karthikeyan Manikandan and Justin Irby, who recently earned master’s degrees in biomedical engineering from the Fulton Schools, and current biomedical engineering graduate student Krishna Suketh Madduri.

  • What if generative AI destroys biometric security?

    What if generative AI destroys biometric security?

    Use of advanced biometric security systems is on the rise. The emerging technology can identify people based on individual physical and behavioral characteristics. While its accuracy can strengthen security operations, technologists and researchers are concerned about the serious repercussions that could result if these systems are hacked. In this podcast, experts discuss how artificial intelligence technology could enable such hacking and what cybersecurity solutions could be developed to prevent it. Katina Michael, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, joins the conversation. (Access to the full content of The Economist online is available only to subscribers.)

  • Promises and Lies of ChatGPT — Understanding How It Works

    Promises and Lies of ChatGPT — Understanding How It Works

    Insights into the workings of the increasingly popular artificial intelligence, or AI, technology ChatGPT are provided by AI expert Subbarao Kambhampati (pictured), a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. Kambhampati, director of the Yochan lab, where research focuses in part on human-aware AI systems, discusses the potential of ChatGPT and similar systems to be productive, educational and otherwise helpful in positive ways. But he also stresses the limitations and problematic aspects of such AI technology that can result in negative consequences, including the proliferation of superficial and untrustworthy communications.

  • Abu Dhabi University concludes 4th ADU-ASU Research Forum 2023

    Abu Dhabi University concludes 4th ADU-ASU Research Forum 2023

    Progress in advancing sustainability in the use of one of the world’s most widely used construction materials — concrete— was the focus of the recent Abu Dhabi University and Arizona State University Research Forum. The event was presented in collaboration with the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. The theme was significant contributions to new construction technologies and methods, particularly the production of 3D printing of sustainable concrete that withstands extreme environmental conditions. Fulton Schools Professor Narayanan Neithalath said the event spotlighted international partnerships and other collective efforts that are producing innovative solutions leading to more effective construction and infrastructure resilience.

  • The man behind the Memorial for the Fallen

    The man behind the Memorial for the Fallen

    Scottsdale city officials and members of the local American Legion Post 44 held a special Memorial Day commemoration of U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jim Geiser, a 1977 ASU graduate who in 2018 was presented the university’ Outstanding Civil Engineering Alumni Award. After 29 years in the military, Geiser had a decades-long engineering career while being active in the community by supporting the Junior Achievement program, Valley Big Brother program and Scottsdale Bible Church. His civic endeavors also included years helping to lead a committee to raise funds for the Scottsdale Memorial for the Fallen to honor U.S. armed forces veterans.

  • Here are the winners of the 2023 Champions of Change Awards

    Here are the winners of the 2023 Champions of Change Awards

    ASU alumnus Rumpa Dey (third from left in photo) is among winners of Arizona Business Magazine’s 2023 Champions of Change Awards. Dey earned a master’s degree in the civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, with a focus on transportation systems, in the School of School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. The Champions of Change Awards recognize innovators who are changing Arizona’s business landscape through leadership and visionary thinking. Dey won the Business Leader of the Year Award for small and medium-sized companies. Dey works for the AECOM company, which plans, designs, engineers and manages infrastructure projects.

  • Glowing Squirrels And The Search For ‘Why’

    Glowing Squirrels And The Search For ‘Why’

    It was only several years ago a college forestry professor got the first known look at a biofluorescent mammal, a glowing flying squirrel. On the “Points North” podcast, Jon Martin talks about his discovery, which has led to years of research into what other animals have this characteristic and what causes it. Thomas Seager, an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, delves into the roots and rigors of scientific inquiry in discussing the challenge of explaining the “why” of such phenomena. But one thing is certain, the number of mammals and marine creatures that we now know can glow has been growing.

  • Meet the world’s 1st outdoor sweating, breathing and walking manikin

    Meet the world’s 1st outdoor sweating, breathing and walking manikin

    A specially designed thermal manikin that can walk, breathe, sweat and generate heat is helping ASU researchers to better understand the impacts of environmental heat on the human body — and to find ways to help people cope with the world’s rising temperatures.  Fulton Schools Associate Professor Konrad Rykaczewski is the principal investigator for research funded by the National Science Foundation that will use the manikin named ANDI to find ways people can deal more effectively with heat stress and avoid experiencing heat-related illness. ANDI is being teamed with MaRTy, a biometeorological heat robot used by Ariane Middel, an urban climatologist and an assistant professor affiliated with the Fulton Schools.

    See Also: Meet ANDI: A ‘manikin’ at ASU that can breathe, sweat and shiver like a human, 3TV/CBS 5 News-Phoenix, June 7

    ASU studying heat in a unique way, ABC15 News-Arizona, June 5

    ANDI the manikin can take the heat. ASU hopes it can also help people weather hotter days, Arizona Republic, June 3

    This mannequin sweats, and it’s helping ASU researchers understand heat stress, Fronteras (KJZZ-NPR), June 1

  • AI Robots Are Here. Are We Ready?

    AI Robots Are Here. Are We Ready?

    Are humans ready to cope with robots that are getting smarter and more intuitive? As advances in artificial intelligence combine with the expanding dexterity of robotic technologies, experts foresee new interconnections between people and robots. Nancy Cooke, a professor in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, and director of the Center for Human, Artificial Intelligence, and Robot Teaming says there are still many areas in which AI algorithms can’t match human thinking and learning capabilities. But Cooke still sees robots having increasingly significant roles in society, many involving direct human-robot interaction. She and other experts advise taking a cautious approach in developing and managing those relationships.

  • Listening for neurological symptoms

    Listening for neurological symptoms

    Unusual vocal patterns and small, subtle changes in human speech have been found to be clues that people have disabling conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Two ASU faculty members whose research focuses in part on detecting symptoms of neurological problems and helping health professionals effectively diagnose and treat the maladies have teamed up to expand their efforts. Visar Berisha, a Fulton Schools electrical engineering professor and Julie Liss, a speech pathologist in ASU’s College of Health Solutions, have co-founded Aural Analytics to provide tools to identify hidden signs of speech pathology related to neurological diseases or injuries.

  • Public and private support for applied research drives innovation in Arizona

    Public and private support for applied research drives innovation in Arizona

    Arizona could move up in the ranks of leaders in technological innovation and contributors to strengthening the global economy by expanding efforts to boost applied research endeavors. Thomas Sugar, professor and graduate program chair for engineering and manufacturing engineering in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, says applied research is geared to developing innovative products that could give Arizona an edge in the worldwide market. A commentary coauthored by Sugar, Empire Southwest executive Chris Zaharis and GoX Labs CEO Joe Hitt, says Arizona could open new opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses, create new industries and jobs, attract new investment and spur commercialization of new technologies — all of which would combine to improve the quality of life for more Arizonans.

  • Applied Materials to set up academia-industry R&D center

    Applied Materials to set up academia-industry R&D center

    Applied Materials, a leading materials engineering company, is setting up a major research center for industry and academia to collaborate on advancing semiconductor process technology and manufacturing equipment. The venture is designed to expand the company’s relationships with top engineering schools by developing the Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization, or EPIC, Center. The effort will build on materials science and semiconductor technology research the company is already doing with Fulton Schools faculty and students. Applied Materials expects the university partnerships to be a catalyst for accelerating commercialization of what academic research produces and for strengthening the pipeline of future semiconductor industry talent. A company news release details the scope and goals of plan.  

    See Also: Applied Materials to build $4 billion R&D center in Silicon Valley, eenews (Europe)

    Applied Materials to Invest $4B in EPIC Center for Semiconductor R&D, Display Daily

  • Medical AI’s weaponization

    Medical AI’s weaponization

    Some of the most interesting and promising artificial intelligence innovation is beginning to be used in the health care field. But there is also deep concern that along with making medical diagnoses more accurate or pointing the way to cures, machine learning technology might also generate misleading or inaccurate information that could do serious harm. As the use of these technologies increases in medical care, the World Health Organization and other groups are warning about the potential risks of bias, misinformation and privacy violations that may result from use of smart technologies in health care.

    See Also: AI in Medicine Is Overhyped, Scientific American
    Visar Berisha and Julie Liss write that AI models for health care that predict disease are not as accurate as reports might suggest.

    Berisha is an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and in ASU’s College of Health Solutions. Liss is a professor and associate dean of the College of Health Solutions.

  • Start students early to build semiconductor talent pipeline

    Start students early to build semiconductor talent pipeline

    States hoping to benefit economically from the predicted boom in semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. could lose that opportunity if they don’t have enough workers trained to fill new jobs. That’s why it’s crucial to educate more students about the prospects for career success in the semiconductor and microelectronics industries, says Michel Kinsy, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. Kinsy is director of ASU’s Secure, Trusted and Assured Microelectronics, or STAM, Center, which has undergraduate and postgraduate studies in its six research laboratories and summer programs to help students develop skills needed to get into the semiconductor employment pipeline.

  • ASU-designed fiber-reinforced concrete speeds up Phoenix rapid transit construction

    ASU-designed fiber-reinforced concrete speeds up Phoenix rapid transit construction

    Recent construction of Metro Phoenix light rail transportation system extensions took less time and funding than is typical, boosted the system’s sustainability and kept workers safer. All of that is largely the result of a proposal from Barzin Mobasher, a professor of structural engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Mobasher recommended using fiber-reinforced concrete instead of rebar-supported slabs for the system upgrade. That approach resulted in parts of the process that typically take weeks to instead be completed in hours rather than days. Overall, the project required fewer expenses for construction equipment, concrete shipping and production and building site security, as well as fewer traffic delays.

    See Also: Using Fiber-Reinforced Concrete for Phoenix Rapid Transit Construction Reduces Costs and Improves Worker Safety, AZO Materials, May 24

    Fiber-reinforced Concrete Speeds Construction, Reduces Costs, Modern Contractors Solutions, 2019 ASU News article reposted on May 25

    Rebar is out, fiber is in: Valley Metro finishes light rail slabs for the latest extension, Fronteras (KJZZ), May 25

    The article is also posted on Highways Today: Fibre-reinforced Concrete speeds up Metro Phoenix Light Rail Extension Construction, May 26, and AZ Big Media: How ASU-designed fiber-reinforced concrete speeds up construction, May 26

  • Arizona State University picked to establish clean energy institute

    Arizona State University picked to establish clean energy institute

    A planned multi-institution research coalition, Electrified Processes for Industry Without Carbon, or EPIXC, will be led by ASU as part of the Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute being developed by the university. Sridhar Seetharaman, the Fulton Schools vice dean for research and innovation and director of EPIXC, says the new coalition and institute are expected be play a significant role in the nation’s transition to clean energy. The effort to reduce emissions from manufacturing facilities by transitioning to electrified and low-carbon fuel and energy sources will especially benefit communities that have seen negative health consequences because of their proximity to industrial operations such as petrochemical plants.

    See Also: Arizona State University Chosen to Head New DOE Institute: Driving Industrial Decarbonization and Electrification Forward, Energy Capital, May 22

    Eliminating CO2 Emissions From Manufacturing is Goal of Major Research Alliance, UT News (University of Texas), May 22

    Arizona State University selected to lead clean energy manufacturing institute, Manufacturing Dive, May 23

    ASU to lead new DOE Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute, ASU News, May 16

  • Restrictions, emerging contaminants add to challenges of AZ water treatment

    Restrictions, emerging contaminants add to challenges of AZ water treatment

    The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality faces a big challenge in ensuring the state’s water sources are monitored, tested and treated for contaminants in a timely and adequately comprehensive fashion. Various factors are combining to dampen the possibility of effectively improving on the current operations, says Treavor Boyer, program chair for the environmental emerging degree program in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Boyer and other experts are concerned that it could take years to effectively grasp the levels of contaminants in Arizona’s water infrastructure and implement actions to remedy threats to public health and environmental degradation.

  • Gilbert grad grateful for his education at ASU

    Gilbert grad grateful for his education at ASU

    Kwam Kassim passed up a college football scholarship after deciding the sport was not his passion. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before curiosity about computer coding motivated him to take a leap into studying software engineering in the Fulton Schools’ online program. That step was made possible by his mother, an Uber driver, who took advantage of the company’s tuition-coverage program for qualifying drivers and their family members. Kassim’s studies introduced him to possibilities the field presents to help solve real-world problems. He credits Fulton Schools Faculty Associate Diego del Blanco for teaching him to persevere through difficult times during his studies. Now, with a degree in software engineering, Kassim is an engineer for Starbucks.

    See Also: Former student-athlete finds passion and purpose in engineering, ASU News, April 19

  • Empowering the Pacific: ASU chosen to lead clean energy project in Fiji

    Empowering the Pacific: ASU chosen to lead clean energy project in Fiji

    To aid development of an important international partner in the South Pacific, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency is launching a project to help the island of Fiji bring electricity to its rural areas and to generate power from renewable energy sources by 2030. The initial work to be done in the Accelerating Solar Mini-Grid Deployment project in Fiji will be led by the Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions, or LEAPS, directed by Nathan Johnson (second from right in photo), an assistant professor in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools. LEAPS has conducted more than 100 mini-energy grid and micro-grid assessments in various countries, developing innovative approaches to engineering the grids and ensuring their long-term sustainability. A version of the article is also published in the Queen Creek Sun Times.

  • Biden Administration to support workforce in Phoenix, Tempe as ASU is selected to lead clean energy project

    Biden Administration to support workforce in Phoenix, Tempe as ASU is selected to lead clean energy project

    The strategy of President Biden’s Administration to fill jobs created by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act include investments to boost the U.S. economy through supporting workforce growth in Phoenix and Tempe. The plan involves establishing a partnership with the National League of Cities to develop solutions to upskill and reskill workers for high-demand jobs. Those efforts include establishing a Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute at Arizona State University and launching an ASU-led Electrified Processes for Industry Without Carbon project. Sridhar Seetharaman, Fulton Schools vice dean for research and innovation, will direct the new institute’s work to transition to clean electricity for operations that prepare materials and manufactured goods.

  • ASU hosts first-ever tri-nation North America Semiconductor Conference

    ASU hosts first-ever tri-nation North America Semiconductor Conference

    Government officials from the U.S., Mexico and Canada joined business and academic leaders in Washington, D.C., to discuss strategies to keep North America at the forefront of the global semiconductor industry. As part of the event, Jose Quiroga, director of global development for the Office of Global Outreach and Extended Education in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, helped to lead discussion during the Future of North America’s Semiconductor Workforce session. Arizona is expected to have a major role in efforts to boost the semiconductor manufacturing sector in the U.S., due in part to the many new engineers being produced by the Fulton Schools and two large semiconductor chip manufacturing centers being built in Phoenix that are expected to create 4,500 jobs.

  • Colorado prepares to manage carbon dioxide sequestration, geothermal and change oil regulator

    Colorado prepares to manage carbon dioxide sequestration, geothermal and change oil regulator

    Colorado’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is changing its name and its mission. As the new Energy and Carbon Management Commission, the agency will regulate underground carbon sequestration and geothermal wells used as a source of emissions-free energy. The change is in response to the emergence of a new industry focusing on managing carbon dioxide sequestration. The agency (director Jeff Robbins is pictured) will oversee permitting and regulation of carbon sequestration wells where captured carbon dioxide will be injected underground for permanent storage. A growing global industry will emerge from advances in carbon management in coming years, says Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at ASU, adding that more needs to be done to ensure effective environmental management of the sequestration process. (Access to the Business Journal content is available only to subscribers.)

  • A Groundbreaking PFAS Treatment Permanently Destroys Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water

    A Groundbreaking PFAS Treatment Permanently Destroys Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water

    Significant progress in water purification is being made by researchers at universities in the U.S. and Canada, including advances emerging from work led by Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann, director of the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology at ASU’s Biodesign Institute. His team has deployed groups of microorganisms that rid water of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. These toxic chemicals, which have seeped into water supplies far and wide, pose health risks to humans and threaten the environment. The microorganisms being used in the ASU research are acting like “PFAS assassins,” raising hope that a surefire solution has been found to the water contamination caused by these chemicals.

  • Educating and inspiring students about print and graphics industry trends

    Educating and inspiring students about print and graphics industry trends

    A subsidiary of Canon U.S.A, a leader in providing of consumer, business-to-business and industrial digital imaging solutions, is expanding its support of higher education. That includes making ASU a partner in its Canon Solutions America University Inkjet Program, which is designed to support the next generation of content creators and leaders in the print and graphics communications industries. Fulton Schools Professor of Practice Penny Ann Dolin and Faculty Associate Patricia Perigo in the graphic information technology program at The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, foresee the partnership giving students opportunities to be part of efforts to produce real-world design and print solutions. The article also appears in Yahoo Finance

  • EPA’s crackdown on power plant emissions is a big first step – but without strong certification, it will be hard to ensure captured carbon stays put

    EPA’s crackdown on power plant emissions is a big first step – but without strong certification, it will be hard to ensure captured carbon stays put

    Significant sums of money are going to be spent on technologies that capture carbon dioxide as the U.S. government’s efforts to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants kick into high gear. Reducing those emissions is critical to diminishing the detrimental impacts of greenhouse gases on the planet’s climate. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director or ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, and Stephanie Arcusa, a postdoctoral carbon sequestration researcher, say if the plan is to work as intended it must ensure carbon capture and storage are closely monitored and adequately certified. They propose a framework for designing effective carbon dioxide storage and sequestration — and for ensuring regulation of these processes is strictly enforced. 

  • New model for predicting adsorption of PFAS by microplastics

    New model for predicting adsorption of PFAS by microplastics

    Trillions of small pieces of plastic pollution are in oceans, rivers and lakes throughout the world, including types of plastics that can adsorb and transport toxic substances called “forever chemicals,” which can find their way into humans and animals. François Perreault, an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, is collaborating with other environmental engineers at the University of Maine on a project using a new type of model for predicting whether any given kind of microplastic would adsorb any specific type of these chemicals and at what concentration. It’s part of a broader effort by researchers at the two universities to more deeply explore the interactions between microplastics and various chemicals. The article is also published in BusinessNews.

  • Strategic partnerships help fuel workforce readiness for ASU students

    Strategic partnerships help fuel workforce readiness for ASU students

    ASU’s partnerships with leading technology companies are paying off for students by providing them valuable learning experiences beyond the classroom. While studying to become a software engineer, Fulton Schools graduate student Sushmitha Reddy joined the ASU Smart City Cloud Innovation Center. That enabled her to work with the Amazon Web Services company. She contributed to work in the company’s Cloud Innovation Center and used advanced smart technologies like machine learning in a project for the Phoenix Police Department. Reddy recently graduated with a degree information technology, a resume filled with job experience and two job offers.

  • 10 examples of how artificial intelligence is improving education

    10 examples of how artificial intelligence is improving education

    Engineering is among fields in which many foresee artificial intelligence, or AI, technology becoming a major educational tool. AI’s applications in personalized and adaptive learning methods and analytics, as well as intelligent tutoring systems, seem designed to be especially effective in enhancing engineering education. Other facets of the practice of engineering that seem to align with AI capabilities include predictive modeling and immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. Those technologies have been used, for instance, to create immersive learning experiences for a course taught by Robert LiKamWa, an associate professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering.

  • Rethinking Engineering Education in The U.S.

    Rethinking Engineering Education in The U.S.

    With the high-tech world experiencing an especially rapid evolution, industry and education leaders see a need to quickly ramp up efforts to prepare the next generation of STEM professionals for what will be demanded of those who want to be part of the future tech workforce. Some say this could require a developing a new blueprint for engineering education. Some university engineering programs are already restructuring curriculum in reaction to changing industry needs. One way ASU is responding is establishment of the Fulton Schools’ new Secure, Trusted, and Assured Microelectronics Center, directed by Michel Kinsy, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. Image courtesy of Pixabay

  • New algorithm uses smart meter data to improve power grid reliability

    New algorithm uses smart meter data to improve power grid reliability

    A step toward more resilient electrical power grids has been made through the results of research by Mojdeh Khorsand Hedman (pictured at right), an assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, and doctoral student Zahra Soltani, (at left) a graduate research associate in the school. They have developed an algorithm that can reduce the impact of power outages and malfunction damage to devices connected to power grids. Their solution could significantly improve electric power service for customers by reducing the duration of outages and making the voltage sent to customers more stable.

  • 18 ASU undergraduates selected for German research fellowship

    18 ASU undergraduates selected for German research fellowship

    Fulton Schools students make most up of a group of ASU undergraduates who this summer will be involved in a highly selective international research fellowship program that will send them to Germany. The students will do internships relevant to their academic and professional interests under the mentorship of doctoral students and experienced researchers in Germany. The Fulton Schools is providing additional funding for the German Academic Exchange Service to help enhance the experience for ASU students. A manager and advisor for the program says the internship helps students be more competitive in gaining admission to graduate programs and in finding jobs. Image courtesy of Pixabay

  • Green light or red light? Traffic impact studied for Tempe-Coyotes development

    Green light or red light? Traffic impact studied for Tempe-Coyotes development

    Public concern has emerged about potential disruptive impacts of a proposed arena complex for the Arizona Coyotes National Hockey League team on adjacent and nearby Tempe neighborhoods. Residents in the area fear traffic congestion, parking space shortages and interference with local business and community activities will result from the expansive arena development. Such worries are understandable, says Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineer and director of School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. But Pendyala points out that there are standard practices public officials and arena developers can follow to effectively prevent or considerably diminish the kinds of impacts distressing the local populace.

  • What Exactly Are the Dangers Posed by A.I.?

    What Exactly Are the Dangers Posed by A.I.?

    A significant number of high-tech leaders, researchers and others who work with artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies are joining in on a warning about the workings of AI that could put humans at risk. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, a computer scientist and AI expert, points to one particular threat. While there is no way to guarantee AI systems will be correct or accurate on any information they compile and disseminate, AI can deliver such information in ways that make it seem credible. There is a big concern about such systems being used to spread disinformation, and to do it persuasively — especially the AI systems that can interact with people in natural-sounding language.

    See Also: When A.I. Chatbots Hallucinate, The New York Times, May 1
    Kambhampati advises against questioning AI unless you already know the answer to  the question.

    ‘The Godfather of A.I.’ Leaves Google and Warns of Danger Ahead, The New York Times, May 1
    The article links to statement Kambhampati helped to draft along with 19 current and former presidents of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence warning about risks AI poses.

April

2023
  • The Realities & Myths of Self-Driving Vehicles

    The Realities & Myths of Self-Driving Vehicles

    In an interview about the outlook for the future of autonomous vehicles, Professor Ram Pendyala (pictured at right), a transportation engineer and director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, gives his assessment of progress in the development and use of self-driving automobiles. None of the most ambitious forecasts for a widespread embrace of these vehicles have come to fruition, Pendyala says, but he foresees their use  likely to increase over a span of decades. How expansive that increase becomes, he says, will depend on the price, capabilities, safety features and transportation infrastructure upgrades that enable consumers to see clear benefits in driving these vehicles.

  • Are ASU students using AI to help with school work? Most say no. Here’s why

    Are ASU students using AI to help with school work? Most say no. Here’s why

    Debates on the potential benefits and pitfalls of using artificial, or AI, technology in the classroom, and for doing homework assignments, are intensifying, especially with the emergence of ChatGPT, which is adept at writing on almost any subject — but with some downsides. AI specialist Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, looks at what some students and professors are saying about the pros and cons of the use of AI. There’s debate about the possibility of the use of AI like ChatGPT being considered an act of plagiarism and the risk that what it writes can be factually flawed.

    See Also: All technologies disrupt employment”: ASU professor on introducing AI to the workplace
    Professor Kambhampati discusses concerns that new artificial intelligent technologies like ChatGPT will take away some peoples’ jobs, KJZZ News (NPR), April 27

  • City Of Tempe Intern Has Learned About The Power Of Local Government

    City Of Tempe Intern Has Learned About The Power Of Local Government

    Fulton Schools biomedical engineering graduate student Wid Alsabah and electrical engineering student Namir Sabuwala are among Arab students getting an educational experience at ASU not only in their studies, but also in navigating the social nuances of cultural identity. Both are Arab Muslims — Alsabah is president of ASU’s Muslim Students Association — who make up a very small percentage of the population in Arizona. They, along with a fellow ASU student and Arab Muslim, who is an intern in the office of Tempe’s mayor, say their circumstances are encouraging them to learn about relationship building and creating connections to address potential social and cultural barriers.

  • Arizona Water Innovation Initiative Introduces Statewide Effort To Address Water Concerns

    Arizona Water Innovation Initiative Introduces Statewide Effort To Address Water Concerns

    Arizona government leaders are teaming with ASU and other partners to seek innovative and comprehensive solutions to the state’s water challenges. Enrique Vivoni, a hydro systems engineer and professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, will lead the Advanced Water Observatory as part of the wide-ranging effort. Vivoni says the observatory will use some of the most advanced data analytics, information, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to help guide the state’s water management decisions in the future. Vivoni expects to see the many facets of the projects opening opportunities for students to get involved in the research.

  • More engineers needed as semiconductor plants go up across Arizona

    More engineers needed as semiconductor plants go up across Arizona

    With microchips powering many of today’s essential technologies, the semiconductor manufacturing plants where the chips are made are spreading across the landscape — especially in places such as Arizona, where urban areas and populations are growing. That means more engineers are needed to meet the exploding demand for workers in semiconductor facilities. Michael Kozicki, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering, says the microchip boom will result in many graduates of ASU — which has the largest engineering school in the U.S. — finding work in the microelectronics industry. He foresees even more students becoming interested in related fields such as electrical and chemical engineering, computer science and manufacturing technologies.

  • ASU robotics research designs drone to cope with collisions

    ASU robotics research designs drone to cope with collisions

    Robotics expert Wenlong Zhang, an associate professor in the School of Manufacturing and Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, is leading research to expand the navigational capabilities of drones. That advance can make drones better equipped to carry out search and rescue operations after disasters. Zhang and his team have created a drone with an inflatable frame that can make it more resistant to damage from collisions and with a gripper that enables drones to perch safely on various surfaces. Zhang hopes to also develop drones with more bio-inspired environmental interaction ability, enabling them to monitor forest fires, aid military reconnaissance and explore other planets. More news reports are published in New Scientist, the Eurasia Review, Tech Xplore, Interesting Engineering, Inceptive Mind, Popular Science, New Atlas, IOT World Today, ASU News and Electronics for You  

    See Also: Inflated ergo: Flexible robots more resilience, efficiency that their stiff competition, KJZZ News (NPR), April 28

  • ASU professor sets her sights on vehicle safety numbers game

    ASU professor sets her sights on vehicle safety numbers game

    Working from a large collection of comprehensive technical data and history detailing the story of the design, manufacturing, safety regulations and ratings systems that have shaped the modern automobile, Norma Faris Hubele’s book, “Backseat Driver,” examines the mix of the governmental, business and economic factors that have led to the progress — or the lack of it — in making cars safer over past decades. Hubele is a statistics expert, an emeritus professor of industrial engineering in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and former Fulton Schools director of strategic initiatives. Hubele, who also founded TheAutoProfessor.com website, says the topic of automobile safety is especially relevant today with the use of electric and autonomous vehicles rising and presenting new challenges for driving safety. The article is also published in Yahoo News.

  • Valley has some of nation’s worst air pollution, but it’s not all bad

    Valley has some of nation’s worst air pollution, but it’s not all bad

    A recent report by the American Lung Association gives the greater Phoenix metro area mixed results on the quality of its air. The report based on data from 2109 through 2021 shows some metrics on air pollution in the region improving slightly, but overall the urban area still has some of the highest particulate and ozone pollution in the U.S. The Phoenix-Mesa vicinity had the fifth worst ozone pollution of any metro area. Quoted in the article, Matthew Fraser, an urban air quality expert and professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says the report provides no reason to be satisfied with current efforts to mitigate local air pollution.

  • What is ChatGPT?

    What is ChatGPT?

    Yes, the new ChatGT artificial intelligence, or AI, technology that is making headlines is definitely an impressive advance, says Subbarao Kambhampati, (on screen at right in photo) a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and leading AI expert. But while it has the ability to write everything from e-mails to books in thoroughly grammatical, fluent and even engaging ways, Kambhampati says it still has limitations that make it problematic. The major drawback is that despite being able to communicate proficiently on almost anything it is asked to write, ChatGT does not actually have real knowledge of what it is writing about. In other words, factual accuracy is not its strongpoint.

    See Also: Why Pope Francis Is the Star of A.I.-Generated Photos, New York Times, April 8
    Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kamhampati is quoted about the potential dangers of disseminating photos manipulated by AI

  • ASU honors students design solutions through Clinton Global Initiative University

    ASU honors students design solutions through Clinton Global Initiative University

    Two Fulton Schools students are members of the 2023 cohort of the Clinton Global Initiative University, or CGI, which teams college students with business, public service and social impact leaders to tackle projects that aim to provide benefits to communities and the world. Anirudh Manjesh, a computer science student, is involved in a project to help protect the environment by reducing the aerospace industry’s carbon footprint. Jayashree Adivarahan (at left in photo with Chelsea Clinton), an electrical engineering and computers systems engineering student, is continuing her work to help make important advances in semiconductor technology. She hopes to use what shee is learning through her CGI experiences to pursue development of an entrepreneurial venture.

  • Arizona State University Professor’s Work to Stabilize the Grid Pays Off

    Arizona State University Professor’s Work to Stabilize the Grid Pays Off

    After almost two decades of research, Vijay Vittal, a Fulton Schools professor of power systems engineering, has helped overcome a major challenge in his field by discovering ways to reliably integrate renewable resources into conventional electrical power grids. The news publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers reports on Vittal’s progress in maintaining power grid stability in ways that enable the use of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic solar systems. Along with related advances by colleagues in power electronics, Vittal is contributing to efforts to incorporate renewable energy sources into existing power infrastructure without disrupting grid operations.

  • ASU team helps protect World Heritage Site in Ethiopia

    ASU team helps protect World Heritage Site in Ethiopia

    A group of Fulton Schools students who are members of the ASU chapter of Engineers Without Borders are part of a team working to preserve and protect the environment and wildlife in the Simien Mountains National Park in Ethiopia, a UNESCO World Heritage site where ecosystems are threatened. Mechanical engineering student Tyler Norkus, president of the ASU chapter of Engineers Without Borders, is the co-lead for the project that teams anthropologists, engineers and wildlife conservationists and students from around the world to clean up plastic trash at the site and use it to provide income for communities in Ethiopia. The engineering students are building machines that will shred plastic bottles and melt the containers to make souvenirs that can be sold to tourists. 

  • ‘I’ve got your daughter’: Scottsdale mom warns of close call with AI voice cloning scam

    ‘I’ve got your daughter’: Scottsdale mom warns of close call with AI voice cloning scam

    Artificial intelligence, or AI, technology has advanced to the point that it cannot only imitate the human voice but the voices of specific people, including the inflections and nuances of their speech patterns and other characteristics. The technology is being used to scam people, including a recent incident involving an Arizona woman who was convinced her teenage daughter had been kidnapped. Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor of computer science in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says AI-enabled voice cloning can now replicate the sounds of a particular people speaking by using no more than several seconds of individuals’ actual voices.

    The news report was also broadcast or posted by these news programs and outlets throughout the U.S.: WMTV (NBC15.com) Madison, Wisconsin, Fox 5 news KVVU, Las Vegas, WEVV 44 News, Indiana, smithmountainlake news, Virginia, the Daily Mail, England, and WRDW 12 CBS news in Augusta, Georgia, and KGUN 9 news, Tucson

    See also: A mom thought her daughter had been kidnapped — it was just AI mimicking her voice, Popular Science, April 14

    Criminals using AI to clone voice in a bid for ransom, Fox News, April 18

    Kamphampati was also recently interviewed about artificial intelligence technology and its potential impacts on society. (The interview is conducted in the Telugu language.)

  • Year-long study hopes to promote sustainable transportation

    Year-long study hopes to promote sustainable transportation

    Use of one of the older technological modes of mobility, the bicycle, could contribute to efforts to bring more sustainable transportation systems to busy urban areas, says Thomas Czerniawski (at far right in photo), an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. Czerniawski, fellow ASU faculty members and student researchers are working on a project supported by the Zimin Institute for Smart and Sustainable Cities at ASU. The team is exploring what could be done to transform the city of Tempe — including the busy area on and around ASU’s Tempe campus — into a “bicycling oasis,” with the idea of also providing other urban communities a template for improving their transportation scenarios by enhancing bicyling infrastructure.

  • ASU Poly answers manufacturing call

    ASU Poly answers manufacturing call

    With efforts by the U.S. government to boost production of microchips and energy technology across the country and large tech companies embarking on ambitious expansion projects, the demand for more engineers and technicians is multiplying rapidly. That bodes well for students at two of the Fulton Schools based at ASU’s Polytechnic campus. Kurt Paterson, director of The Polytechnic School, says students are now getting job offers more than a year before they will graduate. Binil Starley, director of the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, foresees the school providing new employees for manufacturing companies that want to expand their operations in Arizona and for companies headquartered elsewhere that are looking relocate to Arizona. The photo shows students at the Polytechnic campus at a recent panel discussion with leaders of Lucid Motors about the company’s electric vehicle manufacturing operations in nearby Casa Grande.

  • How Indigenous Architecture is Shaping the Future of Arts Commons

    How Indigenous Architecture is Shaping the Future of Arts Commons

    Architects are making strides in designing buildings and related projects that reflect social and cultural awareness of the histories, perspectives and interests of communities in which their work will be located. Among those at the forefront in the field of of indigenous architecture is Wanda Dalla Costa, an associate professor in the Del E. Webb School of Construction within the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. One recent example is Dalla Costa’s collaboration with the Tawaw Architecture Collective Inc. on the Arts Commons Transformation project in the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. The project is a highlight of the area’s expanding modern urban features that reflect regional cultural and historical themes.

March

2023
  • How Proposers Day pairs ASU Researchers, companies to identify industry challenges

    How Proposers Day pairs ASU Researchers, companies to identify industry challenges

    Reaching the goal of Arizona’s New Economy Initiative to make the state one of the leading technology hubs in the U.S. will hinge on the research progress made at facilities such as ASU’s five Science and Technology Centers. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman (pictured), director of the centers’ Advanced Materials, Processes, and Energy Devices research program, talks about Proposers Day events that are bringing ASU engineers and scientists together with industry leaders to explore ways to fulfill the ambitious aspirations set forth in the initiative. Holman says a competition to win funding for promising research to overcome major technological challenges is one way the centers’ leaders hope to inspire innovative outcomes.

  • Turning cow waste into biogas is a hot investment. Is it also a climate solution?

    Turning cow waste into biogas is a hot investment. Is it also a climate solution?

    Anaerobic digesters are among the new technologies that hold promise as an emerging source of energy. Dairy farms now use digesters to decompose cow manure to produce methane that is cleaned and put into pipelines to provide electricity, fuel vehicles and heat homes. Researchers at ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, led by Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann, are working to improve digester systems and use them in multiple industries. The goal is to enable them to extract more energy out of waste materials while also extracting nutrients and potable water. If more energy can be generated from waste, the systems could attract more investment and might even become part of effective climate-smart efforts.  

    Access to the editorial content of the Arizona Republic is accessible only to subscribers.

  • ASU West gains 3 new schools focused on workforce needs, could triple in students

    ASU West gains 3 new schools focused on workforce needs, could triple in students

    Population growth and increasing workforce opportunities in municipalities and communities in the western reaches of the Phoenix metro area have led to extensive plans to expand educational pursuits at the ASU West campus. The creation of three new schools based on the campus has been announced. Those include the School of Integrated Engineering, which will be part of the Fulton Schools, focusing on providing students opportunities in engineering and technology fields. With the two other new schools, ASU will offer studies in flexible STEM degree programs to provide education preparing students for work in a range of growing industries spawning new and innovative career paths.

    See also: Arizona State University West plans extensive expansion in effort to triple enrollment, Phoenix Business Journal, March 29
    ASU’s West campus expanding to serve the evolving West Valley, ASU News, March 29
    ASU To Establish Three New Schools On The West Campus, The State Press, March 29
    ASU’s West Campus Will Expand to Better Serve Growing West Valley, In Business (Greater Phoenix), March 29
    With big expansion, ASU West hopes to become center of new economy in Phoenix, Glendale, Arizona Republic, March 30

    Access to the editorial content of the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Business Journals is accessible only to subscribers.

  • How Mesa and ASU are collaborating on new longer-lasting pavement for town

    How Mesa and ASU are collaborating on new longer-lasting pavement for town

    Extending the life spans of roads, developing environmentally sustainable solutions to pavement challenges and saving money. Those are the main goals of the city of Mesa in partnering with Fulton Schools Professor Hazan Ozer and ASU’s Southwest Pavement Technology Consortium, which Ozer directs. The project teams academic researchers, the construction industry and city leaders in applying new advances in road building and paving. The focus is on boosting the resilience of asphalt and other commonly used pavement materials and finding ways to curb the detrimental impacts of expanding heat islands. In addition to working with cities and construction companies, ASU engineering students will get opportunities to apply their research outside of the classroom.

  • New project strives to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in STEM higher education

    New project strives to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in STEM higher education

    Fulton Schools engineering faculty members are collaborating with colleagues at the University of New Mexico on a new project funded by the National Science Foundation project titled “Increasing the Effectiveness of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion-Focused Institutional Change Teams through a Community of Transformation.” Fulton Schools Associate Professor Nadia Kellam, whose expertise includes engineering education research and institutional change, is among those who will lead the project. She and her colleagues will create a multiyear, cross-institutional community of transformation to support faculty and administrators’ commitment and capacity to improve access, experiences and outcomes for students and other stakeholders in science and engineering programs.

  • Removing ‘forever’ chemicals from drinking water

    Removing ‘forever’ chemicals from drinking water

    Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl, known as “forever chemicals,” are harmful to human health and likely in the drinking water of hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. They also take hundreds of years, and maybe longer, to break down in the environment and they linger in the human body. But research at ASU led by Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittman (pictured), director of ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, has found a certain kind of microorganism can play a role in removing “forever chemicals” and other contaminants from water. The discovery holds out hope for developing methods for removing these chemicals without current methods that have drawbacks like causing water pollution.

  • That panicky call from a relative? It could be a thief using a voice clone, FTC warns

    That panicky call from a relative? It could be a thief using a voice clone, FTC warns

    A recent consumer alert from the Federal Trade Commission warns that advances in voice cloning could lead to more scams. Artificial intelligence, or AI, technology is making it possible to closely imitate peoples’ voice and is being used in schemes to swindle money, the commission reports. Incidents in which individuals and companies, including a bank, have been fooled into paying large sums of money are among such recent cases. Not long ago, scammers would have needed sophisticated operations to pull off a scam involving imitation of voices, says Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, an AI expert. Now, he says, even those with little knowledge or training in AI can easily produce fake voices.

  • Blockchain Beyond Business: A Look At ASU’s Relationship With Cybersecurity Technology

    Blockchain Beyond Business: A Look At ASU’s Relationship With Cybersecurity Technology

    Despite recent concerns about blockchain technology and its connections to cryptocurrency instability and cybersecurity risks, researchers say there is still plenty of potential for blockchain systems to provide safe and productive services. Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, a co-founder of the Blockchain Research Lab, says work being done in the lab is aimed at helping to make the technology an ideal tool for both privacy and security. The blockchain is also seen as a potentially effective technology for medical systems and vital services such as health care data storage. The article also appears in BusinessNews and National Cyber Security news.

  • Will Neurosymbolic AI Change Autonomous Vehicles? It was done in GTA.

    Will Neurosymbolic AI Change Autonomous Vehicles? It was done in GTA.

    An emerging field called neurosymbolic artificial intelligence, or AI, could help spark an evolutionary step for self-driving automobiles. While more basic groundwork is needed to ensure the reliability of these AI-based systems, they appear to hold promise for aiding driver training and helping drivers adhere to the rules of the road, writes Paulo Shakarian, a Fulton Schools associate professor specializing in AI. He sees potential for such systems to enable better diagnostics of autonomous driving systems and encourage more confidence in the safe performance of these vehicles. The article includes a video showing the creation of a self-driving car using neurosymbolic AI.

  • Restoring desert crusts may control dust pollution better than spraying water

    Restoring desert crusts may control dust pollution better than spraying water

    The second most frequent cause of roadway accidents in Arizona is dust storms, while each year thousands of people get sick from wind-transmitted fungal infections. An ASU research team is working on advances in dust control methods to help reduce these threats to life and health, including testing ways to grow back the “skin” of desert soils, which can prevent winds from scooping up dust. Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavazanjian, director of the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, is working on the project with Professor Matthew Fraser, a colleague in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools.

  • Mile By Mile: The Self-Driving Cars Of Tomorrow Are Already Here

    Mile By Mile: The Self-Driving Cars Of Tomorrow Are Already Here

    In an article about how the future of the rideshare industry and use of autonomous vehicles is playing out on the streets of the Phoenix metro area, Aviral Shrivasatava provides some perspective on the evolution, increasing prevalence and popularity of self-driving automobiles. The professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, a part of the Fulton Schools, says it is still difficult to predict if, when and in what specific ways autonomous transportation technology will truly become a common mode of travel in our everyday lives. But he still sees these kinds of vehicles becoming a game changer that will have significant societal impacts.

  • OpenAI’s GPT-4 Is Closed Source and Shrouded in Secrecy

    OpenAI’s GPT-4 Is Closed Source and Shrouded in Secrecy

    Artificial Intelligence experts are warning about the potential consequences of what they describe as the most secretive release so far from Open AI’s GPT-4 large language model. Researchers say that along with hype about the capabilities of the new model, it is also demonstrating that what it is producing is not transparent or “open” in any important way. Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says what OpenAI is calling a technical report produced by GPT-4 is misleading. Other experts say the race by big tech companies to quickly create new AI technologies is raising ethical concerns.

  • Biodesign Institute announces new center devoted to advancing revolutionary biomaterials

    Biodesign Institute announces new center devoted to advancing revolutionary biomaterials

    Biomaterials are expected to become the foundation for transformative advances in health care. Kaushal Rege, a professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, is poised to contribute to that progress through his recent appointment with ASU’s Biodesign Institute. Rege will now direct the new Center for Biomaterials Innovation and Translation. The center will establish collaborations between researchers in materials science, engineering, biology, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and regulatory affairs to develop new materials that are safe, effective and compatible with the human body and meet the needs of a variety of medical applications.

  • ASU Alumni-Founded Nonprofit Seeks To Improve Clean Water Access in Peru

    ASU Alumni-Founded Nonprofit Seeks To Improve Clean Water Access in Peru

    What began as a venture conceived in 2010 by three students participating in the Fulton Schools Engineering Projects in Community Service, or EPICS, is today helping more than a dozen communities in Peru reduce clean water scarcity and improve sanitation. About half of Peru’s 32 million people lack access to safe and reliable water sources. The EPICS nonprofit project 33 Buckets started by then-Fulton Schools students Mark Huerta, Swaroon Sridhar and Paul Strong now partners with 15 communities and brings teams of students together to develop engineering-based solutions for nonprofits, schools and charities. The 33  Buckets team plans to expand its work and is exploring potential opportunities in Mexico and the U.S.

  • Biden’s defense budget anticipates threat from China, Russia

    Biden’s defense budget anticipates threat from China, Russia

    The largest U.S. defense budget in decades has been proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden. Rising tensions with Russia and China are seen as the reason to seek a large defense spending increase. Fulton Schools faculty member Brad Allenby (pictured), an ASU President’s Professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering and founding chair of the Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations and National Security, says it’s clear why the president is urging more investment in military preparedness. Allenby points to China’s plan to equip its navy with significantly more ships than the U.S. Navy has in its fleet as an indication of the risky political situation the U.S. may face in the future.

  • Arizona legislators get up-close look at ASU semiconductor facility

    Arizona legislators get up-close look at ASU semiconductor facility

    The ASU MacroTechnology Works is enabling the university to bridge the gap between technology innovations created in research labs and practical real-life solutions. That makes the facility a good training ground for future workers in the growing semiconductor manufacturing industry. Many ASU students developing their research and engineering talents at Macrotechnology Works are primed to become promising candidates for jobs at two massive Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fabricating centers in north Phoenix or benefit from the New Economy Initiative, which is bringing together Arizona’s three public universities, private companies and state government to pave the way to new frontiers in the high-tech industry.

  • Celebrating the women of ASU Online who inspire, advance STEM education

    Celebrating the women of ASU Online who inspire, advance STEM education

    Among those honored during Women’s History Month for their contributions to society are women making significant achievements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. That group includes standouts who make up more than half of the ASU faculty members teaching through ASU Online. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Kristen Parrish is one those who are not only outstanding STEM educators but are also inspiring students to pursue innovative paths in their careers. Beyond teaching energy-efficient building design and construction, Parrish focuses on teaching her students — especially women — about perseverance, connecting to others they identify with in their professions and cultivating a sense of belonging among women in STEM fields.

  • Medtech Engineering Secrets Found in an Ancient Art Form

    Medtech Engineering Secrets Found in an Ancient Art Form

    New technologies inspired by the ancient art form called origami have lead in recent years to advances in various industries, including medical technology. The results include new kinds of batteries based on origami techniques like those developed by ASU researchers, including Hanqing Jiang, a former Fulton Schools professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Based on a form of origami called kirigami, Jiang and two doctoral students developed a method of cutting and twisting to produce interlocking structures of lithium ion batteries that can be stretched. The prototype battery, sewn into an elastic wristband attached to a smart watch, powered the watch and its functions – including playing videos.

  • Fellowships help extraordinary Sun Devils launch stellar careers

    Fellowships help extraordinary Sun Devils launch stellar careers

    She remembers herself at 12 years old looking up into the night sky and wondering what it would be like to explore the stars. Now grown-up Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student Sierra Malmberg has been among winners of a fellowship that enabled her to work as a Starship booster build engineer intern at SpaceX. The engineering-focused Brooke Owens Fellowship is providing such opportunities to exceptional female and gender minority undergrads who aspire to work in aerospace. Fellows get opportunities for paid internships at top aerospace companies and mentorship from company leaders.

  • ASU students win $10K prize in 30-hour hackathon

    ASU students win $10K prize in 30-hour hackathon

    Development of a design to divert a domestic terrorist attack was the project that earned a team of ASU students the $10,000 prize in the latest Devils Invent event, one in a series of STEM design challenges organized and coordinated by the Fulton Schools. The hackathon, which took place over 30 hours, brought together 23 teams from 11 colleges in the U.S. for the competition with the theme “Protecting America’s Public Access Areas.” With guidance from academic and industry mentors, the student teams exhibited their design and hands-on technical skills to work on solutions to homeland security challenges, says Melissa Stine, a Fulton Schools student success and engagement coordinator.

February

2023
  • Aspiring engineer, student trainee earns Corps internship, inspires minds along way

    Aspiring engineer, student trainee earns Corps internship, inspires minds along way

    Fulton Schools student Taylor Brown (front row, sitting second from left), set to graduate in May with a degree in concrete engineering, is also a student trainee in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District. Pictured here with her ASU Concrete Solutions teammates, Brown holds a trophy she won at a recent Associated Schools of Construction student competition. After graduation, Brown plans to remain with the Corps as a Department of the Army intern. She was offered an internship with the Corps last year at a conference of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, which supports and represents Native Americans in STEM fields. Brown hopes to work on projects with Native American communities during her internship.

  • The Power of the Big Picture: Planet Showcase Highlights ASU Projects Using Satellite Imagery

    The Power of the Big Picture: Planet Showcase Highlights ASU Projects Using Satellite Imagery

    A partnership with Planet, a commercial satellite company, is providing access to satellite imagery and terabytes of data to enable ASU faculty and students to pursue ventures that seek to solve environmental and engineering challenges. The recent Planet Showcase highlighted some of these projects. Fulton Schools civil, environmental and sustainable engineering graduate student Zhaocheng Wang is mapping flash flood hazard areas to help protect a rural desert region in Arizona that regularly experiences threatening floods. Hannah Kerner, a Fulton Schools assistant professor in the School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, is using her skills in machine learning to help a NASA Harvest agricultural and food security initiative.

  • Keeping up with the demand for engineers as the U.S. semiconductor chip industry expands

    Keeping up with the demand for engineers as the U.S. semiconductor chip industry expands

    Increasing reliance on companies in other countries for semiconductor chips used in advanced electronics led the U.S. Congress to pass the CHIPS and Science Act to bring more chip manufacturing into the country. That endeavor is gaining steam with the help of ASU, particularly through the Fulton Schools. New programs in the university’s MacroTechnology Works research facility and a semiconductor processing graduate program are among efforts to provide the country’s manufacturing sector the highly trained workforce it requires, says Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools. Michael Kozicki, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering, points to the move of the world’s leading chip manufacturer to Phoenix and ASU’s plans to produce the skilled engineers the company needs.

  • India Ambassador visits with students, faculty to learn about ASU innovations

    India Ambassador visits with students, faculty to learn about ASU innovations

    The recently adopted U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology aimed at expanding partnerships between the two countries’ governments, businesses and academic institutions helped lead to a recent visit to ASU by India’s ambassador to the U.S., Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Academic leaders from the Fulton Schools were among those at ASU who spent time in discussions with Sandhu. STEM innovations and development of engineering talent align with the goals on the initiative. Sandhu said he was able to get a strong sense of the university’s commitment to be at the forefront of the education, research, development and implementation of innovative programs and technologies needed to brighten the outlook for the future of both countries.

  • ASU ranks in top 10 for inventions, patents, licenses and startups among universities without medical schools

    ASU ranks in top 10 for inventions, patents, licenses and startups among universities without medical schools

    Innovations achieved by researchers in the Fulton Schools have helped to significantly boost ASU’s ranking among universities that are producing new inventions, business startups, entrepreneurial ventures and other endeavors that are impacting industries and serving society. Important progress in transportation, solar power and other energy sources, health care, environmental protection, and development of high-performance technologies have resulted from work in the labs of Fulton Schools faculty members Zachary Holman, Bruce Rittmann, Cesar Torres, Zengshan Yu, Kate Fisher, Visar Berisha and their collaborators and colleagues, a number of them in ASU’s Biodesign Institute.  

  • How Arizona Is Positioning Itself for $52 Billion to the Chips Industry

    How Arizona Is Positioning Itself for $52 Billion to the Chips Industry

    When former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and other state leaders met several years ago with executives of Taiwan-based TSMC, the biggest maker of advanced semiconductor chips, ASU and its large number of Fulton Schools engineering students were among the major advantages the Arizona contingent emphasized to the company’s leadership. Today TSMC is building a sprawling multibillion-dollar facility in Phoenix, and Arizona has become a leader in the U.S. in microchip investment.  Along with tax breaks and support to build new infrastructure, Arizona leaders also promised to expand technical and engineering education in the state to provide a more robust pool of potential new employees for companies like TSMC. Those incentives have helped to make Arizona a hub for large chip makers, including Intel, and lead to further investments in the industry.

  • Opinion: Induced Travel Demand Induces Media Attention

    Opinion: Induced Travel Demand Induces Media Attention

    What are the best solutions to our transportation and travel challenges? Well, it’s complicated, says Steven Polzin, a research professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Build Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. It requires taking into account multiple factors that shape transportation scenarios, from sociological and environmental perspectives to complex forecasting formulas and planning logistics, says Polzin, deputy director of Teaching Old Models New Tricks, or TOMNET,  which explores and models our mobility choices under various conditions. Here, Polzin examines the popular new concept of induced demand and the outlook for it providing a path forward to more effective transportation planning and management.

  • Do the math: ChatGPT sometimes can’t, expert says

    Do the math: ChatGPT sometimes can’t, expert says

    Paulo Shakarian directs Lab V-2, where challenges in the field of artificial intelligence are examined. In one recent project, Shakarian tested the new generative AI technology ChatGPT on 1,000 mathematical word problems. It did not consistently produce impressive results. In an interview, the associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, discusses what the results of the testing indicate about the abilities, usefulness, limitations and drawbacks of ChatGPT. Among Shakarian’s conclusions is that ChatGPT could be valuable in many practical applications in which precise accuracy is not a tantamount concern. But there are concerns about when ChatGPT might be involved in guiding decisions that would have ethical implications.

  • Pay To Park: ASU Has A Parking Problem. And It’s Costing Students Hundreds

    Pay To Park: ASU Has A Parking Problem. And It’s Costing Students Hundreds

    High housing prices in areas close to ASU’s Tempe campus keep many students from living near the school. But that often means those students commute to the campus, where they’ve been hit with rising costs for parking. Various factors create this situation, explains civil engineer Steven Polzin, a research professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. The former the U.S. Department of Transportation senior advisor says one reason is the Phoenix area’s urban sprawl, which often results in low use of public transit and more automobile travel that leads to higher public parking costs.  

  • Chips and changemakers

    Chips and changemakers

    Changemakers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics who have not been widely recognized are now getting some attention, thanks to commemorations of those pioneers related to events like Black History Month. ASU scholars Brooke Coley and Michel Kinsy expressed gratitude for the achievements of one of those inspiring changemakers, the recently retired U.S Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. Coley, an assistant professor in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, talked about the impact of Johnson’s work on opening pathways to STEM education for many people of color. Kinsy, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, also part of the Fulton Schools, says Johnson also supported efforts that opened doors to research careers for many who have historically been underrepresented in those professions.

  • Nitric Acid Leak After Deadly Truck Crash

    Nitric Acid Leak After Deadly Truck Crash

    The driver of a cargo truck died as the result of the crash on the Interstate-10 freeway in Tucson of the vehicle carrying toxic nitric acid. Public safety officials closed the section of the freeway as workers cleaned up the spill cite. For an assessment of the response of officials to the incident, a reporter talked to Kiril Hristovski, an associate professor in the Fulton Schools environmental resource management program and a senior sustainability scientist. Hazardous materials management is one his areas of expertise. Hristovski said the response to the nitric acid spill on the roadway was appropriate because the nitric acid was neutralized by being quickly covered in soil and transported from the scene.

  • Has widening roads helped Valley travel times?

    Has widening roads helped Valley travel times?

    Population growth in the past two decades in Maricopa County has sparked a roadway construction boom in Phoenix and neighboring municipalities. But despite extensions of roads and highways and additions of more lanes, jampacked roads continue to be the norm. It’s not surprising, says Steve Polzin, a Fulton Schools professor of civil engineering and a former senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The problem isn’t only a result of people driving more but of more people driving, he says. That echoes comments of the Maricopa Association of Governments transportation data program manager, who says every growing metro area in the U.S. is experiencing increasing traffic, even as they continue to add lanes to highways and major streets.

  • ASU’s Biodesign Institute blazes new research trails

    ASU’s Biodesign Institute blazes new research trails

    Advances in protecting and restoring human health have been aided over recent years by research based in ASU’s Biodesign Institute. Now it is attracting even more funding to pursue solutions related to digestive proteins in the human gut, toxic exposure to fungi during childhood and long-term vaccine effectiveness. Some of the new work involves research lead by Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools. She directs the newly established Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes and now has a new grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to further explore the effects of toxins on childhood growth.

  • Beauty, lies & ChatGPT: Welcome to the post-truth world

    Beauty, lies & ChatGPT: Welcome to the post-truth world

    ChatGPT, the new artificial intelligence technology that’s been making headlines, is “perhaps not an entirely bad thing,” Subbarao Kamphampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science, concludes in this commentary. But in most of his examination of the development and abilities of this new addition to what is called generative AI, he points out serious challenges that he sees the use of ChatGPT presenting. Kambhampati says while its writing skills are technically good, ChatGPT is “afactual,” with no concepts of truth or falsity. One danger in this shortcoming is that it could add to the rising tide of misinformation generated in today’s cyberworld communications environment, as well as lead to a loss of originality in writing.

  • ASU people, programs and events address low representation of Black professionals in STEM

    ASU people, programs and events address low representation of Black professionals in STEM

    Several ASU programs and organizations seek to help Black students in their academic and professional development in STEM fields. One recent effort was the Black Women in Engineering Faculty Panel hosted by the Multicultural Communities of Excellence. Panelists included Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Brooke Coley, a racial equity scholar. She talked about cultural barriers that continue to make it difficult to achievement equality in STEM and other professions. Other speakers discussed similar social and educational inequities. Fulton Schools materials science and engineering student Tochukwu Anyigbo, a co-vice president of the National Society of Black Engineers, said the organization is working with major companies to provide students professional growth opportunities and cohosting the upcoming Black Professional Conference at ASU.

    See Also: Black Women in Engineering panel provides perspective for students pursuing careers in STEM, ASU News, February 15

  • Goodyear hires new directors for economic development, water services

    Goodyear hires new directors for economic development, water services

    Barbara Chappell has degrees from ASU in civil and environmental engineering and in public administration. She also holds certificates in water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collections and wastewater treatment from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Chappell recently became the first water services director hired by the growing city of Goodyear, west of Phoenix. She had held water management-related jobs for 14 years in the nearby city of Avondale.

  • Solar panel recycling pilot goes into overtime

    Solar panel recycling pilot goes into overtime

    The Alberta Recycling Management Authority in one of Canada’s largest provinces is on a mission to find new uses for old solar energy panel materials. The amount of solar panel waste in Canada is growing, and regional governments are looking for productive ways to recycle the materials. Meng Tao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, says such a solution is needed in the U.S., where most old solar panels end up in landfills. Most panels are difficult to recycle because the materials can’t be separated without complex chemical processes, Tao says. He favors governments requiring manufacturers to make panels that are recyclable, as some European countries have done.

  • ASU designing microelectronics platforms for the future

    ASU designing microelectronics platforms for the future

    Professor Daniel Bliss and his team at ASU’s Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architecture are developing a new platform for high-performance processors that are more power efficient and easier to use. Other work involves producing new and improved variations of the microprocessors that are the foundations most modern electronics. Through these and related projects led by Bliss, a faculty member in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, ASU researchers are making progress that will impact a wide range of engineering and science pursuits in space exploration, communication and navigation systems, autonomous vehicles, health sensors. augmented reality and more.

  • Here’s how Arizona is building a semiconductor workforce

    Here’s how Arizona is building a semiconductor workforce

    As boosting semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. has become a national priority, efforts are also springing up to develop the semiconductor workforce of the future. That includes investments in educating students in the skills needed in today’s high-tech industries. The major chip manufacturing company Intel is providing support through its Broadening Participation in Science and Engineering Higher Education grant program to Professors Trevor Thornton and Hongbin Yu, faculty members in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools. Yu is focusing on expanding offerings in semiconductor packaging courses at ASU and community colleges. Thornton’s work involves giving hands-on experience in building semiconductor technology to ASU and  Maricopa Community Colleges students.

  • Regents Professor is an AI explorer of 4 decades

    Regents Professor is an AI explorer of 4 decades

    As a researcher, Fulton Schools Professor Han Liu (pictured at left in photo with one if his graduate students) helped to pioneer the now exploding field of artificial intelligence, or AI, technology. As a teacher and academic advisor, Liu, a faculty member in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the Fulton Schools, has guided more than 30 students in earning their doctoral degrees. Those are among achievements that have recently earned him the designation as an ASU Regents Professor, the highest honor bestowed on the university’s faculty members. His work developing computational methods to advance data mining, machine learning and social computing has led to global recognition for his contributions. He has also gained a reputation as a valuable mentor. Doctoral students he has guided say Liu helped make them not only experts but also leaders in their fields.

  • Trust, but verify: The quest to measure our trust in AI

    Trust, but verify: The quest to measure our trust in AI

    ASU’s Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency is testing a tool that could help government and industry identify and develop trustworthy AI technology. Trustworthiness is an increasing concern as the use of AI expands into many fields, including health care, business, finance, transportation and other important aspects of society. Erin Chiou, an assistant professor of human systems engineering in The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, is among ASU researchers exploring how to develop trustworthy AI technology and ensuring its use protects the peoples’ rights as well as serves their best interests. The article is also published in Business Telegraph.

  • Rescuing small plastics from the waste stream

    Rescuing small plastics from the waste stream

    More plastics manufacturers are taking steps to help protect the environment by reducing plastics waste. More are pledging to make plastic packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable. But there are technical challenges to meeting those goals, particularly for efforts to recycle small plastic products. A major hurdle is that today’s recycling infrastructure is not designed to effectively process smaller plastic items. Among those seeking solutions is Alexis Hocken, who graduated from ASU in 2021 after earning a chemical engineering degree through her studies in the Fulton Schools. Now in the chemical engineering doctoral program at MIT, Hocken is collaborating with manufacturers to achieve what could be a significant environmental sustainability achievement.

  • Navrotsky named Regents Professor for groundbreaking work in materials science

    Navrotsky named Regents Professor for groundbreaking work in materials science

    Fifty years after beginning her academic career at ASU but leaving after 16 years, Alexandra Navrotsky returned in 2019 as one of the world’s leading experts in materials science and engineering. Now she’s been named an ASU Regents Professor, the highest honor bestowed on the university’s faculty members. Now a professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy,  part of the Fulton Schools, and the School of Molecular Sciences, she is also affiliated with the School of Earth and Space Exploration and director of the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe. Her achievements have made her a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Distinguished Life Member of the American Ceramic Society and winner of a major European Materials Research Society award.

January

2023
  • Zoom Innovation Lab Utilizes Student Partnership To Enhance Virtual Communication

    Zoom Innovation Lab Utilizes Student Partnership To Enhance Virtual Communication

    A partnership between Zoom and ASU that kicked off last fall with the opening of the Zoom Innovation Lab on ASU’s Tempe campus is making progress. The collaboration has launched the Zoom Creative Studio and students working at ASU’s Learning Futures Collaboratory have had a key role in developing the code for a new plug-in integrating Zoom’s existing 2D interface with a 3D virtual reality universe. In addition, the Zoom Innovation Lab and the Fulton Schools Luminosity Lab are working on a project to provide a telehealth application using Zoom’s video interface to enable remote and immediate medical consultations. Through the Zoom Creative Studio, students will be able to use the telehealth app to coordinate visits and personal consultations and even run experiments using the lab’s technological property. 

  • ASU startup receives funding to advance fire-safe battery research

    ASU startup receives funding to advance fire-safe battery research

    Safe-Li, a startup venture arising from the work of Fulton Schools Professor Jerry Lin, has been accepted into the Shell Global companies’ Shell GameChanger Program that helps startup businesses ventures with early-stage ideas to potentially impact the future of energy. The program will support Safe-Li through a grant to further Lin’s research on fire-safe lithium-ion and lithium-metal battery technology.  Lin, a chemical engineer, the inventor of the technologies and Safe-Li’s chief scientist, developed the patent-pending technology that is expected to not only make lithium batteries safer but also revolutionize the battery industry. Lin says the technology can be used to make lithium-metal batteries with higher energy density, which can then lead to the development of long-range batteries for electrical vehicles.

    See Also: ASU startup scores funding from Shell for fire-safe lithium-ion battery research, AZ INNO (The Business Journals), February 3
    (The full news content of AZ INNO is available only to subscribers)

  • Powering up computing capacity

    Powering up computing capacity

    To bolster the durability of electronic systems and devices used in high-radiation environments — in outer space, for instance — a process called radiation hardening can keep computer components functioning despite levels of radiation exposure that would cause most electronics to fail. Fulton Schools and Sandia National Laboratories researchers are collaborating to improve on that process, which includes finding ways to make radiation hardened computer chips more efficient. The work is led by Matthew Marinella, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, a part of the Fulton Schools, and a former researcher at Sandia Labs. Achieving the project goal would make spacecraft computing more efficient, freeing up power for space missions to perform more tasks.

  • Can 3D Printing Take Place at the Nanoscale?

    Can 3D Printing Take Place at the Nanoscale?

    Improving the resolution of 3D printing will make it a more scalable and efficient tool for manufacturing. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Kenan Song is leading work to make that advance in the 3D printing process. Song’s multidisciplinary research team is working to improve nanoscale 3D printing by exploring how materials work at the level of atoms and molecules. Applications of 3D printing range from prototyping to rapid on-site tooling and mass production, with many uses involving engineering applications. Development of new materials and methods for nanoscale 3D printing are expected to offer highly tunable features, which will expand the benefits of this high-tech printing technique.  

  • SEMICON will begin annual rotation with Phoenix

    SEMICON will begin annual rotation with Phoenix

    After being held for more than half a century in San Francisco, North America’s premier microelectronics exhibition and conference, SEMICON West, will be coming to Arizona in 2027 and 2029. Along with Phoenix emerging in recent years as a major semiconductor industry hub through growing investments in chip manufacturing made in the area, other factors had an influence on the decision to bring SEMICON West to Phoenix. Among the main reasons is the Fulton Schools, the largest engineering education program in the U.S. About 7,000 of the Fulton Schools’ 30,000 students are concentrating on studies to prepare them to work in microelectronics and related fields.

  • The potential and the future of the internet

    The potential and the future of the internet

    Advances in quantum information science and technology, or QIST, are now seen as being a major driving force in the evolution of computing and the internet. ASU is poised to contribute to the endeavor through its involvement in the new nationwide Quantum Collaborative. ASU has already opened a Quantum Networking Lab on its Tempe campus. The university’s students can learn about what is emerging on the horizon with this new wave of computer and internet capabilities. A variety of the Fulton Schools’ engineering, technology and computer science degree programs can provide the education and skills needed to pursue careers in QIST fields.

    See also: Arizona State University Looks Toward The Internet’s Quantum Future, The Quantum Insider, January 27

  • This Arizona man wants to change aerospace manufacturing with large-scale 3D printing

    This Arizona man wants to change aerospace manufacturing with large-scale 3D printing

    During his time studying aerospace engineering and human systems engineering in the Fulton Schools, Christian LaRosa (pictured) was part of a student-led effort to develop a plasma jet engine with support from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Raytheon. He also participated in a NASA mission to develop a new method of lunar seismic data collection. In those projects, he learned how 3D-printing could help solve technological problems. Now working in industry, through a company he founded, LaRosa is leading efforts at the forefront of advancing the use of large-scale 3D-printing to make massive metal parts and structures. He is using that capability to help improve the design and manufacturing of technologies critical to the progress of the aerospace industry. (Access to the editorial content of the Arizona Republic is available only to subscribers.)

  • ASU musicians showcase creativity in electronic music

    ASU musicians showcase creativity in electronic music

    A recent interactive event at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix showcased ways in which technology is transforming music. One attraction involved demonstrations by Seth Thorn (pictured) of “wearable music,” which involved a shoulder rest for a violin he invented that provides haptic feedback to performers. Thorn teaches a course that instructs ASU students on using sensors, motion and connections to various syntheses algorithms to make music. Thorn is a clinical assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative involving the Fulton Schools and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. The event featured other new modes of music making being made possible by applications of innovations in engineering and science.

  • ChatGPT Worries Professors, Excites Them For Future of AI

    ChatGPT Worries Professors, Excites Them For Future of AI

    New technology capable of writing essays at college-level proficiency is raising concerns in academia. The artificial intelligence model called ChatGPT can mimic common styles of writing. ChatGPT could make it easy for students to cheat or plagiarize other writing. Three faculty members in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, a part of the Fulton Schools, say ChatGPT will raise a lot of questions. Professor Katina Michael is thinking about how she can structure exams and homework assignments to discourage its use. Professor Subbarao Kambhampati says teachers will eventually be able to detect the signs of students’ use of this AI technology, and Professor Kasim Selcuk Candan sees ways ChatGPT might instead be used to enhance learning.

  • The ‘Three Amigos’ Talk Microchips

    The ‘Three Amigos’ Talk Microchips

    News about the recent North American Leaders’ Summit reports on progress on an agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada to act together to boost the economies of the three countries. A major focus is making North America a major global hub for semiconductor manufacturing. That effort includes an agreement between ASU and Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S. to train people to work in the semiconductor sector in some Mexican states along the U.S. southwestern border area.  The U.S. State Department is now arranging for CHIPS and Science Act funds to establish secure supply chains for the partner countries. ASU’s support involves the Fulton Schools office of Global Outreach and Extended Education, which is working with industry, government and university leaders to advance the workforce partnership.

    See also: ASU, Mexico partner to boost production of semiconductors in North America, ASU News
    Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, joined semiconductor industry representatives to address Mexican government and education officials during their visit to Arizona, which included a tour of the ASU MacroTechnology Works engineering research facility and a local Intel company manufacturing plant.

  • 3 locations, 7 semitrucks, 5 deaths. Driving distractions likely, DPS

    3 locations, 7 semitrucks, 5 deaths. Driving distractions likely, DPS

    Both the frequency and severity of roadway automobile crashes have been rising in Arizona and elsewhere around the country. Speeding is a big factor, along with driver distraction. Collisions also tend to be more destructive to vehicles and cause more serious driver and passenger injuries and fatalities because many of today’s cars and trucks are bigger and heavier than in the past. A rising percentage of car and truck accidents on roadways are resulting in fatalities. Research led by Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineer and director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, a part of the Fulton Schools, has often focused on traffic safety factors. Pendyala says drivers must resist being distracted and keep as much distance as possible between them and larger vehicles.

  • Aclarity destroys PFAS chemicals in mobile pilot

    Aclarity destroys PFAS chemicals in mobile pilot

    A chemical waste destruction technology company reports it has developed an effective and economical tool for destruction of PFAS chemicals, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl, which can pose serious health risks for people. They are also known as “forever chemicals,” because they do not easily degrade, and thus present persistent contamination threats. But an electrochemical destruction method developed by the company shows promise for effectively degrading PFAS chemicals into harmless byproducts, according to environmental engineer Mahmut Ersan, a Fulton Schools assistant research professor. The process has been tested in Ersan’s lab. He says its efficiency in destroying the substances is “a notable advancement” in mitigating the dangers posed by these chemicals.

  • ENR Southwest’s 2023 Top Young Pros

    ENR Southwest’s 2023 Top Young Pros

    Seven ASU graduates are among 20 construction industry professionals under age 40 selected for the publication’s 2023 recognition of top achievers and up and coming leaders in their fields. Six earned degrees in programs in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, a part of the Fulton Schools. They are Brittany Burbes and Curtis Smith (both construction management graduates) Andrew Moreno (civil engineering), Rumpa Dey (master’s in civil engineering-transportation), Kimberley Martin (civil engineering doctoral degree) and Sanjay Paul (transportation engineering master’s and doctoral degrees). Tyler Besch earned an urban and environmental planning degree in ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. All of them work for prominent Arizona companies.

  • X-ray light reveals how virus responsible for COVID-19 covers its tracks, eluding the immune system

    X-ray light reveals how virus responsible for COVID-19 covers its tracks, eluding the immune system

    XBB.1.5, the most transmissible variant to date of the SARS CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has started to move across the U.S. The new coronavirus is especially infectious because it can “outsmart” the innate immune defenses of the human body, experts say. Now, in a new study involving 30 research collaborators, including faculty members in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, are developing a detailed map with directions for the design of stronger COVID-fighting drugs. The project involves working to thwart the ability of a protein called NendoU to conceal the coronavirus in the body.

  • Helping women in Vietnam become academic leaders

    Helping women in Vietnam become academic leaders

    ASU’s participation in the U.S. Agency for International Development program Building University-Industry Learning and Development through Innovation and Technology, or BUILD-IT, which the Fulton Schools Office of Global Outreach and Extended Education, or GOEE, helps to facilitate, is helping to expand and improve education in engineering and other STEM fields in other countries. One way GOEE is contributing is assisting the efforts of BUILD-IT in Vietnam to boost the involvement of women in numerous universities in Vietnam, including opening paths for them into STEM leadership positions. That work supports USAID’s broader goal to develop higher education initiatives in Vietnam to help 150,000 students develop skills that would lead to a more competitive global market. Learn more from other ASU and Fulton Schools articles: ASU supports women in Vietnam to become academic leaders and 1st-gen Vietnamese student wants to prove women are an engineering asset.

  • A look into ASU’s microchip development program

    A look into ASU’s microchip development program

    With the U.S. pushing to advance its global position in the semiconductor and microchip manufacturing industry, ASU and the Fulton Schools are gearing up to support the national effort. More students are being trained in microchip engineering at the university’s research centers and laboratories equipped with some of the latest microchip design, development and production technologies. Zachary Holman, an associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering and director the Fulton Schools faculty entrepreneurship program, says students who master skills in these areas will have promising career prospects in many of the engineering professions. See related report.

  • No more Band-Aids: How to make the Colorado River sustainable for the long term

    No more Band-Aids: How to make the Colorado River sustainable for the long term

    One of the most critical sustainability challenges in the western U.S.  is restoring the Colorado River Basin as a dependable source of water. Climate change, drought, overallocation and other factors have combined to bring about a looming crisis that threatens to severely limit water resources to the vast region served by the basin. Many current efforts are certain to fall short of what’s needed to deal with the problem, write Margaret Garcia, as assistant professor in the Schools of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, and Elizabeth A. Koebele, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. They say long-term solutions will require dramatically changing management policies and rethinking how we use water. The opinion piece was also published by azcentral.com and MSN, Pehal News (India) and Water News Network.

December

2022
  • ASU faculty members selected to lead proposal for microelectronics research, development in the Southwest

    ASU faculty members selected to lead proposal for microelectronics research, development in the Southwest

    Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools and Sally Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, will lead a team of ASU faculty, staff and partners to form the Microelectronics Commons, a national network funded by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The team is a response to the U.S. Department of Defense request for solutions, which solicits regional hubs that have “lab prototyping capabilities and sources of microelectronics talent for onshore, lab-to-fab transition of semiconductor technologies,” Squires and Morton will direct ASU’s strategic proposal to the defense department to create and operate a Microelectronics Commons to pursue innovation in the field and help the U.S. become the global leader in microchip research, development and manufacturing. (Access to the full content of the Phoenix Business Journal is available only to subscribers.)

  • ASU Relationships To Help Arizona Become Top Semiconductor Manufacturer

    ASU Relationships To Help Arizona Become Top Semiconductor Manufacturer

    Fulton Schools leadership and faculty members are at the center of ASU’s collaborations with government and business leaders to bring semiconductor industry jobs to Arizona. Some major technology companies are now looking at Fulton Schools students as a source of experts for collaborations and for future student interns and full-time employees. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, says the university has aligned some of its engineering education programs with the needs of leading technology manufacturing companies that are now in a growth mode in Arizona and across the country. The president of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council sees more semiconductor suppliers being drawn to ASU to find employees to fill growing numbers of STEM-based positions.

    See Also: Arizona State University Advancing With Proposal For CHIPS And Science Act Funding, India Education Diary

  • Lincoln Center undergrad’s project explores responsible AI, classroom technology

    Lincoln Center undergrad’s project explores responsible AI, classroom technology

    Through ASU’s Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, Fulton Schools senior computer science student Jose Gonzalez-Garduno explored how using artificial intelligence, or AI, technology in K–12 classrooms affects students and educators. He found that AI is changing not only how STEM subjects are taught but are reshaping modern education in general and how educational systems operate. But while today’s technology can provide effective computer-based training and computer-aided instruction, Gonzalez-Garduno says schools must maintain the value of what basic human interaction brings to the overall educational experience. He is now planning to pursue a computer science master’s degree and possibly a doctoral degree to prepare for a career creating new technologies that bring positive societal impacts.

  • ‘Snakes’ on the moon? These helpers could soon join our lunar mission.

    ‘Snakes’ on the moon? These helpers could soon join our lunar mission.

    A six-legged spider-like robot was recently developed by of a group of ASU engineering students for a NASA competition that challenged participants to come with applications and designs for robotics technology that could potentially help the national space agency explore the moon’s roughest terrain. The ASU team responded with a four foot tall robot named CHARLOTTE, an acronym for Crater Hydrogen And Regolith Laboratory for Observation on Technical Terrain Environments, which uses a lidar system to scan surrounding terrain. CHARLOTTE won the competition’s best systems engineering award.

  • International ASU grad uses experiences to undo waste

    International ASU grad uses experiences to undo waste

    Nivedita Biyana remembers that as I child she watched someone separating items from garbage into two containers. It sparked Biyana’s curiosity and motivated her to learn about recycling. Today, many years later, she has earned a doctoral degree in civil and environmental engineering from the Fulton Schools. A highlight of Biyana’s time at ASU is a $150,000 award she won with Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden to support a nonprofit startup that developed testing to detect the presence of COVID-19 in wastewater. That led to a $1 million Rockefeller Foundation award to help the Navajo Nation cope with the COVID pandemic. Biyana now plans to pursue a career in the recycling industry while continuing to work on her startup venture.

  • Study finds microbiota transfer therapy provides long-term improvement in gut health in children with autism

    Study finds microbiota transfer therapy provides long-term improvement in gut health in children with autism

    A new study by ASU researchers and some of their colleagues is finding a potentially more promising way to improve communication between the human gut and the brain, which could provide an effective treatment for symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. One in 44 children in the U.S.  are adfected by the disorder. Fulton Schools professors Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and James Adams are among collaborators on the research. Krajmalnik-Brown directs ASU’s Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes. Adams directs ASU’s Autism/Asperger’s Research Program. They are working on the project’s second phase, seeking to verify whether the findings that a microbiota transfer procedure involving the transfer of gut microbiota from healthy donors to autism spectrum disorder patients will prove correct in follow-up tests.

  • The Colorado River we rely on is likely to get even drier

    The Colorado River we rely on is likely to get even drier

    Even if the Southwest’s Colorado River basin gets more than average rain or snowfall in coming decades, experts say it is unlikely to effectively counteract the impacts of continued warming weather and a drying climate. So, a hotter and drier environment in Arizona and bordering states is a certainty, says Enrique Vivoni (pictured), a Fulton Schools associate professor and hydrologist whose expertise is in interactions of climate, ecosystems and landscapes in arid and semiarid regions. Vivoni has also been involved in a recent NASA-funded project enabling the Central Arizona Project and ASU researchers to carefully assess ongoing environmental trends in the Colorado River Basin region. (Access to the full content of Tucson.com is available only to subscribers.)

  • Tempe was at the forefront of wastewater testing for COVID-19, other emerging health crises

    Tempe was at the forefront of wastewater testing for COVID-19, other emerging health crises

    As COVID-19 infections began to spread, Tempe was among the first cities to be provided a warning system for the spread of the virus. ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, had been tracking the use of opioids in the city using the center’s wastewater monitoring capabilities, but switched its focus to COVID in the early days of the pandemic. Halden says the center was the first in the world to not only measure COVID spread but to show how the virus was moving through communities. That enabled city officials to ramp up health resources in reaction to COVID outbreaks. Today, the center has the capabilities to also monitor the spread of other diseases and health risks, including diabetes, cancer, polio and obesity.

    See also: World’s first open access dashboard reveals neighboor-level trands of COVID-19 from wastewater, ASU News, December 8

    ASU researchers turning to Tempe wastewater to track community’s health, December 13, 3TV/CBS 5 News-Phoenix

  • ASU professor on the plausibility of Elon Musk’s brain implant plans

    ASU professor on the plausibility of Elon Musk’s brain implant plans

    Prominent entrepreneur Elon Musk has a new startup venture in the works, one that will necessitate application of advances in brain computer interface technologies. Plans are for the company, Neuralink, to provide chips that can be planted into the brain that would be capable of helping to restore vision, mobility and possibly other related physical abilities. Neural engineer and neuroscientist Bradley Greger, an associate professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, a part of the Fulton Schools, says some of Musk’s goals are not out of reach based on progress in such technologies in recent years, but others likely will take many years and many scientific and biomedical engineering resources to fully realize. Image from iStock/Getty Images

  • Yes, semiconductor plants use a lot of water, but the vast majority is recycled and returned

    Yes, semiconductor plants use a lot of water, but the vast majority is recycled and returned

    Construction of two large semiconductor fabrication plants in Phoenix by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, is expected to result in a major boost for the city’s economy. But questions are being raised about whether there is an adequate supply of water to support the company’s vast operations. Paul Westerhoff, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools, says he is confident that recent engineering innovations can help, specifically through the use of recycled wastewater systems. He notes TSMC is already planning to build an on-site water reclamation plant for its manufacturing operations.

  • ASU Regents Professor honored with materials science award

    ASU Regents Professor honored with materials science award

    Alexandra Navrotsky has earned another high honor for her achievements in materials science. An ASU Regents Professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, a part of the Fulton Schools, she is now among winners of the prestigious Czochralski Medal from the European Materials Research Society for her contributions to materials research. Navrotsky, who directs ASU’s Center for Materials of the Universe, is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She has published more than 900 scientific papers and serves on numerous academic and government advisory committees and panels.

  • How Is Everyone Making Those A.I. Selfies?

    How Is Everyone Making Those A.I. Selfies?

    Among the latest proliferating social media fads is the use of the app called Lensa AI. The app uses artificial intelligence to enable reproductions of selfie images transformed into a plethora of theatrical incarnations, some of which can be provocative. The app offers themes for the images like “anime,” “cosmic” and “fairy princess.” Subbarao Kambhampati, an AI researcher and a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, a part of the Fulton Schools, says the AI-based image generator is a powerful technology, and while it can be fun to use and spark some creativity, Kamhampati and others caution that its uses could raise privacy concerns and lead to the exploitation of users and their images.

    See Also: Those amazing Lensa AI avatars, The Telegraph (India)

  • New York ranked one of the most vulnerable states for identity theft

    New York ranked one of the most vulnerable states for identity theft

    Residents of the state of New York are among U.S. residents most victimized by identity theft. A study by WalletHub found New Yorkers rank ninth in median financial loss per victim for identity theft and fraud, and ninth in percentage of population victimized by identity theft and fraud. Use of social media is a major factor contributing to the rise in identity theft, says Katina Michael, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Her work includes research on the socioethical implications of emerging technologies. Michael says people pass along more personal information about themselves on social media platforms than they realize.

  • Here’s how giant semiconductor plant rising in north Phoenix will shape Arizona’s economy

    Here’s how giant semiconductor plant rising in north Phoenix will shape Arizona’s economy

    A massive new semiconductor fabrication plant being built on more than 1,100 acres in north Phoenix by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, is seen as a major economic stimulant for the metro area. Business leaders are predicting it will have impacts statewide on job creation, industry growth, commercial and housing developments and even cultural relations between Arizona and Taiwan. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, also sees the plant being a catalyst for job growth and development of the next generations of semiconductor chips. Squires expects ASU to not only provide TSMC with many of the news workers it will need, but also to see TSMC establish research collaborations with the Fulton Schools and other ASU colleges and programs. (Access to the editorial content of the Arizona Republic is available only to subscribers.)

    See Also: Future of Semiconductor Chips in the Valley, 12 News Phoenix (YouTube)
    Kyle Squires, dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, is interviewed about the potential impact of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. opening expansive operations in Phoenix.

    ASU’s major role in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company coming to Arizona, Fox10 News-Phoenix

    Taiwan Semiconductor to announce 2nd Phoenix factory during Biden visit. Company plans $40B investment, Arizona Republic

    TSMC impact on Phoenix: 80,000 jobs over next 5 years, AZ Big Media

    5 things to know about Phoenix’s TSMC semiconductor plant, Arizona Republic

    Why Arizona is working with Mexico to support semiconductor growth in North America, Phoenix Business Journal

    Biden Touts Advanced Chips Manufacturing in Visit to Arizona Semiconductor Plant, VOA (Voice of America news)

  • Catalysts for a nature-based future

    Catalysts for a nature-based future

    Nick Heier has earned master’s degrees in construction management and technology from the Del E. Webb School of Construction, part of the Fulton Schools, and in biomimicry from the School of Complex Adaptive Systems in ASU’s College of Global Futures. He hopes to use that broad education to contribute to nature-inspired solutions to infrastructure development challenges. He will be applying his knowledge to help shape the built environment for the 2032 Olympics in Australia and working with Biomimicry 3.8, a bio-inspired consultancy, with an ASU faculty member. Heier was an online student, but says he still felt connected to the ASU community, and was able to team with professors and researchers in his field.

  • NSF renews $2.5M grant for STEM education, careers

    NSF renews $2.5M grant for STEM education, careers

    The Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities, directed by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Jan Andino, strives to broaden education in science, technology, engineering and math fields for students who have been historically underrepresented in those STEM studies. The alliance’s work is getting more support with the recent renewal of a $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant. The alliance, which includes 13 educational institutions across Arizona, Colorado and Utah, seeks to accomplish it goals by providing students research experiences, mentoring from peers and STEM faculty, summer programs and virtual workshops. Andino says the grant will promote collaboration on research and other educational endeavors that will uplift the next generation of diverse STEM students.

  • Wanda Dalla Costa Is Laying Down the Groundwork for the Next Generation of Indigenous Architects

    Wanda Dalla Costa Is Laying Down the Groundwork for the Next Generation of Indigenous Architects

    Over the past two decades, architect Wanda Dalla Costa has become a pioneer in serving indigenous communities in North America in ways that help them reconnect with their cultural heritage. Those endeavors are among reasons she is now recognized among her creative peers on Architectural Digest magazine’s 2023 AD100 list of innovators. Dalla Costa is a faculty member in the Del E. Webb School of Construction, part of the Fulton Schools, and The Design School at ASU, a member of the Saddle Lake First Nation and founder of the Indigenous Design Collaborative at ASU. For her work in those roles and related pursuits, the magazine places her at the forefront of today’s indigenous architecture professionals who are setting the stage for further evolution in the field.

November

2022
  • San Francisco will allow police to deploy robots that kill

    San Francisco will allow police to deploy robots that kill

    Supervisors in San Francisco have approved allowing the city’s police force to use remote-controlled robots to deal with emergency situations — but not without heated debate and strong objections from the public, including civil liberties and police oversight groups, particularly because the robots have the capability to use lethal force. Protestors voiced concerns it would lead to militarization of a police force already prone to acting aggressively. Newscasters sought the opinion of Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, whose research has included consideration of ethical values in decisions about the use of technology. Allenby said there are safeguards that could be put in place to deter fears of excessive use of weaponized robots.

  • 2022 Materials Today Rising Star Award Winners Announced

    2022 Materials Today Rising Star Award Winners Announced

    Materials Today’s Rising Star Awards recognize researchers in materials science and engineering who have demonstrated their capability as researchers with the potential to become leaders in their field. Among the seven chosen as this year’s awardees is Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Houlong Zhang, whose research focuses on applying quantum mechanical simulations, machine learning and quantum computing calculations to tackle issues such as hydrogen storage and direct air capture with the aim of achieving energy and environmental sustainability. Zhuang has more than 9000 citations on his 100-plus research publications and has earned positions as a Scialog Fellow for Negative Emissions Science and a Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials.

  • ASU honors students inspired at 2022 Society of Women Engineers conference

    ASU honors students inspired at 2022 Society of Women Engineers conference

    Growing opportunities for women in engineering were explored by three Fulton Schools students who participated in the recent annual Society of Women Engineers conference. Senior mechanical engineering and professional flight major Audrey Schlichting, junior human systems engineering and technological entrepreneurship and management major Meredith Jaxon, and first-year software engineering major Emily Sanders were among four ASU students who received funding from ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College, to attend the conference. They found a variety of options for women in an expanding array of STEM fields, increasing acceptance of diversity in the engineering professions, and guidance and inspiration from women who are making notable strides in their engineering careers through their accomplishments and leadership.

  • High school students learn about artificial intelligence and related career paths

    High school students learn about artificial intelligence and related career paths

    With fast-emerging artificial intelligence, or AI, technology and its growing uses in many areas of society, concerns are arising about AI’s potentially troubling impacts. A recent AI Boot Camp for a group of Arizona high school students explored reactions to AI’s expanding ubiquity. Leaders of the event sought to separate facts from misconceptions and to explore AI as a promising career path. Aviral Shrivastava, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, says boundaries can be put in place that can help to keep AI in check. But as with all rapidly advancing technologies, Shrivastava adds, decisions must be made on how AI is applied to ensure it is used to serve the public interest. The article was also published in the Daily Courier (Prescott), Tuscon.com, the Tucson Sentinel, KGUN 9 News (Tucson) and the Herald Review (Cochise County)

  • ASU faculty among top female scientists in the world

    ASU faculty among top female scientists in the world

    Research.com’s new list of the top 1,000 female scientists in the world includes four ASU professors. Among them is Fulton Schools Professor Alexandra Navrotsky, a leading expert in multiple branches of materials science and engineering. Navrotsky is one of the leaders in groundbreaking research and discoveries in her field. She has contributed to advances in the fields of ceramics, mantle mineralogy and deep earth geophysics, melt and glass science, nanomaterials and porous materials. Navrotsky was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1993. Several years ago, a newly discovered mineral was named navrotskyite in her honor.

  • Arizona university strengthens US semiconductor manufacturing

    Arizona university strengthens US semiconductor manufacturing

    Leaders in manufacturing from several major industries attended a recent event to celebrate the launch of the newest of the Fulton Schools, the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks at ASU’s Polytechnic campus. About 200 business representatives and ASU affiliates got a look at the what the new school will do to help revitalize manufacturing operations to meet today’s growing demands in the semiconductor market and other leading technology sectors. The school’s director, Binil Starly, is bringing together decision-makers from both academia and industry to chart a course for shaping the academic programing and educational infrastructure the school will need to thrive. Research and technology development in microelectronics manufacturing, space manufacturing and biomanufacturing are certain to be major areas of focus. The article is also published in the Semiconductor Digest.

  • ASU brings energy, carbon capture solutions expertise to COP27 global climate conference

    ASU brings energy, carbon capture solutions expertise to COP27 global climate conference

    Fulton Schools students and faculty members participated in the recent United Nations global climate summit, COP27, joining leaders and policymakers from around the world who are seeking effective solutions to climate-related environmental challenges. The Fulton Schools contingent was joined by others in the ASU community from the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Fulton Schools Professor Sayfe Kiaei, director of the USAID-funded Center of Excellence for Energy in Egypt, also attended. Kiaei says it’s important to have contributions from ASU faculty and staff to solutions that address climate, carbon capture and energy issues. ASU hosted more than 15 events at the summit.

  • ASU names Regents Professors for 2023

    ASU names Regents Professors for 2023

    Two Fulton Schools faculty members are among those most recently named ASU Regents Professors, the university’s highest recognition for educators. Huan Liu, a professor of computer science and engineering in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, and Alexandra Navrotsky, a professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, join two other ASU faculty members as 2023 recipients of the honor. Liu is a pioneering artificial intelligence researcher. Navrotsky, who directs the Navrotsky Eyring Center for the Materials of the Universe, is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a leader in materials science research.

  • Arizona plans to give millions to ASU for water innovation, research

    Arizona plans to give millions to ASU for water innovation, research

    Arizona government leaders have decided to invest $40 million to fund a multi-year initiative calling for ASU to oversee an extensive effort to help ensure the state’s water supply for the future. The project will be led by the Fulton Schools and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. It will also involve SOURCE Water, an ASU spin-out company, along with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Intel Corporation. The Arizona Water Innovation Initiative will be implemented and scaled up over five years, and draw on expertise and resources from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, National Science Foundation, NASA and state and local water departments and associations, as well as Arizona’s two other state universities. ASU President Michael Crow says the project comes at “a critical innovation moment for water” in Arizona and several other states in the Southwest. (Full access to the content of the Arizona Business Journal is available only to subscribers.)

    See Also: State of Arizona taps ASU to lead water innovation initiative, ASU News, ASU tapped to lead statewide water initiative, Daily Independent (Phoenix), Arizona State University to lead water reseaqrch initiative for state’s resources, KTAR News, ASU will lead initiative to help secure water supply, AZ Big Media

  • Is drought in Arizona and the Southwest the new normal?

    Is drought in Arizona and the Southwest the new normal?

    Fully understanding the nature of the relationships between Arizona’s climate and the conditions of its natural resources is no simple task, says Fulton Schools Professor Enrique Vivoni. Many fluctuating and unpredictable factors can influence how Arizona’s various environments change and impact the climatological conditions under which the state’s residents live. Droughts, heatwaves, floods, varying atmospheric fluctuations and many other things shaped by the forces of nature, and by the actions of the human population, can make maintaining environmental health and stability in Arizona an especially complex and long-term challenge.

  • Why Big Tech Is Throwing $1 Billion at Sucking CO2 From the Air

    Why Big Tech Is Throwing $1 Billion at Sucking CO2 From the Air

    There are significant costs and criticism standing in the way of implementing direct air capture technology to help reduce one of the potentially more destructive causes of climate change. Direct air capture systems remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide comes from burning fossil fuels and is a major source of the greenhouse gas emissions driving a long-growing climate crisis. More than two decades ago, Klaus Lackner was among the first to recognize the technology as a potential remedy for the problem. Today, as a Fulton Schools professor, he directs ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, overseeing research to make air capture affordable and a viable technology in the field of sustainable energy infrastructure design.

  • Street teams, cool pavement, shady trees: How Phoenix protects residents from extreme heat

    Street teams, cool pavement, shady trees: How Phoenix protects residents from extreme heat

    Efforts in the Phoenix area to find solutions to the intensifying urban heat effect are being looked at by other cities and metropolitan areas facing similar climate and environmental challenges, including Dallas, Texas. Some of the solutions to mitigating the impacts of high temperatures are being developed by ASU researchers. Among them is Fulton Schools faculty member and urban climatologist Ariane Middel (pictured with her mobile meteorological monitoring technology), director of the university’s Sensible Heatscapes and Digital Environments lab, or SHaDE lab. One project involves a coating called Cool Seal that can be used on asphalt surfaces. It’s been found to reduce the air temperature on these surfaces, making them more comfortable for people. (Access to the article requires signing up for the publication’s News Roundup Newsletter)

  • Pathways for the Future honors scholarship awardee during Salute to Service week

    Pathways for the Future honors scholarship awardee during Salute to Service week

    Gil Ruiz is on course earn a degree in engineering, with a focus on robotics, from the Fulton Schools, thanks in part to ASU’s Pathways for the Future program. A single father, military veteran and transfer student, Ruiz has been aided in pursuing his higher education and career goals by both the Pathways program and MyPath2ASU. Beyond financial assistance, the programs have given him and other students resources to enable and enhance their journeys through college by providing opportunities to connect with networks of professionals in their fields and benefit from the knowledge and experience of mentors in preparing to enter the engineering workforce.

  • ASU professor receives federal funding for technology to grow domestic critical minerals supply chain

    ASU professor receives federal funding for technology to grow domestic critical minerals supply chain

    ASU’s Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe, directed by Fulton Schools professor Alexandra Navrotsky, will be expanding its pursuits as part of a new research program funded by the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program. The project aims to develop market-ready technologies to increase domestic supplies of critical elements required for transition to clean energy. The selection of the Eyring Center for a central role in the endeavor is a result of the center’s wide-ranging work combining expertise in cosmology, astrophysics, astronomy, planetary science and exploration, mineralogy and petrology with materials science and engineering, chemistry, physics and biology. The center’s goal for the new federal project will focus on contributing to materials solutions for decarbonization and sustainable and clean energy.

  • ASU leads $25M project to develop Southwest urban integrated field laboratory

    ASU leads $25M project to develop Southwest urban integrated field laboratory

    Arizona communities are among those increasingly facing the challenge of coping with the consequences of extreme heat, which is being intensified by climate change and urban growth. Now a new ASU-led partnership will work to make advances in urban climate research with the goal of developing solutions to the problem for areas of the state most vulnerable to rising heat. The effort will be led by the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory, whose deputy director is Fulton Schools Associate Professor Jean Andino. With a research team of experts in a diverse range of fields, Andino says the project can produce solutions enabling communities to be more environmentally resilient.

  • Defense under secretary visits ASU MacroTechnology Works

    Defense under secretary visits ASU MacroTechnology Works

    In her mission to ensure the U.S. government can best utilize emerging engineering and technology innovations to strengthen the nation’s military forces, U.S. Department of Defense Under Secretary Heidi Shyu recently visited ASU’s MacroTechnology Works. Touring the research facility with Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachry Holman (second from right in photo) and others, Shyu got an overview of the ecosystem at ASU that is bringing together university researchers and community and industry partners in ventures to develop, prototype and manufacture the advanced technologies needed to ensure the protection of the nation and its interests around the world. Shyu noted that ASU is also helping to expand the talented workforce needed to support national security goals.

  • How universities can support the National Defense Strategy

    How universities can support the National Defense Strategy

    U.S. national defense and security strategists consider leadership in development of new technologies critical to the nation’s safety and stability. Nadya Bliss, the executive director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative and a professor of practice in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, a part of the Fulton Schools, talks about the role of emerging technologies in geopolitical competition and how universities can support the country’s defense by providing diverse groups of students an education in STEM subjects, enabling them to contribute to building U.S. technological strength. As the largest engineering school by enrollment in the country, Bliss says the Fulton Schools is poised to help achieve that goal.

  • Constructing a life of honor

    Constructing a life of honor

    Fulton Schools graduate student Ryan Benally is ASU’s 2022 Tillman Scholar, an award honoring community service, leadership and commitment to others. Benally served in the U.S. Marine Corps and has contributed to improving public services and infrastructure in his community, which is part of the Navajo Nation. He serves as a vice chair with the Utah Navajo Trust Fund, which helps oversee the health, education and general welfare of the Navajo residents of San Juan County, Utah. After graduating from the University of New Mexico with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Pat Tillman’s military enlistment motivated him to join the U.S. Marines. As part of his award, the Tillman Foundation presented Benally with a scholarship to support his studies in the Fulton Schools for a graduate degree in construction management and technology.

  • ASU launches new quantum research collaborative

    ASU launches new quantum research collaborative

    ASU has launched the Quantum Collaborative to expand understanding of quantum technology and form partnerships to realize its potential. One of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise leaders says quantum technology could change how the world can solve it biggest problems. But Christian Arenz, a Fulton Schools assistant professor and a member of the collaborative’s ASU advisory board, says it’s too early to clearly foresee the full impacts of quantum technology. Still, he does see possibilities for enabling advanced simulations of complex systems that could help in developing more resilient materials, more effective pharmaceuticals, better predictive financial market and weather pattern modeling, and revealing how pathogens spread through the air.

    See Also: ASU launches quantum technology research collaborative, The Business Journals AZ INNO, November 1

  • What you need to know about this age of civilizational conflict

    What you need to know about this age of civilizational conflict

    In his leading role in the Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations, and National Security at ASU, Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby (pictured giving a lecture) has studied the transitions from traditional warfare and on a battlefield to conflicts in which aggressors use cyberspace to weaken or undermine the infrastructure, societal cohesion and culture of opponents. Allenby says this new form of war makes the expertise of civil engineers more vital in helping societies protect their critical infrastructure — both physical and cyber infrastructure — to defend themselves against enemies. Designing, building, operating, and maintaining infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to cyber attacks should today be a required standard of performance in the engineering profession, he says.

October

2022
  • Wastewater testing program puts Tempe on the scientific map

    Wastewater testing program puts Tempe on the scientific map

    A partnership between the city of Tempe and ASU researchers is helping advance the use of wastewater testing methods to alert communities to emerging health risks. The project has been effective in detecting and tracking outbreaks of public health threats, including COVID-19 and opioid addiction. The data the effort is producing is helping the city better inform residents in areas where problems are most prominent, says Tempe strategic management official Wydale Holmes. Prompted by the program’s results, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Navy and the University of Arizona have launched wastewater monitoring projects. Read more about the wastewater epidemiology methods being developed by researchers in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden. (Access to the full news content of the Tempe Independent is accessible only to subscribers.)

  • ASU, Mesa celebrate new MIX Center as highlight of partnership

    ASU, Mesa celebrate new MIX Center as highlight of partnership

    Courses in digital media technology, worldbuilding, experience design and gaming offered by the Fulton Schools and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts will be among the educational opportunities at ASU’s new Media and Immersive eXperience Center. The MIX Center, boasting the technological capability to produce anything from full-fledged superhero movies to virtual reality video games, is the largest part of the Mesa City Center complex, which includes an outdoor plaza space with a 100-foot movie screen and The Studios, a midcentury building that houses programming and services offered by ASU’s J. Orrin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute and The Sidney Poitier New American Film School.

    See Also: ASU Hosts Grand Opening at Mesa City Center, The State Press, October 28

  • AZ getting $884M for public transit, airport upgrades

    AZ getting $884M for public transit, airport upgrades

    Developing public transportation infrastructure is expensive, but the investment is worth the price, experts say. In the Phoenix metropolitan area, for example, thousands of people rely on public transportation to get to jobs and schools. Agreeing with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Fulton Schools professor of civil engineering Steven Polzin says public transit systems are good for local and regional economies. The mobility the systems provide give workers access to a greater choice of jobs, says Polzin, who was a senior adviser to the federal transportation agency. The systems also are better for urban air quality and result in less traffic on roadways.

    See also: Fed, state funds for road, street improvements, Arizona Capitol Times, October 28. Polzin talks about how Arizona can benefit in coming years from funding for transportation system improvements provided by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

  • Fact check: Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko’s comparison of electric car and traditional batteries misses key points

    Fact check: Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko’s comparison of electric car and traditional batteries misses key points

    Studies are finding consumers would save money over the course of an electric-powered automobile’s lifetime because of lower fuel and maintenance costs. But some dispute the economic benefits of electric vehicles — including an Arizona government representative. Auto industry sources say a comparison based solely on the costs of gasoline versus those of electric power does not provide an accurate assessment of the economics of electric vehicle ownership. A Fulton Schools faculty associate in automotive systems, Jeffrey Wishart, and an associate professor of automotive engineering, Abdel Ra’ouf Mayyas, point to various technological factors that must considered for such cost comparisons to be accurate. The article was also published by Cronkite News/ Arizona PBS. (Full access to the Phoenix Business Journal news content is accessible only to subscribers.)

  • ASU Proposers Day invites industry leaders to collaborate on state issues

    ASU Proposers Day invites industry leaders to collaborate on state issues

    In support of Arizona’s New Economy Initiative, ASU is establishing five science and technology centers. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, says the initiative’s main goal is the creation of high-value jobs. The initiative project will help shorten the time between the conception of new ideas for technological innovations and the implementation of processes to bring those new ideas to fruition, Squires says. That will speed formation of new companies, along with the hiring of employees to develop and produce new systems and technologies. Squires says the plan is for new ideas to be proposed before the end of the year and to start work on the new centers and projects as early as February.

  • ASU facilities provide opportunities for businesses to scale research

    ASU facilities provide opportunities for businesses to scale research

    Among the ways ASU is boosting the state’s economy and supporting business growth is the university’s Core Research Facilities program, which provides state-of-the-art equipment for public uses. Zachary Holman, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, notes that the program saves companies the costs of purchasing, installing and maintaining the kind of equipment needed to prototype new products. The university can also provide experts to operate that equipment, saving business the time and expense of doing it themselves. ASU has Core Facilities operations in Tempe, Phoenix, Mesa and Chandler.

  • Video shows Chinese robot dogs with mounted machine guns

    Video shows Chinese robot dogs with mounted machine guns

    Mechanical K-9s may now be a part of the arsenal of weaponry available to China’s military. News of one of the latest additions to the equipment provided to the country’s armed forces reports on the development of robotic dogs equipped with machine guns. The robots can be programmed to identify, track and fire the guns at various designated targets. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, whose expertise includes the geopolitical, military and security implications of emerging technologies, says the militaries of the U.S. and most other countries are aware of these new weapons and have the capability to deal with them.

  • How pavement can help cool overheated cities, even in chilly Mass.

    How pavement can help cool overheated cities, even in chilly Mass.

    Pavement materials used on streets, parking lots and other expansive outdoor surfaces are a big contributor to the excess heat that’s been overtaking many large and densely populated urban areas. Many pavement materials radiate a lot heat into the atmosphere, making environments not only uncomfortable but also a cause of serious health threats. Scientists, engineers, climate experts, transportation officials and others are exploring a variety of potential strategies for cooling things down around heavily paved surfaces and slowing global warming. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, a researcher in ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center, has been a key contributor to projects showing positive results in reducing urban heat.

    See Also: Middel appears in the current documentary “Surviving Hothouse Earth” on public television in Germany.

  • Wireless power implant could help remove brain tumours

    Wireless power implant could help remove brain tumours

    Researchers have developed an implant that triggers nanoparticles to kill brain tumors. The research team includes Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Hamed Arami, whose expertise spans bioengineering, nanotechnology, electrical engineering, imaging and neuroscience. The remotely activated implant heats up gold nanoparticles that have been injected into tumors. The nanoparticles then gradually destroy cancerous cells. By adjusting the power and wavelength of light, researchers can target tumors of different sizes and locations in the brain. Until now the photothermal treatment could be performed only during open skull surgery, when the tumor is accessible. The procedure will produce fewer side effects than the use of current chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Arami says.

  • ASU researcher advances the science of protein sequencing with NIH Innovator Award

    ASU researcher advances the science of protein sequencing with NIH Innovator Award

    A deeper understanding of proteins — the molecules that shape structure, function and regulation of human body tissues and organs — is critical to continued progress in diagnostic medicine and health care. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Chao Wang is among researchers at the forefront of efforts to develop new methods to achieve rapid and accurate sequencing of protein molecules necessary to make important advances paving the way for better therapeutics to treat diseases. Unraveling the complexities of protein behavior could provide new therapies for many protein-linked maladies, including cystic fibrosis, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

  • AI in Medicine Is Overhyped

    AI in Medicine Is Overhyped

    Despite the vast potential of artificial intelligence technology that many experts agree will have myriad impacts on our lives, some see reason to be cautious about hyping AI and its benefits. Two of those voices are those of Visar Berisha, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, and Julie Liss, associate dean and professor in ASU’s College of Health Solutions. They point out that AI has not been accurate in health care applications, specifically in predicting disease. They look at the causes of such inaccuracy and what can be done to prevent it. Berisha and Liss advise easing up on the hype and taking more a rigorous approach to developing AI’s abilities.

  • A record 10 ASU students, alumni nominated for Marshall, Rhodes and Mitchell scholarships

    A record 10 ASU students, alumni nominated for Marshall, Rhodes and Mitchell scholarships

    A record 10 ASU students and alumni nominated for at least one of the prestigious Marshall, Rhodes and Mitchell scholarships include Fulton Schools student Katie Sue Pascavis, who has a dual major in mechanical engineering and global health. She will graduate in the spring of next year with honors from ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College. Pascavis is the president of the ASU chapter of Engineers Without Borders and the founder of the GlobalResolve Club. If she is selected to receive a Marshall Scholarship, Pascavis plans attend the University of Cambridge and pursue a Master of Philosophy degree in engineering for sustainable development.

  • ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering hits record enrollment

    ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering hits record enrollment

    A commitment to providing high quality education — through valuable classroom experiences, learning from faculty members who are accomplished in their fields, collaborating with faculty members in research pursuits, and growing opportunities for internships, industry research and career-building endeavors. Those are among benefits Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, has seen driving engineering education at ASU. The result? A 27 percent jump in enrollment over the past five years, making the Fulton Schools the largest engineering school in the U.S. Each of the Fulton Schools now has degree programs that have earned approval from the national Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Squires emphasizes a commitment to continuing to build on the quality of education the Fulton Schools offers. The article is also published in AZ Big Media.

  • Physicists reach qubit computing breakthrough

    Physicists reach qubit computing breakthrough

    Through their explorations in superconductivity and quantum physics, an international team of researchers has made significant progress in a branch of advanced computing. Physicist Ying-Cheng Lai, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, was joined by two professors at Zhejiang University in China — including one of Lai’s former doctoral students at ASU — and two researchers in the United Kingdom in making the breakthrough. The results set the stage for quantum information  technology to achieve both high processing speeds and low power consumption. Lai says the work will have applications in cybersecurity, secure communications and cryptology, among other technologies. The article is also published in Sci Tech Daily. See also: ASU, Zhejiang University reach qubit in ASU News.

  • University-Industry Partnerships Key to CHIPS Act Goals

    University-Industry Partnerships Key to CHIPS Act Goals

    Universities in the U.S. are taking on the challenges arising from the government’s decision to expand federal investment in domestic production of semiconductors. In Arizona, ASU is stepping up efforts to expand work in its research and development facilities, form new business partnerships and support new state initiatives aimed at helping the nation move into a more robust global leadership position in the semiconductor industry. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, says ASU is prepared to play key roles in advancing microelectronic and semiconductor chip technologies, teaching more courses in these fields and expanding workforce training. Squires points out that the Fulton Schools are already actively supporting large chip manufacturers in Arizona like the Intel and TSMC companies.

  • Creating the future cybersecurity workforce

    Creating the future cybersecurity workforce

    Much of the what happens in today’s world happens in cyberspace. That means strengthening cybersecurity is increasingly critical. Some ASU faculty members and leaders of university organizations and initiatives recently talked about the serious problems we face as the demand for cybersecurity experts continues to outpace the supply of trained professionals in the field. Yan Shoshitaishvili, assistant professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, and acting director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations, says more people — and not just aspiring cyberspace professionals — must be educated about how they can contribute to cyberspace safety.

  • Meet Cassie, the Usain Bolt of robots

    Meet Cassie, the Usain Bolt of robots

    Some experts say the record for the 100-meter dash recently broken by a bipedal robot opens the door to more lifelike robots. Making them capable of robust movement on two legs is a big step in the ability for humanoid robots to work effectively and productively to benefit people, the workplace and businesses, say researchers. Still, the truly big advance would be developing robots that could interact with humans in a natural way, says Nancy Cooke, a Fulton Schools professor of humans systems engineering. From her perspective, the truly evolutionary step forward would be robots with complex cognitive abilities to actually understand humans and our world as we experience it.

  • Best New Ideas in Money: Making chips at home again

    Best New Ideas in Money: Making chips at home again

    In a podcast exploring “innovations that rethink how we live, work, spend, save and invest,” Michael Kozicki (pictured), a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering who came to ASU from the semiconductor industry, is joined by Willy Shih, a Harvard Business School professor of management practice in business administration. Kozicki and Shih discuss the recent plan adopted by U.S. government leaders to subsidize domestic manufacturing of advanced semiconductors, most of which are now made in Asia. They look at trends in semiconductor manufacturing and the economic and technological challenges the U.S. faces in gaining a strong foothold as a leader in the industry. Kozicki says a good sign for the future would be seeing more students coming to U.S. universities to pursue careers in microelectronics.

  • The Shade Shortage: ASU’s Efforts And Struggle To Shield Students In The Valley of The Sun

    The Shade Shortage: ASU’s Efforts And Struggle To Shield Students In The Valley of The Sun

    While ASU’s Tempe campus and the surrounding downtown Tempe area are among the most shaded areas in the city, the Sonoran Desert heat can still make the local landscape an exceedingly dry, hot, uncomfortable and even unhealthy environment. Ariane Middel, an urban climatologist, director of the university’s SHaDE Lab, and an ASU assistant professor with an affiliation in the Fulton Schools, says the amount of concrete and asphalt in the area produces much of the heat radiation that makes the environment especially prone to sizzling temperatures. Heat-related sickness can be one result of the situation. The problem, however, can give ASU an opportunity to lead the way in coming up with more effective urban shading strategies.

  • Phoenix Cool Pavement Program in phase two of finding solution to hot roads

    Phoenix Cool Pavement Program in phase two of finding solution to hot roads

    Almost all Phoenix roads are paved with asphalt, which brings on the discomforting impact of the urban heat island effect. But the progress of the city’s Cool Pavement Program holds out hope for less heat emanation from road surfaces. Phase two of the program is now underway, so more streets are being covered with a lighter hued coating that keeps temperatures above the road surfaces cooler. But Kamil Kaloush, a professor in School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the Fulton Schools, says asphalt is not the only factor causing excessive heat. Whether pavements are asphalt or concrete, a key factor in mitigating heat is the overall optimization of roadway environment design elements and how that can determine how materials behave.

  • ASU researchers trying to add smell to VR — but not just for fun

    ASU researchers trying to add smell to VR — but not just for fun

    We use our sense of smell in more ways than we think we do, says Associate Professor Robert LiKamWa. Odors can make us aware of things in our environment that may present safety risks. Some signs of disease and other health threats can be detected through smells. They also jog our memories of past experiences. LiKamwa, who does his augmented reality and virtual reality research in his Meteor Studio, is part of a team of ASU researchers working to produce “olfactory immersion” capabilities through virtual reality systems. The researchers see possibilities, for instance, for smells in virtual reality to help us learn to assess water quality and train firefighters to detect the sources of chemical fires. Read more about the research

September

2022
  • Supplier Boom: The rush by semiconductor suppliers and related businesses to set up shop in north Phoenix and other parts of the Valley should only intensify

    Supplier Boom: The rush by semiconductor suppliers and related businesses to set up shop in north Phoenix and other parts of the Valley should only intensify

    As the progress of the semiconductor industry’s expansion gains more steam, suppliers and other businesses that provide materials and services for the industry’s leaders are looking for land for new operations. The northern reaches of Phoenix and other locations in the metro area with large tracks of open terrain are drawing the interest of these companies. Professor Kyle Squires, dean of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, sees the industry’s major direct suppliers and other businesses critical to the supply chain for semiconductor materials driving the rush to find suitable spaces for setting up shop. Companies using chips made by large manufacturers like TSMC and Intel also want to locate close to these facilities, Squires says. He envisions all of these factors combining to open the way for the evolution of a creative nexus of the workforce skills, manufacturing capabilities, and research that will ignite innovation and catalyze more growth in the future. (Access to the full content of the Phoenix Business Journal is available only to subscribers.)

  • Philanthropy to ASU establishes new opportunities

    Philanthropy to ASU establishes new opportunities

    ASU supporters donated more than $300 million in the 2021-2022 fiscal year that ended June 30, providing more vital support for the university’s academic, research and student success programs. Among the most generous contributors was Alexandra Navrotsky, a professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of the seven Fulton Schools, and director of ASU’s Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe. Navrotsky established a foundation in 2019 to launch the center.  To ensure support for its research into the future, she increased her investment to $10 million in the past fiscal year.

  • Lawns Are Dumb. But Ripping Them Out May Come With a Catch

    Lawns Are Dumb. But Ripping Them Out May Come With a Catch

    For the goals of environmental sustainability, lush greens lawns and other attractive landscaping elements to align in the most beneficial ways, the trick is to come up with something that provides the most cooling effects with the least necessary use of water. That’s an especially big challenge in desert regions like Arizona, says urban climatologist and Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel. A recent research paper Middel co-authored offers some ideas for urban landscaping that would help reduce the heat impacts in hot climates while providing aesthetic and productive landscaping. One possibility is incorporating elements of urban farming. Another option would be creative use of shade structures and efficient water recycling systems. At a time when megadrought is threatening some large regions, experts say creativity is critical to avoid a dire necessity to rip out lawns.

  • The Graduate Student Who Helped The Electronics Industry Face A Global Crisis

    The Graduate Student Who Helped The Electronics Industry Face A Global Crisis

    Many decades ago, three scientists reported results of their study of the chemical life cycle of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, compounds widely used in many applications, including in refrigerants and non-stick coatings. CFCs were then thought to evaporate and float away after use. But the scientists found CFCs were building up in the stratosphere and opening a hole in the ozone layer that could cause health problems and possibly starvation due to crop damage. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby (at right in photo), then studying for a doctoral degree in environmental science, did his dissertation on the problem. His work would help lead to the founding of the Industry Cooperative for Ozone Layer Protection and to efforts to address the dangers of CFC use.

  • Going Carbon Neutral

    Going Carbon Neutral

    ASU researchers are contributing to efforts to achieve the decarbonization of our power sources as part of the transformation to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels that lead to environmental problems. Significant work toward this goal is being done by Fulton Schools Assistant Research Professor Zhengshan Yu (pictured), Professor Bruce Rittmann and Assistant Research Professor Arthur Ono. Yu’s team has developed a more efficient solar energy panel. Rittmann and colleagues he directs at ASU’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology are doing research at a wastewater treatment plant to produce a carbon-neutral biofuel. Ono is working on potentially less expensive and more energy efficient solar power technology.

  • This three-mile stretch of I-10 is Arizona’s most ‘dangerous’ for crashes

    This three-mile stretch of I-10 is Arizona’s most ‘dangerous’ for crashes

    The location at which three busy freeways intersect near downtown Phoenix remains among the most dangerous stretches of the road for Arizona drivers. In 2021, there were more than 1,700 car crashes in the area. Government officials are exploring what changes could reduce the accident count. Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineering and director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, says the confluence of those layered highways makes it a place where a lot of drivers are merging their vehicles and changing multiple lanes at high speeds, leading to crashes. These types of interchanges can be very efficient in keeping traffic flowing, Pendyala says, but the downside is a reduction in safety.

  • Here’s What The Chips Act Could Mean for ASU and Arizona

    Here’s What The Chips Act Could Mean for ASU and Arizona

    The recently passed national Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act, or CHIPS Act, is designed to drive a significant increase in semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. Regional economies in the U.S. are expected to benefit, as well as research universities like ASU. Zachary Holman, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, aided ASU’s efforts to support the legislation. He says the potential impact of the CHIPS Act could be more support for research projects and facilities at ASU, including undergraduate and graduate student research opportunities and more industry collaborations.

  • ASU Professor Helps Prepare Navajo Engineers Of The Future

    ASU Professor Helps Prepare Navajo Engineers Of The Future

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Shawn Jordan’s expertise includes Navajo, or Diné, culture and engineering design. For the past decade, Jordan has been collaborating with the Navajo Nation Office of Diné School Improvement to teach summer STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) camps, encouraging students to consider higher education and STEM career pathways. As a result, Navajo schools officials say, more Diné student today envision themselves as engineers, scientists and mathematicians. Jordan is now working the Department of Diné Education to expand their reach in Diné elementary and high schools to further support culturally relevant engineering education across the Navajo Nation.

  • The challenges automakers, and now Tesla, face with humanoid robots

    The challenges automakers, and now Tesla, face with humanoid robots

    Auto manufacturers and other types of industrial operations that have been attempting to modernize their facilities by using robots to do much of the physical work have met with mixed results. Now the innovative Tesla car company is planning to use its own new humanoid robots in its factories. Business and industry leaders will be watching to see the results. Fulton Schools Professor Heni Ben Amor, whose expertise includes artificial intelligence, human-robot interaction, robot vision, and automatic motor skill acquisition, says the big challenge in using robots in manufacturing so far is that their actual abilities are limited while the costs to produce and deploy them are exceptionally high. Amor is also quoted in a recent article in The Straits Times and an article in euronews about Tesla’s plans to make humanoid robots.

  • Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil ‘Optimus’ robot

    Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil ‘Optimus’ robot

    Making more advanced self-driving electric vehicles may not be the ultimate achievement of Elon Musk’s innovative Tesla, Inc. electric automobile company. He now envisions producing humanoid robots. The idea is for thousands of robots to work in Tesla’s factories and later put millions of them in various industrial operations and eventually into homes. Some robotics experts and engineers are skeptical about Musk’s grandiose vision, including Nancy Cooke, a Fulton Schools professor of human systems engineering and director of ASU’s Center for Human, AI, and Robot Teaming. To make revolutionary progress, robots would need to be capable of doing more than physical tasks, no matter how efficiently they do them, Cooke says. She is quoted in other versions of the story published in CNBC News, CarScoops, TESLARATI, ReutersCoinspeaker, and The Gazette (Colorado), Interesting Engineering, UK News Today, Auto Evolution, The Next Hint, KGUN-ABC News (Tucson) Screenshot Media, Entrepreneur, Startup to Enterprise, Analytics Insight, ModularPhoneForum, VOA.

  • AI spurs scientists to advance materials research

    AI spurs scientists to advance materials research

    Materials science and engineering researchers are harnessing the abilities of robust new technologies to spark advances with the potential to have wide-ranging impacts. By taping into the expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning, or ML, Fulton Schools Professor Alexandra Navrotsky and Assistant Professor Qi-Jun Hong, along with Sergey Ushakov, an assistant professor in ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences, and a Brown University colleague are gaining extensive knowledge about the precise temperatures at which various materials begin melt. The knowledge can open the door to developing important high performance materials.

  • Climate change contributing to worsening drought

    Climate change contributing to worsening drought

    Hotter temperatures are making the ground drier and causing water to evaporate more quickly, resulting in less groundwater and less surface water flowing into lakes and rivers like the Colorado River, which provides water to seven states, including Arizona. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Margaret Garcia, who studies factors influencing the sustainability and resilience of urban water supply systems, says it’s time for serious decisions to be made on using less and conserving more of the region’s water. Garcia and other experts call for government, industry, business and community leaders to work together on strategies to provide adequate water resources while also preventing widespread depletion of water resources.

  • Chaos Researchers Can Now Predict Perilous Points of No Return

    Chaos Researchers Can Now Predict Perilous Points of No Return

    Catastrophes can result from “tipping point” transitions of complex environmental systems. Such quickly eroding conditions can change weather and climate patterns, shift ocean currents or speed up melting of large ice sheets. Researchers are finding ways to predict when stable systems are about to become unstable. Fulton Schools Professor Ying-Cheng Lai, a physicist, and his research collaborators came up with a way to produce data to forecast when the stability of some kinds of systems would begin to collapse. Other researchers have since developed a machine learning algorithm to predict when systems are about to dramatically change behavior. That progress promises ways to foresee widespread alterations in Earth’s ecosystems and the planet’s climate.

  • HIBT Lab! SOURCE Global: Cody Friesen

    HIBT Lab! SOURCE Global: Cody Friesen

    Much of the world’s population experiences water scarcity, even though there is enough moisture in the atmosphere to provide ample water for almost everyone. Inventor and Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen has for years been developing and refining solar-powered technology to capture atmospheric vapor and convert it into drinking water. His SOURCE Global company’s solar hydropanels are now used in systems providing clean drinking water in more the 50 countries. In a recent interview Friesen talks about plans to expand his company’s reach to more countries, and the need for entrepreneurs to also bring renewable energy resources to more communities. Read about the recent award given to Friesen for the global impact of his ventures.

  • ASU professor chosen to lead global urban climate research organization

    ASU professor chosen to lead global urban climate research organization

    As growing efforts around the world explore potential solutions to deal with the impacts of a warming climate, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel is stepping into the role of president of the International Association for Urban Climate, the leading global organization focused on urban climate science and scholarship. She will guide the organization of more than 1,000 members worldwide for the next four years. With much of the world experiencing climate crisis situations, the group’s work is more important than ever, says Middel, who also directs ASU’s SHaDE Lab and is on the leadership team of ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center.

  • Materials matter

    Materials matter

    Deeper knowledge about materials is critical to making advances in technology. ASU researchers are pursuing that knowledge at the university’s Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe, named for Alexandra Navrotsky, a Fulton Schools professor and an accomplished researcher in materials and related areas of science and engineering. ASU leaders, students and faculty members gathered at the new center recently to celebrate its opening and see work already underway at the facility. The photo shows Associate Research Professor Sergey Ushakov demonstrating operation of a laser machine during a tour of the facility. ASU President Michael Crow said the center’s work will contribute to a better understanding of the universe and the forces that shape it.

  • Forget Silicon. This Computer Is Made of Fabric

    Forget Silicon. This Computer Is Made of Fabric

    Without the use of batteries or microchips, a new type of computer can enable a jacket to raise and lower its own hood, and might eventually enable disabled wearers to move. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Wenlong Zhang, a mechanical engineer whose research interests include the design, modeling and control of cyber-physical systems — with applications in healthcare, robotics and manufacturing — foresees myriad possibilities for soft robotics technologies being used to develop these kinds of wearable computer systems. The soft robots should be able to integrate easily and safely  into normal human activity, Zhang says, although he thinks it could take as long as a decade to clear the hurdles to make them widely available to the public.

  • Overcoming Challenges in Horizontal Directional Drilling

    Overcoming Challenges in Horizontal Directional Drilling

    The underground construction method known as horizontal directional drilling, or HDD, has enabled the underground installation of critical public infrastructure for more the 50 years, and the use of the technique continues to expand, says Fulton Schools Professor Samuel Ariaratnam. One of the foremost experts on HDD, Ariaratnam see its benefits multiplying, especially in its uses for infrastructure systems in urban environments. HDD allows for infrastructure to cross roads, river, lakes and neighborhoods with little disruption to the surrounding areas. It also works well for installation of water, sewer, oil, electric, natural gas, cable and telecommunications lines. Still, there are challenges to overcome in successfully using HDD, Ariaratnman emphasizes. Doing it right requires meticulous planning, well-honed skills and extensive understanding of geological and soil conditions, plus the use of the right tools for various situations.

  • ASU named No. 1 in innovation for eighth straight year

    ASU named No. 1 in innovation for eighth straight year

    ASU’s engineering, business and nursing programs are highlighted in the US News & World Report’s annual ranking of the best and most innovative colleges. Ranked 33rd overall in the Best Undergraduate Engineering program — tied with Yale University and the University of Notre Dame —ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering has six undergraduate degree programs ranked in the top 25, including civil engineering, electrical engineering, cybersecurity), environmental engineering, computer engineering and mechanical engineering. Rankings are based on what institutions of higher education are determined to be making the most innovative improvements toward curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology and facilities.

  • How are You Dressing for a Warming Climate?

    How are You Dressing for a Warming Climate?

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor and ASU Global Futures Scientist Konrad Rykaczewski’s research focuses on the development of soft thermal materials and systems, and on the study of human thermal exposure in extreme heat. He was among three experts interviewed about human adaptation to extreme heat, and why it’s complicated by our warming climate — as well as by certain social and cultural factors. He’s joined by The New York Times climate adaptation reporter, and by the author of the book “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration.”

  • ASU awarded lead of new National Science Foundation I-Corps Hub

    ASU awarded lead of new National Science Foundation I-Corps Hub

    An expansion of the National Innovation Network aimed at accelerating the movement of new ideas from research labs into the marketplace includes a leading role for ASU — and for two Fulton Schools faculty members as well. ASU has been chosen to be one of the leaders of a hub that is among five additions to the National Science Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Hubs, which will spearhead the Innovation Network’s expansion endeavor. Professor Ann McKenna, the Fulton Schools’ vice dean of strategic advancement, will take roles as a co-principal investigator and the research and evaluation lead for venture, while Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman will be a co-principal investigator and faculty lead.

  • Direct air capture: A little history

    Direct air capture: A little history

    Fulton Schools Professor, Klaus Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, is a pioneer of modern carbon capture technology, seen as one of the most effective ways to reduce harmful accumulations of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. He first developed his ideas more than two decades ago. But the notion of air capture has a longer history. In the ancient world, Egyptians and Phoenicians used activated carbon or charcoal to absorb unpleasant odors, purify water, and treat medical ailments. Centuries later, scientists designed tools to heat and cool captured air. The big challenge today is for researchers such as Lackner to scale up air capture to massive proportions so that it can alleviate global warming.

  • ASU ranks 8th among worldwide universities granted US utility patents in 2021

    ASU ranks 8th among worldwide universities granted US utility patents in 2021

    ASU has recently risen three places in the rankings of universities worldwide granted U.S. utility patents for new inventions and technology advancements. That is thanks in part to progress made through research led by Fulton Schools Professor Michael Kozicki and Associate Professor Zachary Holman. Kozicki has invented dendritic identifier technology, which provides secure, unique physical identifiers to ensure product authenticity and to foster trust and transparency in product supply chains. Holman’s has developed the flagship product for the ASU spinout venture Swift Coat, a self-cleaning coating that keeps solar panels producing optimal amounts of energy. Both products have gotten into the market through Skysong Innovations, ASU’s technology transfer and intellectual property management organization.

  • Mississippi Crisis Highlights Climate Threat to Drinking Water Nationwide

    Mississippi Crisis Highlights Climate Threat to Drinking Water Nationwide

    With aging infrastructure and a lack of investment, the impacts of climate change — flash floods, hurricanes and wildfires, for example — pose a growing threat to vital public resources. A massive flood that put a water plant in Mississippi out of operation is an example of looming challenges. The climate is changing too fast and in too dramatic a fashion, says Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools professor civil, environmental and sustainable engineering and of director of ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering. The result is that an increasing number of regions in the U.S. are dealing with climate pressures that could erode the quality of life.

August

2022
  • US policymakers tour ASU’s MacroTechnology Works facility

    US policymakers tour ASU’s MacroTechnology Works facility

    Research aimed at supporting efforts to make Arizona a microchip manufacturing hub was the central focus of a recent visit by U.S. and Arizona government leaders to the MacroTechnology Works facility at the ASU Research Park. Zachary Holman, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, led U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, ASU President Michael Crow, U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton and other officials on a tour of the research complex. The group was also joined by Arizona business and industry leaders and local government officials. Holman’s research at MachoTechnology Works involves accelerating progress toward advanced semiconductors, materials and energy devices.

  • Ready or not, mass video deepfakes are coming

    Ready or not, mass video deepfakes are coming

    With AI and facial-mapping technology enabling almost anyone to produce deepfake videos, experts are uneasy about the potential ramifications. There are plans to commercialize video deepfakes for the planned metaverse, using technology that can produce fake videos showing people saying and do things they never did in real life. Experts are concerned about disinformation peddlers having better tools to alter or create video images and audio. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, an AI expert, agrees the development of the technology may not be a cause for celebration. Kamphampati, who has studied deep fakes, foresees people mistrusting anything they see, creating a need for advances systems of video authentication.

  • From ancient minerals to new materials: Melting temperature prediction using a graph neural network model

    From ancient minerals to new materials: Melting temperature prediction using a graph neural network model

    To build the high performance materials needed today, it’s critical to know the precise melting temperatures of various materials. The safety of bridges, jet engines and heat shields for aircraft, for example, depends on knowing the performance limits of materials under environmental stresses.  Now, ASU researchers working with a Brown University researcher have found a way to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict the melting temperatures for potentially any compound or chemical formula. The team includes Assistant Professor Qi-Jun Hong and Professor Alexandra Navrotsky, both in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of the seven Fulton Schools at ASU. The article is also published in TechCodex, PNAS, Verve Times, Knowledia, Supercomputing Online News, My Droll, Lab Manager, Space Daily and Verified News Explorer Network

  • ASU’s Luminosity Lab secures $15 million donation from tech CEO

    ASU’s Luminosity Lab secures $15 million donation from tech CEO

    A large donation from the CEO of Workiva, which has an office in ASU’s SkySong innovation center, will enable the Fulton Schools’ Luminosity Lab to give ASU engineering students more opportunities to engage in research projects aimed at aiding the pursuit of creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. Students are expected to use the support to explore ways to address society’s urgent issues in education, healthcare and sustainability. With the additional support, Luminosity Lab projects will also be able to expand their research and development partnerships with companies and organizations around the world. Students are chosen to participate based on their demonstrated leadership and advocacy for their communities.

  • Yuma company working to perfect complicated process of recycling solar panels

    Yuma company working to perfect complicated process of recycling solar panels

    Companies like We Recycle Solar in Arizona are part of a growing trend in recycling and repurposing of solar energy technologies that have surpassed their useful lifespans. The company is refurbishing salvageable solar photovoltaic panels and breaking them down to recover aluminum, granular glass and other materials that can be reused. Meanwhile, researchers like Meng Tao, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, are perfecting processes for recycling all the various kinds of materials that are part of solar panels. Natalie Click, a materials science and engineering doctoral student working with Tao is improving the recovery of lead from solar panels so it can be used in other products.

  • International student looks forward to connections, opportunities at ASU

    International student looks forward to connections, opportunities at ASU

    Bisman Sahni’s interest in computer coding began during his childhood. While still a young student in India, his homeland, he started troubleshooting problems in coding and computer software. By high school he had his eyes on a career in computer security. In pursuit of his goal, Sahni (at far left in photo) is now a first-year student in ASU’s Barrett Honors College and a computer science major in the Fulton Schools. Sahni says he was drawn by ASU’s strong reputation in engineering education, the research opportunities available to Fulton Schools students and the Grand Challenges Scholars Program, which is designed to equip students with skills to solve some of the world’s biggest engineering challenges.

  • Desert City Dream

    Desert City Dream

    Designs are on the drawing boards for multiple sustainable cities, especially in desert regions. The United Arab Emirates has plans for three of them, with the goal of completing them within a decade. Meanwhile, a billionaire and a world-renowned architect are teaming up to build an “all-green, all-smart city” somewhere in the U.S. Southwest over coming decades — possibly in Arizona. The efforts will face many challenges, says Zhihua Wang, a Fulton Schools associate professor and expert in urban environmental sustainability. In desert regions, securing adequate water resources will be the biggest hurdle, he says. But even if such ventures don’t come to full fruition, Wangs says much can be learned from them.

  • Former Sun Devil wide receiver ready for a career in medicine

    Former Sun Devil wide receiver ready for a career in medicine

    Kyle Williams was a standout receiver for ASU’s Sun Devils football squad, one of the team’s all-time pass reception leaders who many thought would find a place in the National Football League. But he was also an outstanding graduate of the Fulton Schools biomedical engineering program who had an eye on a medical career. While a sports agent was ready to contact NFL teams to gauge their interest in giving Williams a tryout, Williams decided to pursue his aspiration to become a surgeon. Today he is a student at the Mayo Clinic Axis School of Medicine — applying the same determination to his goals as a future physician that he used to become a successful college athlete.

  • Get to Know Engineer Sathish Kumar: Contributions in A.I. and Visual Computing Innovation within the U.S. Property Insurance Industry

    Get to Know Engineer Sathish Kumar: Contributions in A.I. and Visual Computing Innovation within the U.S. Property Insurance Industry

    Sathish Kumar Katukuri , who earned a master’s degree in computer engineering from the Fulton Schools, is using his skills for Hosta a.i. to develop computer vision and artificial intelligence, or AI, algorithms to improve property assessments. His contributions have helped the company automate the manual property assessment process in a way that is changing how property assessments are performed throughout the U.S. In previous work, Katukuri has developed a novel AI-based algorithm to enable people to capture professional-quality photographs and a low-cost DIY Augmented Reality headset to help researchers validate their findings and progress.

  • Heat waves aren’t going away. Here’s how we can prepare

    Heat waves aren’t going away. Here’s how we can prepare

    About all those recording setting heatwaves being seen across the United States and Europe this simmer — climate experts expect the sizzling temperatures to rise even higher in the near future. Protecting people from extreme heat is now seen as a critical challenge for those in various science and engineering fields with knowledge and skills in heat mitigation methods and technologies. That specialty is a focus of work at the SHaDE Lab, an ASU urban climate research group directed by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel. The lab’s urban climate researchers are engaged in multiple efforts to help cities find ways to reduce the impacts of hotter environments on people.

  • The secrets in our sewers helping protect us from infectious diseases

    The secrets in our sewers helping protect us from infectious diseases

    Wastewater epidemiology is gaining widespread interest around the world for its usefulness in efforts to help detect public health threats. Rolf Halden, a Fulton Schools professor and environmental engineer, has been among the leading researchers examining wastewater to yield data that is helping to track the spread of diseases — especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. Halden thinks of cities and other high-population areas as big organisms with distinct metabolisms, that can be analyzed by examining the contents of sewage systems. Advances in monitoring wastewater could keep communities a step ahead of potential outbreaks of diseases, he says, and reveal information to warn the public about lurking environmental dangers. (Access to the full content of New Scientist magazine is available only to subscribers.)

    See Also: A new way to smash the ‘forever’ out of ‘forever chemicals’ The Verge, August 18
    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is among scientists and engineers who are amassing an arsenal of tools to fight off “forever chemicals” that are threatening the environment and human health.

  • How Arizona can advance innovation, access in digital learning

    How Arizona can advance innovation, access in digital learning

    U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (at far right in photo) was joined by Kyle Squires (at far left), vice provost and dean of the Fulton Schools, at a recent gathering of members of ASU’s leadership, government representatives and other business and community leaders to explore the rise of digital learning and its potential impacts on the future of higher education, government, industry and society in general. Participants discussed ways that digital learning could help provide a more skilled workforce, enable ASU and other schools to more extensively prepare its students to contribute to societal progress and catalyze partnerships to pursue progress in efforts to aid underserved segments of society.

  • DARPA Moves Forward With Project To Revolutionize Satellite Communication

    DARPA Moves Forward With Project To Revolutionize Satellite Communication

    Significant advances in communications between low orbiting satellites are expected from a new research endeavor led by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The goal is to create an “internet” of low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling seamless communications between military, government, commercial and civilian satellites. The project could have a broad impact that would eventually benefit many social and commercial ventures, says Fulton Schools Professor Daniel Bliss, director of ASU’s Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architectures. Bliss thinks this can be accomplished in ways that maximize the abilities of advanced technologies while still minimizing the security risks to space communications systems.

    See Also The Pentagon wants to develop a network of space lasers to improve secure communications, Fast Company, August 23
    Fulton Schools Professor Professor Daniel Bliss is involved in some of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research described in the article. See the reference to Arizona State University.

  • We built a fake metropolis to show how extreme heat could wreck cities

    We built a fake metropolis to show how extreme heat could wreck cities

    Much of the world’s infrastructure — its architecture, energy and transportation systems and other vital elements of the built environment — has been designed to withstand climate conditions of the past, but not the dramatic climate changes occurring today. That is especially the case in regard to the significant rise in heat around much of the world. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, warns about the serious challenges to keep coal, nuclear, electric and natural gas power plants operating smoothly in extreme heat conditions. When temperatures soar on a regular basis, “Everything just breaks more frequently,” Chester says.

  • ASU project to give satellites a shared, optical language

    ASU project to give satellites a shared, optical language

    One of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration’s biggest new projects will enable low orbiting satellites to communicate with each other and with ground operations. The goal is to provide a low-cost, high-speed, optical data links that will improve satellite communications for the military, government, corporate and private sectors. Funding for the project’s first phase has been awarded to ASU’s Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architectures, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Daniel Bliss, who is the lead investigator for the project. His work on the Space-Based Adaptive Communications Node initiative project with researchers at three other universities and two technology companies is expected to produce significant advances in space communications and transportation technologies.

  • What is a semiconductor? An electrical engineer explains how these critical electronic components work and how they are made

    What is a semiconductor? An electrical engineer explains how these critical electronic components work and how they are made

    Fulton Schools Professor Trevor Thornton, an electrical engineer who studies semiconductors, provides basic information on what they are, how they are made, what they do and how they are evolving. He gives details on how these electronic devices process, store and receive information and how they work together under the control of computer software. Then he goes on to explain that increasingly sophisticated factories are needed to produce today’s higher performance semiconductor chips — and why the Congress has passed legislation designed to help ensure that next-generation semiconductors start to be manufactured in the United States.

  • ASU poised to help close microchip manufacturing gap

    ASU poised to help close microchip manufacturing gap

    Recent approval by the U.S. Congress of the CHIPS and Science Act sets the stage for major investments to boost semiconductor manufacturing throughout the country. Research leaders at ASU have long been preparing for the opportunity to help expand the country’s role in the international semiconductor chip making market. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, emphasizes that ASU has hired experts in the field, focused on semiconductor research and made its own investments to obtain the tools and develop the systems necessary to advance chip manufacturing in areas directly relevant to the goals of the CHIPS Act.

  • What Is Titanium Dioxide — And Do You Really Have to Worry About It in Your Food?

    What Is Titanium Dioxide — And Do You Really Have to Worry About It in Your Food?

    Although titanium dioxide has been banned from being added to food by the European Union, scientists and engineers in the United States don’t see such use of this naturally occurring oxide of the chemical element titanium as a cause for concern. As a legal additive in the U.S., titanium dioxide is used in everything from food to consumer goods. Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff, an environmental engineer, who has researched the biological and cellular effects of titanium dioxide, points to the many studies showing no adverse effects. He says consumers should be more concerned about substitutes for titanium dioxide being used in many products that have not undergone research on their effects on people.

  • The ethical and privacy concerns over deep fakes and AI and our democracy

    The ethical and privacy concerns over deep fakes and AI and our democracy

    Ever-evolving technological capabilities are expanding the threats posed by cybercriminals using manufactured images called deep fakes and the surreptitious uses of artificial intelligence that can threaten public security, individual privacy and even democracy. Fulton Schools Professor Subarrao Kambhampati, a former president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, talks about the widespread and dangerous implications of falling prey to the high-tech manipulations of nefarious forces behind these unethical and criminal practices.

  • The Robocalls Problem Is So Bad That the FCC Actually Did Something

    The Robocalls Problem Is So Bad That the FCC Actually Did Something

    There are billions of robocalls that are part of scams aimed at defrauding consumers — while others are using to them to sell actual products but still using an illegal marketing campaign to get consumers to buy products. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé, director of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics and a cybersecurity expert, dissects the the problem and how it might be substantially diminished. While sophisticated robocall technology makes it easy for scammers to fool people about who is calling them, there are also effective techniques that can reveal who is actually calling and help people become aware of potential fraud, Doupé says. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission is becoming more proactive in trying to prevent robocall scams.

  • Engineering and Infrastructure In A Collapsing Climate

    Engineering and Infrastructure In A Collapsing Climate

    Roads, energy systems and other infrastructure on which society depends for many of its needs is increasingly being endangered by the growing impacts of rapid and often threatening changes in the planet’s climate. Mikhail Chester , a Fulton Schools professor civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, says it has become critical to start redesigning and rebuilding public facilities to withstand the severe stresses being put on the them. But our basic approaches to building must also change in response to a new environmental reality. Chester says it may now be preferable in some circumstances to build infrastructure that fails — but fails in ways that will make the destruction less deadly than the more potentially catastrophic failure of existing structures impacted by climate change.

  • These cities are better at enduring extreme heat. Here’s what they’re doing different

    These cities are better at enduring extreme heat. Here’s what they’re doing different

    Climate change is turning up the heat faster and more intensely. Many countries are experiencing higher numbers of heat alert days and more record-breaking summer temperatures. Most of the impact is in cities, where buildings, streets and other parts of urban environments generate extra heat. But some cities are taking steps to reduce rising temperatures. They are cultivating urban forests to provide shade, installing water features to cool the air and redesigning buildings in ways that shield people from heat. Another remedy — developed by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, an urban climatologist, and her colleagues — are new solar reflective road pavements that keep asphalt and other street surfaces from reflecting much of the heat of the sun.

    See Also: Does gravel landscape negatively impact the urban heat island effect in Arizona? KJZZ News (PBS) , August 7
    Ariane Middel talks about the comparative cooling effects — or lack of them — among common landscaping surface materials.

  • The 5 Best Online Degree Schools To Consider For a Career in Cybersecurity

    The 5 Best Online Degree Schools To Consider For a Career in Cybersecurity

    While job openings in cybersecurity are expected to keep increasing at a steady pace, employers are also requiring potential employees to have an expanding array of the necessary skills. ASU is among the leading institutions of higher education offering a full range of extensive instruction in cybersecurity and related science, engineering and technology fields, both on campus and online. The Fulton Schools offer a computer engineering degree with a cybersecurity specialization and an electrical engineering degree with a focus on embedded systems and cyber-physical systems. There are also individual courses on network defense, cyber intelligence, and computer systems networking and security.

  • Stories from the Most Innovative School in the US

    Stories from the Most Innovative School in the US

    Three Fulton Schools faculty members are featured in this look at successful approaches to research leadership that produces innovation and fosters creativity. Associate professor of chemical engineering and Fulton Entrepreneurial Professor Mary Laura Lind is lauded for work for ASU’s Biodesign Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors, the Mayo Clinic and the multi-university center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment. Professor Ed Kavazanjian is cited for his internationally recognized work on landfills, solid waste and geotechnical earthquake engineering, including his lead authorship of the Federal Highway Administration’s guidance document for seismic analysis, geotechnical transportation facilities and structural foundations. Professor Edd Gibson has proven his research leadership skills in collaborations with the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

July

2022
  • Large language models can’t plan, even if they write fancy essays

    Large language models can’t plan, even if they write fancy essays

    For all of the expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies, some aspects of their applications fall short of impressive advances. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati explains how large language models that seem to be talented at writing essays are nonetheless underperformers in work that requires high-level methodical planning and are capable of only the illusion of substantive reasoning abilities. Kambhampati, a former president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, digs beneath the seemingly robust abilities of these emerging AI systems and finds the hype about their effectiveness isn’t backed up by what they are actually achieving. He suggests the use of a stringent benchmark for determining the true value of certain AI tools.

  • ASU researchers to address local air-quality concerns

    ASU researchers to address local air-quality concerns

    Growing accumulations of airborne dust and microorganisms, and the atmosphere’s thickening ozone layer are raising worries about their threat to human health in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Matt Frasier, a Fulton Schools professor and researcher in ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center will work with a colleague in the university’s School of Molecular Sciences on a deep study of those sources of air pollution with the aim of diminishing their impact and providing the region’s population with cleaner air to breathe. They’ll join Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona researchers, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to study the airborne pollutants that can cause respiratory and other health problems. Herckes will employ his expertise in environmental chemical analysis. Fraser’s expertise includes urban air quality, sources and control of air pollution and atmospheric monitoring instrumentation.

    See Also: ASU researchers to study and improve the air we breathe, 3TV/CBS 5 New-Phoenix

  • Efficient ‘Tree’ Pulls Carbon From Thin Air

    Efficient ‘Tree’ Pulls Carbon From Thin Air

    The MechanicalTree — made possible by years of research and development led by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his team of engineers and scientists in ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions — is the primary technology being developed as the centerpiece of the carbon farms that the entrepreneurial Carbon Collect venture wants to place next to manufacturing and industrial plants to consume the carbon emissions coming from these operations. The plan is to mass produce the trees to enable extraction of hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The goal is to help clean the air of harmful pollutants and instead use the captured carbon to feed micro algae that can be used to produce fuels and other valuable products.

  • State leaders say Arizona will emerge as a leading science and technology center thanks to Chips bill

    State leaders say Arizona will emerge as a leading science and technology center thanks to Chips bill

    The new School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, one of the seven Fulton Schools, is poised to play a major role in realizing the goals of the New Economy Initiative. Under the initiative plan, ASU is planning to establish three science and technology centers to work with industry to advance the state’s semiconductor sector. Drawing on research talent in the Fulton Schools, ASU President Michael Crow says the university will not only aid Arizona’s emergence as a leader in the manufacturing, design and development of advanced microchips, but also expand research efforts aimed at producing manufacturing systems innovations. (The full content of the Phoenix Business Journal is available only to subscribers.)

  • Partnership for Economic Innovation Secures Funding for Wearable Technology Research

    Partnership for Economic Innovation Secures Funding for Wearable Technology Research

    As a key partner with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation, Startup AZ Foundation, and the city of Phoenix, the Fulton Schools is expanding a promising wearable technology biomedical ecosystem in Arizona. The WearTech Applied Research Center has been developing paths to commercialization for wearable technologies to help people with walking disabilities, develop a fetal monitor to detect compromising health issues and create a wearable phototherapy device for treatment for thrush, a debilitating fungal yeast infection. Such success has helped to attract sufficient funding to enable the center to more than double it research projects in recent years.

  • ASU scientists find molecular clues behind traumatic brain injury

    ASU scientists find molecular clues behind traumatic brain injury

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Sarah Stabenfeldt has led a new research study by ASU scientist and biomedical engineers that is revealing some of the first detailed molecular clues of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, one of the leading causes of death and disability such as long-term cognitive and behavioral deficits. It’s a growing public health concern, affecting more than 1.7 million Americans, including many children and young adults.  The research may begin to explain why people who have had a TBI are more susceptible to developing neurodegenerative diseases and could provide a foundation for the next generation of TBI therapeutics and diagnostics. The article is also published on AZ BIO, the Arizona Bioindustry Association website.

  • The Slow Bake of Our Infrastructure

    The Slow Bake of Our Infrastructure

    Continuing to build infrastructure using designs of past decades is a recipe for failure, writes Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering and director of ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering. We are now in an era of rapid climate change in which heat waves are no longer few and far between, he says, and without more heat-resilient infrastructure our energy, transportation, water and cooling systems, as well as public health, will be at high risk. As more places around the world see frequent record-breaking high temperatures, Chester says it’s time to not only accelerate efforts to begin developing heat-resistant infrastructure but to also develop strategies to deal with the inevitable failure of today’s infrastructure systems in the wake of continuing climate change.

  • It’s so hot in Europe that roads are literally buckling

    It’s so hot in Europe that roads are literally buckling

    Recent record-breaking heat waves are revealing a troubling reality that few places in Europe are built to withstand the heat that climate change is causing. Roads are buckling and railroad tracks are bending under the abnormally high temperatures. Climate scientists are warning of a potentially increasing threat to the lives of people and animals. Fulton Schools Professor Mikhail Chester, director of ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, said countries must get more serious about making changes that reduce the stifling impacts of urban heat islands and find other solutions that will help cities become more resilient against increasingly sizzling environments.

    See Also: Heatwave: Can we redesign cities to cope with extreme temperatures? Mikhail Chester interviewed on BBC Newsday “Sounds” program

  • ASU entrepreneurs develop smart street cameras

    ASU entrepreneurs develop smart street cameras

    Traffic cameras powered by artificial intelligence technology are being seen as way to make roads safer and traffic flow more efficient. Researchers Mohammad Farhadi and Yezhou Yang in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the seven Fulton Schools, have created a self-contained, solar-powered traffic camera that uses on-board computer vision, a type of artificial intelligence, to identify and classify what it sees. By refining these technologies they hope to fashion a system that helps to prevent traffic accidents, and reduces traffic congestion and travel times. In partnership with the city of Phoenix Street Transportation Department, the cameras will be installed at two busy downtown intersections for a one-year pilot program. The article was also published on the City of Phoenix news website, in the Business Telegraph (United Kingdom) and by AZ Big Media.

  • Q&A: ASU, industry partners collaborate to create factories of the future

    Q&A: ASU, industry partners collaborate to create factories of the future

    Arizona’s New Economy Initiative, a plan to grow and develop the high-tech industry through the state, will be aided by work at each of the state’s three public universities. ASU already has plans to build five new science and technology centers as part of the effort. Dhruv Bhate, an associate professor in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, the newest of the seven Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, talks about plans for the university’s new Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology Center and its role in support of the New Economy initiative, which will include building working relationships with industry to help foster innovation and create the high-tech jobs of the future.

  • Getting off the bus: CATS has plans to bring riders back after massive drop. Will it work?

    Getting off the bus: CATS has plans to bring riders back after massive drop. Will it work?

    Challenges facing Charlotte, North Carolina in efforts to boost ridership on its bus service reflect similar circumstances in other urban areas in the country. The city wants to see people riding buses more and driving automobiles less to help protect the environment by reducing carbon emissions. But Fulton Schools Research Professor Steven Polzin, a civil engineer who worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation, says adding more bus routes and more frequent service have not been shown to be sure-fire ways of increasing ridership. Still, the city hopes to fund a new light-rail line along with more bus service and build a bus fleet that would run on electric power rather than diesel fuel. See related story: Getting off the bus: How Charlotte Transit lost 75% of its passengers in less than a decade

  • 2 ASU experts join climate change national security panel

    2 ASU experts join climate change national security panel

    Experts are forecasting increasing drought and crop failure around the world in coming decades, prompting the organizing of a new national Climate Security Roundtable to assess and address those risks and advise the nation’s Climate Security Advisory Council. Among experts chosen for the roundtable is Nadya Bliss, a professor of practice in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the seven Fulton Schools, and director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative. She will be joined by Vernon Morris, director of ASU’s School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, a former director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology.

  • Solar Panel Recycling Is About To Become BIG Business

    Solar Panel Recycling Is About To Become BIG Business

    Solar energy panels installed 20 or more years ago are coming to the end of their productive lifespans and need to be replaced. Fortunately, progress is being made in the recycling of solar panel materials. One independent international energy research company predicts demand for recycled solar photovoltaic panel components will skyrocket and forecasts that those recyclable materials will be worth $2.7 billion. Fulton Schools Professor Meng Tao, whose expertise includes terawatt-scale solar photovoltaics, is among researchers working to ensure recycling of solar panel materials can be achieved in ways that minimize negative environmental impacts, reduce waste and avoid high costs and the need for using large amounts of energy in recycling processes.

  • How to block hackers from stealing your passwords

    How to block hackers from stealing your passwords

    The importance of creating a strong line of defense against hackers attempting to obtain passwords has never been more critical. Experts like Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé, director of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, warn that control over personal email, social media accounts and online banking can be threatened without passwords that are carefully crafted to prevent cybertheft. Password management systems are designed to help users maintain password security. The expense of such systems and the efforts to keep passwords from being stolen are preferable to having to recover hacked accounts, Doupé says.

  • Scottsdale medical technology company Aural Analytics lands $1.4M grant

    Scottsdale medical technology company Aural Analytics lands $1.4M grant

    ASU Associate Professor Visar Berisha, who has a joint appointment in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the seven Fulton Schools, is a co-founder the Aural Analytics company, and helped build sound technology that taps into the physics of speech signals. That technology has now led to Aural Analytics being awarded a $1.4 million National Institutes of Health grant to help develop a new analytics tool for clinical speech language pathologists. The technology promises to provide more accurate measurements to help specialists identify neurological health problems, including disease and injuries, before other symptoms arise. Berisha’s research focuses on developing and applying new machine learning and statistical signal processing tools to better understand and model signal perception.

  • Rags to riches? How trash at landfills can be recycled into energy as flammable gas

    Rags to riches? How trash at landfills can be recycled into energy as flammable gas

    Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane that absorb energy from sunlight and trap in the atmosphere — causing environmental problems — are continuing to accumulate. A lot of those gases are emanating from waste materials people produce. New findings show the damage being caused is increasing. But a solution to reversing the trend may come from recycling efforts to turn trash into treasure. Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann, director of ASU’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, sees potential in a plan to capture greenhouse gases to put them to productive use. But Rittmann cautions that there will be challenges. While the concept of such carbon capture and reuse is a simple one, the execution of such an operation can encounter complications, he says. (Access to the full content of the Arizona Republic is available only to subscribers.)

  • ASU’s SolarSPELL digital libraries help teachers in Ethiopian refugee camps

    ASU’s SolarSPELL digital libraries help teachers in Ethiopian refugee camps

    Teachers in many of the world’s refugee camps are facing a lack of training and resources, the threat of displacement and a global pandemic. The work of Associate Professor Laura Hosman,  an affiliate faculty member in The Polytechnic School, one the seven Fulton Schools, is making such challenges a bit easier to overcome. Through an ASU Education for Humanity project, her SolarSPELL devices are helping teachers in refugee camps in Ethiopia conduct classes in their native language. The device is a solar-powered portable library providing educational content developed by Hosman, whose work focuses on information and communications technology for developing countries. The SolarSPELL project began in 2015, when Hosman challenged ASU engineering students to create a solar-powered library small enough to fit into a backpack.

  • Eco-Friendly Homes

    Eco-Friendly Homes

    Providing affordable, efficient and sustainable homes is a particularly big challenge in the country’s current economic situation. Supply chain issues and rising property costs and materials prices are among the big hurdles to home building and ownership. But some builders, construction experts and researchers are making strides in overcoming the obstacles.  Innovations like foam building materials and 3-D printed construction blocks are being developed, among other similar products. Narayanan Neithalath, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the seven Fulton Schools, says there are promising advances in his research areas, including sustainable construction materials, innovative materials processing technologies, and novel designs of new building infrastructure materials that can help manage construction costs.

  • ASU engineering graduates create toy hack website

    ASU engineering graduates create toy hack website

    Two recent ASU graduates who earned their mechanical systems engineering degrees through the Fulton Schools put their skills in robotics to productive use in a recent toy hack. Isabella Bushroe and Bridget Koehl made the most of the opportunity at the Makers Making Change event at the Arizona Science Center. They contributed their engineering knowledge to modifying toys to make them suitable for children with physical challenges and other impediments to overcome. Bushroe and Koehl had developed and hosted two toy hacks as undergraduates and even made toy hacking the focus of their honors thesis project for ASU’s Barrett, the Honors College. They used their experience as the basis for a website about hosting toy hack events.

  • Top 10 US colleges offering a Master’s in Sustainability

    Top 10 US colleges offering a Master’s in Sustainability

    ASU is among the top three universities in the U.S. — joining Harvard and Tufts universities — in this ranking of master’s degree programs in sustainability. ASU is highlighted for the Fulton Schools Master of Science in Sustainable Engineering program. The multidisciplinary program designed for professionals and graduate-level students with engineering and physical science backgrounds offers courses in energy systems, water, transportation or earth systems engineering, industrial ecology, environmental technologies, sustainable technology systems and more. Sustainability education is also integrated into other Fulton Schools and ASU graduate programs in science, engineering, resource management, community development, public policy and more.

  • One of the best tools for predicting COVID-19 outbreaks? Sewage.

    One of the best tools for predicting COVID-19 outbreaks? Sewage.

    Since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than two years ago, testing of untreated wastewater has been used to detect and track pandemic outbreaks. Medical providers and health agencies have been relying on the testing to guide decisions to ramp up detection efforts, vaccination programs and other efforts to respond to the public health threat.  Pioneers of the advanced wastewater monitoring include Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden (pictured) and his research team at ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Before the pandemic, Halden and the team used the testing to tract opioid use in the community and later identified a COVID-19 hotspot in the area to help guide a response from community health care workers.

June

2022
  • Humanity on wheels

    Humanity on wheels

    “Jenny’s Trailer,” a yellow 20-foot-long travel trailer with the invitation to “Come Cool Down With Us” near its door, can be seen at parks and other locations in Tempe this summer. It’s part the city’s collaborative project with Arizona State University called HOPE — Homeless Outreach Prevention Effort — that is working to give the local homeless population some respite from the heat during this season of 100-degree-plus temperatures. The project enlisted the help of ASU’s Healthy Urban Environment Initiative, which then recruited a team from the Fulton Schools Engineering Projects in Community Service program to do work on the interior design elements of the heat-relief trailer.

  • EU rules device chargers must use USB-C by 2026. What it means for U.S. consumers

    EU rules device chargers must use USB-C by 2026. What it means for U.S. consumers

    A European Union ruling means manufacturers like Apple and Samsung must standardize ports on chargers for their electronic devices in the next few years. The same USB-C connector will need to be used for all charging cables for phone, laptop and earbud chargers. The change is certain to impact U.S. consumers. Uniformity of connectors will offer advantages but likely also cause confusion for consumers, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Ted Pavlic. Standardized connectors could result in chargers working better for some devices than for others, and the change is likely to create more electronics waste as people dispose of old charging cables, says Pavlic, whose expertise includes electrical and computer engineering. (Photo: Pixabay)

  • Chip companies are scrambling to hire college students dazzled by software dollars

    Chip companies are scrambling to hire college students dazzled by software dollars

    Startup microchip fabrication plants need tens of thousands of new skilled workers, challenging companies to convince college graduates to resist the attraction of working for big international tech companies that have been scooping up many U.S. students and graduates. Isaiah Morris, a Fulton Schools chemical engineering grad student, is an example of the young workers startup companies must lure to realize their plans for future expansion and to help the U.S. reduce dependency on tech operations in other countries. Michael Kozicki, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering and teacher for more than three decades, gives his perspective on current job market trends and what is drawing students and graduates to specific high-tech opportunities.

  • ASU Gives Us Deeper Look Into Solar Car Competitions

    ASU Gives Us Deeper Look Into Solar Car Competitions

    ASU’s Sun Devil racing team is preparing to take its vehicle to the 2023 American Solar Challenge national competition. Team members are applying what they’ve been learning in their courses about automotive engineering, structural mechanics, aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, computer-aided design and modeling, prototyping, testing simulations, solar-powered battery systems circuitry and more. The team’s captain, Fulton Schools mechanical engineering graduate student Ayman Hangalay, credits the Fulton Schools curriculum for providing the fundamentals in many areas of engineering and technology that students have been drawing on to build their solar-powered vehicle. Read more: A solar-powered learning experience

  • New probes gather real-time algae information in CAP canals

    New probes gather real-time algae information in CAP canals

    Probes powered by solar energy and connected to a computer terminal that sends out data like a cell phone are being used to monitor conditions in the Central Arizona Project canal system. The probes can detect changes in algae in the system’s water sources, says Taylor Weiss, a Fulton Schools assistant professor and researcher with the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation. Through a partnership with an environmental and industrial analytical technologies company, Weiss and his team are testing water in more than 300 miles of the canal system. The sensor system will alert researchers to emerging algae problems that could threaten the quality of the water that serves a large population of users — including many Arizona farmers. The article is also published in the Casa Grande Dispatch.

  • Amazon’s Alexa could soon speak in a dead relative’s voice, making some feel uneasy

    Amazon’s Alexa could soon speak in a dead relative’s voice, making some feel uneasy

    A new feature of Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa is an ability to speak in a real person’s voice, which is making some people uncomfortable. That’s because the device can be programmed to use the voices of deceased persons, like departed family members. Response to the idea on social media included “creepy” and “morbid.” Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science, says the reactions can be instructive. Amazon’s demonstration of the voice-replicating tool should make the public more aware of the growing capability of using synthetic voices, Kambhampati says, and should remind us that in a world of these technologies we cannot rely solely on our own ears to discern the true source of what we are hearing. He was also interviewed on the topic on the “Morning Wave Busan” radio program in South Korea.

  • Triple major ASU alumna uses interdisciplinary skills to research causality

    Triple major ASU alumna uses interdisciplinary skills to research causality

    Rachael Kha is finishing up work this summer to earn a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the Fulton Schools. It will be added to the bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering she also earned in the Fulton Schools as a student in ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College — along with undergraduate degrees in economics and philosophy. Kha says what she’s learned in each of these disciplines has enriched her overall educational experience, and provided knowledge that’s the foundation for her unique master’s thesis exploring applications of paradigms derived for philosophy combined with the use of engineering design in development of new technology. Next, she will pursue at doctoral degree in social and engineering systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Study: We Can’t End Car Dependency Without Disincentivizing Driving

    Study: We Can’t End Car Dependency Without Disincentivizing Driving

    Experts can make a strong case for the benefits of altering our traditional travel choices. But getting public officials and the general public to change continues to be a big challenge, says Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineer and director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Even where there are good incentives for moving away from car-centric lifestyles to more environmentally sustainable choices, there’s still not much willingness to make the switch, Pendyala says. Now, he and his colleagues have devised a list of 12 things shown to influence mobility choices, which could be a guide for policymakers to mount stronger efforts to incentivize a break away from conventional modes of transport.

  • ASU students commit to action on pressing issues

    ASU students commit to action on pressing issues

    A child of immigrant parents who have depended on her to be a mediator between them and their physicians, Anika Attaluri (pictured) knows the obstacles non-English-speaking and minority communities face when seeking health care. Now a second-year Fulton Schools biomedical engineering student, Attaluri is joining fellow global health major and student in ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College, Abdi Maleka, a second-year biological sciences student, in a Clinton Global Initiative University effort to establish a community of young leaders committed to developing innovative solutions to the world’s pressing social challenges. Attaluri and Abdi will be starting a nonprofit organization called Jigsaw Health to increase health literacy among minorities and eliminate disparities in health care in Arizona.

  • Social Media’s Latest Trend

    Social Media’s Latest Trend

    A newly developed artificial intelligence, or AI, tool called DALL-E is both exciting people about its creative capabilities while also worrying them about the ramifications of its potential misuse. DALL-E can take information and directions vocally from humans and use what it hears to produce images, illustrations and depictions of what people have described to it. Fulton Schools Professor Subarrao Kambhampati, a former president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, says DALL-E represents a significant step forward in AI technology that should be recognized as an impressive advance that can augment human creativity. At the same time, he says, it’s raises concern about its potential use in creating “deep fakes” and other manufactured images intended to spread false information.

  • Enabling next-generation Space IoT with a unified memory architecture

    Enabling next-generation Space IoT with a unified memory architecture

    Today’s increasingly challenging technological advances require ever deeper expertise in a wider range of engineering and science fields, especially when developing new technologies and systems to operate in different environments — like outer space. To produce a unified memory architecture to work in space, for instance, requires skills in radiation-effects mitigation, field-programmable gate arrays, synthetic aperture radar, mega-constellations of Space IoT micro satellites and spin torque transfer magnetoresistive random access memory solutions, to name a few. Among leaders of a current endeavor involving these tools and systems is Paul Armijo, chief technology officer of aerospace and defense at Avalanche Technology, a specialist in radiation effects, among other things, who earned his degree in electrical engineering at ASU.

  • Could Arizona be at risk for rolling blackouts this summer? ASU expert weighs in

    Could Arizona be at risk for rolling blackouts this summer? ASU expert weighs in

    Summer days in Phoenix that can bring temperatures exceeding 110 degrees are when we don’t want to see power outages that can cause threatening rolling blackouts. But conditions for outages and blackouts to occur at this time of year are at their peak, says Anamitra Pal, an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools electrical, computer and energy engineering program. A recent report says about two-thirds of the United States could experience these blackouts this summer — a possibility heightened by the impacts of climate change. Pal says strategic interventions are needed — including more use of renewable resources to increase the power supplies in energy systems to help prevent those total blackouts.

    See Also: Feeling the heat? It could get worse this summer — and the summer after, ASU News, June 10
    Feeling the heat? Here’s how it could get worse this summer, AZ Big Media, June 16
    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Anamitra Pal is interviewed about how climate change, post-pandemic energy demand and war raise the risk of dangerous rolling electrical blackouts.

  • Pesticides Are Spreading Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Scientists Warn

    Pesticides Are Spreading Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Scientists Warn

    With strong molecular bonds that can take centuries to break down in the environment, toxic “forever chemicals” are a threat to human and environmental health.  Their presence is increasing because they are being used in most pesticides that came into the market in recent years. With these chemicals also being in many consumer products, including clothing, the toxins they contain are showing up in drinking water and our bloodstreams. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, is among experts warning of the growing risk of exposure to the toxic substances. Researchers say it could take decades before we see the impacts of these fluorinated pesticides being sprayed on crops.

  • AI as (an ersatz) Natural Science?

    AI as (an ersatz) Natural Science?

    On the Association for Computing Machinery blog, Subbarao Kambhampati (pictured), former president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, writes about the fluctuating movement of the artificial intelligence, or AI, field across the boundaries of engineering and science. The science of AI has involved attempts to provide insights into the nature of human intelligence, while AI engineering has focused on getting computers to demonstrate intelligent behavior. But lately, Kambhampati writes, the pendulum has swung toward AI and its turn toward becoming a tool of natural science, raising talk about the future of computing belonging more to biology rather than logic. That trend will no doubt bring up ethical questions about the aims toward which AI technologies are deployed and where engineering will end up fitting into an AI-driven world.

  • Universities partner to make chemistry more equitable

    Universities partner to make chemistry more equitable

    Among Black, Latino, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native college students, more than 40% typically withdraw from or fail general education courses, hindering their higher education pursuits. To reverse that trend, ASU and Carnegie Mellon University are partnering to develop general chemistry courseware designed to help those students. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Rod Roscoe, a human systems engineer and a Diane and Gary Tooker Professor of Effective Education in STEM, will be among leaders of the effort. A major goal of the project is to create an innovative approach to teaching chemistry in ways that help students see personal and cultural connections to the field.

  • “A Homerun:” How Arizona became the global manufacturing hotspot

    “A Homerun:” How Arizona became the global manufacturing hotspot

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is building a $12 billion fabrication plant in the northern Phoenix area and plans to hire 2,000 people to work there. Meanwhile, the Intel company is building two new semiconductor plants south of Phoenix, an expansion that will open up 300 new jobs at the sprawling high-tech center. These are only two of the new ventures expanding Arizona’s fast-growing advanced manufacturing scene, which in addition to semiconductors will also focus on electric vehicles, battery technology, renewable energy, aerospace and more major industry sectors. Helping to lure these ventures is the state’s deep talent pool, which includes the more than 25,000 students enrolled in engineering education programs in the Fulton Schools. (Content for the article sponsored by the Arizona Commerce Authority.)

  • ASU student with Tucson ties making big moves with Apple

    ASU student with Tucson ties making big moves with Apple

    Fulton Schools computer science student Joshua Tint (pictured) is now reaping big benefits from what he learned as a member of the robotics teams he joined during his elementary school through high school years. During a recent final exam week at ASU, Tint was able at the same time to apply skills in robotics to develop an app to help people determine what names and pronouns work best for them. The app recently made him one of the 300 winners of Apple’s worldwide Swift Student Challenge. He was also among the students selected for an invite to demo his app for Apple developers. He’s doing an internship this summer in Tucson involving software for medical equipment and is planning to eventually earn a doctoral degree.

    Read more about Tint’s work and professional aspirations on Apple.com’s Newsroom: Apple’s WWDC22 Swift Student Challenge winners help communities through coding

  • From somebody to nobody: TSMC faces uphill battle in US talent war

    From somebody to nobody: TSMC faces uphill battle in US talent war

    Large construction crews and equipment are gathered daily at two sites in the Phoenix metropolitan area. A $12 billion semiconductor chip fabrication is being built at one site for the TSMC company. A $20 billion expansion is underway at an Intel plant at another site. Both are racing to have the expansive new facilities fully operational within about two years. The two industry giants are competing for new workers from the local talent pool — primarily ASU engineering students in the Fulton Schools. Intel’s longstanding relationship with ASU makes the competition tougher for TSMC in the current competitive market for new employees, says Professor Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools. But TSMC is recruiting heavily on campus and working on establishing research and training program collaborations with the university, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman. The article is also published in S.G.C. and the Leak Herald.

  • The pandemic showed us how interconnected we are. Will our climate response reflect that?

    The pandemic showed us how interconnected we are. Will our climate response reflect that?

    Scientists who authored recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other publications say pandemics and climate change are shared global problems — and that solutions must also come from a global perspective. Slowing climate change could help prevent another pandemic. One potential approach for addressing this challenge is being explored by a research group led by Gautam Dasarathy, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering. The project teams experts in computer science, math, geography, public policy and even media and the arts. Dasarathy says examining the problem from those various viewpoints could yield insights into effective ways to simultaneously deal with climate change and pandemics. (Access to the full content of the Arizona Republic is available only to subscribers.) The article is also published in USA News Lab.

May

2022
  • ‘It’s almost like the whole city was built with it’: Thousands of Tempe homes could have expired pipes

    ‘It’s almost like the whole city was built with it’: Thousands of Tempe homes could have expired pipes

    Up to 90 percent of the homes in Tempe could be at high risk of major sewage backups in the near future. After a recent pipeline break that released several million gallons of water and closed much of a major freeway across the city, officials reported that deteriorating sewage pipes in the area could potentially lead to similarly troublesome leaks or ruptures. Pipes used to connect residences to the city’s public sewer systems between 1940 and 1970 are now past the age of their average lifespans, says Samuel Ariaratnam, a professor and chair of the Fulton Schools construction engineering program. Everything from small cracks to extensive collapses of those older pipelines are now an evident threat, says Ariaratnam, who was recently appointed to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s pipeline advisory committee. The news was also reported in U.S. News & World Report, KTAR News, Claims Journal, USA News Lab, Your Valley, KJZZ News (NPR), The Miner, Tempe in Motion, Arizona Daily Sun, News Break, Daily Independent, Underground Construction

  • UB-led team advances cyber-manufacturing systems with $2.3 million NSF grant

    UB-led team advances cyber-manufacturing systems with $2.3 million NSF grant

    A multi-university reach team is working to help modernize manufacturing systems. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the project aims to help industries — including semiconductor manufacturing and 3D printing — improve their quality, production and efficiency. Co-principal investigators on the team include Fulton Schools faculty members and researchers Rong Pan and Guilia Pedrielli. Pan is an associate professor and Pedrielli is an assistant professor, both of them in the School of Computing and Augmented intelligence, one of the seven Fulton Schools. The project is focused on advancing Industry 4.0, a term used to describe a fourth industrial revolution that revolves around intelligent and interactive manufacturing ecosystems that integrate product design, production and logistics.

  • ASU research examines new method for diagnosing African swine fever

    ASU research examines new method for diagnosing African swine fever

    Without an effective treatment or vaccine for African swine fever, or ASF, an outbreak of the disease can devastate swine herds. But work led by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Chao Wang in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics is showing promise for a new and improved method for early diagnosis of ASF. Wang’s research combines nanoscience and biotechnology, and his expertise includes medical point-of-care biosensing technologies. This project involves design and validation of a portable diagnostic sensing device using metal nanoparticles with different optical characteristics to find ASF biomarkers. Wang and his colleagues have funding from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to pursue further development of their diagnostic test. The article is also published in Farms.com, News-Medical.net and Science Magazine.

  • Abu Dhabi University Previews Sustainable Smart Construction and Concrete 3D Printing in the Third Edition of the ADU-ASU Research Forum

    Abu Dhabi University Previews Sustainable Smart Construction and Concrete 3D Printing in the Third Edition of the ADU-ASU Research Forum

    Engineers and scientists tackling challenges of sustainable smart construction and design for projects using concrete in hot-weather environments recently gathered at Abu Dhabi University (ADU), the largest engineering college in the United Arab Emirates. ADU collaborated the School of Sustainable Engineering and Built Environment, one of the seven Fulton Schools at Arizona State University, for the ADU-ASU Research Forum 2022. Students from both universities learned about innovative concepts in sustainable construction and advances in the use of 3D printing technology to solve major industrial challenges. Fulton Schools Professor Narayanan Neithalath said the forum offered students valuable learning experiences while promoting research collaborations between educational institutions. News about the event is also published in the Eye of Dubai, Abu Dhabi University news, Emirates News Agency—WAM, Zawya, Eye of Riyadh, Write Caliber and Albawaba.

  • Why farms are falling behind on autonomous technology

    Why farms are falling behind on autonomous technology

    As transportation, manufacturing and other industries boost use of advances in automation and autonomous technologies, agricultural operations remain slow to take advantage of increasing opportunities to automate. Rene Villalobos, a Fulton Schools associate professor of industrial engineering who studies innovation in agriculture, says both agriculture businesses and consumers of farm products can benefit from new high-tech tools and systems that would make growing, harvesting and delivering food to the marketplace more efficient, economical and environmentally sustainable. And while using new technology will enable streamlining supply chains and bringing logistics to agricultural operations, Villalobos doesn’t foresee the automation that would be involved in those ventures displacing agricultural workers but instead creating news kinds of jobs for them in the industry.

  • California is beginning to bury its power lines to prevent wildfire

    California is beginning to bury its power lines to prevent wildfire

    To reduce the threat of wildfires, Pacific Gas and Electric is embarking on an extensive and expensive project to put its high-risk electrical power distribution lines underground. The company’s equipment has been faulted for sparking intense and wide-ranging wildfires in Northern California in recent years that have led to numerous fatalities and devastating property destruction. Even with the high cost, the project is a smart move, says Professor Samuel Ariaratnam, the Fulton Schools construction engineering program chair. He and other engineers point out the necessity for the project because of the intensifying impact of global warming in creating conditions to ignite wildfires. Ariaratnam is a leading expert in an evolving underground construction technique called horizontal directional drilling that could be used in this project. The technique can significantly save time and effort in restoring terrain disrupted by underground power line installations.

  • Flagstaff Seeks Carbon Capture Technology to Meet 2030 Climate Goals

    Flagstaff Seeks Carbon Capture Technology to Meet 2030 Climate Goals

    Progress is being made in developing systems to remove polluting greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and the city of Flagstaff and at least one other municipality in its region of the country are anxious to put those systems to use to protect their environments from the impacts of climate change. Flagstaff is part of the Four Corners Coalition, along with local governments of towns and cities that include Boulder County, Colorado, which also plans to obtain the new carbon capture technology. Flagstaff’s climate and energy coordinator is working with ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions State, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, to deploy the technology. The city could be one of the first in the United States to implement a climate plan that involves both capturing and storing carbon dioxide.

  • How much phosphorous is safe for our streams and rivers?

    How much phosphorous is safe for our streams and rivers?

    The federal government and the state of Arkansas are going to court over issues revolving around the amount of the mineral phosphorous that can be contained in water coming from local sewer treatment systems. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Rebecca Muenich, an agricultural and biological engineer, explains how this issue can impact water quality and the health of people, aquatic habitats and agricultural ecosystems, as well as shape governmental precedents for land management and environmental regulations.

  • Steelmaking is a major source of emissions. These companies are racing to fix it.

    Steelmaking is a major source of emissions. These companies are racing to fix it.

    Pollution from domestic steel mills accounts for about 15 percent of carbon emissions in the United States. But the steel industry is trying to reduce its carbon footprint. Companies are testing prototypes of systems that could enable manufacturing steel without the use of fossil fuels that have detrimental environmental impacts. Experts say this will require big changes in how steel is now made. Each potential solution faces challenges in terms of costs and the availability of key resources, says Professor Sridhar Seetharaman, the Fulton Schools vice dean for research and innovation, whose expertise is in materials science and engineering. Seetharaman says a mix of different methods will likely be needed to achieve major carbon emissions reductions.

  • Simple Gene Circuits Hint at How Stem Cells Find New Identities

    Simple Gene Circuits Hint at How Stem Cells Find New Identities

    How do body cells that are genetically identical become some of the many different kinds of cells found in complex organisms, like humans? A system designed by Xiao Wang, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering, helps make a step forward in understanding the ways nature tells cells how to differentiate into other kinds of cells — a process that helps generate the variety we find in biology and nature. The knowledge could help researchers learn how to control cells’ growth and change. Scientists and engineers see the possibility of introducing cells into patients that are engineered to develop in ways that are useful in diagnosing or treating diseases.

  • Algae could help fuel the future. But it’s not easy being ‘green’

    Algae could help fuel the future. But it’s not easy being ‘green’

    Researchers with ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, are working with the city of Mesa to turn the byproducts of wastewater treatment into fuel and other useful products. Justin Flory (in picture), the center’s associate director, is managing the project that involves harnessing the way that algae works naturally in the process of breaking down human-produced wastewater. In that process, microalgae takes in carbon dioxide from the waste, which essentially feeds the microalgae and can enable it to help produce useful algae-based biofuels. Flory and other researchers see those biofuels and other uses of algae playing big roles in supporting sustainable sources of energy, as well as helping reduce the negative impacts on the environment from emissions produced by wastewater treatment. (Access to the full content of the Arizona Republic is accessible only to subscribers.)

  • Rice University Researches Ammonia Removal From Wastewater

    Rice University Researches Ammonia Removal From Wastewater

    A recently developed catalyst that can pull ammonia and solid ammonia from low levels of nitrates found in industrial wastewater and polluted groundwater promises to enable a process to yield drinkable water from those sources. Christopher Muhich, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of chemical engineering, helped researchers from Rice University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory create the catalyst. The process it enables would help reduce carbon dioxide emissions from traditional industrial production of ammonia. Using further treatment of this kind on other water contaminants could potentially clean up industrial wastewater enough to make it safe for drinking. See the earlier post below, “Process aims to strip ammonia from wastewater,” dated May 3, for more coverage of this research news.

  • COVID-19 wastewater efforts confront long-term questions

    COVID-19 wastewater efforts confront long-term questions

    Wastewater monitoring and testing has been emerging as an effective way to reveal public health trends. Wastewater surveillance programs in particular have been helping communities track the outbreak and spread of COVID-19. Still, ramping up such efforts is often difficult because they can require substantial funding and a variety of resources, as well as political support and expanded government services. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Otakuye Conroy-Ben, an environmental engineer, is facing some of those obstacles in her work to recruit Native American tribal organizations to implement wastewater monitoring. While making some significant progress, Ben and her team are encountering administrative, cultural, geographic and economic obstacles to getting those projects up and running. The article was also published in The Mercury News,

     

  • In Chelsea, cooling an urban heat island one block at a time

    In Chelsea, cooling an urban heat island one block at a time

    As cities increasingly face longer and more intense hot weather, some are undertaking efforts like the heat-fighting Cool Block project in Chelsea, Massachusetts. More shade-producing trees are being planted and dark asphalt and heat-reflecting concrete are being replaced by white or gray concrete or other materials that reduce heat emanating from sidewalks and roadways. White roof surfaces are being installed over darker surfaces that hold heat. Larger U.S. cities — including Phoenix, Philadelphia and New York — are making strides in developing “cool corridors” that use a variety of techniques to battle the urban heat-island effect. Experts like Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, an urban climatologist, are advising communities on these efforts to help ensure sound science and engineering principles are guiding these endeavors. 

    See Also: American Innovators: How America’s Hottest City is Handling the Heat (YouTube)

  • Explainer: What are PFAS?

    Explainer: What are PFAS?

    Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS chemicals, are fully synthetic – meaning they’re not found in the natural world. They’re called “forever chemicals” because they are extremely resistant to either chemical and biological degradation. Experts, including Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, an environmental engineer who directs ASU Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, explain that while PFAS substances work well in many consumer products they can also be a threat to human and environmental health. Engineers and scientists are working on ways to remove PFAS chemicals from environments where they present serious threats.  They want to see use of more “green chemistry” — which has useful properties, but will become benign in the environment or quickly break down.

  • Biden’s cure for high gasoline prices? The 2021 infrastructure bill

    Biden’s cure for high gasoline prices? The 2021 infrastructure bill

    President Joe Biden says some solutions to rising gas prices are outlined in his legislative bill aimed at upgrading the nation’s infrastructure, including its transportation systems and travel options. Some proposed projects would lower demand — and prices — for gasoline, but take years to have a significant affect, some experts say. Making electric vehicles more affordable and mass transit more accessible would help, but still take as long as a decade, critics point out. Fulton Schools Research Professor Steven Polzin says parts of the president’s plan would alter the fuel supply-demand situation and likely help reduce prices, but adds that energy pricing is highly connected to a global market and that cutting demand in any one country would have only a modest impact on lowering oil prices.

  • The Southwest’s Drought and Fires Are a Window to Our Climate Change Future

    The Southwest’s Drought and Fires Are a Window to Our Climate Change Future

    The future of the fastest growing region of the United States, the Southwest, will be shaped by a new and different climate reality. And that is going to present big challenges. The Earth’s atmosphere has reached its highest concentration of carbon dioxide in history. That buildup is a major factor in the growing number of more intense fires and droughts. Environmental engineers and scientists are predicting those dramatic events could become more frequent and severe as climate change progresses. Fulton Schools Professor Mikhail Chester, director of ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, and other experts say current designs for our infrastructure systems don’t adequately address difficulties that will be presented by the emerging extreme climate conditions. The rise of the heat-island effect and similar climatic alterations could threaten power systems, water systems and the stability of communities. Chester and others say our society has long gotten away with  planning, designing and building things for a relatively stable environmental reality. But today and in the future — especially in places like the Southwest — we need to become flexible in responding to rapidly changing ecosystems.

    See Also: Activist Group Says U.S. Insurers Trying to Weaken Climate-Related Regulations, Insurance Journal, May 12
    Mikhail Chester comments on the critical need to respond to climate change challenges in the design and construction of new infrastructure projects.

  • ‘Possible cracks’ close the McClintock bridge over the US 60 in Tempe

    ‘Possible cracks’ close the McClintock bridge over the US 60 in Tempe

    Arizona Department of Transportation officials are particularly concerned about the failure of a major water pipeline near the U.S. 60 freeway in Tempe. In addition to necessitating the closure of a long stretch of the freeway, the pipeline break may have also caused cracks in the foundation of an overpass of a major road — McClintock Drive — above the freeway. The steel cyclinder pipe that broke is expected to last for about 75 years, a Tempe spokesperson said, but was only 50 years old when it broke. But such breaks are not rare, says Professor Samuel Ariaratnam, who heads the Fulton Schools construction engineering program. Ariaratnam cites research that found there are an average of 25 breaks per 100 miles of water pipeline — adding up to about 850 breaks per day in North America. The Phoenix area, for instance, is thought of as a young metropolitan area with newer infrastructure systems, but in fact has some water lines that are about a century old, he says. Ariaratnam was recently appointed to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s pipeline advisory committee.

    See also: Eight-million-gallon water main break could cause more problems underground, ABC 15 News (YouTube), May 11

    Water main break located, but no ETA for US 60 reopening in Tempe, 3TV/CBS 5 News-Phoenix, May 9

    No timetable yet for reopening US 60 in Tempe following water main break, ABC 15 News-Phoenix, May 11

  • The human health observatory in our sewers

    The human health observatory in our sewers

    Advances in wastewater testing are expanding ways in which public health can be monitored — and the ways the spread of contagious diseases can be tracked. That capability has been especially important during the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. Work at ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, led by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his team, has helped to open up new aspects of wastewater epidemiology to provide critical information about the transmission of COVID and other health threats. Progress by the center’s researchers and other experts in the field around the world is leading to establishment of wastewater surveillance systems that can alert local health agencies to the rise of diseases. Officials can then use the data to make decisions about allocating resources to help combat outbreaks. Halden says wastewater analysis can also provide information that can be used to proactively guide people in adopting healthier lifestyle habits.

     

  • First ‘MechanicalTree’ installed on ASU’s Tempe campus

    First ‘MechanicalTree’ installed on ASU’s Tempe campus

    The first commercial-scale “MechanicalTree” is being installed on a test pad on ASU’s Tempe campus. The creation of the university’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, the “tree” has the capability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making it a potentially vital tool in helping to reduce the environment-threatening impacts of climate change. Lackner is working with Carbon Collect Ltd., a company that is using Lackner’s pioneering carbon-capture ideas to manufacture commercially available devices for carbon dioxide removal.  When fully operational, the MechanicalTree on campus is expected to remove about 200 pounds a day of the carbon dioxide that is trapping heat in the atmosphere and causing global warming. See previous posts on this page — dated May 5 and April 22 — for more news coverage of the MechanicalTree technology.

  • Viruses in Hiding: He got throat cancer even though he was never a smoker. The cause? An HPV infection

    Viruses in Hiding: He got throat cancer even though he was never a smoker. The cause? An HPV infection

    Researchers are discovering the development of long-term diseases — including cancer — can be triggered by a complex combination of genetics, virus dynamics and environmental factors. Studies of diseases like those related to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, are revealing not only how illnesses arise and progress but also ways in which they could be treated or prevented. Work contributing to deeper understanding of the root causes of diseases and other disorders and how to combat them is being done in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, an environmental engineer. She and her team are studying the intricate workings of ecosystems in the body to determine how they are tied to our health. The research has led to promising results, such as transplants of human gut bacteria that could help children with autism. (Access to the full content of the Arizona Republic is accessible only to subscribers.)

     

  • With Charlotte back to work, more people are riding light rail. But local bus ridership isn’t growing.

    With Charlotte back to work, more people are riding light rail. But local bus ridership isn’t growing.

    The waning of the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing some workers back to offices in a time of rising gasoline prices. Those two factors appear to be attracting more riders to mass transit light rail lines —but not necessarily to buses, streetcars and other modes of public transportation. Fulton Schools Research Professor Steven Polzin, a civil engineer who specializes in transportation, says it’s difficult to ascertain precisely where public transit trends are moving. He expects that many workers won’t return to offices full time and other sources of ridership will be hard to find. He foresees overall mass transportation ridership nationwide increasing in the coming year, but not by more than about 60 percent.

  • Can ASU’s MechanicalTree remove enough carbon to slow climate change?

    Can ASU’s MechanicalTree remove enough carbon to slow climate change?

    Researchers at ASU Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and Travis Johnson, one of the center’s associate directors, are focused on contributing to endeavors to slow climate change and avoid the environmental problems it could cause. One of the primary efforts involves maximizing the effectiveness of the carbon-capturing technologies the center’s team has been developing. A prototype of one kind of that technology — trademarked as the MechanicalTree — was recently installed on a small lot next to ASU’s Biodesign Institute. Recently commercialized by Carbon Collect Inc., a renewable energy manufacturer, the MechanicalTree is one of six projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to slow the effects of carbon dioxide in the environment. The goal is to build “tree farms” in the coming years to capture 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide a day.

  • Your Take-Out Coffee Cup May Shed Trillions of Plastic ‘Nanoparticles’

    Your Take-Out Coffee Cup May Shed Trillions of Plastic ‘Nanoparticles’

    A thin plastic film is used to line the inside of paper coffee cups helps keep the coffee hot and prevent it from leaking through the cardboard. But there’s concern about the tiny particles of plastic — called microplastics — that leach into the coffee and may have adverse health effects. Recent lab test results published in the research journal Environmental Science and Technology find the lining releases more than 5 trillion plastic nanoparticles per liter when hot liquid is poured into a 12-ounce single-use cup. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says these nanoparticles are small enough to slip into our bloodstreams and get lodged in the body’s tissues and organs. At present, Halden says, researchers lack the tools to measure precisely what is happening with the ingested plastic particles and to be certain where the particles are going and what they may be doing. One recent study, however, raises hope for a new method designed to reveal the impact of these microplastics. The article is also published in HealthDay.

  • Process aims to strip ammonia from wastewater

    Process aims to strip ammonia from wastewater

    Christopher Muhich, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of chemical engineering, has teamed with researchers at Rice University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to develop a high-performance catalyst that can pull ammonia and solid ammonia – in other words, fertilizer — from low levels of nitrates that are widespread in industrial wastewater and polluted groundwater. The achievement could open a path to advanced treatments of contaminants that can potentially enable turning industrial wastewater into drinking water. Another benefit of the process the research team has developed is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from traditional industrial production of ammonia.

    News about the project also appears in Science Daily, AZO Materials, FuelCellsWorks, Innovations Report, Technology Networks, Technology.Org, News Explorer, 24HTECH, NewsBreak, Swifttelecast, New On News, Genius Interactive, Phys.Org, Chem-Europe, WaterWorld, Nano Magazine, Water Online, Research News, Materials Today, Chemical Online, ISS Source

  • 2 ASU professors appointed as first-ever Navrotsky Professors of Materials Research

    2 ASU professors appointed as first-ever Navrotsky Professors of Materials Research

    Significant contributions to materials science and engineering have earned Fulton Schools Associate Professor Candace Chan (pictured at left in photo) one of ASU’s first Navrotsky Professor of Materials Research positions.  The professorship has been made possible by a $10 million gift bequest from Alexandra Novrotsky, the director of ASU’s Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe, to ensure the long-term growth of materials science at the university. Chan plans to work with other researchers on engineering materials solutions for decarbonization, sustainable and clean energy, and critical materials needed for important technological applications. Chan’s fellow new Navrotsky Professor, Dan (Sang-Heon) Shim (pictured at right in photo), a professor in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, will join her in efforts to drive progress in the fields of materials research and solid state science.

  • The Surprisingly Complicated Physics of Carrying a Cup of Coffee — Without Spilling

    The Surprisingly Complicated Physics of Carrying a Cup of Coffee — Without Spilling

    A significant technological advance could be achieved if robots could be enabled to handle a cup of coffee with the same dexterity humans can. Whenever we take our coffee from one place to another without spilling it, we are accomplishing a feat of physics that is not common to other creatures and machines like robots. Work on advances in robotics to make that possible is being done by researchers, including Fulton Schools Professor Ying-Cheng Lai and doctoral student Brent Wallace. The endeavor involves some very precise and advanced electrical, mechanical and computer engineering. Lai and Wallace are hopeful about finding ways to make robot movements more predictable, reliable and adaptable. They say success in their work could lead to better prosthetics and ways to more effectively synchronize the operations of technologies in general.

April

2022
  • We’re Flushing Some of Our Best COVID Data Down the Toilet

    We’re Flushing Some of Our Best COVID Data Down the Toilet

    While overall cases of the viral COVID-19 are down, it is still critically important to keep track of when and where the disease might be reemerging, especially as new variants spread and potentially trigger new surges of infections. Monitoring of COVID-19 breakouts has been made more effective by advances in wastewater testing led by researchers such as Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Halden’s wastewater testing in Tempe and surrounding areas led to identifying a previously undocumented virus hotspot in the neighboring town of Guadalupe, home to a large number of Native American and Latino residents who often did not have access to COVID-19  tests. Halden and others are still working to improve the effectiveness of their techniques, and experts expect this kind of testing to remain important for the detection and monitoring of any future pandemics.

  • ‘A tipping point’: Arizona universities join forces to map the deadly Valley fever fungus

    ‘A tipping point’: Arizona universities join forces to map the deadly Valley fever fungus

    About two-thirds of the cases of the potentially fatal respiratory disease known as Valley Fever are typically contracted in Arizona — and about 80 percent of those cases are in Maricopa County, which includes the greater Phoenix area. Now there’s a major effort in motion to address the problem. Researchers from Arizona’s three state universities — including Fulton Schools faculty members and graduate students — are teaming up through the new Valley Fever Collaborative to find ways to suppress the spread of the disease. Miriam Woolley, a graduate research assistant in the civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program, is testing a spray application developed to form a protective layer over the surface of the earth to prevent dust from rising into the atmosphere and spreading the disease. The Valley Fever Collaborative is expected to build on work like that being done by Woolley and her team.

  • A sharper image for proteins

    A sharper image for proteins

    Proteins in the form of strings of amino acids are essential for the growth and maintenance of human body tissue. They initiate thousands of biochemical reactions, and protect the body from pathogens through the immune system. To better understand proteins and their functions, Fulton Schools Associate Professor Shaopeng Wang (pictured), a researcher in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors, has helped to develop sophisticated means to see and study them through advanced microscopy by improving light detection, imaging software and the integration of advanced hardware systems. A recent study by Wang and ASU colleagues describes a new technique that cold revolutionize the imaging of proteins and other vital biomolecules. That would mean being able to visualize these tiny entities with unprecedented clarity and by simpler means than existing methods. This breakthrough could lead to safer and more effective medicinal drugs.

  • Groundwater pollution may be an overlooked aspect of Arizona water issues

    Groundwater pollution may be an overlooked aspect of Arizona water issues

    There’s growing concern about potential contamination of Arizona’s groundwater — an especially valuable resource because of the state’s dry climate. Add to that worries about water in private wells, much of which contains one or more kinds of pollutants, says Rebecca Muenich, a Fulton Schools associate professor of environmental engineering. Arizona’s continuing growth poses a challenge to keep sources of environmental contamination in check. And with the state still going through a long-term drought, officials are focusing on trying to ensure there are adequate quantities of water. But Muenich stresses that if the water is of poor quality, then having an abundant supply won’t solve any major problems.

  • CHART-ing the future of space exploration

    CHART-ing the future of space exploration

    People, robots and artificial intelligence technology will be able to collaborate more effectively if researchers in ASU’s General Human Operation of Systems as Teams Lab, also known as GHOST, are successful. Constructed by ASU’s Center for Human, Artificial and Robot Teaming, or CHART, the GHOST Lab is a center of activity for research aiming to make advances enabling productive interactions between AI, robots and humans in health care, manufacturing and transportation, as well as in defense technologies and space exploration. The research is led by CHART’s director, Fulton Schools Professor Nancy Cooke. A cognitive psychologist, Cooke is applying her expertise in human teamwork and decision-making to human-technology teamwork — including collaborating on space missions. There’s much room for improvement in the capabilities of robotic and AI technologies to work successfully with people in a variety of situations, Cooke says. But it’s a critically needed step forward that could determine if humans make any significant progress in space exploration in years to come.   

  • ASU leads 4-university effort to work with industry on vehicle efficiency, sustainability

    ASU leads 4-university effort to work with industry on vehicle efficiency, sustainability

    Improved energy efficiency and environmental sustainability are two of the key advances the National Science Foundation, or NSF, wants to see in automobiles and automotive technologies. One way the foundation is supporting that goal is by funding some of the work at the Center for Efficient Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation Systems, led by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Hongbin Yu. In the new NSF-funded project, the center will engage in research with automotive companies to develop ways to reach energy and sustainability goals. Yu says the plan is to aid the companies in achieving significant reductions in emissions from internal-combustion engines and better energy efficiency. At the same time, the center’s researchers plan to help automotive companies position themselves for conversions from the use of polluting fossil fuels to cleaner and more efficient electric power.

  • ASU professor wins $1M DoD grant to boost AI technology

    ASU professor wins $1M DoD grant to boost AI technology

    Improving the way computers discern various kinds of images is the focus of new research to be done for the U.S. Department of Defense by ASU’s Geometric Media Lab, led by Pavan Turaga, a Fulton Schools professor and director of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering. The research involves developing robust applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence to specifically enable more accurate and relevant identification of objects and their environments in the various kinds of images. The challenge is to expand the abilities of computers to reliably identify objects in images by teaching the computers to pay attention to the objects’ shapes, along with other important details. This will help the military, for instance, in deciphering what is in certain types of images provided by drones, which are more frequently used to gather information for military and defense purposes. Turaga says the project will benefit from the collaboration of the arts, media and engineering program and the Fulton Schools electrical, computer and energy engineering program.

  • AIs Spot Drones with Help from a Fly Eye

    AIs Spot Drones with Help from a Fly Eye

    Unauthorized drones in commercial airspace are causing more frequent problems around the world. As these remotely piloted flying machines become ever cheaper and more accessible, there is growing concern they will become increasingly disruptive. Now a group of researchers has developed a special detection system to help stop troublesome drones.  They’ve come up with an algorithm designed by reverse engineering the visual system of the hoverfly. These flies, like some other kinds of buzzing insects, have extremely keen vision and fast reaction times. Such abilities stem from their compound eyes, which take in a lot of information simultaneously, and from the neurons that process that information — which are very good at separating relevant signals from meaningless noise. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic, associate director of research for ASU’s Biomimicry Center, says the achievement by these scientists is yet another valuable example of how much can potentially be learned from nature about signal processing.

  • Can a mechanical ‘tree’ help slow climate change? An ASU researcher built one to find out

    Can a mechanical ‘tree’ help slow climate change? An ASU researcher built one to find out

    A pioneering effort by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner (pictured) and his team at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions  has provided the carbon capturing technology called the Mechanical Tree. It is touted for its ability to absorb large amounts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and thus become a major tool to help curb climate change that could threaten some dire consequences for the Earth’s environment. Lackner is now working with Dublin-based Carbon Collect Ltd. to make the mechanical trees commercially available. Carbon Collect has a U.S. Department of Energy grant to design three large carbon capture farms in the American South, Midwest and West. Lackner says carbon capture technologies are necessary to balance the Earth’s carbon budget and help the world stay below 2 degrees of global warming. Growing use of the Mechanical Trees and similar systems might also encourage major polluters to start using carbon capture systems.

    See Also: Mechanical ‘tree’ planted at Arizona State University in hopes of fighting climate change, KTAR News, April 22

    Mechanical ‘tree’ at Arizona State University built to help fight climate change, FOX Weather, April 28

    Chemistry in Pictures: Mechanical Trees, Chemical & Engineering News, April 29

    Carbon Collect Unveils Mechanicaltree™ In Partnership With Arizona State University – Watts Up With That? Soft Educator, April 25
    The article was also published in Newsplaneta, Waseca Foods, 6Park News/Arizona and Science X Network

  • ASU Native American student Shundene Key wins NSF award

    ASU Native American student Shundene Key wins NSF award

    A National Science Foundation Research Fellowship grant is giving ASU doctoral student Shundene Key an opportunity to expand her research on proteins and how they function in the human immune system. The project could reveal ways to treat diseases by controlling proteins’ activities within the immune system. A member of the Navajo Nation, Key chose ASU in part because of its resources for Native American students. Along with help from ASU’s American Indian Student Support Services and American Indian Graduate Student Association, she was aided by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Otakuye Conroy-Ben, a member of South Dakota’s Ogala-Lakota tribe. Conroy-Ben, the first Native American scientist Key had met, has provided her mentorship and a sense of belonging within the ASU community that is helping Key reach her goals.

  • Electric cars generate interest as gas prices soar

    Electric cars generate interest as gas prices soar

    There’s growing consensus among business communities, industry leaders and government policy makers about the necessity of transitioning from motor vehicles that emit greenhouses gases to more environmentally sustainable automobiles powered by electricity. Despite that realization, there are many steps that need to be taken to make that transition effectively, says Fulton Schools Research Professor Steven Polzin, a former senior adviser in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Infrastructure must be put in place to provide adequate charging stations and other services for electric vehicles, along with establishing regulatory standards, price regulations, and safety and maintenance standards to support electrification, Polzin says. To adequately produce a positive environmental impact, he adds, the transition to electricity must go beyond household vehicles to trucks, buses, delivery vans and other kinds of large and numerous commercial and industrial motor vehicles. (Access to the full content of the Arizona Capitol Times is available only to subscribers.)

  • No more masks on planes, trains, and buses — for now

    No more masks on planes, trains, and buses — for now

    Debate is swirling about the potential impacts of a federal judge’s decision that the federal mask mandate initiated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic exceeded the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fulton Schools Research Professor Steven Polzin, a civil engineer who focuses on transportation, says the ruling may result in more ridership on mass transit if people who stopped using public transportation return to it because the mask mandate has been lifted. Still, he doesn’t foresee a dramatic rise in ridership because many people will feel uncomfortable and at risk of their health if they use transit options where many other riders are maskless. On the other hand, he says tensions may ease between public transit users who have complied with mask mandates and those who have not. The change could also alleviate stress for transit systems employees who won’t have to enforce compliance with mandates.

  • How wastewater can help scientists track new COVID-19 variants

    How wastewater can help scientists track new COVID-19 variants

    As the COVID-19 virus continues to mutate into variant strains, there remains the potential for widespread outbreaks of new forms of the deadly disease. One way in which emerging variants might be detected is the advanced wastewater testing techniques that have been developed in recent years by scientists and engineers, including Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his research team at ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering. These techniques can extract the genetic blueprint of the coronavirus from water in waste treatment facilities, enabling researchers to put together a picture of the prevalence of the virus in local communities. Public agencies and health organizations could then be alerted to deploy resources to track the virus and take actions to protect people in the area from the disease.

  • Will a Fast Train to Vegas Lure Road Trippers From Their Cars?

    Will a Fast Train to Vegas Lure Road Trippers From Their Cars?

    Las Vegas business and civic leaders are seeing more frequent traffic snarls that frustrate visitors who drive into the city to enjoy its many gaming and entertainment attractions. There’s concern that Vegas may soon lose many of those visitors and the income the city derives from them because of the massive traffic jams. Now a company wants to help solve the problem by bringing in visitors on a speedy climate-friendly rail line with amenities like free internet. But some see risks in such a privately financed intercity passenger rail system with a high price tag.  Fulton Schools Professor Steven Polzin, a civil engineer who has experience as a U.S. Department of Transportation adviser, cautions that it could be a fine line between whether such a system will become an asset or a drag on the cities’ financial outlook.

  • Interplanetary Initiative Lab student worker lands job at Blue Origin

    Interplanetary Initiative Lab student worker lands job at Blue Origin

    A Fulton Schools mechanical engineering graduate student will soon be leaving ASU after receiving his master’s degree and stepping into a job as a thermal analysis and management engineer for the leading aerospace company Blue Origin. That opportunity is due primarily to the experience Matthew Adkins (pictured) has gained since becoming part of the team at ASU’s Interplanetary Initiative Lab in 2020. His role enabled him to work on a project for NASA, network with industry professionals and move other projects forward from the concept to testing stages. At Blue Origin, he’ll assist on one project the relates to work he performed for his master’s thesis and be involved in the Orbital Reef, a project for which the university’s Interplanetary Initiative Lab is providing academic leadership.

  • First ‘Mechanical Tree’ installed on ASU’s Tempe campus

    First ‘Mechanical Tree’ installed on ASU’s Tempe campus

    Carbon capture technology developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his research team at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions is widely seen as among the most promising tools for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and thus helping to limit the impacts of environment-threatening climate change. Now, one of the first commercial-scale, capture-capturing “Mechanical Trees” is being installed on ASU’s Tempe campus. It’s part of efforts to publicly demonstrate the effectiveness of the innovative system with the larger goal of accelerating a global movement to reduce carbon emissions to combat the effects of global warming and similar problems that negatively impact the quality of life and health on the planet. Lackner is working with the business venture Carbon Collect to provide commercially available carbon dioxide removal devices.

    See Also: World’s FIRST Mechanical Tree ‘Planted” in Tempe, and It Sucks. In a Good Way, Phoenix News Times, April 19

    Dublin company unveils ‘mechanical tree’ for capturing CO2, Silicon Republic, April 19

    ASU plants ‘mechanical tree’ on Tempe campus to remove carbon dioxide, The Business Journals, April 19

    Dublin company unveils ‘mechanical tree’ for capturing CO2, Tribunal Inquiry, April 19

    Mechanical Trees Capture CO2 at ASU Tempe Campus, ABC 15 New Arizona, April 18

    Carbon Collect unveils first mechanical tree, The Chemical Engineer, April 21

  • How Arizona expertise could help solve global water challenges

    How Arizona expertise could help solve global water challenges

    Arizona’s history of advancing water engineering and science goes back almost 2,000 years ago, when the Hohokam people developed an extensive irrigation system that extended for hundreds of miles and supported a productive society. Today, research at the state’s universities is contributing to water systems innovations and advances in water-related technologies. Among the most inventive and potentially impactful is SOURCE Global, founded by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering. His company’s unique system uses a solar-powered device to extract moisture from the air that can be turned into drinking water. The hydropanels that accomplish the conversion eliminate the need for obtaining operating power from an electric grid, which enables the system to be more easily installed anywhere in the world that has adequate access to  sunlight.

  • Valley Fever Collaborative awarded $3M in research

    Valley Fever Collaborative awarded $3M in research

    ASU scientists and engineers will join those at the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University in a series of projects designed to gather detailed data on Valley fever in the state. The infectious disease affects thousands of people in Arizona every year — about two thirds of all Valley fever infections in the United States. Fulton Schools Professor Matthew Fraser will join Pierre Herckes, a professor in ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences, to lead one of the new Valley Fever Collaborative’s projects. The work will involve collecting and analyzing dust particles and other kinds of particles in the air at locations near Valley fever hot spots. Fraser and Herckes’ goal will be to determine the physical and biological characteristics of the particles and understand the nature of airborne Valley fever transmission. The results of the effort should help determine effective ways for people to avoid exposure to the disease.

  • ASU’s mechanical trees could make a dent in climate change

    ASU’s mechanical trees could make a dent in climate change

    Despite our knowledge that carbon emissions increase the growing risks from the effects of climate change that threatens the world’s environment, those emissions continue to increase. That is leading to calls to deploy carbon capture technologies sooner rather than later to help solve the problem. Among those technologies with the most promise of being effective are the mechanical trees first developed by ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. The system works by attracting carbon dioxide like a magnet and absorbing it like a sponge. It is then stored underground or repurposed to make various products. Gary Dirks, chairman of Carbon Collect, commercial partner of the mechanical tree project, says the increase in carbon emissions appear likely to continue, so it’s time to accelerate efforts to put mechanical trees to work as soon, and in as many places, as possible.

  • ASU student awarded inaugural carbon capture scholarship

    ASU student awarded inaugural carbon capture scholarship

    Chemical engineering and biochemistry student Riley Seminara (in center in photo) has won the Martin Hudson Scholarship for Carbon Capture and Sustainable Energy that will enable him to pursue more education and research in those areas. Carbon capture is one of the methods most touted as an effective way to combat the increase in the growing environment-threatening carbon emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere. The captured carbon is seen as potential source of renewable energy. Seminara is already conducting research in using hydrogen gas to reduce carbon dioxide accumulations. He is currently doing research with ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences Associate Professor Ryan Trovitch, who says Seminara’s knowledge of both chemistry and chemical engineering put him in a unique position to make meaningful contributions to the carbon capture field.

  • Two ASU students win Red Bull Basement Global competition for note-taking app

    Two ASU students win Red Bull Basement Global competition for note-taking app

    Fulton Schools students Brinlee Kidd and Sylvia Lopez have won the Red Bull Basement Global innovation competition for their idea that led to development of the software for Jotted, a note-taking app that helps students organize information they need for their studies. The app finds and highlights important information in class notes and also provides links to websites that can offer more context to the information in class notes. Kidd, an informatics student, and Lopez, an industrial engineering student, topped more than 180 contest applicants from around world to the earn the Red Bull prize. Once their venture is profitable, the company’s founders say a portion of the income will be invested in local communities to provide laptop computers as learning tools for young students.

    See Also: ASU Student Team Gets First Place in Red Bull-Sponsored Competition, The State Press

  • Recycling doesn’t keep plastic out of our stomachs, lungs, or blood, experts say

    Recycling doesn’t keep plastic out of our stomachs, lungs, or blood, experts say

    The longtime and widespread use of plastics as containers and in a vast number of other consumer products has resulted in growing accumulations of tons upon tons of plastics waste around the world. The outcome is that microplastics are abundant in our water, food and air — and, as researchers have found, in our bodies — including in our organs and blood. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and other environmental engineers and scientists now say that recycling efforts are falling short as an effective method to reduce our exposure to microplastics and the dangers they present for human health. Halden and fellow experts say industries must start replacing plastics with the use of less toxic materials that won’t stay in the environment over decades and even centuries. Some researchers are already producing designs for materials made from more biodegradable sources.

    See Also: Recycling won’t prevent microplastic from entering human bodies, say experts, Business Insider, April 8

  • Wastewater provides a planetwide laboratory for study of human health

    Wastewater provides a planetwide laboratory for study of human health

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is among researchers leading in the way in advancing wastewater-based epidemiology as a diagnostic tool to provide accurate and comprehensive assessments of public health. The technique can be used to get a broad picture of communitywide behaviors that affect health, including the use of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco, as well as exposure to hazardous chemicals, pharmaceuticals, viruses and antibiotic-resistant microbes. In addition to infectious disease monitoring, new disease biomarkers detectable in wastewater are being developed to enable researchers to mine samples for evidence of afflictions including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Details are in a research paper recently published in the journal Environmental International that was authored by Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Engineering, and Fulton Schools civil engineering doctoral student Sangeet Adhikari. The article is also published in Science Daily, Technology Networks, Smart Water Magazine, TechCodex, News Medical, Verve Times, Phys.Org, Mirage News, Honest Columnist and Environmental News Network

    See Also: Bringing Wastewater Tracking to Tribal Lands to Protect Families and Elders, The Rockefeller Foundation, April 7

    Study: Wastewater Analysis is Severely Underused Method for Global Health Metrics, Laboratory Equipment, April 7

  • Valley company uses technology to create water using sunlight and air

    Valley company uses technology to create water using sunlight and air

    SOURCE Global, a company founded seven years ago by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen, is making progress toward its goal of providing communities a secure source of water with the novel technology Friesen developed at ASU. His hydro solar panels use thermal energy from the sun and the moisture from the atmosphere to produce clean water. SOURCE Global now operates in more than 50 countries, including communities in Dubai, South Africa, the Philippines, and the Navajo Nation. A company spokesman says the hydro panels systems — designed to work in dry, harsh climates in which water can be scarce — can last up to 15 years and create water in areas where the humidity is as low as seven percent.

    See Also: A company can make drinking water from nothing but air and sunlight, Interesting Engineering, April 20

  • Meet DALL-E, the A.I. That Draws Anything at Your Command

    Meet DALL-E, the A.I. That Draws Anything at Your Command

    New AI technology being developed would enable creating digital images by users simply by describing what they want to see. Supported by funding from Microsoft, the OpenAI artificial intelligence lab is working on technology that blends language and images to electronically generate various things in images. It’s a neural network that learns skills by analyzing large amounts of data and pinpointing patterns in thousands of pictures or other images. Such systems could help companies improve search engines, digital assistants and other common technologies, and also automate new tasks for graphic artists, programmers and other professionals. But experts like Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, a computer scientist, warn of the potential to use such systems for deceptive activities, such as proliferating deep fake images or generating and spreading extensive disinformation on the internet. (Access to the full content of The New York Times is accessible only to subscribers.)

  • Artificial turf saves water, but heats considerably in direct sunlight

    Artificial turf saves water, but heats considerably in direct sunlight

    Last year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation declared a significant water shortage in the Colorado River, one of Arizona’s major water sources. Many people reacted to calls for water conservation by replacing grass lawns with artificial turf. They found that while artificial turf did noticeably reduce their home water use, it also raised the ambient heat radiating from their yards. That’s because the materials in the turf heat up in the sunlight, and can get as hot or hotter than asphalt or concrete during the daytime, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel.  She and ASU School of Sustainability Assistant Professor Jennifer Vanos, both members of ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center, have been involved in numerous studies of the impacts of various materials — notably road pavements — and how they can intensify the urban heat island effect.

  • Interest in Electric Cars is Surging

    Interest in Electric Cars is Surging

    Rising gasoline prices are attracting increasing consumer interest in electric vehicles at a time when the advantages of electrically powered automobiles are also trending upward. Fulton Schools Research Professor Steve Polzin, whose works focuses on transportation engineering and related areas, says consumers will see more choices in the electric vehicle market and find these vehicles cost less per mile to drive than gas-powered vehicles. There are, however, still some challenges to going electric. The number of charging stations would need to increase significantly if electric vehicle ownership goes up substantially, and a current electronics industry shortage of semiconductor chips essential to electric cars and trucks could constrain the growth of the supply of new electric vehicles.

  • ASU scientists working toward better, more rapid COVID-19 tests

    ASU scientists working toward better, more rapid COVID-19 tests

    As the result of the work of ASU researchers over the past two years, three companies are moving toward commercialization of new testing tools methods to more effectively and quickly reveal if people have contracted COVID-19. One of the companies, Flex Bio Systems and Tech was co-founded by Jennifer Blain Christen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of ASU’s BioElectrical Systems and Technology group. She and her team now have working prototypes of small, portable test machines for saliva samples that can be read by scanners to reveal if results are positive, negative or in error for early indicators of COVID-19 infection.

  • Use a New IEEE Standard to Design a Safer Digital World For Kids

    Use a New IEEE Standard to Design a Safer Digital World For Kids

    Efforts to protect the online privacy and rights of young people using digital technologies are emerging as social media and other online products and services aimed at attracting children and teens are proliferating. One of those efforts is the Society Policy Engineering Collective, directed by Katina Michael, a professor in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Michael has been working with colleagues in those schools who are involved in  the collective, and with fellow members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, on industry and community design standards for digital technologies and services used by youngsters. Michael, an IEEE senior member, is also chair of the organization’s standards working group. The group has developed guidelines for building age-appropriate products for youngsters that will address potential risks of digital and online services before they are deployed and will put concerns for children ahead of commercial interests.

  • Climate activism at The College

    Climate activism at The College

    In every area from the sciences and engineering to the humanities, politics and religion, ASU teachers, students and researchers are immersed in the conversation about the challenges of climate change and the potential solutions. In the Fulton Schools, with support from the National Science Foundation, Timothy Long, who is also a professor in the School of Molecular Sciences, is among researchers working on ways to either reduce, reuse or recycle all plastics. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mathew Green, a chemical engineer and a member of Long’s research team, says if the project is able to accomplish the goal its sets for forth in its proposal, its societal impact could be an immense step in reducing a big climate change threat.

  • SPOTLIGHT: Entering the Second Half Century of HDD

    SPOTLIGHT: Entering the Second Half Century of HDD

    The construction industry publication Trenchless Works recently celebrated a half-century of advances in the Horizontal Directional Drilling, or HDD, underground construction method, beginning with an introduction written by Fulton Schools Professor Samiel Ariaratnam (pictured). On page 5 of the digital magazine, he details key accomplishments of HDD and its contributions to the evolution of the field of construction engineering. Ariaratnam, who holds the Beaver-Ames Chair of Heavy Construction at ASU, is a co-author of the “Horizontal Directional Drilling Good Practices Guidelines.” Today, Ariaratnam writes, “you can go to all corners of the world and see an HDD rig installing a critical utility for the betterment of society.” He foresees continued expansion of the HDD industry as its environmental, economic and social benefits are increasingly recognized.

March

2022
  • 4 ASU students awarded Goldwater Scholarship for excellence in STEM research

    4 ASU students awarded Goldwater Scholarship for excellence in STEM research

    Fulton Schools electrical engineering student Jasmin Falconer (top left in photo) and mechanical engineering student Katie Pascavis (bottom left) are two of the four outstanding ASU undergraduates recently selected as 2022 Goldwater Scholars. The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious the United States for undergraduate researchers in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. The scholarship program is among efforts to ensure the nation produces leading scientists and engineers. Falconer plans to earn a doctoral degree in electrical engineering and work in a national laboratory on research related to electromagnetics and radio-frequency engineering. Pascavis wants to develop water purification and reclamation technologies to increase access to potable water, especially for people in low-income countries. Pascavis is also one of four students nominated for a Udall Undergraduate Scholarship , a fellowship for students who demonstrate leadership, public service and commitment to issues involving Native American nations or to the environment.

    See Also: Four ASU Students Awarded In Nationwide STEM Scholarship, The State Press, April 14

  • Our View: Semiconductors offer a chance for Arizona to play an award-winning role

    Our View: Semiconductors offer a chance for Arizona to play an award-winning role

    In a guest column, Greater Phoenix Economic CEO Chris Camacho and Arizona Technology Council CEO Steve Zylstra urge Congress to quickly come to agreement on two key legislative bills that will help put Arizona into a leading national position in the production of computer chips. Camacho and Zystra write that the state already has the potential to attract global interest as a key hub of semiconductor chip manufacturing because of training resources that are creating a world-class talent pool in the field. They point specifically to expanded tech education offerings at ASU, which has added the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks to its Fulton Schools of Engineering. Together with the MacroTechnology Works facilities at the ASU Research Park, a fabrication center advancing research and development in the semiconductor and related fields, the engineering schools are making the university a potentially robust springboard for next-generation semiconductors. (Access to the full content of the Phoenix Business Journal online is available only to subscribers.)

  • ASU Leverages Research, Technology To Gain Funding From State Through Initiative

    ASU Leverages Research, Technology To Gain Funding From State Through Initiative

    ASU leaders and Arizona’s policymakers have formulated a New Economy Initiative that involves a multi-million-dollar investment calling for the states’ public universities to help revitalize Arizona’s economy. To do that, the universities are being given additional funding to support science, engineering and technology projects and educational programs to help foster economic growth and provide a skilled workforce that will attract more industry to Arizona. A major part of the plan focuses on expanding the Fulton Schools. At the accelerating rate at which many industries are growing, Fulton Schools Dean Kyle Squires says the engineering schools have an opportunity to boost the economy by teaching students the kinds of new and advanced skills that major tech-based industries increasingly need to be successful.

  • Federal public transportation mask mandate continues while most have been lifted

    Federal public transportation mask mandate continues while most have been lifted

    While mask mandates enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted in many public gathering places, the federal mandates remain in effect for most public transit systems — especially ground transportation such as buses, subways, commuter and long-distance passenger rail lines. Several factors will likely determine the timelines for when officials will consider ending those mandates, says Fulton Schools Research Professor Steve Polzin, a civil engineer who specializes in transportation. Overall, transportation planners will be confronted with a number of changes in the public transit picture that have resulted from the long pandemic period, he says. It’s likely that as much as 10 percent of the pre-COVID workforce won’t be returning to offices. Other trends show people may choose alternatives to public transit and that concern about urban crime could keep riders away from mass transit systems, Polzin says. (Photo: Pixabay)

  • A new approach to robotics

    A new approach to robotics

    For this coming National Robotics Week (April 2-10) — an annual event to showcase innovations in robotics — Fulton Schools researchers have a lot of new advances to put in the spotlight.  Assistant Professor Heni Ben Amor’s Interactive Robotics Laboratory is making progress human-robot interaction, robot autonomy and machine learning. Assistant Professor Daniel Aukes’ IDEA Lab is developing fish-inspired robots that can perform vital work in extreme environments. Associate Professor Wenlong Zhang’s Robotics and Intelligent Systems (RISE) Lab is making drones that mimic bird-like flight. Professor Aviral Shrivastava’s Make Programming Simple Lab is helping to improve autonomous vehicles. Research by other faculty members is expanding the potential for the use of robots as medical assistants, as well as improving the capabilities of bio-inspired robotics technologies and robotic exoskeletons created in the Human Machine Integration Lab that promise to assist workers in many industries.

  • Yuma company working to perfect complicated process of recycling solar panels

    Yuma company working to perfect complicated process of recycling solar panels

    The Arizona company We Recycle Solar is focusing on recycling the materials used in solar energy panels. An ASU research team led by Fulton Schools Professor Meng Tao is aiding such efforts by developing ways to perfect the recycling process by recovering every material, including lead, from old solar panels. His goals also include making recycling cost-effective and building a pilot plant to test the recycling processes on a commercial scale. In addition, Natalie Click, a Fulton Schools materials science and engineering doctoral student and Tao’s research assistant, is focusing on increasing materials recovery rates for lead, an extremely toxic metal, in solar energy panels, so it can be reused as solder and other products, or put back into new solar panels.The article is also published on Tucson.com and Informed Consent.

  • US News ranks 13 ASU graduate programs in top 10 nationwide, 39 in the top 20

    US News ranks 13 ASU graduate programs in top 10 nationwide, 39 in the top 20

    The Fulton Schools environmental engineering and industrial engineering graduate programs are ranked among the top 20 in the nation in their fields in the recently released U.S. News & World Report Rankings. The environmental engineering program tied for No. 16. The industrial engineering program is No. 18. In addition, aerospace engineering and computer engineering both tied for No. 27. Civil engineering tied for No. 30, while electrical engineering tied for No. 34 and materials engineering tied for No. 35. Mechanical engineering tied for No. 41, chemical engineering tied for No. 48 and computer science tied for No 49. Fulton Schools engineering graduate programs were ranked No. 40 overall, the highest ever overall ranking.

  • Bill Gates and Blackrock Are Backing the Start-Up Behind Hydropanels That Make Water Out of Thin Air

    Bill Gates and Blackrock Are Backing the Start-Up Behind Hydropanels That Make Water Out of Thin Air

    Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, along with the BlackRockDuke Energy and Lightsmith Group companies are investing in Source Global, whose CEO is Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen. His company has developed solar energy hydropanels that can draw water from moisture in the air. He invented the panels in 2014 through his research in the Fulton Schools. Using the sun’s heat, the system converts molecules into liquid water, which is collected in a reservoir inside the panel and then released as pure water. The hydropanels are currently installed in 52 countries in hundreds of separate projects. The technology enables water to be produced through the panels installed at homes, schools and throughout communities, Friesen says. The World Health Organization estimates that half the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas in the near future, which will provide a large market for ventures that can produce water on site instead of through large utility infrastructure systems, Friesen says.

    See Also: Bill Gates backs an Arizona-based startup that makes water out of thin air, Interesting Engineering, March 29

    SOURCE Global Isn’t Publicly Traded, but Its Tech Will Be in High Demand, Market Realist, Market Realist, March 29

  • Robotic Arms: Merging Technology with Healthcare

    Robotic Arms: Merging Technology with Healthcare

    Next-generation robotics and automation technologies are emerging to promise further advances in biomechatronic arms and legs. Fulton Schools Professor Marco Santello is among biomedical engineers leading efforts to improve prosthetic technology. He is developing SoftHand Pro, the first prosthetic that will combine soft robotic technologies and natural biomechanics of the human hand to help restore functionality. Other similar types of prosthetics are being developed to replace ankles and feet, knees, legs and arms. The most successful of the new prosthetic technologies achieve a close coordination of robotic limbs that work in coordination with human brain signals. Santello is collaborating with Mayo Clinic researchers on new designs for technology that integrates biology and robots. Read more about this work.

  • Microplastics discovered in human blood are ‘unsettling.’ Scientists are trying to figure out whether they’re harmful.

    Microplastics discovered in human blood are ‘unsettling.’ Scientists are trying to figure out whether they’re harmful.

    Engineers and scientists have been warning that plastics waste has increasingly been making its way across larger expanses of land and water throughout much of the world. And it’s no longer accumulating only in the environment but in our bodies. That is the latest warning from environmental engineer and Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and others who have been tracking the growing accumulations of discarded plastics. Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, is among the experts spreading the word that microplastics are in our food, water and air, and that now there is evidence plastic polymers are getting into the human bloodstream. The effects on our health of microplastics in our blood is yet to be understood. So, the news about the increasing presence of plastics inside us is eliciting calls for more research to assess the potential dangers.

  • CDC’s wastewater surveillance system serves as early COVID detection

    CDC’s wastewater surveillance system serves as early COVID detection

    A wastewater surveillance system launched by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is proving to be effective in predicting trends in the spread of COVID-19. But there are challenges to putting the system to use in rural communities where many households use septic systems to collect wastewater. This means the water doesn’t go to municipal sewer facilities where it is available for testing by surveillance programs. In some areas, a large percentage of the wastewater from the population is out of reach for these programs, including Native American tribal groups in the western U.S. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Otakuye Conroy-Ben is an environmental engineer who works with these groups. She points out some of the complexities involved in collecting and sharing data gathered from these sovereign native communities. The article is also published in America’s Triangle Newshub.

     

  • How much of the heat can we blame on the heat island?

    How much of the heat can we blame on the heat island?

    Climate change is clearly evident but also complex. So, while the scientific verification continues to accumulate, there are still questions about precisely how much impact various factors have on creating and/or intensifying changing climate conditions — especially when it comes to rising heat. Research points to the urban heat island effect brought on by increasing amounts of concrete and asphalt being used as urban areas grow. Greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere — mostly by burning fossil fuels — are also a major source of higher temperatures. Whatever the case, Fulton Schools Professor Patrick Phelan says reducing energy usage of is one solution to the urban heat buildup. Phelan directs a partnership involving a U.S. Department of Energy project and ASU’s Industrial Assessment Center to train engineering students to evaluate how manufacturing companies could improve the efficiency of their machinery to reduce energy usage.  (Access to the full content of the Arizona Republic online is available only to subscribers.)

  • Cool Pavement Program Earns Innovative Transportation Solutions Award

    Cool Pavement Program Earns Innovative Transportation Solutions Award

    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel is among two ASU faculty members working with the Phoenix Street Transportation Department’s Cool Pavement Program, which recently won the 2022 Innovative Transportation Solutions Project of the Year Award from WTS International, an organization dedicated to advancing women in the transportation industry. The program is working on ways to reduce the urban heat island effect in the city through the use of street pavements with coatings that help to mitigate a rise in nighttime temperatures that can result in more energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollution. Middel and ASU Assistant Professor Jennifer Vanos led the cool pavement project’s research and data analysis work. Middel is on the faculty of the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the seven Fulton Schools, and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative of the Fulton Schools and ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

  • Web 3.0: Here’s what it is and how it will impact you

    Web 3.0: Here’s what it is and how it will impact you

    Web 1.0 brought us the internet, providing digital information that was searchable. Web 2.0 brought interactivity, the ability to stream content and control its presentation, games we could play, and ways to comment on internet content. Now, Web 3.0 will open up a whole new realm, says Fulton Schools Professor Dragan Boscovic, director of ASU’s Blockchain Research Lab and technical director of ASU’s Center for Assured and Scalable Data Engineering. This big evolutionary step provides us data ownership — enabling stakeholders involved in various internet business ecosystems to retain control over their data and create new business models focused on monitoring that data, Boscovic says. Business competition and new regulatory legislation responding to the new Web 3.0 environment will definitely reshape our tech-based commerce. Boscovic sees the possibility of Web 3.0 accelerating the use of cryptocurrency and eventually leading to a new form of economy driven by these next-generation internet capabilities.

  • ISTB7: A building bridging our ancient past to our thriving future

    ISTB7: A building bridging our ancient past to our thriving future

    The new Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 7 on ASU’s Tempe campus reflects a purposeful integration of innovative construction, architecture, engineering and design in providing a visually compelling edifice carefully shaped and equipped to serve the varied educational and research purposes for which it was conceived. Barzin Mobasher (at right in photo), a Fulton Schools professor of civil and environmental engineering, is one of the skilled professionals who have created ISTB7’s impressive environment. Mobasher had a role in the selection of the building’s glass-fiber-reinforced concrete panels that form the building’s shell and help to make it energy efficient. Other aspects of his work on ISTB7 are key components of the building’s structural resilience and overall environmental sustainability.

  • The Solar Tech Check: PV in space, and thin films stride forward

    The Solar Tech Check: PV in space, and thin films stride forward

    A three-year research project has resulted in discovery of a new way to both measure and track the mechanisms causing voltage loss in electrical devices. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman and Assistant Research Professor Arthur Onno, who led the project, were on the team investigating the causes of voltage loss in cadmium selenide telluride thin films. The findings published in the research journal Nature Energy offer a way to achieve higher efficiencies in the performance of technologies and materials, including silicon and perovskites, that have industrial applications. Zachary says the group has already replicated the measurement technique to enable it to be used by two manufacturers of solar energy cells and modules.

  • Headed back to the office? Make sure your building has flushed out its water.

    Headed back to the office? Make sure your building has flushed out its water.

    People returning to offices and other workplaces that haven’t been occupied for long periods of time while employees worked remotely should be wary about what comes out of the faucets in those buildings. Metals and microorganisms that may cause harm are likely to have built up in the plumbing of places that have been vacant, warns Fulton Schools Associate Professor Treavor Boyer, an environmental engineer. Water that stagnates in a building can stagnate and corrode the plumbing, causing metals such copper and lead — which can be particularly harmful — to leach out of the system. Boyer has done research during the COVID-19 pandemic lockouts in which he examined the long-term effects on water in schools that had been closed for months. Boyer says such studies could provide ideas for better protecting buildings from facing water contamination problems when they sit empty.

  • Factories of the Future

    Factories of the Future

    Attracting more high-tech industry ventures to Arizona and keeping manufacturing in the state on the cutting edge are two primary aspects of ASU’s role in the New Economy Initiative. To pursue those goals, the university is building five science and technology centers. One is a center at ASU’s Polytechnic campus that will focus largely on a combination of manufacturing, automation and data engineering projects. Dhruv Bhate, an associate professor in The Polytechnic School, one of the seven Fulton Schools, talks about the broad range of varying technologies and systems on which work at the new center will focus. Advanced robotics and materials performance will be in the spotlight, as well as additive manufacturing, 3D printing, nanotechnology, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, Bhate says.

    See Also: Creating the Future of Arizona, ASU News, January 13
    https://news.asu.edu/20220113-arizona-impact-creating-future-arizona-new-economy-initiative

  • America once dominated the semiconductor industry. Here’s why we must win again

    America once dominated the semiconductor industry. Here’s why we must win again

    America’s vulnerabilities in public health care, the global supply chain and technological areas like semiconductor manufacturing have been exposed by the strains of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, says Arizona State University President Michael Crow. He traces history over recent decades that reveals how the country slipped from its pinnacle of leadership in high-tech development and market dominance. But opportunities are emerging for the United States to reassert its dominance in the industries that can drive progress in many critical areas, especially in economic development, Crow asserts. The key is for the nation’s leaders to act decisively in supporting the investments, entrepreneurship and education to achieve a new American renaissance. ASU, with the recent opening of the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, one of the seven Fulton Schools of Engineering — the nation’s largest engineering school — is ready to help make a resurgence happen, Crow says. (Full access to the content of the Arizona Republic is available only to subscribers.)

  • Validating NFTs

    Validating NFTs

    Last year’s explosion in the value of the market for non-fungible digital tokens, or NFTs, from a trading value of $100 million to more than $20 billion, reflects both the opportunities and risks of the booming trends in a world of “cryptocurrency wallets.” The promise of the blockchain technology that provides NFT buyers security with proof of ownership of authenticity is also being dampened by the rise in scams and fraud in the wake of NFT market growth. But Blockchain experts like Fulton Schools Professor Dragan Boscovic, director of the ASU Blockchain Lab, say a new technology called distributed key generation, or DKG, which is used to automate NFT’s access control on the blockchain, can create a re-encryption key for an NFT owner and issue it to the network. That system and similar tools and services being developed for the blockchain can restore much of the confidence in dealing in the digital currency market, Boscovic says.

  • As cities across Arizona convert to electric buses, what’s stopping ASU?

    As cities across Arizona convert to electric buses, what’s stopping ASU?

    Some of Arizona’s leading cities are trying to convert their fleets of buses for public transportation to low-emission or zero-emission fuel sources — such as electric power — to help the cause of promoting environmentally sustainable transportation. But Arizona State University isn’t stepping up to join in those efforts. High costs and short battery lifespans are among reasons the university isn’t making the conversion. Fulton Schools Research Professor Steve Polzin, a civil engineer who specializes in transportation, says schools and consumers may be hesitant because battery technologies are changing quickly. Consumers and transit services may be wary of investing in what will become obsolete technology when the next waves of a new and improved batteries and fuel sources emerge, Polzin says.

  • ’98 CHS alumna at the forefront of neural injuries research

    ’98 CHS alumna at the forefront of neural injuries research

    Research contributions to neural tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, nanoparticle therapeutics and discovery of biomarkers in injured brains led recently to Fulton Schools Associate Professor Sarah Stabenfeldt’s election to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. Elevation to that status in her profession puts her among the top two percent of medical and biological engineers in the United States. The honor was noted by a local newspaper based in Edwardsville, Illinois, where Stabenfeldt graduated from Collinsville High School. Stabenfeldt’s work has earned awards and support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission — undoubtedly making her one of the high school’s most accomplished graduates.

February

2022
  • In the MIX: ASU looks to the future with new emerging technologies building, faculty, programs

    In the MIX: ASU looks to the future with new emerging technologies building, faculty, programs

    Experts say the future will bring our experiences in the realms of work, education, culture and other aspects of life into ever more seamless immersions in both the physical and virtual worlds. For example, Assistant Professor Robert LiKamWa recently led students in demonstrating the use of virtual reality to explore climate change and in presenting a class project called Dreamscape Learn, a fully immersive virtual reality learning system. Professor Pavan Turaga points to ASU’s new Media and Immersive Experience (MIX) Center as an example of the movement of the arts, social studies, science, engineering, media technologies and more into increasingly connected immersive environments. Turaga is director of the Schools of Arts, Media and Engineering, in which LiKamwa is a faculty member, and both are also on the faculty of the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the seven Fulton Schools — the kinds of dual positions that reflect the merging of academic disciplines and professional fields being forged in the evolving world of immersive realities. 

  • Hormone and gut bacteria link may guide better treatment for menopause symptoms

    Hormone and gut bacteria link may guide better treatment for menopause symptoms

    Fulton Schools Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown (at left in photo), director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, is already widely known for how her studies of the human gut have revealed information that is advancing research on treatments for autism. Now she and ASU and Mayo Clinic collaborators have found evidence that gut bacteria that are affected by hormones can spark changes in metabolism and brain function. One result of that finding may be opening a way toward progress in effective ways to treat the symptoms of menopause and to generally improve women’s health. Along with fellow researcher Heather Bimonte-Nelson (at right in photo), a professor in ASU’s Department of Psychology, Krajmalnik-Brown sees the potential for a deeper understanding of the interactions of microbial communities with gut chemistry leading to various kinds of therapies beyond those related to menopause.

  • ASU students ‘jam’ with industry experts on the future of 5G

    ASU students ‘jam’ with industry experts on the future of 5G

    ASU’s Learning Futures Collaboratory now offers Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband indoors — a next generation of broadband that opens up a many new opportunities for students, faculty, researchers and local organizations to explore technology at faster speeds than ever before. Recently, ASU students seeking degrees in a wide range of fields gathered for a “jam-style” event at Learning Futures, concluding with seven student-led teams pitching new ideas on how to apply 5G and wireless technology to enhance solutions addressing challenges in education, health care and the environment. More than a dozen experts from industry and ASU provided mentorship and insights to the students, and trained students on the use of 5G technologies, including one of the judges for the event, Robert LiKamWa, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the seven Fulton Schools.

  • Arizona State And Carbon Collect Bring Innovation To Sustainability

    Arizona State And Carbon Collect Bring Innovation To Sustainability

    Carbon capture technology like the MechanicalTree system developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his team at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions is viewed as one of the most promising tools for halting global warming that threatens the world’s environmental health and sustainability. An interview with the CEO of Carbon Collect, one of the more prominent companies stepping into the fledgling carbon capture industry, looks at the economic, engineering and governmental regulatory challenges of deploying MechanicalTree systems in ways the will maximize their effectiveness in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while also managing costs and providing incentives for long-established sectors of industry to join efforts to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions or mitigate their harmful impacts.

    See Also: Is Climate Restoration the Key to Stopping Climate Change, Interesting Engineering, February 11

  • 5 Best Machine Learning & AI Podcasts

    5 Best Machine Learning & AI Podcasts

    Among futurist Antoine Tardiff’s selections for the best podcasts exploring the intriguing innovations being made in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology is “Machine Learning with Jay Shah.” A Fulton Schools Graduate Research Assistant and a computer scientist, Shah has gone into depth on the inventive deep learning models being used to discover biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and to advance research on aging. In interviews with leading experts about their various applications of machine learning techniques — in both industry and academia — Shah explores and provides insights about some of the most exciting developments in the field.

  • How Russian cyberattacks could paralyze other countries as the nation invades Ukraine

    How Russian cyberattacks could paralyze other countries as the nation invades Ukraine

    In the wake of Russia’s aggressive moves on Ukraine and harsh sanctions the United States and other countries are imposing on Russia for its actions, security experts are warning of ways Russian leaders might try to retaliate. That push-back most likely would include cyberattacks on the sanctioning countries, primarily the U.S., says Nadya Bliss, executive director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative and a professor of practice in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the seven Fulton Schools. Those efforts could include attempts to breach other countries’ cybersecurity infrastructures, disrupt communications and possibly launch misinformation efforts to attempt to influence public perceptions of geopolitical events and issues. Bliss stresses that information technology providers and government agencies should shore up their cyber defense operations and strengthen security backup systems.

  • Ukraine-Russia Border Crisis

    Ukraine-Russia Border Crisis

    How are events likely to play out politically, economically and historically in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? What should be the response of the United States, and what ramifications and concerns might the invasion raise for Americans? Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby (pictured), co-chair of the Weaponized Narrative Initiative at ASU’s Center on the Future of War, talks about the complexities of the situation and warns about the risks involved in the ways in which the U.S. could get entangled in the conflict. One possibility, Allenby says, is that Russia could retaliate against the imposition of strong economic sanctions by the U.S. and its allies by launching cyber warfare attacks aimed at disrupting other countries’ economies, financial markets and perhaps even energy markets.

  • ASU to help bring new high-wage jobs to Arizona

    ASU to help bring new high-wage jobs to Arizona

    Arizona’s New Economy Initiative  is designed to help ensure the state’s leaders, communities and residents are ready to take advantage of opportunitie to boost the resilience of the state’s economy and ensure opportunities for prosperity for Arizona’s population. ASU will play a major role in fulfilling the initiative’s aspirations. Sally Morton, executive vice president of ASU Knowledge Enterprise, says the university will focus on efforts to facilitate and expand the state’s engineering and technology enterprises. That will involve producing university graduates with the leadership and innovation skills those industries are seeking. The plan includes developing science and technology centers as “intellectual hubs” to bring faculty, industry partners and students together to discuss real-world problems and the future of the Arizona economy.

  • The cost of algae-based biofuel is still too high

    The cost of algae-based biofuel is still too high

    Biofuels made from algae are seen as one of cleaner, more versatile and efficient alternatives to our petroleum-guzzling cars that release harmful gases and pollutants into the environment. Much progress has been made in developing methods to produce and use algae-based biofuels to power our vehicles and to move us closer to a clean energy economy. But one big hurdle persists. The cost of producing algae-based biofuels remains high. The Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation, whose leadership and research staff include Fulton Schools faculty members, is making progress in creating and using algae-based technology to produce renewable products such as biofuels, plastic alternatives and nutraceuticals. Still, many of the processes used in those operations can require big capital costs. So, researchers are now adding cost-efficiency to their list of goals in efforts to maintain the promising potential for algae engineering to become a robust source of both technological and environmental advancements.

  • How Computers See Entangled Nature

    How Computers See Entangled Nature

    In this podcast episode’s in-depth discussion, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic, associate director of research for The Biomimicry Center at ASU, describes his research on natural systems, such as social insect colonies, and how these explorations can lead to development of engineering solutions. He discusses, for instance, what a deep understanding of large-scale patterns in nature can teach us that might point the way to dealing with large-scale biological dysfunctions like cancer and neurological injuries. Pavlic also elaborates on what mathematical models of fundamental decision-making processes have in common with both natural and engineered systems, and how the various kinds of engineering problems on which his work focuses can in turn give rise to meaningful new lines of scientific inquiry about biological systems.

  • New technology fused with photosynthetic life offers path to green energy

    New technology fused with photosynthetic life offers path to green energy

    Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittman, director of ASU’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, and Associate Professor Cesar Torres, a chemical engineer, have roles in collaborative work with other leading ASU researchers who are tapping into nature’s processes to develop new sources of sustainable green energy. The group has created a microbial electro-photosynthetic system that uses a genetically engineered microbe to accommodate significantly high light intensities and continue photosynthetic activity without doing environmental harm. The system can provide a bridge between artificial energy and natural photosynthesis, offering a green pathway to the production of a broad range of products — including fuels, agrochemicals, therapeutics, cosmetics, plastics and specialty chemicals, as well as human and animal supplements.

  • Developing public interest technology by engaging with and empowering communities

    Developing public interest technology by engaging with and empowering communities

    Katina Michael’s work includes advocacy for development of new technologies designed first and foremost to serve the public interest — and encouraging new research to achieve that goal. Michael (pictured) recently presented her philosophy for the design of technology at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A professor in the Fulton Schools, as well as in ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society in the College of Global Futures, Michael wants to see the application of “socio-technical design” at the core of what is reflected in development of new technologies to help ensure they will truly perform in the best “human-centered” interests of the users. That will mean giving communities a major role in the process of establishing guidelines and priorities for the capabilities of new technologies.

  • Examining The Scope And Scale Of PG&E’s Plan To Bury 10,000 Miles Of Power Lines

    Examining The Scope And Scale Of PG&E’s Plan To Bury 10,000 Miles Of Power Lines

    Sam Ariaratnam, a Fulton Schools professor of construction engineering, joins a discussion about the extremely extensive scale of plans by the major utility company Pacific Gas & Electric to put about 10,000 miles of power lines underground in northern California. Numerous engineering, economic and environmental challenges will be involved in project the company hopes to complete over 10 years — at a cost of more than $20 billion. There are debates about the benefits versus the risks of burying power lines rather than suspending the lines overhead on utility poles and towers. The project would be one of the most complex endeavors ever in underground drilling and construction, Ariaratnam says. The company touts underground power line construction as a solution that would prevent the risks of electrical system fires. (Scroll down the webpage to find this news podcast.)

  • Dangerous driving: Why one stretch of I-10 has the most accidents

    Dangerous driving: Why one stretch of I-10 has the most accidents

    A three-mile stretch of the Interstate 10 freeway in the Phoenix area has recently been the scene of more accidents than any other location on Arizona’s highways. That’s not surprising to Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the seven Fulton Schools. Pendyala, who expertise includes transportation engineering, says the junction of three major freeways in the area makes this among the places with the heaviest traffic congestion in the state. The layered arrangement of the freeways at the junction, along with the multiple access ramps, heightens the complexities of driving at this “Mini-Stack” interchange, he says, adding that the combination of economics and limited space — plus a increasing number of drivers resulting from the Phoenix metro area’s growing population — are key factors in making the junction a high-risk driving location. But Pendyala says gathering more data about the traffic accidents could better determine the specific causes of the numerous mishaps and might reveal how to reduce them.

  • 3 ASU students selected for Brooke Owens Fellowship

    3 ASU students selected for Brooke Owens Fellowship

    Only 51 students have been selected from among more than 1,000 who applied to participate in this year’s Brooke Owens Fellowship program, which annually provides undergraduate women and other gender minorities internship positions with leading aerospace organizations. Among three ASU students selected for the program’s class of 2022 is Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student Sierra Malmberg (at right in photo). She will do a 12-week internship with SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services provider. Malmberg will work in a Starship booster engineering role.

     

  • Learning to Move with Rob Gray

    Learning to Move with Rob Gray

    A Fulton Schools associate professor of human systems engineering applies the concepts and techniques of his field to the study of optimal ways to learn, develop and train to improve physical and athletic skills. In a recent podcast, Rob Gray talks about his recent book, “How We Learn To Move,” and the intricate perceptual-motor abilities involved in enhancing human movement. Gray translates the technical language used by scientists, engineers and medical experts into descriptions that offer audiences not trained in those professions practical advice on mastering the movements required to excel in sports and other endeavors involving dexterous physicality.  

  • Scientists want to stop the next pandemic before it starts. Here are the tests they’re building to do it

    Scientists want to stop the next pandemic before it starts. Here are the tests they’re building to do it

    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Chao Wang and his Graduate Research Associate Md Ashif Ikbal are among scientists and engineers experimenting with new ways to test for viruses that could prevent future pandemics like the one resulting from the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. A recently released study details a design by Wang and his lab team for a new kind of technology to detect pathogens that the researchers says is more efficient and accurate than existing techniques. Wang, Ikbal and their colleagues stress that the threat of new viruses is becoming more urgent as human activity increasing encroaches on wild spaces around the world, which leads to deforestation and biodiversity loss. Those factors could result in the emergence of viral strains for which there would not be effective methods to test for and stop the spread of infections. (Access to much of the content on the Arizona Republic website is available only to subscribers.)

    See Also: Researchers make cheap, portable nanosensor for disease detection, KJZZ (NPR), Feb 7

    Novel nanoanibiotics kill bacteria without harming healthy cells, Paradigm, February 9

    Simple, Inexpensive, Fast and Accurate Nano-sensors Pinpoint Infectious Diseases, Dr. Miller’s RMM Blog, February 6

  • Out of chaos, excellence

    Out of chaos, excellence

    Ying-Cheng Lai’s path to an elite faculty position at ASU has been chaotic — in a manner of speaking. Lai, who teaches in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the seven Fulton Schools, was recently named an ASU Regents Professor. Lai (at left in photo, with students) earned the high honor in large part for his outstanding accomplishments as a chaos theorist. Chaos theory is a major force in modern advances in physics, quantum mechanics and complex systems that is being increasingly applied not only to science and engineering but to fields like sociology and ecology. Lai is internationally recognized for his research in the field and has attracted more than $12 million in federal funding for his research.

  • Bill would allow veterans and their families easier access to in-state tuition rates

    Bill would allow veterans and their families easier access to in-state tuition rates

    Arizona’s Legislature looks likely to pass a bill to make the path to college less challenging for U.S. military veterans. The measure would remove the barrier of requiring veterans to wait three years after the time of service to use military education benefits. The legislation also calls for changes making it easier for veterans of the armed forces to qualify for in-state tuition rates. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, founding chair of ASU’s Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations and National Security, says the new policy falls in line with ASU’s mission to help make higher education easier to access for all potential students. It would also boost acknowledgement of ASU’s as one of the more veteran-friendly universities, Allen says.

  • Arizona State University teams up with City of Mesa on pilot project to remove greenhouse gases with algae

    Arizona State University teams up with City of Mesa on pilot project to remove greenhouse gases with algae

    ASU research centers led by Fulton Schools faculty members are helping one of Arizona’s larger municipalities with the engineering involved in a pilot recycling project that uses algae to remove greenhouses gases. The project site in the city of Mesa is a wastewater treatment plant — one that like many other such facilities emits carbon dioxide and methane, which are among greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming and other troubling climate changes. ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, directed by Professor Bruce Rittmann, and the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Professor Klaus Lackner and associate research director Justin Flory, are teaming up on the project they hope will provide a model for environmental sustainability for other wastewater plant operations to emulate.

  • New London engineering school ‘will dare to be different’

    New London engineering school ‘will dare to be different’

    A deliberately daring new kind of engineering education is the boldly stated aspiration of the The Engineering and Design Institute in London, or TEDI-London. With a focus on project-driven degree programs in global design engineering, the institute is a partnership that will combine the resources of Arizona State University, King’s College London and UNSW Sydney, in Australia, to help solve an array of pressing global challenges. TEDI-London’s dean and chief executive, Judy Raper (pictured), talks about the school’s strong commitment to an unswerving thrust into unconventional approaches to learning engineering and creatively applying its guiding principles. The founding of the institute has been supported through an alliance involving the Fulton Schools and the aforementioned schools in Sydney and London. (Access to the full story is available by registering or subscribing to the Times Higher Education online.) Read more: ASU helps launch a new project-based engineering program in London

  • Microwaving Styrofoam can cause chemicals to leech into your food — here’s why you should use glass instead

    Microwaving Styrofoam can cause chemicals to leech into your food — here’s why you should use glass instead

    Microwaving some kinds of containers, including cups, can accelerate the chemical leaching process, which triggers the movement of chemicals out of plastic containers and into food, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services backs him up on that warning, especially when containers are made from expanded polystyrene foams — plastics made from tiny beads that are heated and molded into a specific shape. Styrene, a chemical in those foams, is considered a “reasonably anticipated human carcinogen.” Halden recommends heating food or drinks in a microwave-safe container made of glass. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also suggests microwave-safe plastic and ceramic as suitable choices for microwaving. 

  • Sundt names new president of its western industrial group

    Sundt names new president of its western industrial group

    Cade Rowley (pictured), who earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from ASU in 1998, has been promoted to president of the Industrial Group-West of Sundt Construction, one of the 100 largest construction companies in the United States. He will lead business development, preconstruction and operations for the company’s construction work throughout the western U.S. Rowley, who joined Sundt as a field engineer after graduation from ASU, most recently was senior vice president overseeing the company’s transportation and heavy civil work throughout the Southwest and Intermountain regions. His teams have built several billion dollars’ worth of projects.

  • ASU names 3 faculty as 2022 President’s Professors

    ASU names 3 faculty as 2022 President’s Professors

    Two of ASU’s three newest President’s Professors are Fulton Schools faculty members. Andrea Richa (at right in photo), a professor of computer science, and Thomas Sugar, a professor of mechanical engineering, join those who have been given one of the most prestigious designations bestowed by the university. The title recognizes honorees at the forefront of innovation, entrepreneurship and inclusion. Richa’s accomplishments include an impressive number of peer-reviewed research articles, conference proceedings and four book chapters, many focusing on her expertise in self-organizing particle systems. Richa has served students through her leadership on curriculum and graduate studies program committees. Sugar has been involved in numerous projects that have advanced many aspects of his engineering field. He has authored or co-authored an exceedingly high number of articles published in research journals and is especially known for his teaching of studio-based classes geared to solving real-world challenges through project-based curriculum design.

  • Fast and accurate nanosensors pinpoint infectious diseases

    Fast and accurate nanosensors pinpoint infectious diseases

    A significant advance in the battle infectious diseases has come from research by Chao Wang, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, and collaborators at the University of Washington, Seattle. Their technique called Nano2RED, is a twist conventional high-accuracy tests relying on complex testing protocols and expensive readout systems. An innovative Rapid and Electronic Readout process developed in the Wang lab delivers test results, which are detectable as a color change in the sample solution and record the data through inexpensive semiconductor elements such as LEDs and photodetectors. It can be developed and produced at a very low cost, deployed within weeks or days after an outbreak and made available for around 1 cent per test. Wang is a researcher in the Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics at ASU.The news has also been reported in LabMedica, Verve Times, Technology Networks, Science Daily, Honest Columnist, The Science Times, MDLinx, Knowledia, Nanowerk, Medically Prime.Com, Mirage News, Phys.Org, Nano Market, ASU Biodesign Institute News, RapidMicroMethods, NovLink.co,  KJZZ (NPR) Fronteras

  • NSF grant to support FIU antenna design that will deliver complex data faster

    NSF grant to support FIU antenna design that will deliver complex data faster

    Florida International University Professor Stavros Georgakopoulos, who earned his doctoral degree in electrical engineering at ASU in 2001, is working on designs for advanced antenna technology that will be capable of delivering more complex data in shorter amounts of time. The project has recently received support through a $365,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to FIU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Georgakopoulo is director of the university’s Transforming Antennas Center and the RF Communications mm-Waves and Terahertz Lab. Under his leadership, FIU has received numerous research grants from the military, government and private sectors. 

  • Treatment for autism symptoms earns ASU researchers patent

    Treatment for autism symptoms earns ASU researchers patent

    A new therapy developed by Fulton Schools Professors Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and James Adams offers hope to those with autism spectrum disorder who often are afflicted with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms associated with the disorder. The therapy, called Microbiota Transplant Therapy, has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent Office, which is an important step in developing new medication that would be approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating the core symptoms of autism. The patent approval also opens the door for pharmaceutical companies to invest in conducting further clinical trials on the new treatment. Krajmalnik-Brown, Adams and their team in the ASU Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes will continue their own tests of the treatment with both adults and children with autism.

January

2022
  • The next Silicon Valley? These founders say this Arizona city is the best place to build a startup

    The next Silicon Valley? These founders say this Arizona city is the best place to build a startup

    More than 20 cities and towns are on the map in and around the Phoenix metropolitan area, which is considered a hot spot for potential business startups — and entrepreneurship experts says the most promising municipality in the area is Tempe. One reason cited for that conclusion is that Tempe is the home of Arizona State University’s largest campus and has become a nexus for the spinout of hundreds of startups and other business expansion ventures. The development of that trend is attributed in large part to the high numbers of new and well-skilled engineers graduating each year from the Fulton Schools, one of the largest engineering schools in the United States. (Access to the full story is available only to Bizjournals.com subscribers. Nonsubscribers can create a free account to see news content.)

  • Fortifying the foundations of cybersecurity

    Fortifying the foundations of cybersecurity

    Cyberattacks on our information technology systems have become almost constant, as well as increasingly sophisticated and more difficult to defend against. In response to the growing threat, cybersecurity experts are developing more comprehensive and integrated responses to help keep professionals and the general public from being victimized. The efforts include work by ASU’s new Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations, directed by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé. The center now joins the ASU Global Security Initiative’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics and the Cybersecurity Education Consortium in the university’s endeavors to holistically address cybersecurity challenges through research, education and upskilling.

  • New meta-analysis explores potential environmental causes of ALS

    New meta-analysis explores potential environmental causes of ALS

    Much about the devastating neuromuscular disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS — and also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — remains a mystery. But researchers have been learning more about the factors the underlie the complexities of the disorder — some new knowledge pointing to a range of environmental agents as possible risks factors. Research by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and two doctoral students in Halden’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering is focused on exploring environmental influences potentially linked to the disease. Using rigorous quantitative methods, they are examining the complicated interplay of various environmental and physical dynamics in the hope of revealing a distinct pattern of causality related to the disease.

  • ASU commitment to innovation front and center at Arizona Capitol

    ASU commitment to innovation front and center at Arizona Capitol

    At the annual “Day at the Capitol” showcase, Arizona lawmakers got a wide-ranging overview of the engineering, science, civics and humanities research being done at ASU. Students and faculty members gave state government leaders some show-and-tell education and updates about the university’s many endeavors to make innovative advances in fields such as medicine and health care, environmental and resource management, approaches to policy making, and space exploration — among many other areas. The Fulton Schools was among the university’s various schools, colleges, research centers and programs most prominently represented at the event.

  • Reducing polarization is key to stabilizing democracy

    Reducing polarization is key to stabilizing democracy

    For the United States to maintain its ability to respond to societal challenges and crises in ways that remain consistent with the spirit of democratic and pluralistic ideals, we must find ways to effectively stem the tide of political polarization that is fracturing the nation’s political environment. That’s the conclusion of Fulton Schools Professor Stephanie Forrest and Joshua Daymude, a postdoctoral researcher with ASU’s Biodesign Institute. They teamed with University of Michigan political scientist Robert Axelrod to explore the factors involved in the evolution of political polarization in the U.S. in recent times and propose ways in which its socially destabilizing impacts might be diminished. Their study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In this detailing of that research and its conclusions, computer scientists Forrest and Daymude suggest paths that politicians, the news media and the citizenry can take to “resist the poison of extremism.” Read more about their research.

    See Also: Researchers look to technology to find out what’s increasing the country’s social and political divide, “Arizona Horizon”/Arizona PBS, January 27

  • AAAS honors ASU Professor Enrique Vivoni as a lifetime fellow

    AAAS honors ASU Professor Enrique Vivoni as a lifetime fellow

    During his career, Enrique Vivoni has made important advances in the understanding of the hydrology of natural and urban systems, as well as the interactions of ecologic and atmospheric phenomena. Those contributions promise paths to improving environmental sustainability efforts and offering more effective protection and management of natural resources. For those achievements, Vivoni, a Fulton Schools professor with a joint appoint in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, has be elevated to the rank of Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society. He joins a group of scientists, engineers and other innovators recognized for the positive impacts of their work on science and society. 

  • US News ranks ASU among the best in nation for online programs

    US News ranks ASU among the best in nation for online programs

    ASU is again ranked among the nation’s leading educational institutions offering online university degree programs. The US News 2022 Best Online Program report gave a second-place ranking to the Fulton Schools online electrical engineering program and ASU’s online bachelor’s degree program for military veterans. The Fulton Schools was ranked in the top 15 overall for its online engineering graduate degree programs — including a number two ranking for the online management engineering graduate degree program and number four for its online industrial engineering graduate degree program.

    See Also: ASU’s online graduate engineering program ranked among the nation’s best, ASU News, January 25

    ASU ranked top 5 in the nation for 16 online programs, ASU Online, January 25

  • Connecting career and community through mentorship

    Connecting career and community through mentorship

    Carrying forward the servant-leadership societal legacy espoused by leaders such as Martin Luther King, ASU has teamed with the Greater Phoenix Urban League Young Professionals to form CoNext@ASU. The program seeks to transition college students into high performing young professionals by providing them training and experience in leadership, community service and life skills. CoNext@ASU enables students to get access to mentoring that is personalized in accordance with their interests, needs and class schedules, and connects those students with professionals in a variety of industries — including engineers. In its first endeavors, the program has drawn students from about a dozen of the university’s schools, including the Fulton Schools.

  • Japan allocates $56 million toward developing electric railgun for missile defense

    Japan allocates $56 million toward developing electric railgun for missile defense

    With its recent development of a large gun that uses electromagnetic force to launch a projectile, Japan’s military is pushing weaponry into new spheres of technological capability. The new railgun can fire projectiles at six times the speed of sound and can defend against advanced hypersonic missiles. Even though it requires a lot of power consumption and lacks optimal mobility and cooling efficiency, it is more fully developed and deployable than similar weaponry developed for the United State military.  Still, railguns overall are not yet as effective as convention missile technology, says Fulton Schools Professor Braden Allenby, founding chair of the Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations, and National Security. But Allenby foresees Japan’s project potentially prompting other nations to invest in the pursuit of more railgun advances in the future.

  • ASU a major player is microelectronics

    ASU a major player is microelectronics

    ASU is helping Arizona and the United States establish itself as a leader in microelectronics. The pipeline to an educated workforce for the microelectronics industry now includes the engineering talent being nurtured by the recently established School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, one of the seven Fulton Schools. ASU engineering faculty members and students are contributing to research pursuits in microelectronics at state-of-the-art ASU facilities such as the Advanced Electronics and Photonics facilityASU NanoFab and the Eyring Materials Center. David Quispe (pictured), a Fulton Schools materials science and engineering doctoral student, works at another advanced research facility, the Macro Technology Works lab at ASU’s Research Park. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman says research efforts promise to produce forward strides in microelectronics by improving transistors, microchips and semiconductors. A version of the article has also been published by AZ Big Media.

    See Also: Arizona’s economic investments aim to attract high-tech industry players, bizjournals.com, Jan 21.

  • These machines scrub greenhouse gases from the air – an inventor of direct air capture technology shows how it works

    These machines scrub greenhouse gases from the air – an inventor of direct air capture technology shows how it works

    Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner is director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, where researchers have been at the forefront of efforts to finetune technologies to reduce the threats of climate change and global warning. That primarily means developing effective ways to remove the damaging greenhouse gases the have accumulated in the atmosphere, largely from two centuries of burning fossil fuels. Lackner goes into detail about this ambitious science and engineering endeavor and the tools and techniques that he and his research team have been exploring as possible paths to overcoming the serious challenges of developing and deploying potent, large-scale air capture systems. The article is also published in The Daily Beast, Fast Company, Yahoo News, The Bharat Express News, The Next Web, Rappler and MarketWatch.

    See Also: Scientists Suggest Building Mechanical Trees to Effectively Remove Bad Carbon Dioxide, Wonderful Engineering, January 24

    Forest of mechanical tree could be built to ‘soak up carbon dioxide’ and help stave off climate change, scientists claim, Daily Mail (London), January 25

  • How the Arizona New Economy Initiative will bring jobs, boost business

    How the Arizona New Economy Initiative will bring jobs, boost business

    Cattle, cotton, copper, citrus and climate have long been recognized as the pillars of Arizona’s economy. But today the view of what is driving the state’s economic well-being and its business outlook for the future has broadened. Prominent among new things on the list of things critical to Arizona’s success in the future is the growing abundance of engineering talent and innovation. Arizona’s New Economy Initiative now foresees substantial growth of high wage jobs, increased economic output and return on the state’s economic development investments in business sectors that rely on advanced engineering skills. The initiative points specifically to the growth of the Fulton Schools as a key source of those skills — pointing to the competency of the faculty and the caliber of the training and education being provided to students. Added to that list of positive developments is the Fulton Schools’ growing track record of productive partnerships and collaborations with businesses and industries across a broad spectrum of leading sectors of the national economy.

    See Also: Creating the future of Arizona: How ASU is helping bring new high-wage jobs to Arizona and increase the state economic output throug the New Economy Initiative, ASU News, January 13

  • Broad and Shallow AI: The promise and perils of competence without comprehension

    Broad and Shallow AI: The promise and perils of competence without comprehension

    While there is optimism about the advantages of artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies evolving to reach and encompass the full spectrum of human intelligence and cognitive capabilities, others fear the potential misuses of the technology that such advances might make possible. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, a former president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, explores questions about the societal implications of a world in which AI goes beyond being able to merely imitate or approximate human intelligence. What happens if and when the technology can not only replicate human intelligence but gain an intrinsic understanding of itself and the world around it that is comparable to our intellectual competence but falls short of a fully developed comprehension of human reality?  

  • IEEE SA Managing Director’s Special Recognition Award Given to Katina Michael

    IEEE SA Managing Director’s Special Recognition Award Given to Katina Michael

    Professor Katina Michael’s areas of expertise include public interest technology. That interest has made her a leader in advocating for age-appropriate technology design standards and promoting public policies to establish protections for children in an ever-evolving age of digital technologies. Michael has applied her experience in informatics, human-centered design and consensus-building to efforts that have led to a standard for companies and key stakeholders globally to follow in designing practical digital solutions with children. For that accomplishment, she was recently given a Managing Directors Special Recognition Award by the Standards Association of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Michael is a joint hire with ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the seven Fulton schools, and is the director of the Society Policy Engineering Collective, and a Senior Global Futures Scientist.

    Read about Michaels’ work related to public interest technology here: Ideas on Optimizing the Future Soft Law Governance of AI, Technology and Society, January 5

  • Wastewater-based epidemiology comes of age during pandemic

    Wastewater-based epidemiology comes of age during pandemic

    News from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences reports how advances in analyzing the contents of wastewater has become an effective, noninvasive and cost-saving method that helps track the prevalence and spread of diseases in communities. The institute’s recent Partnerships for Environmental Public Health event focused on the emerging science and environmental engineering that is advancing wastewater-based epidemiology. Among those whose work is contributing to progress in this area is Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden (pictured), who has helped to pioneer this field of epidemiology for more than two decades. His research has led to a ban on antimicrobials in consumer products that proved to present public health risks and advances in detection of COVID-19 in communities through new wastewater analysis methods.

  • As U.S. moves toward solar energy, this roofing company hopes ‘solar shingles’ will get homeowners to buy in

    As U.S. moves toward solar energy, this roofing company hopes ‘solar shingles’ will get homeowners to buy in

    A new solar roofing product from one of the country’s largest roofing companies aims to drive down the costs of home solar energy installations and boost the overall use of solar technology. Solar power expert Zachary Holman, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical and energy engineering, says the company, GAF Energy, seems to have all the technical aspects of its operations in place, and that with a good supply chain and business management operations the company could be in position to achieve its goals. Still, Holman and other renewable energy experts say there may be some challenges involved in the installation, operation, efficiency and resilience of this new kind of solar system under various conditions.

  • ASU again among nation’s top research universities

    ASU again among nation’s top research universities

    ASU is maintaining its place among the leading research universities in the United States. Recent rankings place the university at 26 among more than 400 universities for research expenditures — and moving up to sixth place among 755 other institutions without a medical school. Among notable engineering research pursuits are studies to improve treatment of traumatic brain injury led by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Sarah Stabenfeldt. Another is a project led by Professor Bruce Rittmann to solve the problem of carbon dioxide released from wastewater treatment systems. A process he and his research team at ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology have developed is designed to consume carbon dioxide and convert it into biofuel and other useful  products. ASU is ranked 18th in overall in engineering research, 10th in civil engineering and 11th in electrical, electronic and communications engineering.

December

2021
  • Q&AZ: Why do most metro Phoenix homes have big block fences?

    Q&AZ: Why do most metro Phoenix homes have big block fences?

    A newcomer to the Phoenix area asks why so many residential developments in the city and its neighboring cities and towns have big masonry block walls around homes rather than the fences or lack of property barriers that are common in other parts of the country. Among the experts with an answer is Barzin Mobasher, a Fulton Schools civil engineering professor and an expert on building materials and their structural stability. The strength of block walls along with the variety of creative architectural features they can offer is one reason those walls became popular with builders, Mobasher says. Another factor: Much of the technology for making masonry blocks was developed in the Phoenix area, he says, which led to masonry plants being built in the area, which then drove the market for use of concrete blocks in home construction.

  • ASU students win gold medal for making arsenic-absorbing algae

    ASU students win gold medal for making arsenic-absorbing algae

    A team of six ASU students — three of them Fulton Schools biomedical engineering undergraduates — has won earn a gold medal in the prestigious International Genetically Engineered Machine, or iGEM, competition. The team’s project involved modifying micro algae to make proteins capable of removing toxic arsenic from water and then trapping it within the tiny algae plants. In this process the arsenic gets trapped by the proteins that are existing in the chloroplasts that the team directed the micro algae to make. Team co-captains Maggie Cook ( second from right in photo) and Emma Lieberman (at left in photo) are biomedical engineering seniors.

  • Public transit in rural Maine is sparse. Improving it could help the state fight climate change

    Public transit in rural Maine is sparse. Improving it could help the state fight climate change

    The state of Maine is trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% over the next three decades to help combat climate change. Achieving the goal will mean a change that entails both providing more public transit while also promoting a change in habits and attitudes among large numbers of the state’s citizenry who traditionally don’t make a habit of using public transit services. Fulton Schools Associate Professor and director of ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, Mikhail Chester, whose grandmother lives in Maine, says it’s increasingly important for states to invest more in providing new or expanded transportation systems, especially those that will provide viable options to cars in more heavily trafficked areas, thereby helping to lure more people to chose public transit.

  • America’s Greatest Disruptors: Hall of Famers

    America’s Greatest Disruptors: Hall of Famers

    A new special issue of Newsweek magazine features Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner among the outstanding innovators named to the publication’s Hall of Fame as the nation’s “Greatest Disruptors.” The magazine proclaims these ground breakers working in various fields as the “Visionaries whose career-long actions have had far-reaching impact.” Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, is lauded for his leadership in developing carbon capture technologies and systems that could absorb or otherwise remove greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, and keep those gasses from contributing to global warming and climate change that could pose potentially devastating threats to our environment and our own health.

    See Also: The Controversial Plan to Vacuum Carbon Out of the Atmosphere, Slate, December 20

  • Researchers repurpose wastewater treatment greenhouse gases to grow algae, make useful products

    Researchers repurpose wastewater treatment greenhouse gases to grow algae, make useful products

    Biogas byproducts produced by the carbon dioxide and methane gases that emanate from wastewater treatment plants typically are burned away as part of the treatment process. But now Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann and his team at ASU’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, which he directs, are repurposing the process to grow algae and make other useful products. Manufacturers are able to turn microalgae into fuel, food additives and other valuable materials, and methane can be captured and sold to various industries that use it. Working with a city of Mesa water reclamation plant operators, the ASU researchers are developing a sustainable, large-scale system to reclaim valuable waste materials for beneficial uses.

    See also: Algae could be key to reducing carbon emission in wastewater treatment process, ABC15 News Arizona, December 9

  • How IIJA changes the value statement for construction technology

    How IIJA changes the value statement for construction technology

    Despite approval of the largest investment by the federal government in many decades for public infrastructure upgrades to roads, bridges, railways, public transportation, renewable energy, the electrical grid, water systems and more, skeptics says there are many construction and engineering industry obstacles to completing some of those projects. Yet other researchers are proposing alternative construction project delivery methods that might overcome roadblocks to some infrastructure improvement efforts, says Mounir El Asmar, a Fulton Schools associate professor of sustainable engineering and the built environment. An ASU and University of Colorado team has already developed guidebooks to help states’ departments of transportation implement alternative building strategies. The team plans to supplement those guides with industry training opportunities.

  • ASU students create time-travel experience in Dreamscape Learn

    ASU students create time-travel experience in Dreamscape Learn

    Robert LiKamWa says “the creative workforce of the future” is taking shape in ASU’s new “Designing for Dreamscape” course. Thirty-five students recently presented their final project for the course co-taught by LiKamWa, an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, and Ed Finn, founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination and an associate professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Divided into narrative storytelling, art, sound and pod integration teams, students collaborated to create timelines, develop characters and animation and record and edit sound to produce the project called “Theta Labs.” They used the new Dreamscape Learn virtual reality platform to create a time-traveling climate-change scenario. ASU President Michael Crow called the project a powerful form of visualization that can enable creation of useful intellectual constructs to address complex societal challenges.

  • Fighting climate change: Not all trees are created equal

    Fighting climate change: Not all trees are created equal

    Even in the hot arid deserts of Arizona and the humid tropical environs of Florida, trees can play a big part in keeping the populace cooler in seasons when the heat rises. With a growing number of days each year when temperatures climb above 90 degrees in the southern and southwestern U.S., the shade provided by trees can be one of the best ways to keep people comfortable outdoors, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, an urban climatologist. But not all kinds of trees do the job. Urban planners should examine how effectively the canopies of particular tree species will perform in their cities’ specific environmental and climatological conditions. The report also aired on ABC Channel 7 News Denver.

November

2021
  • ASU professor develops app that can predict falling

    ASU professor develops app that can predict falling

    His father’s physical difficulties led Thurmon Lockhart, a Fulton Schools professor of biological and health systems engineer, to develop technology capable of closely monitoring peoples’ movement while walking to determine their risk of falling. The app measures baseline walking speed and stability while walking, and issues a warning if there is a risk of falling. The app can also be downloaded on mobile phones and I-watches. The device recognizes patterns of movement that can indicate physical frailty and some types of the symptoms related to physical dissonance, vertigo, depression and head injuries.

  • Zero Waste Water

    Zero Waste Water

    Turning waste materials into valuable products and resources has become a growing pursuit of environmental engineers and scientists. Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann has been at the forefront of the trend for two decades. Rittman, director of the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology at ASU Biodesign Center, is now aiding efforts to use greenhouse gases produced by wastewater treatment to generate electricity and to make biofuel with microalgae. Collaborating with ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions and Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation and the city of Mesa, Rittman’s team is helping pioneer methods and technologies that promise to create sustainable resource reclamation processes that will help maintain a cleaner environment.

  • The cars of the future can be found across Arizona

    The cars of the future can be found across Arizona

    Innovative companies like Lucid Motors, Polestar and Rivian, each of which has operations in Arizona, are focused on developing new automotive technologies and helping lead the transition to electric vehicles. But the big question is whether these companies’ new vehicles will be able to significantly protect the environment from the negative impacts of carbon emissions like those produced by gasoline-fueled vehicles. Fulton Schools Research Professor Steve Polzin, a civil engineer who specializes in transportation, says some of the materials and manufacturing processes used to make electric vehicles still require the use of fossil fuels and carbon-intensive industrial practices. More work by engineers and researchers is needed to offset the negative environmental impacts of those aspects of the electric car industry, Polzin says.

  • Will glow-in-the-dark materials someday light our cities?

    Will glow-in-the-dark materials someday light our cities?

    A new generation of luminescent materials is prompting talk of the possibility that glowing photoluminescent substances might someday light buildings, streets and sidewalks. Such photoluminescent materials work by “trapping” the energy of a photon and re-emitting that energy as lower-wavelength light. Some of these materials could be able to glow strongly for many hours. Beyond providing illumination, it might also possible to engineer the materials to cool local environments and reduce the urban heat island effect. Fulton Schools Professor Patrick Phelan, a mechanical engineer and co-author a research paper on the heat island effect, finds that possibility worth investigating. The article also appears in Inverse.

  • Trees cool the land surface temperature of cities by up to 12°C

    Trees cool the land surface temperature of cities by up to 12°C

    Satellite data analysis of green spaces in almost 300 cities shows that trees are one of the best safeguards against rising temperatures resulting from global warming. The study concludes green spaces with plenty of tree-covered areas have a bigger cooling effect than green spaces with few or no trees. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zhihua Wang, an environmental engineer and co-director of climate systems research for the National Center of Excellence on SMART Innovations, says the findings provide a practical guide for cities to establish effective urban heat mitigation strategies. The cooling effect happens primarily through shading and transpiration, when water inside trees is released as water vapor through their leaves, which helps lower the surrounding temperature.

  • Water Wisdom: The Indigenous Scientists Walking In Two Worlds

    Water Wisdom: The Indigenous Scientists Walking In Two Worlds

    Otakuye Conroy-Ben is among the scientists and engineers with roots in North America’s Indigenous communities and Native American cultures who are drawing on their academic training and cultural experiences to sustain natural resources by protecting sources of water and restoring ecosystems in those communities. Conroy-Ben is an environmental engineer and Fulton Schools assistant professor, as well as a Senior Global Futures Scientist with ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. She is working with Indigenous colleagues to “get a grasp on the state of the future as it affects tribal nations,” she says. That includes work to help communities reduce water contamination and water scarcity, and protect natural resources from the impacts of climate change and increasing environmental pollution.

  • Let the video games begin

    Let the video games begin

    ASU’s new esports lounge may look like all fun and games. But with a global video gaming industry projected to grow to a well over a $200 billion enterprise, the facility is providing training that could more than ever put students on paths to careers in science, technology and engineering. It even might prepare students to become professional esports athletes, says Pavan Turaga, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering and director of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative of the Fulton Schools and ASU’s Herberger Institute for the Arts. Some students are there not just playing video games but developing new ones and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering is already adding a gaming concentration to its degree program. “There is serious academic leveraging around gaming,” Turaga says.

  • ASU Names 2022 Regents Professors

    ASU Names 2022 Regents Professors

    Fulton Schools Professor Ying-Cheng Lai (at left in photo, with students) is among four educators joining the ranks of those given the highest honor ASU bestows on its faculty members. The Regents Professor title recognizes those who have made pioneering contributions in their academic and research areas, achieved a sustained level of distinction and earned national and international recognition. Lai is an endowed professor of electrical engineering and innovator in nonlinear dynamics, complex systems and relativistic quantum chaos, a field he pioneered. More than 20 doctoral students and numerous master’s degree students have earned degrees under his guidance.

  • ASU scholars awarded $2M grant to advance educational data sharing

    ASU scholars awarded $2M grant to advance educational data sharing

    Fulton Schools faculty members are among the ASU data analysts and other data specialists in the ASU Learning at Scale Digital Learning Network, which is part of the Digital Learning Platforms to Enable Efficient Education Research Network. That network is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, which has awarded ASU $12 million to develop infrastructure and protocols to facilitate the connection of student achievement, learning and related data at ASU and elsewhere. The project’s goal is to take major steps toward understanding learning and instruction in real-world contexts for the purpose of providing more effective higher education to college students and other learners.  

  • Freeze frame: Scientists use new electron microscope to explore the mysteries of life

    Freeze frame: Scientists use new electron microscope to explore the mysteries of life

    Some of the most fundamental biological underpinnings of life are being explored in an ASU lab equipped with a highly specialized cryogenic transmission electron microscope, technology designed to reveal the inner complexities of cells. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Brent Nannenga (pictured), a chemical engineer who probes the functions and structures of biosystems, is among the engineers and scientists whose research careers are benefiting from the capabilities of the powerful microscope named Titan Krios. It is helping to make advances in medicine, renewable energy and other critical areas, and Nannenga says efforts to upgrade the performance of Titan Krios could open the door to the next big leaps forward in microscopy.

  • Putting a dent in Plastic Waste

    Putting a dent in Plastic Waste

    Fulton Schools students Michael Brady and Johna Yolo (at left in photo) are members of the ASU chapter of the international Precious Plastic community, which is helping lead the way in sustainability efforts to recycle plastic by turning it into useful new products. Club members are using social engagement, semi-industrial plastic-processing machines and education to promote plastics recycling and zero-waste lifestyles. Brady, a civil engineering student, the club’s engineering lead, hopes to see development of plastic bricks to make homeless shelters, durable water bottles, clamps and office furniture, and a retail enterprise to support the club’s efforts. Yolo, a human systems engineering student and the club’s process lead, says major technical advances in plastics recycling are needed to make it economical and less labor-intensive but still foresees the potential to have a significant sustainability impact.

  • Research reveals tactics used by US stem cell clinics to sell therapeutics

    Research reveals tactics used by US stem cell clinics to sell therapeutics

    Despite the proliferation of stem cell clinics offering therapies the businesses say can effectively treat a number of physical disorders and restore healthy conditions in various areas of the body, new research casts doubt on the extent of the powers of those stem cell treatments. David Brafman and Emma Frow are among those who say some clinics significantly overstate the effectiveness of the therapies. Associate Professor Brafman and Assistant Professor Frow are Fulton Schools biological and health systems engineering faculty members. They have analyzed the advertising of about 60 stem cells clinics and found the claims of many of them are not based on strongly supported medical evidence, and many clinics have increasingly offered stem cell products that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • Business Experts Split on Criticism of Buttigieg on Supply Chain Issues

    Business Experts Split on Criticism of Buttigieg on Supply Chain Issues

    A lack of the availability of basic commodities and the increasing prices of those goods are one result of the current breakdown of the global supply chain. Among the factors being cited by some critics as a cause of the problem is a lack of leadership by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. But others, including Mahour Parast, a Fulton Schools eminent scholar whose research focuses on supply chain risk and resilience management, point to other things, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a reason for the supply chain problems. He also cites companies’ decisions to move their operations overseas to benefit from lower production costs and better access to raw materials as a cause. Such moves may bring cost savings, Parast says, but they also decrease the agility of supply chains.

  • Sports — you’re doing it wrong

    Sports — you’re doing it wrong

    A new book by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Rob Gray counters some of the long-accepted techniques used in physical training to develop athletic skills and compete in sports. Gray, who teaches in the Fulton Schools human systems engineering program, says new research and knowledge is casting some doubt on the effectiveness of some longtime approaches to sports training and how athletes practice. In his book, he draws on his research on human perceptual-motor control, with an emphasis on demanding physical and perceptual actions involved in sports, driving and aviation. He proposes new ways to coach and guide people — especially youngsters — who are trying to master the movements necessary to excel in challenging sporting endeavors.

  • ASU students named US finalists in Red Bull Basement global competition

    ASU students named US finalists in Red Bull Basement global competition

    Fulton Schools Student Brinlee Kidd and Sylvia Lopez will represent the United States in an international competition for student innovators December 13-15. They were selected from almost 200 applicants to participate in the Red Bull Basement Final as part of a program designed to encourage inventive students to devise ideas for using technology to drive positive change in the world. They’ve developed Jotted, an automated note-taking tool enabling students to type notes and turn them into digital notebooks with various features such as a resource finding function. Kidd is an informatics student with a minor in film and media production. Lopez is an industrial engineering student with a minor in humans systems engineering. Both are also students in ASU’s Barrett, the Honors college, and members of ASU’s student-driven Luminosity Lab.

  • Can vacuuming carbon dioxide out of the air reverse climate change?

    Can vacuuming carbon dioxide out of the air reverse climate change?

    It was decades ago that warnings about global climate change began to emerge, and not long after that came ideas for technology that could capture carbon from the atmosphere to ease the negative impacts of global warming. Klaus Lackner was among the first to propose that approach to climate engineering and then begin designing the technology and systems to make it possible. Today, as a Fulton Schools professor and director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, Lackner and his team have produced a “mechanical tree” that can effectively remove threatening greenhouse gases. Other scientists and engineers have also proposed and prototyped various methods of atmospheric carbon removal. Their efforts still face economic, governmental and political hurdles to becoming operational at scales large enough to play a big part in reversing climate change.

  • Could GPS devices be leading people to drive the wrong-way?

    Could GPS devices be leading people to drive the wrong-way?

    Some suspect that global positioning systems, or GPS, technology could be a factor in causing a spike in the occurrence of automobile accidents involving drivers going the wrong way on roads. Reporters asked Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineer, to explain what some of the latest research on the problem is showing about the impact of GPS devices on road safety. There is data speculating that the technology could possibly misdirect drivers in situations where there is a very short distance between an exit ramp and an access point to another road. But Pendyala says the evidence points more to driver error rather than GPS. Still, he adds, with mor reliance on GPS systems, every effort must be made to improve the technology so it can be as effective and reliable as possible.

  • Foiling AI hackers with counterfactual reasoning

    Foiling AI hackers with counterfactual reasoning

    Despite ongoing advances in the technologies used in self-driving vehicles and similar autonomous systems, they continue to be vulnerable to those capable of hacking the artificial intelligence, or AI, systems that control many autonomous systems. Yezhou Yang (pictured), a Fulton Schools assistant professor of computer science and engineering, as well as director of the ASU Active Perception Group, is among researchers working on defenses against these hackers. Among potential solutions are development of systems to thwart the specific types of complex hacking attacks aimed at taking control of the AI systems in autonomous vehicles. Yang’s efforts recently earned him an Amazon Research Award to support his research.

  • Modern modifications

    Modern modifications

    Are we on the cusp of a transhumanist future? One sign of such a trend may be the proliferation of extreme body modification. New and more intensive modification techniques are giving rise to startup industries that are expanding the creative and sometimes radical applications of tattooing, body piercings and bodily alterations — some using implantable devices — from a subculture to popular culture status. Some say it’s about building on old traditions, other see potential danger. Some forms of modification are touted as the path to inevitable transhumanism, enabled by the use of body enhancement technologies to overcome human biological limitations.  While that may bring benefits in some ways, Fulton Schools Professor Katina Michael, who studies emerging implantable tech, says it could also create social and ethical dilemmas, and blur the line between medical correction and performance enhancement.

  • Lecture Series Spotlights Indigenous Architecture

    Lecture Series Spotlights Indigenous Architecture

    “On the Ground: Indigenous Voices on Constructed Place,” a lecture series being presented by the University of Washington Department of Architecture, will bring indigenous architects, researchers and community organizers to speak as part of a celebration of National Native American Heritage Month. The featured speakers include architect Wanda Dalla Costa, an associate professor in the Del E. Webb School of Construction in the Fulton Schools and an Institute Professor in The Design School in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Dalla Costa, a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation, is also affiliated with ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and is the founder and design director of the Indigenous Design Collaborative.

  • ASU Foundation now accepting cryptocurrency gifts

    ASU Foundation now accepting cryptocurrency gifts

    ASU supporters have been donating to the university using cash, stocks, bonds, fine art, real estate, life insurance and many other traditional modes of giving. Now those philanthropic options are expanding extensively. The ASU Foundation for a New American University has begun accepting 90 kinds of cryptocurrencies, enabling new options for engaging with a broader and more diverse range of donors through more seamless processes that could provide supporters various benefits. Dragan Boscovic, Fulton Schools professor of computer science and director of the Blockchain Research Lab, says the use of cryptocurrency for philanthropy can open the way to opportunities for ASU to participate in a blockchain network that would produce additional financial advantages.

October

2021
  • The science behind the suits of ‘Dune’

    The science behind the suits of ‘Dune’

    There’s some real science in the science fiction in the new movie “Dune,” based on the long-popular novel. Characters in the film wear protective suits to help them cope more comfortably with their planet’s challenging environment.  Such attire most definitely demonstrates the application of thermal dynamics and materials engineering, says mechanical engineer and Fulton Schools Associate Professor Konrad Rykaczewski. His research has involved formulating concepts for clothing, designs and materials for very hot places like southern Arizona, where the climate is much like that of the desert planet Arrakis in “Dune.” The movie characters’ clothing shields them from much of the heat on the planet while also cooling them down and helping recycle moisture from their bodies. Rykaczewski and others involved in work similar to his engineering pursuits are developing clothing with some of the same capabilities — not only for people on Earth but, for instance, as highly functional outfits for space traveling astronauts.

  • Increasing days with extreme heat prompt new US guidelines for workers

    Increasing days with extreme heat prompt new US guidelines for workers

    Rising temperatures in places link Phoenix are posing an increasing threat to the health of workers whose jobs keep them outdoors and exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time. The U.S.Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now at work on a process to develop a workplace heat standard. The agency is looking at developing a national program that would implement an enforcement initiative on heat-related hazards and heat inspections, and forming a working group to engage stakeholders and coordinate with state and local officials. Urban climatologist Ariane Middel, a Fulton Schools assistant professor, studies “heatscapes” and how people experience the impacts of the urban heat island effect. The effects come not only from direct exposure to sunlight, Middel says, but also from ground-level surfaces, such as asphalt, concrete other materials in the built environment that strongly reflect heat. (Online access to the Phoenix Business Journal is available only to subsribers.)

  • Here’s how cryptocurrency is changing how Arizonans do business

    Here’s how cryptocurrency is changing how Arizonans do business

    Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has signed legislation to establish a Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Study Committee, which will report on what might help the cryptocurrency market grow in the state. The committee’s membership includes Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, founder of ASU’s Blockchain Research Lab. Blockchain technology provides am electronic digital leger that makes cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Ethereum work. Boscovic says real estate is one area in which cryptocurrency could take hold as a common form of financial transactions. By the end of next year, the study Committee must provide a report on what steps Arizona legislators can take to support the cryptocurrency market.

  • Hoolest develops technology to treat anxiety without drugs

    Hoolest develops technology to treat anxiety without drugs

    A company founded by two Fulton Schools graduates has announced its development of a device to treat anxiety and other medical conditions. Hoolest Performance Technologies develops neurotechnologies to enhance mental health and human performance. Hoolest is led by founders Nick Hool, who earned bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in biomedical engineering in the Fulton Schools, and John Patterson, who earned bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering. Their newest product is a noninvasive electrical nerve stimulation device to treat anxiety and related conditions, which they tout as a fast-acting anxiety relief alternative to drug treatments.

  • Graduate College announces launch of 2 presidential scholar programs

    Graduate College announces launch of 2 presidential scholar programs

    Four new Fulton Schools graduate students — Vidya Chandrasekhar Krishnan, Kelsie Herzer, Isaiah Woodson and Gloria Appiah Nsiah (pictured with Fulton Schools Professor Treavor Boyer) — are among the 2021 cohort of 26 young scholars who are new Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows and Presidential Graduate Assistants at ASU. The programs are designed to accelerate meaningful change by bringing talented, diverse students and postdocs to the university. Their work will involve advancing research to help ASU contribute to a national agenda for social justice. The programs have been launched as a part of ASU’s Listen, Invest, Facilitate and Teach, or LIFT, Initiative.

  • Team me up, Scotty!

    Team me up, Scotty!

    ASU’s NewSpace initiative is giving academia and industry opportunities to forge partnerships to pursue advances in space exploration. Among the ASU researchers involved is mechanical engineer and Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Sze Zheng Yong. NewSpace helped Yong learn about the process of seeking NASA funding for research projects. That helped Yong earn a 2020 Early Career Faculty Space Tech Research Grant to develop an algorithm designed to coordinate robots that are physically tethered together to navigate challenging terrain. He is now working with an aerospace company to see if this type of robotic system could aid future space missions by making it possible to more adeptly navigate and explore other planets.

  • A new kind of MaRTiny: ASU researchers hope device will help gather heat data

    A new kind of MaRTiny: ASU researchers hope device will help gather heat data

    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, whose expertise in includes urban climatology, has been helping officials in Phoenix and Tempe seek solutions to the detrimental impacts of rising temperature in those cities. The work has included gathering data on factors that are increasing the heat in urban environments. Middel has been doing much of that work with a biometeorological sensing device she named MaRTy. After realizing the need for a smaller, more easily transported and less expensive version of the technology, Middel has developed MaRTiny. The new device can connect to Wi-Fi and provide data every minute, and features a camera that can record the data from a livestream. If this small version proves to provide data as accurate as its larger forerunner, it could reveal how urban areas could cope more productively when the heat is on.

  • 7 ASU students, alumni nominated for Marshall and Rhodes scholarships

    7 ASU students, alumni nominated for Marshall and Rhodes scholarships

    Fulton Schools chemical engineering graduate student Rachael Kha has been nominated for two of the most prestigious fellowships in higher educaton, the Marshall and Rhodes Scholarships. After earning bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering, economics and philosophy, she has been pursuing a master’s degree in chemical engineering. She has done research at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, the Pathfinder Center and the Control Systems Engineering Laboratory, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Daniel Rivera. With a Marshall Scholarship she would get support for two years of graduate study at any university in the United Kingdom, while a Rhodes Scholarship would provide funding for two years of postgraduate study at Oxford University.

  • Sun Exposure and Physical Activity: The Valuable Role of UV Wearables

    Sun Exposure and Physical Activity: The Valuable Role of UV Wearables

    New wearable electronic sensing and monitoring devices can provide users information to help them determine if their environment is exposing them to specific health risks, such as skin cancer. Those technologies are especially good at detecting unsafe levels of exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation, a main cause of skin damage. In an article coauthored by Fulton Schools biological design doctoral student Alyssa Henning, ASU researchers offer a detailed examination of current wearable devices that sense ultraviolet radiation — including smartwatches, fitness trackers, running watches that work in tandem with smartphones, tablets and computers. The researcher offer evaluations of the capabilities and potential effectiveness of the technologies.

  • From mosquito nets to food apps: Students look to build businesses

    From mosquito nets to food apps: Students look to build businesses

    A Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student was a winner in the recent Open Pitch entrepreneurship competition hosted by ASU’s J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute. Ben VollerBrown’s winning idea was a kit for fixing torn mosquito nets, a problem particularly plaguing Africa, where mosquitos often carry the yellow fever virus and West Nile virus. VollerBrown’s sent 1,000 kits to a Ugandan nonprofit to collect data on the repair kits’ utility. Through Youth Rising Uganda, VollerBrown went to Uganda to test his product. Later, he and his business partner were accepted into Clinton Global Initiative University, an organization that provides skills training to college students. A mentor with the program connected Vollerbrown with a United Nations campaign, Nothing But Nets, which was interested in purchasing 300,000 of the net repair hits.

  • Fact check: Plastic water bottles left in hot cars don’t release dioxins, do leach other chemicals

    Fact check: Plastic water bottles left in hot cars don’t release dioxins, do leach other chemicals

    Contrary to what has been claimed in various media over recent years, plastic bottles left in cars will not release harmful dioxins that could possibly cause cancer. But experts still note that heat does react with the plastics of which many bottles are made, a process called leaching — but don’t produce any of the group of toxic chemical compounds called dioxins. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden (pictured in an ASU photograph), director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says there should be little worry of about exposure to cancer-causing chemicals like dioxins from the use of water bottles. Nevertheless, he says, there are chemicals that could cause harm. Halden recommends using chemically inert materials for storage of water and other liquids — for instance, glass instead of plastic.

  • Silent storm: Extreme heat prompts new national guidelines for workers

    Silent storm: Extreme heat prompts new national guidelines for workers

    Cities and regions that have long endured hot temperatures during a few months of the year are now experiencing even higher temperatures over long periods of time. In response to the jump in the numbers of days annually when people in these areas are feeling more intense and persistent heat, the federal government is launching a process to develop national guidelines for a workplace heat standard, establish a national heat inspection program and work with local officials to reduce heat-related health and safety hazards. Cities like Phoenix are already taking steps to reduce the impacts of the urban heat island effect — with the help of urban climatologists, including Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel.

    See Also: Sunblock for streets: Cool pavement curbs heat in Phoenix, but more testing is needed, Arizona Daily Sun, October 14
    (Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel developed the meteorological sensing device named MaRTy that is described in the story. The device is helping measure radiant temperatures and the impacts of the urban heat island effect.)

    Next Phase of Cool Pavement Program Begins, City of Phoenix, October 20
    The report includes a summary of a related study by ASU researchers.

  • ASU at Mesa City Center nears completion

    ASU at Mesa City Center nears completion

    A state-of-the-art digital media learning center will be the high-tech highlight of the new ASU at Mesa City Center that is set to open its doors in spring of next year. The facility will be home to programs in range of study areas, including some in the Fulton Schools. Along with students in ASU’s Sidney Poitier New American Film School and the Herberger Center for Design and the Arts, Fulton Schools students will get immersive experiences with the latest digital technologies and systems that are becoming essential in professions and industries in which students are expected to find opportunities for “careers of the future.”

  • Engineering the Manufacturing Boom

    Engineering the Manufacturing Boom

    Professor Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, explains how today’s current growth boom in the manufacturing industry has emerged — and how higher education institutions like ASU are poised to be essential to the supply chain for engineering talent and expertise that are critical to advanced manufacturing operations. For instance, students in the new School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, one of the seven Fulton Schools, are learning the latest in microelectronics, semiconductors, automation, robotics, computer science and in other areas important to manufacturing. Those student will be prepared to help provide the next-generation technologies, tools and facilities to drive the Industry 4.0 economic expansion in the United States and elsewhere.

  • Is Sucking Carbon Out of the Air the Solution to Our Climate Crisis?

    Is Sucking Carbon Out of the Air the Solution to Our Climate Crisis?

    New technologies designed to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are touted as solutions for protecting human and environmental health by greatly reducing harmful greenhouse gases that are a significant cause of global warming. But there’s debate about whether the techniques are truly capable of alleviating the threat. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner is among engineers and scientists who have pioneered carbon capture technologies and systems and touted their potential effectiveness. His carbon absorbing “mechanical tree” has attracted keen interest. But some environmentalists question whether Lackner and other developers of these systems can overcome the corporate, economic and political factors that may present roadblocks to their efforts.

  • My View: This Arizona industry makes something small. But it’s really big

    My View: This Arizona industry makes something small. But it’s really big

    The Phoenix metro area is poised to become a major magnet for big semiconductor industry investments. One of the leading companies in in the field, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, along with Intel (a part of its Chandler plant is pictured), are among those making multibillion-dollar investments to build new or expanded facilities in or near the city. Arizona overall ranks third in the United States for the number of business establishments in the semiconductor sector. The president and chief executive of the Arizona Technology Council says companies will be looking for talented new employees — and finding them, for instance, among those who earn credentials from the Fulton Schools’ new Certificate in Semiconductor Processing program, which provides training in various aspects of chip production. (Online access to the Phoenix Business Journal is available only to subscribers.)

  • Climate change is making Texas hotter, threatening public health, water supply and the state’s infrastructure

    Climate change is making Texas hotter, threatening public health, water supply and the state’s infrastructure

    The data is showing all the indications of an ongoing trend for hotter weather in Texas, with climate change accelerating the increase in extreme weather events and more persistent heat. The number of 100-degree days annually is expected to double compared with those from the years 2000 to 2018. The situation is more than likely to present threats to public health, strain the state’s water supply and electric grid, and mean extinction for some species. Those and other stresses on the environment and natural resources will almost certainly lead to a “monumental” challenge to maintain the state’s prosperity and quality of life, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester, an environmental engineer and director of the Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering. The article also appeared in the Texas Tribune.

  • Language Imitation Games and the Arrival of Broad and Shallow AI

    Language Imitation Games and the Arrival of Broad and Shallow AI

    Large Language Models, or LLMs, are what artificial intelligence systems use to imitate, analyze, contextualize, interpret and decipher human language. The models are proving to be accurate and valuable in ways that inform or fulfill the well-meaning purposes for which they are most often employed, but still problematic in some significant ways, says Subbarao Kambhampati (pictured), a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and a former president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Some uses of LLMs have raised concerns about their tendency to reflect societal biases and stereotypes, Kambhampati writes in a commentary on the blog of the Association for Computing Machinery. There’s a need for LLMs to evolve to prevent the negative ramifications of their current limitations, he says, noting that researchers are beginning to explore remedies to such drawbacks.

  • Targeting gut bacteria to treat autism

    Targeting gut bacteria to treat autism

    Connections between microbes in the human gut and the brain are beginning to reveal paths to potential new medical treatments for autism. Scientists have already linked changes in the biology of the gut to neurological disorders, including epilepsy, depression and autism spectrum disorders. They now know gut microbes send signals to the brain in numerous ways. Fulton Schools Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown (at left in picture), an environmental engineer, is among leading experts in the connection between autism and the human microbiome. Her work with fellow Fulton Schools Professor James Adams, a materials engineer, has led to a treatment being shown to ease some symptoms of autism in children with the disease. They plan to expand their research to better understand the dynamics of interactions between the microbiome and the brain in the hope of developing more types of promising treatments.

  • Out of thin air: can hydropanels bring water to parched communities?

    Out of thin air: can hydropanels bring water to parched communities?

    Technology developed by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen that can capture moisture from the air to provide a source of water may help end chronic water scarcity on the sprawling Navajo Nation. Members of the reservation in Arizona and New Mexico are far more likely than most communities in the United States to lack running water in their homes. Friesen’s company, Source, is hoping to help Navajo communities end that scarcity and to demonstrate the company’s hydropanel systems can effectively and economically end such long-running shortages of vital resources. The challenge will also involve convincing critics who contend that Source’s technology has not yet proven it can provide a complete remedy for alleviating water shortages, especially those that are predicted to become more acute.

  • Biosphere 2: The Once Infamous Live-In Terrarium Is Transforming Climate Research

    Biosphere 2: The Once Infamous Live-In Terrarium Is Transforming Climate Research

    A prototype for an extraterrestrial habitat called Biosphere 2 that opened about three decades ago in southern Arizona has had a history as an intriguing and unusual attraction — but not as a wholly successful scientific research center. Now, proponents of the project say it can still fulfill its potential as a venue for valuable experimentation within an innovative life-supporting built environment.  Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, is among scientists who foresee possibilities for using Biosphere 2 to create mini-environments that will enable researchers to make more accurate climate predictions, develop more effective reforestation techniques and learn to create self-sustaining biosystems.

  • 6 ASU graduate alumni earn placements in prestigious science policy program

    6 ASU graduate alumni earn placements in prestigious science policy program

    Two graduates of Fulton Schools degree programs are among the ASU 2021-2022 cohort of alumni pursuing professional aspirations through the prestigious Science and Technology Policy Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Evvan Morton and Emily Bondank earned doctoral degrees in the civil, environmental and sustaining engineering program. Through the fellowship, Morton is working in the Office of Sustainable Transportation in the U.S. Department of Energy on decarbonization policies related to electric vehicles, biofuels and hydrogen fuel cells. Bondank is at the U.S. Agency for International Development and is moving the Water Office to the Center for Water, Security, Sanitation and Hygiene to support water security, sanitation and hygiene programming and applying scientific knowledge to improve climate resilience. Avni Solanki worked under Fulton Schools Associate Professor Treavor Boyer while at ASU. With support from the fellowship, she will soon be working on water policy for the U.S. Department of State.

September

2021
  • Cybersecurity competition challenges next generation of security experts

    Cybersecurity competition challenges next generation of security experts

    The Capture the Flag competition — the signature event of DEF CON, one the world’s leading hacking conventions — has been organized since 2018 by the Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, which is directed by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé. Once again, hundreds of teams from around the world competed. Doupé and Yan Shoshitaishvili, a Fulton Schools assistant professor and a researcher in the center, say the event has elevated ASU’s stature as a top university for cybersecurity education. They predict the techniques being tested and deployed at DEF CON and in the Capture the Flag competitions are helping to set the course for the evolution of the cybersecurity field in years to come.

  • Reflective Coatings Deployed to Cool the Built Environment

    Reflective Coatings Deployed to Cool the Built Environment

    ASU researchers are working with the city of Phoenix Office of Sustainability and Street Transportation Department to reduce heat gain in its denser urban areas. A major focus of the effort involves using light-colored reflective coatings to pave streets. The city has been applying the “cool pavements” to roads and finding the material does reduce radiant temperatures at street level to a significant degree. The Cool Pavement Pilot Program is producing results that are exactly what city officials are hoping for, says Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. The ASU team involved in the endeavor includes faculty members Ariane Middel, Kamil Kaloush, Jennifer Vanos, David Hondula and David Sailor, who between them have various affiliations with the Fulton Schools, the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and the School of Sustainability. A second phase of the project will study the impacts of using a darker street coating with higher reflectivity.

    See Also: To Beat the Heat, Phoenix Paints Its Streets Gray, Scientific American/E&E News, October 3

    Is lighter-colored pavement helping cool down Phoenix city streets? Channel 12 News NBC-Phoenix, October 3

  • The ‘FORCE’ is with ASU, thanks to a $13.7M NSF grant

    The ‘FORCE’ is with ASU, thanks to a $13.7M NSF grant

    Alexandra Navrotsky is a professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of the seven Fulton Schools, as well as in ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences and School of Earth and Space Exploration — and directs the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe. She will be drawing on her exceptionally wide range of expertise in partnership with other ASU faculty members and researchers who are leaders in their fields of engineering and science as they begin work in FORCE (the Facility for Open Research in a Compressed Environment). With support from the National Science Foundation, researchers say the facility will be a launch pad for the discovery of new materials and the solutions to fundamental problems in Earth and planetary science, materials science, chemistry, physics, energy conversion and other fields.

  • ASU designs exoskeletons for US military

    ASU designs exoskeletons for US military

    With the help of exoskeleton technology, aerial porters at Travis Air Force Base experienced a big boost in their physical strength — thanks to the work led by Fulton Schools Professor Thomas Sugar, who has spent more than 30 years designing the robotics used to create exoskeletons. The military has begun asking for new devices that would help prevent musculoskeletal injuries to people doing strenuous lifting and pushing in their work. The Air Force particularly wanted devices to help people who load and unload cargo from aircraft. Those workers have one of the highest rates of injury in that branch of the military. Developers of the technology say they foresee growing use of exoskeletons, especially in manufacturing and shipping industries.

    See Also: The Future Is Here: Air Force Porters Get Exoskeleton From Arizona State University, SOFREP (Special Operations Forces Report). September 30

  • Addressing software bugs

    Addressing software bugs

    Growing numbers of serious data breaches and hacking of our growing array of digital technologies are raising demand for solutions to software vulnerabilities. A technique called micropatching is being looked at as a potentially effective remedy to the problem. ASU is tackling the challenge through a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract awarded to ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, directed by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé. The center is contributing research and development efforts to the Assured Micropatching program. Putting solutions in place will require a complex mix of high-tech maneuvers and cyber defense techniques to stop hackers and others attempting to access, disrupt, control or disable computerized digital technologies. Solutions will also require preventative actions by regulators, government policymakers and companies providing software systems and related technology.

  • People eager for autonomous vehicles, ASU study finds

    People eager for autonomous vehicles, ASU study finds

    Recent studies are indicating growing public acceptance of autonomous vehicles. One study, provided by ASU, is the result of a six-month pilot program involving Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority, which operates in the Phoenix area, and Waymo the autonomous-driving technology company. Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, director of a research consortium sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, notes the pilot study is the first to deploy a true AV-based mobility-on-demand service for members of the public to use for their regular daily trips. It showed people were willing to use autonomous vehicle service for traveling to and from work, shopping and entertainment destinations.

    See Also: Autonomous Vehicles Now Preferred Mode Among Seniors, Disabled, According to Transit Study, Wrangler News, September 28

    Americans with experience of driverless cars warming to the idea, Highway News, September 28

  • California utility to underground 10,000 mi of power lines

    California utility to underground 10,000 mi of power lines

    One of the largest gas and electric utilities in the U.S. is planning to put about 10,000 miles of its above-ground electric power distribution lines underground — at a likely cost of about $20 billion. The motivation is to decrease wildfires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric company’s power lines and boost the reliability of the electricity distribution in California. The company pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges related to the deadliest fire in the state’s history in 2018. Fulton Schools Professor Samuel Ariaratnam, chair of ASU’s construction engineering program and an underground construction expert, says factors like climate change are making overhead power lines “a recipe for fires.” Underground lines will not only prevent fires but better protect the lines from damage from wind and ice storms, and reduce maintenance costs. In addition, Ariaratnam says PG&E’s project could provide utilities industries valuable lessons in how to overcome the many challenges of installing large underground distribution systems.

  • Summer internship with NASA JPL was more than virtual for ASU graduate student

    Summer internship with NASA JPL was more than virtual for ASU graduate student

    ASU graduate student Lauren Gold’s recent internship involved a deep dive into virtual reality and immersive technology. Gold’s academic home is the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative of the Fulton Schools and ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. She’s also a researcher in the Meteor Studio directed by Robert LiKamWa, an assistant professor in both schools, who also directs the Learning Futures Immersive Creation Studio. Gold’s internship with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in an “XR,” or extended reality, position, enabled her to explore designs and implementations of virtual reality app concepts to create a virtual Mars environment, helping to develop tools and interactions for scientists and engineers working on the proposed mission. Gold’s JPL supervisor says she used virtual reality tools to help gain new insights about potential applications of the technology for future NASA missions. Gold’s work also helped produce a prototype virtual reality tool for a proposed Mars mission whose principal scientist, Meenakshi Wadhwa, is a professor in ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration.

  • Weighing wastewater’s worth as a COVID-19 monitoring tool

    Weighing wastewater’s worth as a COVID-19 monitoring tool

    Scientists and engineers have been proving the value of wastewater surveillance and analysis in recent years. In particular, some have targeted their monitoring methods at detecting the signs of COVID-19 in public wastewater treatment facilities. With his team at ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, environmental engineer and Fulton School Professor Rolf Halden has been among those leading the way in tracking the spread of COVID-19, as well as providing important data about the overall health of communities. He also co-founded a wastewater-based epidemiology start-up that performed the first nationwide study in over 100 cities for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Still, Halden and other experts say there remain challenges to achieving the advances to enable even more effective wastewater analysis-based defenses against disease.

  • The CORE Institute helps develop app that aids in fall prevention

    The CORE Institute helps develop app that aids in fall prevention

    A leading orthopedic practice in Arizona, The CORE Institute, is teaming with the Arizona WearTech Center to accelerate progress on new technology to advance the science of fall prevention. The work focuses on development of the Lockhart Monitor, which springs from research led by Fulton Schools Professor Thurmon Lockhart, who specializes in biomechanics. The monitor works by way of a smartphone application with an internal accelerometer and a gyroscope that gathers data about walking speed and step strength. When the system detects signs of instability in a person’s movement, it sends out a warning to help the person take action to prevent falling. The WearTech center chose Lockhart’s project as one of the first endeavors to support through its research validation and commercialization phases.

  • Trying to cool off neighborhoods with a new kind of road surface

    Trying to cool off neighborhoods with a new kind of road surface

    Road pavement surfaces are where some of the most dramatic reflections of the urban heat island effect can be measured. In already hot Phoenix, temperatures on roads during summers can get as high as 180 degrees. ASU researchers are working with city officials to test what light-colored pavements can do to bring down the ambient heat on the streets. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, an urban climatologist, has been using her mobile meteorological sensing devices to help gauge changes in radiant temperatures on streets and in neighborhoods to test the effectiveness of various shading and other heat-reducing measures. In a video, Middel and fellow ASU researchers Assistant Professor Jennifer Vanos and doctoral student Florian Schneider give details about the combination of methods and techniques it will take to cool things down in the city during it hottest months.  Phase two of their studies for Phoenix government officials will begin in the near future.

    See Also: Here’s how cool pavement pilot program is impacting Phoenix, AZ Big Media, September 22

    How America’s hottest city is trying to cool down, Vox (YouTube)
    Ariane Middel contributed to the story.

    Phoenix study finds cool pavement makes significant difference, KTAR News, September 20

    Phoenix and ASU announce results of cool pavements study, Downtown Devil, September 20

    Cool pavements research builds as temperatures rise, Smart Cities Dive, Sept 24

  • The dream of carbon air capture edges toward reality in Iceland

    The dream of carbon air capture edges toward reality in Iceland

    The Swiss company Climeworks is set to open a new project designed to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, mix it with water and divert it to a deep underground well. The industrial facility in Iceland is looking like it might provide a template for a carbon capture enterprise that can effectively help clean greenhouse gases out of the air and reduce the impacts of carbon emissions that are among causes of threatening changes to the Earth’s climate. Significantly, at the same time, it may also provide an important example of how such an operation can become a commercially viable business. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, a pioneer in the carbon capture field and director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, sees reason for hope that the venture can follow in the footsteps of the solar photovoltaics industry and find ways to reduce operational costs while providing a clean source of energy, enabling it to be both technologically and economically successful.

    See Also: America’s innovators will solve climate change, not regulators, Tech Crunch, September 21

  • A tech billionaire wants to build a smart city in the desert. Can it be sustainable?

    A tech billionaire wants to build a smart city in the desert. Can it be sustainable?

    Diapers.com founder Marc Lore is proposing a “city of the future” in the water-scarce American desert. Arizona is one of the states being proposed as a possible location for the new city. The idea is drawing reactions from experts on urban environments, development and resource management. One question being asked: How could such a city overcome the numerous hurdles to achieving long-term sustainability in a challenging climate like desert? Zhihua Wang, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, who researches sustainable cities, says such a city would face all of the problems that now confront the Phoenix metropolitan area, including water scarcity and climate change. But, he adds, planners of a new city might be successful by learning from the experiences of existing cities how to avoid the pitfalls that have historically hindered their progress.

    See also:  A huge new city is being built in the US desert – but is it just greenwashing? TimeOut, September 21

  • What’s toxic algae and could it really have killed an entire California family hiking near Yosemite?

    What’s toxic algae and could it really have killed an entire California family hiking near Yosemite?

    California officials report that toxic algae is being investigated as a possible cause of the recent deaths of a family of three who had been hiking in a remote part of the state’s Yosemite National Park. Tests confirm that dangerous anatoxins from a kind of algae called cyanobacteria are present in a river near the hiking trail where the three were found. Taylor Weiss, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of environmental and resource management, and an algae expert, says not all algae are harmful, but some can bloom quickly and produce toxins dangerous to people and animals. Cyanobacteria is the most common. Weiss says anatoxin breaks down quickly and easily and doesn’t stay in body tissues for long, making it difficult for toxicology tests to confirm if algae contributed to the deaths. Today, environmental resource managers and water regulatory officials are being taught more about potential dangers from algae, so safety measures should be improving, he says.

  • Silicon in the Valley: Creating opportunities to benefit Arizona

    Silicon in the Valley: Creating opportunities to benefit Arizona

    Microelectronics that are getting smarter, faster and less costly to produce are helping drive a revolution in semiconductors — the critical elements in building the microscopic circuits that provide the heart of the computers in todays’ advanced technological devices. Joining the semiconductor ecosystem is now a prime target of regions looking to bring industry, jobs and economic opportunity to their communities. In Arizona, a big draw for semiconductor manufacturers are innovations being kindled by a range of high-tech research pursuits led by the Fulton Schools faculty members, including Michael Kozicki, Bertan Bakkaloglua, Cun-Zheng Ning, Bruno Azaredo, Sefaatin Tongay, Heather Emady and Zachary Holman. They are among the experts providing companies with the discoveries and infrastructure needed to become leaders in their fields, says Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, which is striving to further boost the Phoenix area’s stature in the semiconductor world with the recent launch of the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks.

  • Bear the Burden

    Bear the Burden

    Historical inequities remain as barriers to climate justice in the Phoenix metropolitan area and elsewhere in Arizona, especially in their impact on what communities bear the burden of the urban heat island effect and other problems brought on by climate change. In her environmental engineering course, Fulton Schools Lecturer Mackenzie Boyer has students analyze air quality levels and temperatures in Phoenix to reveal how racial and economic disparities have made some areas more vulnerable to the rising temperatures caused by a changing climate and other factors. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Wanda Dalla Costa points to Phoenix’s Heat Vulnerability Index and how it shows that Arizona’s Indigenous communities are much more burdened by severe heat than residents in affluent areas. ASU researchers are involved in efforts to find solutions to provide cooling in heat-exposed locales as well as bring attention to the societal disparities at the root of the crisis.

  • FTA report signals new era of accessible transit

    FTA report signals new era of accessible transit

    A recently completed Federal Transit Administration report completed with the help of ASU indicates growing overall public confidence with the safety and mobility of autonomous vehicles. The ASU-focused part of the study was led by Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Build Environment, one of the seven Fulton Schools. Collecting data with the help of  Valley Metro  and Waymo, Pendyala says one conclusion of the study indicates the potential of autonomous vehicles — or robotic taxis — to providie more accessibility to transportation for people with physical disabilities, who are underserved in many communities, as well as for mobility on university campuses. With some engineering and design solutions, Pendyala says automated vehicle services could become safer and more affordable than traditional transit methods — and even bring on a revolutionary transformation in transportation.

  • Alexandra Navrotsky increases ASU donation to $10M to help ensure future of materials science

    Alexandra Navrotsky increases ASU donation to $10M to help ensure future of materials science

    In many decades of work as a materials science researcher, Alexandra Navrotsky has helped make significant strides in the field. What she has earned through her internationally recognized achievements has now enabled her to make a personal multimillion-dollar investment to support continued advances in materials science at ASU. The gift from the professor in both the Fulton Schools and ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will provide more funding for the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe, which fosters collaborations between scientists and engineers to pursue materials innovations. The investment will also support professorship positions, early-career faculty endeavors and research in thermochemistry, as well as junior faculty and graduate students engaged in thermodynamics research efforts.

  • A Stanford Proposal Over AI’s ‘Foundations’ Ignites Debate

    A Stanford Proposal Over AI’s ‘Foundations’ Ignites Debate

    A dispute is brewing among the experts whose work involves efforts to make machines smarter. A recent paper coauthored by dozens of Stanford University researchers announces a new paradigm for building artificial intelligence, or AI, systems. But that claim is generating pushback from colleagues who say this paradigm is not the foundational advance the Stanford researchers claim. Their research paper doesn’t show a clear path from their work to game-changing progress that would revolutionize AI technology, says Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and a past president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. The director of Stanford’s new Center for Research on Foundation Models, however, says the large machine learning models researchers used do appear to be unique and important and show a notable improvement in the ability to handle real-world complexity.

  • The Godfather of Carbon Capture: Klaus Lackner Interview

    The Godfather of Carbon Capture: Klaus Lackner Interview

    More than two decades ago, physicist Klaus Lackner was among the first to explore the idea of technologies that could capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to reduce the buildup of greenhouse gases contributing to the rise in global warming and its environmental threat. Today, as a Fulton Schools professor and director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, Lackner and his research team are making progress toward safe, scalable and cost-efficient technologies and systems for carbon capture and sequestration. In this interview, Lackner provides a wide-ranging look at the potential of these advances to clean up our air and the challenges of pursuing that goal effectively and broadly enough to make a sustainable impact on the quality of the planet’s environment.

  • We’re eating and drinking Great Lakes plastic. How alarmed should we be?

    We’re eating and drinking Great Lakes plastic. How alarmed should we be?

    Microscopic-sized pieces of plastics have become so prevalent in water, air, food and a multitude of things else we typically come into contact with in our daily lives. In places with large bodies of water, like the Great Lakes region, water utility managers say microplastics contamination is emerging as a major concern because of the potential detriment it could pose to human health. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, warns about the “soup” of microplastics growing thicker and more widespread, and making it much more challenging to reduce the volumes of them to safer levels in our environments.

  • Engineering students still learning from collapse of World Trade Center

    Engineering students still learning from collapse of World Trade Center

    Looking back at the violent destruction of two of the United States’ most prominent buildings in the September 9, 2011 terrorist attacks is helping ASU engineering students learn about ways to prevent future structural failures. Fulton Schools Professor Barzin Mobasher today examines the fall of the World Trade Center towers in New York to teach students about the importance of the technical, engineering and design aspects of skyscraper construction. A forensic analysis of the towers’ fall emphasizes that thoroughly evaluating all potential modes of structural failure is critical to preventing such disasters in the future, he says. Such an analysis, Mobasher points out, has revealed that the fires caused by the attacks and the particularly the intense heat the flames produced were a root cause structural tension and fracturing the led to the towers’ collapse.

  • Turn Any Surface Into a Touchscreen

    Turn Any Surface Into a Touchscreen

    A team of researchers is opening a path to a range of new possibilities for interacting with the digital world by using an optical technique that helps project interactive touchscreens on any surface. Working with colleagues at a science and technology institute in Japan, Suren Jayasuriya, an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering, helped devise a system that relies on a laser scanning projector. By ensuring only movements just above the surface of the projection are detected, the technique makes it possible to register users’ fingers as they press buttons, while ignoring everything else in the camera’s field of view. Jayasuriya and his collaborators are hoping the technology can be used to create large, interactive displays almost anywhere.

  • Stem cells help untangle Alzheimer’s, other disease origins

    Stem cells help untangle Alzheimer’s, other disease origins

    Researchers are peering more intensely down into the molecular and cellular foundations of human biology to study the evolution many of the world’s more debilitating diseases — and potential remedies for them. This high-precision approach is being employed by biomedical engineers and other health and medical experts like Fulton Schools Associate Professor David Brafman. He is exploring the molecular clues in stem cells, and ways to reprogram them, to attempt to produce knowledge that could lead to prevention or a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Among other things, Brafman is experimenting with cutting-edge gene editing technologies in pursuit of his goal.

  • Mesa Veteran Remembers 9/11

    Mesa Veteran Remembers 9/11

    Anthony Wende has vivid memories of his reactions in the aftermath of the deadly September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, in New York City and the nation’s capital. Wende, today an aviation lecturer and instructor at The Polytechnic School, one of the seven Fulton Schools, was in the U.S. Air Force at the time. The event led to his decision to delay his retirement from the military while the country faced the aftermath of the attacks. He now passes on to younger generations the history of 9/11 events and the lessons they can teach us. Wendt, who did some of his military service at the Williams Air Force in Mesa, recalls how the shocking tragedy altered the geopolitical picture of where, how and from what kinds of aggressors violent acts could spring and how quickly the world can change.

    See Also: Inspired to serve: Sun Devils who answered the call after 9/11, ASU News, September 9
    Fulton Schools aviation lecturer Anthony Wende talks about being in the Air Force and stationed in South Korea at the time of the 9/11 acts of terrorism and the shock of hearing about violent attacks on his homeland.

  • Walking with coffee is a little-understood feat of physics

    Walking with coffee is a little-understood feat of physics

    Understanding the intricate complexities of the physics involved in how humans walk while steadily holding a cup of coffee could provide a key to making major advances in robotics, prosthetics, automation and manufacturing technologies. It’s all explained in a new research paper  based on work by Brent Wallace, a Fulton Schools electrical engineering doctoral student, that was supervised by Fulton Schools Professor Ying-Cheng Lai, an electrical engineer and physicist. The research studies conclude that a systematic quantitative understanding of how humans interact dynamically with their environment, along with mimicking of behaviors adopted by humans in handling complex objects, could help revolutionize many technological processes and systems. The article and related reports are also published in ASU News, Science Magazine, Gamers Grade, Florida New Times, Samachar Central, TechCodex, True Viral News, Today Biz News, Verity News Now, Reporter Wings, FUNTiTECH, Digichat, International Communicaffe CNET.com, MessageToEagle, TechiLIve, Coffee Talk, Nanowerk news, ScitechDaily, Sprudge, APB Live KTEX.Iheart.com, Kiss95.1FM, u92slc.com, WCCQ.com, Prestige Online, UGOLINI News, NewsBrig

    See Also: The Mind-Bending Physics Of Walking With Coffee May Save Humanity, For Now, Forbes, September 9
    Physics explains why humans can walk through crowded places and not spill their coffee, Physics World, September 10 
    Physics Behind Walking With Cup of Coffee on Hand Without Spillage; Can It Be Applied to Soft Robotics? Science Times, September 8
    How Humans Walk and Carry a Cup of Coffee Is a Bit of a Physics Mystery, Food & Wine, September 8
    Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day, Bloomberg, September 8 (See “What we’ve been reading”)

  • ASU graduate students focus on sustainable agriculture in desert landscapes

    ASU graduate students focus on sustainable agriculture in desert landscapes

    Fulton Schools Professor Enrique Vivoni recently led a team of ASU graduate students on a journey across the U.S.-Mexico border region to get a first-hand look at how natural resources are managed in the binational Sonoran Desert, which spans across a large swath of northern Mexico and southern Arizona. The trip was part of a joint effort involving ASU and the Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora to develop sustainable agriculture in the North American desert landscapes. During the trip, students and faculty toured water supply sources, water and wastewater treatment operations as well as ecological sites and the Intercultural Center for the Study of the Deserts and Oceans. The trip was part of a larger effort led by the U.S. Department of State to promote education that will provide opportunity and stimulate the economy of the region.

  • How an ASU program helped a student business working to turn poop water into plants

    How an ASU program helped a student business working to turn poop water into plants

    A new master’s degree program that’s a partnership of the Fulton Schools and ASU’s business and design schools is enabling a company co-founded by Travis Andren, an ASU alumnus — and a graduate of the program — to pursue its goal of developing a new way to clean up agricultural wastewater. Traditionally, many industrial animal farms manage waste from animal excrement in ways that can let the waste become a threatening environmental contaminant. These “manure lagoons” that often leak and flood can infiltrate local groundwater and endanger other aquatic environments, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Rebecca Muenich, who studies agricultural water quality. Now Andren’s company is developing a system to harness the productive characteristics of high-protein duckweed plants to clean contaminants from agriculture water before it reaches nearby communities.

  • PG&E To Bury Power Lines To Reduce Wildfire Risk

    PG&E To Bury Power Lines To Reduce Wildfire Risk

    Raging wildfires in California. A devastating hurricane in New Orleans. Pounding rains bringing deadly and destructive flash floods to a large swath of Tennessee. These recent extreme and dangerous climate-related events make it more critical to start putting power lines and parts of other public utility systems underground, says Professor Sam Ariaratnam, chair of the Fulton Schools construction engineering program and a leading underground construction expert. Even with the high costs of burying energy and other utility infrastructure below the surface, there can be long term benefits in making those systems more resilient and in ensuring communities won’t lose vital public services in the midst of life-threatening weather events.

August

2021
  • Building infrastructure for the future beyond traditional systems

    Building infrastructure for the future beyond traditional systems

    A recent webinar convened by ASU’s Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes and Issues in Science and Technology focused on the big investment the U.S. government is preparing to make to upgrade the country’s infrastructure. A panel of experts, including Mikhail Chester, (bottom left in photo) a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustaining engineering, discussed how the infrastructure projects should be designed to help society become more resilient, flexible and equitable. Modern infrastructure must adapt to a world that is much more fast-changing than in the past, Chester said. New technologies, climate change,  cyberspace systems and politics are among things that today transform more quickly than at any time in history. Using models of systems from previous decades and centuries won’t work to overcome today’s challenges, both in terms of providing sustainable infrastructure or adapting to evolving social needs and priorities, Chester said.

  • Waymo Autonomous Vehicles Partnership Gets National Spotlight

    Waymo Autonomous Vehicles Partnership Gets National Spotlight

    A recent Federal Transportation Administration report concludes that public acceptance of autonomous vehicles is trending upward. The Valley Metro regional public transportation agency teamed with Waymo, the autonomous car company, and ASU engineering researchers to explore how autonomous vehicles can be used for the Valley Metro RideChoice program. The study showed how autonomous vehicles can enhance customer experience, meet accessibility needs and help improve affordability and safety. Ram Pendyala, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the seven Fulton Schools, and director of the Center for Teaching Old Models New Tricks, a multi-university transportation research group, says the study reveals strong strong inclinations among people to adopt autonomous vehicle-based transportation.

    See Also: Valley Metro’s Waymo AV partnership gets national spotlight, Mass Transit, September 1

    Report Shows East Valley Seniors, ADA Riders Prefer Autonomous Vehicles, KJZZ (NPR), August 30

    Riders Prefer AV Technology, New Study Shows, Metro Magazine, August 31

  • ASU ranks 4th nationally in undergrad STEM degrees

    ASU ranks 4th nationally in undergrad STEM degrees

    The thousands of ASU undergraduates earning degrees in STEM-related fields each year has moved the university into the ranks of the leading U.S. institutions of higher education that are supplying the nation with the next generations of engineers and scientists. STEM fields are a primary focus of ASU’s New Economy Initiative, which will invest $10 million into various growth efforts, including growing the Fulton Schools faculty to accelerate research endeavors, graduating 5,000 students from engineering degree programs each year by 2025, emerging as a top 15 U.S. engineering education institution and making metro Phoenix one of the largest producers of technology and engineering talent in the country, among other equally ambitious goals.

  • Net Zero Is No Longer Enough – It’s Time For Net Negative, Policy Coherence And Robust ESG

    Net Zero Is No Longer Enough – It’s Time For Net Negative, Policy Coherence And Robust ESG

    Several countries have passed laws that set goals to stop increasing the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, climate change and the negative environmental impacts that those trends are producing. At the same time, companies and financial institutions spotlight their efforts to help limit those emissions. But experts now say those actions will be an insufficient response to stop the dangerous extreme weather and climate volatility that has become more frequent. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, and member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, says large amounts of existing carbon emissions must also be removed from the atmosphere if a crisis is to be averted.

  • Quat disinfectants are helping during the pandemic. But could they contribute to antibiotic resistance?

    Quat disinfectants are helping during the pandemic. But could they contribute to antibiotic resistance?

    Quaternary ammonium compounds, or quats, are a common ingredient of disinfectants, sanitizing wipes, and personal care products. Use of quats has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic — half of the disinfectants approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fight the virus that causes COVID-19 contain quats. But while they can slow the spread of disease, researchers worry they could endanger the environment. High quat levels could hinder wastewater treatment processes that rely on bacterial activity, leading to inadequately treated wastewater that then pollutes rivers and other waters downstream. But with help from colleagues, Yenjung (Sean) Lai, an assistant research scientist in ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann, is developing a system to make quats harmless to the bacteria used to decontaminate wastewater.

  • Are You Entitled to Privacy Over Your Pee and Poop?

    Are You Entitled to Privacy Over Your Pee and Poop?

    Wastewater epidemiology is an emerging field of research that is proving its value in detecting the spread of diseases and informing efforts to mount defenses against threats to public health. Wastewater monitoring is in some ways a relatively new endeavor, so the legal and ethical parameters — including matters of privacy rights — to guide its use should be explored, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, a pioneer in the field. But while those issues need to be worked out, Halden asserts that this should not put the brakes on a diagnostic method that is clearly becoming a potent force in protecting large populations from the worst ramifications of epidemics and other risks to the quality of life in vulnerable communities.

  • What Can We Really Expect From Elon Musk’s Tesla Robot?

    What Can We Really Expect From Elon Musk’s Tesla Robot?

    Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, the prominent electric vehicle company, says one of his next ventures will involve development of a Tesla humanoid robot that will look and move like people. Some robotics experts are skeptical, pointing to many dexterous human physical capabilities that no machines have been able to mimic precisely. Roboticist Heni Ben Amor, a Fulton Schools assistant professor, says the human hand is extremely complex, and that making a robot that could match all of the hand’s skills would be a daunting technological challenge. But Ben Amor says if Musk’s aspiration leads only to a few advances toward his goal, it could still yield significant progress in robotics.

  • How Greater Phoenix, companies are adjusting to cybersecurity demands

    How Greater Phoenix, companies are adjusting to cybersecurity demands

    Businesses, educational institutions and other organizations are positioning the greater Phoenix metropolitan area to be a strong hub of cybersecurity endeavors and education. Those groups are proactively taking steps to respond to the growing demand for security against malicious actors in the cyberworld. That’s the message from the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, or GPEC, which recently convened a group of local leaders and experts for a discussion of cybersecurity trends and the latest GPEC cybersecurity industry report. One bright spot that was highlighted among positive developments is the increasing numbers of graduates coming out of the Fulton Schools with schooling and training in the latest cybersecurity technologies and skills.

  • How faculty is making ‘ASU work’ during the fall semester

    How faculty is making ‘ASU work’ during the fall semester

    With tens of thousands of ASU students returning to the university’s campuses for the fall semester, faculty members are taking a variety of approaches in managing their classes to respond to the continuing threat of the COVID pandemic. The precautions in place ask faculty and students to do a lot to ensure a safe environment for classes and other campus activities, but sometimes students are even exceeding the protocols and practices the university administration expects them to follow. Fulton Schools Professor Daniel Bliss says that the large numbers of students and faculty members in the engineering schools is an advantage if a “buddy system” is needed so students and faculty can cover for each other if they miss classes due to contracting or being exposed to COVID.  

  • Algae bloom may be behind mysterious California deaths

    Algae bloom may be behind mysterious California deaths

    ASU’s Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation focuses on ways algae can be used to produce food, renewable energy and other things that contribute to a more sustainable society. But the center’s researchers also provide a valuable service when warning about the dangers these aquatic plants can present. Taylor Weiss, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of environmental and resources management, talks about kinds of algae that are among the more deadly toxins in the world. In the wake of news that a family and its dog may have been victims of a particle form of algae, Weiss describes what people can do to recognize algae that can pose a threat to life and know how to avoid such tragedy.  

  • Infrastructure funds for mass transit won’t solve the real problem

    Infrastructure funds for mass transit won’t solve the real problem

    Congress is poised to invest billions of dollars into public transit as part of efforts to support the country’s infrastructure systems. But there are challenges that cast doubt on whether the investment in mass transit will be worth the cost. One problem is that ridership on some transit systems remains low. Steven Polzin, a Fulton Schools research professor who does transportation policy analyses as part of his work for ASU’s TOMNET University Transportation Center, says several factors — most recently and dramatically the COVID epidemic — are discouraging use of public transit. Companies that have postponed return of the workers to their offices, as well as potential riders’ concerns about urban crime and rising homeless populations, are among other reasons transit vehicles often serve low numbers of passengers. The article was also published in the Washington Examiner.

  • How can civil engineers bridge the broadband divide?

    How can civil engineers bridge the broadband divide?

    If engineers want to act in the best interests of society today, they need to be at the forefront of efforts to ensure broadband access is available to all people and communities, says Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. In an article that’s part of a series examining how public infrastructure affects social equity, Chester says those without adequate broadband connections will be disadvantaged in ways that will negatively impact their health, employment opportunities and access to information and resources. That makes it equally important for engineers to help mount defenses against cyberattacks that could threaten the safety and effectiveness of cyber-infrastructure technologies and systems.

  • ASU to Congress: Help us win globally in tech

    ASU to Congress: Help us win globally in tech

    Breakthroughs in engineering and technology development were touted at ASU’s recent annual Congressional Conference as critical to putting Arizona’s economy on solid ground into the future. In his talk about the university’s New Economy Initiative, ASU President Michael Crow highlighted the need for the state to become a global leader in producing advances in microelectronics design and manufacturing. That goal is reflected in the recent establishment of the newest of the seven Fulton Schools, the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, to address next-generation engineering challenges. Crow described what is needed to fulfill that aspiration as nothing less than a larger, more capable and more agile university engineering education and research enterprise than any that has yet existed.

  • Meet affiliated faculty Rolf Halden

    Meet affiliated faculty Rolf Halden

    One of the major focuses of research led by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden involves examining society’s activities and analyzing how they are impacting our planet. These efforts include analysis of the energy, water and other resources used in food production. That and related pursuits align Halden’s work as director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering with the mission of the university’s new Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems , which will seek solutions to the many challenges in areas of agriculture, nutrition, infrastructure and the environmental footprint of food systems. Through his affiliation with the new center, Halden hopes to work on advances in farming and related technologies, and on further studies of food production processes and the impacts of food intake on human health.

  • ASU shade research could help guide urban heat island mitigation strategies

    ASU shade research could help guide urban heat island mitigation strategies

    Shading needs to become a leading priority in today’s urban planning endeavors, say experts like Ariane Middel, a Fulton Schools assistant professor and urban climatologist. Proper shading can have a significant impact on easing the severity of the urban heat island effect that is becoming more intense in larger cities like Phoenix. Middel says those efforts must go beyond simply providing more trees for shading purposes. It’s also critical to design buildings and other structures in ways that provide shading in public places where people walk, gather or exercise outdoors. Middel is pictured at right with her mobile laboratory, a wagon equipped with meteorological sensing devices.

     

  • Staying cool for back to school

    Staying cool for back to school

    The start of the school year doesn’t necessarily mean the arrival cool fall weather in the desert Southwest. Students can expect triple-digit daytime temperatures to persist on campuses for several weeks. Fortunately, ASU has experts to provide useful guidance on surviving campus life under the strong Arizona sun. Among them is Ariane Middel (pictured), director of  The SHaDe Lab, an ASU-based urban climate research group. The lab’s team — which includes several leading experts on urban planning and climatology — did a three-year study to map out the coolest and hottest places on ASU’s Tempe campus. They’re sharing their knowledge with students about how best to survive and thrive in intensely sun-drenched environments. Their message: Take the heat seriously because its impacts on your health could be harmful. They’re giving practical advice on how to stay safe in the sun.

  • Exciting new degree programs await ASU students for fall 2021

    Exciting new degree programs await ASU students for fall 2021

    The fall semester at ASU will see the introduction of notable additions to the hundreds of degree programs offered by the university — as well as more minors and certificates programs. Those include a new degree program offering a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering along with a master’s degree in global management, offered by The Polytechnic School, one of the seven Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. In addition, the Fulton Schools are debuting a Certificate in Semiconductor Processing program and the Fulton Schools Office of Global Outreach and Extended Education is teaming with the College of Health Solutions to offer a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt in Health Care certificate program.

  • Evolution of Assistive Technology Presents A World of Possibilities for People with Disabilities

    Evolution of Assistive Technology Presents A World of Possibilities for People with Disabilities

    Advances in assistive technologies such as exoskeletons, powered prosthetics and a variety of related robotic systems are helping change the lives of people with disabilities. University research centers in particular are leading the way. At ASU, Fulton Schools Associate Professors Rod Roscoe and Jennifer Blain Christen are using their skills in engineering and other STEM fields to expand efforts aimed at spurring assistive technology innovations. They secured funding to support engineering students in developing and modifying these technologies. So far, this has led to new and improved systems for people with autism, cerebral palsy, and hearing and speech impairments. Roscoe and Christen are also looking for funding opportunities that would enable them to expand the program to graduate students and to design an engineering course focused specifically on assistive technologies.

  • The mouse that roars

    The mouse that roars

    ASU’s Polytechnic campus is only about a tenth of the size of ASU’s Tempe campus — and as student Cecilia Alcantar-Chavez notes, the Polytechnic campus also has a small-town feel in stark contrast to the bustling urban, high-tech, high-rise architecture and ambiance of the Tempe campus. Which is one reason Alcantar-Chavez, a mechanical engineering student, and many others are drawn to the campus, home of The Polytechnic School, one of the seven Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU. But engineering students say the smaller campus has no shortcomings when it comes to their education. Mechanical engineering student Jake Okun says he has found no lack of research opportunities, echoing Alcantar-Chavez’s affinity for the plethora of hands-on engineering education opportunities and the many student clubs at the campus.

  • National Security Academic Accelerator pilot program advances ASU faculty and student ideas, technologies

    National Security Academic Accelerator pilot program advances ASU faculty and student ideas, technologies

    To cultivate collaborations among government agencies and leading research institutions to advance U.S. security goals in both commercial and defense sectors, ASU’s recently launched National Security Academic Accelerator pilot program has partnered with the National Security Innovation Network. The university is now helping bring together resources and expertise from academia, industry and defense organizations to develop cutting-edge technologies that will enhance the nation’s security ecosystem. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Fengbo Ren is one of the ASU faculty members involved in those efforts through his expertise in high performance computing. He will be on sabbatical next year to further develop his work and to launch a related startup venture.

  • Sun Devil Life: Power move

    Sun Devil Life: Power move

    Doreen Marfo’s motivation for coming to Arizona State University is all about gaining power — for her home country. Growing up with her grandparents in Ghana, there was no access to electricity in their village. Today, the village does have electricity but the gird is by no means robust. After a summer internship at the Ghana Grid Company, Marfo is beginning her studies in the Fulton Schools to earn a master’s degree in electrical engineering with the goal of eventually working to improve the African country’s electrical services. ASU’s power systems laboratories and researchers — especially Professors Vijay Vittal and Raja Ayyanar — helped draw Marfo to the university, where she plans to join a research center and the National Society of Black Engineers.

  • Biden’s road to carbon reduction leads with electric vehicles

    Biden’s road to carbon reduction leads with electric vehicles

    President Joe Biden has set a goal for all new vehicles sold in 2030 to produce zero carbon emissions — including battery-charged electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel-cell-powered vehicles. That plan will mean cutting the use of gasoline for automobiles by billions of gallons. Fulton Schools Research Professor Steven Polzin, a transportation expert and a recent senior adviser in the U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, recently testified before the U.S, Senate Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He talks about what must happen to ensure the American public’s successful transition to the use of electric vehicles.

  • California wildfires make underground utilities an infrastructure priority

    California wildfires make underground utilities an infrastructure priority

    California largest electricity provider has long said underground installation of long distance, high voltage power transmission lines would be too costly. Now, Pacific Gas & Electric plans to spend the next decade putting 10,000 miles of power lines below the ground in areas of the state prone to wildfires. Fulton Schools Professor Samuel Ariaratnam, an expert in trenchless technology and underground construction, says the decision highlights the critical need to adopt new advanced technologies — despite the costs — to protect communities from wildfires of other catastrophic events like tornadoes, hurricanes and ice storms. Ariaratnam, who has worked to develop good practices for installing underground utilities, talks about what these technological breakthroughs mean for public safety, protecting power grids and minimizing the effects of climate change.

  • Tempe expands wastewater COVID data program thanks to CDC grant

    Tempe expands wastewater COVID data program thanks to CDC grant

    A wastewater data program the city of Tempe has used to track the spread of COVID-19 in its communities will be expanded with a $1 million grant from the Center for Disease Control to the Arizona Department of Health Services to partner with the city. ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, has been working with Tempe for the past few years, using wastewater-based epidemiology to gather information that can reveal public health issues. In addition to tracking COVID-19, the sewage surveillance project can also help detect other emerging health crises, Halden says.

  • Microbes for better sewage treatment

    Microbes for better sewage treatment

    The “first great triumph of microbial-community engineering” promises a big leap forward in wastewater treatment. A special news feature in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports on the development of methods that use “cultured bacterial communities” to not only treat sewage but to create useful products. Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann, an environmental engineer who has been doing research in this area for more the three decades, has helped pioneer techniques that can now tailor microbial communities to perform specific functions. With this and related advances, Rittmann and fellow researchers sparked a fundamental rethink of the classic activated-sludge approach to treating wastewater. Their work has led to a “game-changing approach” in ways communities can deal with sewage and at the same time recover valuable resources in the process.

  • How to Get Rid of Stuff at Home

    How to Get Rid of Stuff at Home

    Decluttering shouldn’t be just a matter of what and how much you throw away or otherwise dispose of. Doing it right should also mean doing it responsibly. What you add to the trash pile shouldn’t become a nuisance — or threat — to others. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, points out that chemicals in the containers of household products could become dangerous if they leak into soil. Batteries, for instance, contain lead and cadmium, which shouldn’t be put in the garbage. To avoid doing harm, look for websites with information about eco-friendly services that take hazardous waste such as fuels, pesticides, fluorescent lightbulbs, unused medications, batteries and even large appliances and recycles them or disposes of them safely.

  • How Urban Heat Impacts Communities of Color

    How Urban Heat Impacts Communities of Color

    The harmful impacts of warming urban climates in many metropolitan areas — including Phoenix — are affecting some communities more dramatically than others. Beyond environmental changes making the urban heat island effect more intense, social, economic and political factors have contributed to the problem. A lack of resources, amenities and civic support over decades for some neighborhoods has left residents especially vulnerable to rising temperatures. Urban climate researcher Ariane Middel (pictured), a Fulton Schools assistant professor, is among those calling attention to ways in which some areas remain disproportionately burdened by increasing heat, including the scarcity of shading and protective structures and vegetation in public spaces, and use of building materials that increase radiant air temperatures.

    See Also: Solutions to extreme heat can be found in our streets, Boston Globe, August 3
    The article reports that a team from Arizona State University is working with the city of Phoenix on a pilot program to study the use of “cool pavement” to reduce the urban heat island effect — a phenomenon that raises temperatures in urban areas covered by asphalt and concrete. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel is leading the ASU team for the project.

  • How to Build a Water-Smart City

    How to Build a Water-Smart City

    With drought becoming more common, cities will need to invest in multiple endeavors to ensure their water supplies can meet the growing needs of what are projected to be significantly larger populations. That will mean more major water recycling efforts, technologies that conserve water and systems to harvest water. It will so require responding to the root causes of climate change and building new infrastructure to protect water supplies and keep them safe from contamination. With demands for water certain to increase for residential, industrial and ecological uses, hydrologist Enrique Vivoni, a Fulton Schools professor, says cities must devise master plans designed to provide and secure water resources for as many as 50 to 100 years into the future.

  • Sunny-Day Flooding Is About to Become More Than a Nuisance

    Sunny-Day Flooding Is About to Become More Than a Nuisance

    Extreme weather events that scientists have been saying climate change would eventually trigger are beginning to occur years ahead of what has been predicted. Flooding in particular has come on suddenly, strongly and more frequently, especially in coastal areas, with some of the events causing major damage and disruption to business as usual. The quickly emerging and unexpected flooding is proving more difficult to prepare for and recover from. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester, a leader of the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network, says such rapidly changing environmental conditions signal the pressing need to design and build new and more sustainable infrastructure systems that will be able to withstand more erratic and dramatic climate and weather scenarios.

    The article also appeared in ELÉTÍỌFE.

July

2021
  • ASU scientists use commercial satellite data to determine water flow in Southwestern rivers

    ASU scientists use commercial satellite data to determine water flow in Southwestern rivers

    By using advanced remote sensing and imagery on two commercial satellites, and with support from a NASA program, hydrologist and Fulton Schools Professor Enrique Vivoni and Fulton Schools graduate student Zhaocheng Wang hope to gather extensive and important data about environmental conditions of major rivers in Arizona and California. The information is expected to help improve forecasts of flooding and assessments of other hazards, and better determine stream flow levels. New data should also aid efforts to study surface water and groundwater interactions and survey river and riverbank habitats. The project should also produce assessments to help other state in the Southwest U.S. to manage water resources, control pollution and maintain water quality in rivers.

  • Meeting Today’s Needs With Tomorrow In Mind

    Meeting Today’s Needs With Tomorrow In Mind

    Serious consideration of the environmental impacts of engineering endeavors has never been more critical, say those commenting in this article in the flagship publication of the National Society of Professional Engineers. Sustainability, healthy environments, recyclable materials, renewable energy and other “green practices” should guide today’s engineering design and implementation, they say, as well as become an integral part of engineering education. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby is among educators emphasizing the importance of proactive change to make the long-term well-being of society a primary foundation of all engineering fields and the industries engineers serve. Allenby and others are trying to arm students with broader knowledge of government, public policy, business practices, ethics and politics to teach them real-world problem solving skills they will need to alter the mindset about the ultimate role of engineering in society. (Accees to PE Magazine online is available to subscribers only.)

  • Equipping the next generation of cybersecurity professionals

    Equipping the next generation of cybersecurity professionals

    There’s a growing and urgent need for more cybersecurity experts in the U.S., a problem reflected in a workforce shortage in the industry that threatens to weaken the country’s defenses against cyberattacks and cybercrime. In response, the National Security Agency and National Science Foundation are funding GenCyber camps for high school students across the country to respond to the need. ASU recently hosted one of the first GenCyber camps. Cybersecurity researcher and Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé says one challenge in efforts to attract more young people is the negative image of cyber enthusiasts and experts as hackers who engage in nefarious activities in the cyberworld.  He says the cyber community must recapture the original meaning of hackers as people who apply ingenuity to come up with creative solutions and beneficial innovations. Doupé gave a talk titled “Cybersecurity, ASU, and You” at the GenCyber camp.

  • High school students explore transportation careers

    High school students explore transportation careers

    More than 40 Arizona high school juniors and seniors recently explored the evolving world of transportation through the National Summer Transportation Institute program presented by the Fulton Schools in partnership with the Arizona Department of Transportation, or ADOT. In two free five-day sessions that included virtual field trips and road studies, Fulton Schools faculty members and students helped demonstrate to the high school students how engineers plan and maintain Arizona transportation systems. Those students also completed hands-on projects like building small robots to simulate self-driving vehicles.

  • These companies are sucking carbon out of the atmosphere — and investors are piling in

    These companies are sucking carbon out of the atmosphere — and investors are piling in

    Technology that essentially vacuums carbon from the atmosphere is being seen as critical to the increasingly urgent endeavor to prevent more intense global warming and meet the goals of the international Paris climate agreement. Investors are increasingly supporting companies that are developing tools and techniques to help keep the heat from rising across the globe. A carbon capture system involving “mechanical trees” developed at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, is among ventures drawing interest from those investors. In addition to cleaning carbon dioxide from the air, carbon capture systems could potentially also be used to make new products and to help oil companies release oil trapped underground, which could be a big draw for corporate investment.

  • Seed grants bring ASU, Mayo Clinic researchers together to advance patient care

    Seed grants bring ASU, Mayo Clinic researchers together to advance patient care

    Exploring new research ideas on a small scale often enables scientists and biomedical engineers to make progress that attracts funding to support more extensive work that may improve patient care and spark advances in a variety of health-related fields. Mayo Clinic and ASU’s Alliance for Health Care have been providing seed grants for these projects to fuel medical advances for more than 15 years. Five new research proposals have recently been awarded funding. Two projects will involve work by Fulton Schools faculty members. Assistant Professor David Brafman will team with Mayo Clinic neurology expert Richard Caselli to look at factors that present African American with elevated risks of Alzheimer’s disease. Assistant Professor Christopher Plaisier will collaborate with Mayo Clinic cancer biology specialist Nhan Tran to study how tumor cells interact with other cells to invade and proliferate in the human body.

  • Is electrical engineering a good career?

    Is electrical engineering a good career?

    Ever expanding and exciting uses for new digital devices, robotics, machine learning and telecommunications technologies. Growing demand for advances in power generation, renewable energy, manufacturing systems and smart vehicles. All this and more is broadening horizons of possibilities for new and future engineers. There have never been more opportunities and promising prospects for successful careers in engineering than there are today. Plus, there’s the widening range of creative pursuits now encompassed by the multiple kinds of endeavors that fall within the realm of engineering. All these factors are broadening the allure of the field for aspiring innovators.

  • The Secret Cleaning Power of Bacteria

    The Secret Cleaning Power of Bacteria

    Bacteria and cleanliness are not words that many people think of having a connection. But microbial bacteria are efficient at digesting or breaking down substances and organic matter such as germs, sewage, oily stains and various industrial waste products and other messy stuff that people generally don’t want contact with. Today, bacteria are being put to work in an increasing number of cleanup projects. Bruce Rittmann, a Fulton Schools professor of environmental engineering is using “microbial communities” to treat wastewater. He is working on a process to use bacteria to rid water sources of polyfluoroalkyl substances, which have strong chemical bonds that make them difficult to remove. He is hoping to employ microbial organisms to transform chemicals these microbes consider food but we think of as pollution.

  • After fatal floods, German authorities face criticism for lack of preparation

    After fatal floods, German authorities face criticism for lack of preparation

    The tragic toll of death and destruction triggered by severe flooding across a large region of Germany is raising awareness of the need for preparation to withstand potentially catastrophic weather events — especially with the increasing impacts of climate change. Even with a forecast of extraordinarily heavy rainfall, the communication systems, public safety operations and infrastructure were inadequate to avert extensive damage and loss of life. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of environmental engineering, says the crux of the problem is a lack of ability to make infrastructure systems more agile and flexible in response to environmental changes. The remedy will need to involve rethinking of not only how  infrastructure is designed  but also the ways it is financed, governed and managed, Chester says.

    See Also: As Disasters Spiral, Cities Confront Need for Climate Adaptation, Bloomberg CityLab + Green, July 20
    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester says the U.S. must deal with its “Band-Aided” infrastructure, a result of years of disinvestment and neglect. The country must “make surgical investments and triage like wartime” in response to challenging changes in climate trends and their environmental impacts, says Chester, director of ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering.

  • Scottsdale-based Ambature is on the path to a superconductive future

    Scottsdale-based Ambature is on the path to a superconductive future

    Using a material found to be more conductive than silicon, and building its product vertically rather than horizontally, Ambature Inc. has made a significant innovation in semiconductor chip design. CEO Ron Kelly (pictured) says the company has proven it’s possible to build a vertical structure architecture superconductor through a process that can provide better chips for an array of products. While Ambature’s new technology has been independently tested by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Kelly says the company also owes much of its success to ASU’s engineering labs. He notes that all but a small percentage of the technology for which Ambature has patent claims has been developed in those labs. (Access to the Phoenix Business Journal online is available only to subscribers.)

  • Complete connection: the 75-year evolution of the mobile phone

    Complete connection: the 75-year evolution of the mobile phone

    The precursor to the modern mobile phone was bulky — many people would have been unable to hold it easily in one hand — and it could not make a direct call. Also, there were only a very limited number of places where it could get a signal. The evolution toward today’s versatile cell phone has been long and sporadic, says Daniel Bliss, a Fulton Schools professor or electrical, computer and energy engineering. Historically, if not for the military’s interest in mobile communications, early versions of mobile telephones would likely not have been developed until decades later than they were. In the future, Bliss says to expect more convergences of technologies that combine various communication functions, such as a phone with a personal health monitor or a radar device that makes users more aware of what’s in their immediate environments. Communication technologies might even be built into clothes, he says.

  • The life-or-death race to improve carbon capture

    The life-or-death race to improve carbon capture

    Carbon capture technology could help overcome some of the bigger problems associated with global warming, climate change and pollution. But the current capabilities of engineering and chemistry to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere must be significantly scaled up to avoid environmental calamity. Klaus Lackner director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, says the transition can’t be made without industries reducing the carbon dioxide they put into the air, which means a lot less burning of fossil fuels. Accomplishing that will require not only take technological advances, but international governance and economic solutions, Lackner says. Other experts add that defenses against bigger problems arising from the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere won’t be avoided without major action in the next decade.

  • What is microplastic anyway? Inside the insidious pollution that is absolutely everywhere

    What is microplastic anyway? Inside the insidious pollution that is absolutely everywhere

    Tiny bits of plastics have been linked to both human and environmental health threats — and the continuing accumulations of plastics pollution is magnifying the danger. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, is among engineers, scientists and others warning of the impacts of plastics used for food packaging and a vast number of other products, including automobile tires. When the chemicals in the plastic parts of these products break down, they add to the often toxic microplastics now found in waterways and on land in much of the world. Experts says stemming the tide of microplastics will likely require significant actions by industries that use plastics and lifestyle choices by people who use products containing plastics.

  • Entrepreneur: Thank you note writing is going to the robots at this Valley startup

    Entrepreneur: Thank you note writing is going to the robots at this Valley startup

    More than 100 pen holding robots are the writers for the Phoenix based personalized note writing company Handwrytten, led by entrepreneur David Wachs (pictured).  Much of the success of the venture — which was No. 148 on the 2020 Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S. — has sprung from being able to make robots with the skill to produce penmanship that looks nuanced and realistic. That achievement, according to Wachs, sprung from the money saving suggestion by an ASU mechanical engineering graduate to use 3D printing technology to make robot parts that can be created by the company inhouse. (Access to the Phoenix Business Journal online is available only to subscribers.)

  • Communication linked to productivity in software company

    Communication linked to productivity in software company

    It’s long been an accepted belief that effective communication within companies and other organizations contributes to overall productivity. However, there has been a lack of strong evidence to substantiate that link. Now, Arindam Dutta, a doctoral research scholar in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the Fulton Schools, has teamed with colleagues to develop a rigorous methodology to characterize and analyze organizational communication and reveal how it relates to employee performance and productivity. An analysis of three years of conversations at a software company confirmed the assumption about the communication-productivity connection. The research findings are presented in the science journal PLOS One.

    See Also: Productivity of software organizations related to communication, Illinois News Today, July 17

  • Heat Waves Are Taking a Toll On PNW Drinking Water

    Heat Waves Are Taking a Toll On PNW Drinking Water

    Droughts and heat waves can degrade water quality in a number of ways. Reduced river and stream flows caused by heat and draught can make bodies of water more stagnant— leading to emergence of pollutants and bacteria. Heat waves also lower oxygen levels in water, which in turn endangers fish and other marine life and reduces water quality.  Heat waves and droughts can create conditions that lead to wild fires that in turn bring sediment, ash, charcoal and debris into fresh waters and ground water. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, notes that hot weather can also contaminate water in plastic bottles. The hotter it gets, Halden says, the more likely that substances in plastic can move into and affect food or drinking water in the bottles.

  • ASU students to be empowered by ‘technofluency’

    ASU students to be empowered by ‘technofluency’

    Pavan Turaga says equipping students with deep knowledge of the tools, applications and societal implications of modern technologies is among the central missions of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative initiative between the Fulton Schools and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Associate Professor Turaga, the school’s new director, foresees students working on projects that will produce positive community impacts, such as devising creative ways to use artificial intelligence technologies and computer gaming as learning platforms. He also sees possibilities for students to work on wearable technologies that could monitor individuals’ health and interactive technologies to enhance human performance and learning. The broad spectrum of skills students could acquire through these tech-based approaches can produce graduates qualified to work in a wide range of career fields, Turaga says.

  • The Bitcoin Industry’s Environmental Impacts

    The Bitcoin Industry’s Environmental Impacts

    Despite some setbacks, the world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is proving to be profitable and becoming more popular. But along with some market volatility and criticism from observers of trends in the digital currency industry, there are warnings about the potentially harmful environmental impacts of creating Bitcoin. The electronic “mining” of Bitcoin requires a vast network of computers, which use a lot of energy and collectively produce a lot of heat. Urban climate expert Ariane Middel, a Fulton Schools assistant professor, says the added heat might become a factor in pushing up temperatures, especially in hot climates like that of Phoenix and other desert cities. For now, the impact is minuscule, but if Bitcoin-mining data centers proliferate, the industry could contribute to intensifying the urban heat island effect that’s now affecting many cities.

  • Living in a heatwave: How to design the climate-proof cities of tomorrow

    Living in a heatwave: How to design the climate-proof cities of tomorrow

    Analysis of recent record-breaking high temperatures in the U.S. and Canada point to human-caused climate change as a major reason for the major heat waves. Cutting carbon emissions to curb global warming is among steps scientists see as crucial to lowering the heat. But there are practical steps cities and communities can take to protect against the harmful impacts of rising temperatures. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, an urban climate expert, is among those researching ways to reduce the urban heat-island effect. Los Angeles, for instance, painted some of its street pavements a lighter shade of grey to help to cut back on the heat the surfaces radiate. A study by Middel measured the effectiveness of the effort. The city has coated roads around 50 city blocks with the lighter grey paint and now plans to extend the painting to cover streets around 200 additional city blocks.

  • ASU biomechanics professor addressing fall prevention through new partnership

    ASU biomechanics professor addressing fall prevention through new partnership

    Developing a smartphone app that can warn people of their risk of falling is one the primary goals of research led by Thurmon Lockhart, a Fulton Schools professor of biomechanics. Recently named the first Musculoskeletal Orthopedic Research and Education, or MORE, Foundation Professor of Life in Motion, Lockhart wants to give patients and cargivers enhanced technology-enabled capabilities to more effectively restore individuals’ mobility and quality of life. The Lockhart Monitor gathers data each person’s measures of walking gait, posture and stability, working with a smartphone to provide information such as walking speed and step length, and then determines muscle motor control. The technology helps assess how patients are progressing in recovery after surgery and can guide rehabilitation efforts to restore walking ability. Read more about Lockhart’s work.

  • Regents Professor Bruce Rittmann honored with WEF research award

    Regents Professor Bruce Rittmann honored with WEF research award

    Honoring his achievements as a researcher and educator, the Water Environment Federation has given Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittman its 2021 WEF Camp Applied Research Award. Rittmann, director of ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, is acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost leaders in his field. The WEF award is the most recent of his long list of professional accolades, including receiving a prize three years ago that has been called the Nobel Prize of water search. Rittmann’s work has led to advances in remediation of environmental pollution, water and wastewater treatment, capture of renewable energy and technologies to improve human health.

  • ASU’s MyPath2ASU enhances the transfer experience for students

    ASU’s MyPath2ASU enhances the transfer experience for students

    Valentin Madrigal grew up in circumstances that led him to believe a college education was not in his future. But today he is a U.S. Army veteran and honor student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in the Fulton Schools aerospace engineering program. His progress has recently been aided by MyPath2ASU a set of tools for students to complete an efficient transfer experience to ASU after earning credits or an associate degree from a U.S. community college or another university. Madrigal, a first-generation college student, transferred from Central Arizona Community College to fulfill his aspirations for a career in aerospace engineering and space travel. He talks about his motivations for continuing his education and his transfer experience to ASU.

  • Air Force exoskeleton gets heavy lift from ASU

    Air Force exoskeleton gets heavy lift from ASU

    Aerial porters — Air Force personnel who load pallets and lift cargo onto aircraft — are getting help doing their jobs more safely and with less exertion, thanks to new lightweight exoskeleton technology developed by ASU engineers. A recent study reveals that more the $30 million is spent each year in disability benefits for retired aerial porters, who had a high incidence of musculoskeletal injuries. The Aerial Porter Exoskeleton project has been led by Fulton Schools Professor Tom Sugar, whose expertise in mechanical, manufacturing and systems engineering guided his work to design more effective flexible wearable robots to prevent those injuries. The exoskeleton enables teams of porters to lift and move as much as 10,000 pounds of materials and load them onto planes, while allowing users to easily disengage the technology when walking, running, sitting or crawling so that it won’t be a hindrance to free movement when it’s not needed.

  • How Bad Is America’s Infrastructure, Really?

    How Bad Is America’s Infrastructure, Really?

    Various surveys, studies and other assessments of infrastructure in the U.S. have for years warned of the deteriorating conditions of roads, bridges, water and power systems, rail lines and other critical facets of the nation’s built environment and the dire need to rebuild or update these vital public facilities. Engineers including Anthony Lamanna, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, explain the evolution of today’s growing infrastructure challenges and the reasons why potential solutions can come up against roadblocks. One solution might be putting more infrastructure projects under the control of public-private partnerships, rather than being completely government projects. Lamanna, a program chair in the Fulton Schools’ Del E. Web School of Construction, suggests having more engineers in the U.S. Congress might set the stage for some progress in addressing infrastructure needs.

  • A new microwave scanner can track moving objects through walls, Superman-style

    A new microwave scanner can track moving objects through walls, Superman-style

    A new radar scanning system developed by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology uses microwave scanner that can create real-time images and video of objects — even when they are hidden behind walls or moving at hypersonic speeds. The technology could potentially allow first responders to more easily find people in smoke-filled burning buildings, or to track speeding debris up in space. Seyedmohammadreza Faghih Imani, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, who has studied microwave imaging, describes how this new technology expands the possibilities of what microwave imaging systems can do. Imani says it could lead to more effective microwave security scanners at airports and microwave imagers for self-driving cars, as well as microwave cameras that can fit into telephones.

  • No Shade: Why Is It So Hard to Hide From the Sun in Phoenix?

    No Shade: Why Is It So Hard to Hide From the Sun in Phoenix?

    With rising temperatures and an intensifying urban heat island impact, the Phoenix area faces tough challenges in maintaining its livability. In this environment, shade is more than merely a comfort factor, it’s critical to protecting the well-being of both individuals and entire communities. Local governments are now including shading strategies in their urban development planning. Some efforts are being informed by experts like Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel, who is with ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center. Middel and her colleagues are providing scientific and engineering foundations for determining the most efficient and effective ways to provide shade to a busy and sprawling metropolitan region.

  • Carbon removal hype is becoming a dangerous distraction

    Carbon removal hype is becoming a dangerous distraction

    While large companies and national governments announce plans for efforts to take harmful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, scientists and engineers warn that this approach doesn’t address the root causes of the problem. Even with the use of new technologies that absorb carbon dioxide from the air, tons of carbon emissions would continue to be produced by automobiles and other technologies and industrial operations that burn fossil fuels. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions and a pioneer of carbon capture technology, agrees carbon removal is only part of the solution. Lackner also says he is seeing corporations and countries pledge to remove carbon without the full know-how to achieve what they promise. He and other engineers and scientists say the best long-term option for environmental sustainability lies in a major shift by industries away from fossil fuels.

  • Scottsdale, ASU ‘cool’ partnership places focus on heat mitigation

    Scottsdale, ASU ‘cool’ partnership places focus on heat mitigation

    A mobile weather station named MaRTy developed by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel is one of the technologies being used by ASU researchers and Scottsdale officials in efforts to reduce the impacts of heat on the city’s residents and visitors. Researchers are conducting studies to help prioritize programs and policies to provide city staff and residents a better understanding of current heat-related risks and vulnerabilities facing Scottsdale, and to devise strategies to address heat challenges. It’s critical for cities to be proactive in dealing with rising heat that is becoming more common and intense due to climate change, says Mary Wright, a doctoral student in ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning who is involved in the project. Middel, a faculty affiliate in the school, is involved in a range of research projects aimed at helping cities combat the urban heat island effect.

  • The climate is changing fast. Infrastructure should, too

    The climate is changing fast. Infrastructure should, too

    Simply repairing and rebuilding aging infrastructure will fall far short of what’s needed to provide the U.S. with resilient roadways, bridges, dams, pipelines and other critical systems and facilities, says Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. As the impacts of climate change put more environmental stress on power grids, water delivery and flood control systems and other structures, Chester says governments and industries must rethink their approach to infrastructure by adopting new designs and construction techniques that respond to the growing challenges posed by a different climate conditions. Chester is a co-leader of the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network, a project funded by the National Science Foundation that is identifying new strategies for dealing with climate change in 10 cities in the United States and Latin America.

  • How the ASU Polytechnic campus’ partnerships lift all boats

    How the ASU Polytechnic campus’ partnerships lift all boats

    Only a few decades ago the ground on which ASU’s Polytechnic campus stands was the site of an abandoned Air Force base and a less than alluring expanse of desert terrain. Through ASU’s work in partnership with many local civic, business, cultural, government and education leaders, the Polytechnic campus has become a thriving hub of resources and collaborations that are enriching the community. The Polytechnic School, one of the six Fulton Schools, has contributed to the upward swing of the area through the quality of the engineering education and expertise it is providing. In addition, the Fulton Schools will soon open the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks on the Polytechnic campus, focusing on cutting-edge human-machine teaming and systems engineering,  as well as support for microelectronics manufacturing, a major player in the Phoenix metro area’s economy.

  • Here’s what cryptocurrencies will look like in 50 years according to experts

    Here’s what cryptocurrencies will look like in 50 years according to experts

    Some experts say it’s certain that cryptocurrencies will change our understanding of the concept of money and the way we do financial transactions. Others warn of the dangers of these digital currencies, such a bitcoin, and the problematic manipulations they could make possible. The key to engendering public trust in cryptocurrencies is developing and enforcing regulations on how they can be used, says Fulton Schools Professor Dragan Boscovic, cryptocurrency expert and director of ASU’s Blockchain Research Lab. Banking industry overseers are already at work on these regulations and safeguards, Boscovic says. He foresees cryptocurrencies becoming mainstream in about a decade or so.

  • Are thermal batteries an alternative to lithium-ion?

    Are thermal batteries an alternative to lithium-ion?

    ASU’s Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions, or LEAPS, directed by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Nathan Johnson, played a leading role in research for a Swedish clean tech company working to further develop thermal batteries as an efficient, sustainable, affordable, renewable and environmentally safe source of energy. The Texel Energy Storage company’s thermal batteries are seen as a viable alternative to other kinds of batteries for powering electric vehicles, for use of emission-free fuels such as green hydrogen in combustion processes. They are also viewed as an economically viable and circular energy storage technology that could improve future energy production and distribution. LEAPS has also helped to evaluate market opportunities for Texel Energy Storage in the U.S.

  • Jacksonville Based CSX Says New Partnership Will Help Reduce Emissions Intensity

    Jacksonville Based CSX Says New Partnership Will Help Reduce Emissions Intensity

    A Florida-based rail company is using new technology to reduce the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions from its fleet of trains. Using technology that automatically starts and stops trains, the CSX company plans to significantly improve fuel efficiency and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The upgrades might shrink the carbon footprint of each CSX locomotive by more than 200 tons annually. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, says CSX is taking some helpful steps. But he explains that reducing emissions intensity is not the same as cutting overall carbon emissions, which would have more of a productive environmental impact as part of efforts to reverse detrimental climate change trends being exacerbated by carbon emissions.

June

2021
  • ASU receives 16 NSF CAREER awards

    ASU receives 16 NSF CAREER awards

    More than half of the National Science Foundation CAREER Awards won by ASU researchers since late last year have gone to Fulton Schools faculty members. The NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program identifies promising young engineers and scientists and provides them funding to pursue their research and teaching goals. The work of these recent NSF CAREER Award winners reflects a wide range of cutting-edge science and engineering research aimed at making advances in areas deemed relevant to national interests. The latest cohort of Fulton Schools faculty members earning the honor includes Assistant Professors Ahmed Alkhateeb, Guatam Dasarthy, Margaret Garcia, Nicolo Michelusi, Giulia Pedrielli, Jorge Sefair, Siddharth Srivastava, Yang Weng, Yu Yao and Yu Zhang. Funding from the awards to ASU researchers totals $9 million.

  • Too hot to live: Millions worldwide will face unbearable temperatures

    Too hot to live: Millions worldwide will face unbearable temperatures

    Rising heat is becoming a predominant environmental factor in much of the world, making entire regions less comfortable places to live. Climate experts estimate that in about 50 years as much as a third of the planet’s population could be living in areas where average daily summer temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Phoenix, the hottest city in the U.S., now has more than 110 days a year with triple-digit temperatures. Last year, the city and surrounding Maricopa County area saw a record 207 heat-related deaths. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel is among colleagues with ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center focusing their engineering endeavors on finding ways cities can reduce the impacts of the urban heat island effect to better maintain livability. She’s pictured in National Geographic with the mobile biometeorological robot she uses to measure temperatures, solar radiation, humidity and other factors that combine to produce the hot and getting hotter summers. (Access to the National Geographic online is available only to subscribers.)

  • CARBON COLLECT’S MECHANICAL TREE SOLUTION SELECTED FOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AWARD

    CARBON COLLECT’S MECHANICAL TREE SOLUTION SELECTED FOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AWARD

    Carbon capturing “mechanical trees” developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his research team at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions will be built at three “carbon farms” to be developed at locations across the U.S. A recent $2.5 award from the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting the design of the facilities. Carbon Collect Limited and its U.S. subsidiary Carbon Collect Inc. has been formed in partnership with ASU to commercialize and deploy the technology. The system is designed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to help reduce the buildup of the greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and global warming. The mechanical trees can remove carbon dioxide without drawing air through the system using energy-intensive devices, which makes the system a passive, comparatively low-cost and scalable solution.

    See Also: Carbon Collect’s MechanicalTree selected for US Department of  Energy award, ASU News, July 2

  • Are you an engineering student? The alliance between these universities opens the door to create successful projects

    Are you an engineering student? The alliance between these universities  opens the door to create successful projects

    University engineering students in Mexico are being encouraged to expand their education and real-world experience through opportunities offered by the Fulton Schools. Professor Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, describes a variety of collaborations and initiatives that enable students to work with industry — including major high-tech companies such as Intel — as well as with projects to catalyze business startups and with government research programs. The Fulton Schools also has existing collaborations with the Engineering Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and is implementing a Capstone Semester Binational Initiative with the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. More opportunities are likely to spring from the opening this fall of the newest of the Fulton Schools, the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks.

  • ASU makes Top 10 in U.S. patent rankings for 3rd straight year

    ASU makes Top 10 in U.S. patent rankings for 3rd straight year

    The dedication of ASU research faculty to take on and solve some of society’s biggest challenges is a major factor in the university’s ranking in the top 10 for U.S. patents won by U.S. universities, says the executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise. The annual rankings by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association places ASU just one spot behind Harvard University in the top 10, which also includes MIT, Caltech and Stanford universities. Among the more successful of the patent earning ASU ventures are those lead by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen, including Source Global, and Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Visar Berisha, who has co-founded Aural Analytics with Professor Julie Liss, associate dean of the College of Health Solutions.

  • What it will take to achieve affordable carbon removal

    What it will take to achieve affordable carbon removal

    Climate researchers say it will require removing billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to return to a climate that isn’t threatening us with dangerous levels of global warming. But that will necessitate finding a way to make such a massive climate control effort economically feasible. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, a carbon capture pioneer and director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, and Habib Azarabadi, a doctoral student and researcher at the center, recently authored a research paper that estimated what would be needed to make eliminating great amounts of carbon dioxide economically viable. They estimate it would take technology that can remove the greenhouse gas at a cost of about $100 per ton — far less than what current technologies can achieve. Experts say overcoming that drawback can be achieved only by governments, major industries and research institutions collectively committing to finding solutions.

  • Semiconductor investment is a win for Arizona, but also not a reason to relax

    Semiconductor investment is a win for Arizona, but also not a reason to relax

    Arizona is well positioned to see major economic benefits from the surge of growth in the semiconductor and microchip manufacturing industries, writes ASU President Michael Crow. With growing companies setting up shop in the state — joining the large operations of Intel, Honeywell and other long-established high-tech manufacturers in the Phoenix metro area and elsewhere in the state — Arizona has become a magnet for investment by the newest and most robust tech-based business sectors. But the migration of these ventures to Arizona isn’t enough to guarantee a sustainable economic upturn, Crow says. The state must compete to provide these companies with the skilled workforce and innovation they will need to thrive into the future. ASU is already responding. This fall it will launch the newest of the Fulton Schools — the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks. (Access to the Arizona Republic online is for subscribers only.) Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

  • ASU Graduate College announces first-ever Staff Awards for Excellence winners

    ASU Graduate College announces first-ever Staff Awards for Excellence winners

    More than 300 staff members support ASU’s graduate students, providing services and playing other critical roles in helping those students through their academic journeys. The ASU Graduate College decided to recognize those efforts with an annual awards program. Winners of the inaugural Staff Awards for Excellence include Lynn Pratte, a senior academic success advising coordinator in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the six Fulton Schools. Pratte earned the Outstanding Collaboration Award. She was chosen for her work to enhance the effectiveness of Graduate College operations. She is being recognized for being the “go-to person” for the Graduate College’s graduate program support and data/IT teams for beta testing new tools that will help her graduate support colleagues. Pratte is pictured at the far right in the bottom row in the composite photo of the first-ever Staff Awards for Excellence winners.

  • Tempe leans into wastewater analysis as fewer people seek COVID-19 tests

    Tempe leans into wastewater analysis as fewer people seek COVID-19 tests

    The city of Tempe has been getting a more accurate picture of the health of residents in its communities through a partnership with ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden. The center launched the water analysis program in 2018 to help the city monitor public health by examining the contents of local wastewater, at first testing it for the presence of opioids and other drugs. Operation shifted to testing for signs of COVID-19 in early 2020 with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. That helped the city develop an early warning program about the spread of COVID-19, and take steps to protect public health. Now, the city is wants to continue that work as fewer people are seeking COVID-19 tests, raising the possibility of a resurgence of the infectious disease. Tempe leaders now hope to also expand the program to test for other health-related indicators.

  • New Research: Some Types Of Shade Better Than Others At Keeping Us Cool

    New Research: Some Types Of Shade Better Than Others At Keeping Us Cool

    City planners look for opportunities to plant more trees to increase comfort by providing shade in sprawling urban environments — especially in cities where summer temperatures are the highest. But more trees are only part of the solution, says Fulton Schools assistant professor Ariane Middel (at left in photo) and a part of the team in ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center. Her team’s recent report, “50 Grades of Shade,” emphasizes the importance of buildings, tunnels, large umbrellas, shade sails and similar things to provide shade and help curb the impacts of the urban heat island effect. With help from MaRTy, her mobile meteorological sensing technology (in picture), Middel and fellow researchers recently determined where creating shade in the city of Tempe would have the most impact on keeping people cool. They plan to develop an online tool to help city planners develop shade strategies.

  • How Rainbows Could Boost Your Roof’s Solar Power

    How Rainbows Could Boost Your Roof’s Solar Power

    A holographic system designed to reduce some of the lost efficiency in solar panels could provide a big jump in the potential of solar power to be a major source of sustainable clean energy. By inserting a holographic light collector into a solar panel, University of Arizona researchers have raised the possibility of technical advances that might increase the capacity of the panels to generate electricity generation and boost power production. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Stuart Bowden, who leads the silicon section of ASU Solar Power Lab, says the use a holographic system could lead to a major step in improving the overall performance of solar power technology and in reducing the costs of some uses of solar power.

  • Research, innovation thrive in educational institutes amid lockdown

    Research, innovation thrive in educational institutes amid lockdown

    Multiple waves of the spread of the COVD-19 in India and the continuing lockdowns in response to the pandemic have slowed activities and growth in sectors of the country’s economy and its industrial base. But leaders of the India’s major higher education institutions have been taking steps to maintain the progress of their research programs and their pursuits of engineering and science innovation. Among those efforts are those of NorthCap University, which has partnered with ASU through the Cintana Alliance under India’s New Education Policy. The alliance will involve collaborations with NorthCap University and the Fulton Schools, along with ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and W. P. Carey School of Business, designed to enhance an international innovation ecosystem.

    See Also: NorthCap Univ inks global pact to embrace digital transformation, reshape higher education in India, Sarkaritel.com, June 22

    Northcap Univ Inks Global Pact To Embrace Digital Transformation, Reshape Higher Education In India, Ommcomm News, June 22

  • With roads so bad even the ambulance can’t pass, this county hopes for infrastructure dollars

    With roads so bad even the ambulance can’t pass, this county hopes for infrastructure dollars

    The challenges facing one West Virginia county that has long gone without resources to adequately fund, build, maintain, repair and ensure the safety of its roadways reflects the persistent problems of many of the country’s rural areas in need of sustainable public infrastructure. Clay County and others like it contending with similar difficulties could be rescued by a “quantum leap” in the ways federal and state governments deal with public transportation needs, says Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools. A revamping of resource allocation policies and methods of prioritizing needs could be transformational in efforts to upgrade much of the U.S. roadway transportation environment. Some regions are in dire need of such progress. Without it, local officials say, those areas will continue to struggle to remain viable as functioning communities.

  • Arizona’s High-Tech Appeal

    Arizona’s High-Tech Appeal

    With major tech companies like Intel, Honeywell and Boeing have long been operating facilities in the greater Phoenix metro area, the region has been an active center of high-tech manufacturing. But it is now also seeing a big influx of other leading companies opening facilities for advanced manufacturing and technology development in a wider range of fields, including electric vehicles, semiconductors and logistics. A major factor driving that growth is the talent pool of engineers coming from graduates of Arizona’s three state universities. ASU’s Fulton Schools of Engineering, one of the top-ranked engineering programs in the country, is cited a major attraction for companies seeking to fill thousands of new jobs, both in the Phoenix area and elsewhere in Arizona.

  • More work from home, less dining out: Nationwide survey reveals changes to habits and travel in the US

    More work from home, less dining out: Nationwide survey reveals changes to habits and travel in the US

    Alterations in our daily lives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to result in long-term changes to Americans’ habits, behaviors and lifestyles. That’s one conclusion in an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The article reports on the findings of ASU researchers from a nationwide survey to gauge the potential behavioral changes in people and communities in the U.S. resulting from trends that evolved during the pandemic lockdown. Principal investigators for the COVD Future Survey project included Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools. The survey suggests changes in behavior will include more telecommuting, or working at home, more online shopping, less dining out and less air travel, among other changes. The survey also indicates people may walk or bike more in their communities, suggesting potential shifts in public infrastructure development to accommodate changes in travel behavior.

  • Sewage sleuths helped an Arizona town beat back Covid-19. For wastewater epidemiology, that’s just the start

    Sewage sleuths helped an Arizona town beat back Covid-19. For wastewater epidemiology, that’s just the start

    Wastewater testing and analysis have become critical tools for communities to gauge the levels of exposure to COVID-19 in their areas and to devise effective strategies to respond to the spread of the pandemic. The ASU Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Technology, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, has been among research laboratories leading the way in advancing wastewater-based epidemiology to enable detection of indicators of diseases and other threats to public health in local water systems. The early work of  center’s research team focused on helping protect the health of residents of  the city of Tempe and neighboring Guadalupe as COVID-19 erupted. It has since expanded into various efforts in other towns, cities and regions that most needed help battling the pandemic, and also led to startup ventures that aim to expand the benefits of these health engineering advances to more regions.

  • Researchers use 3D printing of Cu2Se thermoelectric materials for power generation

    Researchers use 3D printing of Cu2Se thermoelectric materials for power generation

    Thermoelectric power generation promises to enable converting heat into electricity without producing pollution. Thermoelectric materials are used in systems for cooling and heating and might be able to regenerate electricity from waste heat. Beomjin Kwon, a Fulton Schools assistant professor mechanical engineering, works to improve energy conversion and transport systems and has developed energy systems and technologies, including wearable thermoelectric generators. He has also been collaborating with researchers at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea to design cellular thermoelectric architectures for efficient and durable power generation, using a 3D printing process of copper selenide thermoelectric materials. In a paper published in the science journal Nature Communications, the research team reports that the 3D printing approach could be used for cost-effective manufacturing of thermoelectric modules that can be used for energy devices, electronics, space and aviation technologies and in automotive industries.

  • The first mobile phone call was 75 years ago – what it takes for technologies to go from breakthrough to big time

    The first mobile phone call was 75 years ago – what it takes for technologies to go from breakthrough to big time

    Telephones built into wristwatches once existed only in science fiction — as did many technologies that are now commonplace. With so much more technology in our lives today than in the past, we tend not to remember the decades of research, resources and engineering and science talent that set the stage for our modern age of electronic, computerized and miniaturized marvels, writes Daniel Bliss (at left in photo), a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering. Bliss says we would do well to keep in mind the sustained efforts and investments that have enabled government agencies, industry and research institutions to make the cutting-edge progress that enhance society and our lives today, and could continue to do in the future if we understand the commitment it requires. This article has appeared in more than 20 other news publications, including Smithsonian Magazine.

  • Contest challenges students to solve Arizona’s water problems

    Contest challenges students to solve Arizona’s water problems

    Through the TriU Engineering Partnership, a collaboration of engineering colleges and schools at Arizona’s three state universities, high school students have been competing virtually this week to explore possible solutions to Arizona’s challenges to provide clean water in future years. The Challenge 2021: Access to Clean Water event requires students to define a water-related problem and propose engineering strategies to address the problem. Jennifer Velez, a Fulton Schools outreach and recruitment coordinator, says the event offers an opportunity for students to learn about water challenges and related issues that Arizona residents are facing. A panel of engineering faculty members and engineering professionals will critique the ideas produced by the student teams and choose the best and most innovative solutions. Winners will be announced June 21.

  • Hundreds of stem cell clinics offer unapproved, unregulated treatments in Arizona

    Hundreds of stem cell clinics offer unapproved, unregulated treatments in Arizona

    An investigation by journalists revealed that more than 200 clinics in Arizona are offering unapproved and unregulated stem cell treatments. Reporters found some clinics staffed with people who lacked proper medical training to work with stem cells or treat certain medical conditions. The article cites earlier revelations in research by David Brafman and Emma Frow, Fulton Schools assistant professors of biological and health systems engineering. They found some clinics using stem cell treatments not proven to cure or provide relief from diseases. Brafman and Frow concluded that when businesses claim to treat a wide variety of conditions it is less likely the health care providers at the businesses have been fully trained in the areas in which they are practicing. See ASU research reviews unregulated stem cell clinics in six southwestern states for details on the research. (Access to The Arizona Republic online is for subscribers only.)

  • How will we protect American infrastructure from cyberattacks?

    How will we protect American infrastructure from cyberattacks?

    In a world increasingly threatened by cyberattacks and criminal activities via the internet, the most critical foundations of a functioning society can be put in danger. The digital connectedness that enables a multitude of productive pursuits and services, is also a platform from which transportation, communications and electrical power and fuel sources can be tampered with and even disabled. As the U.S. works to upgrade its infrastructure, it must also integrate strong cybersecurity capabilities into facilities and systems that maintain the country’s quality of life, economy and defenses. That work is part of the mission of ASU’s  Global Security Initiative. Two Fulton Schools faculty members lead key aspects of GSI’s endeavors. Associate Professor Adam Doupé is acting director of GSI’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics. Assistant Professor Tiffany Bao focuses on research to address software vulnerabilities. She uses artificial intelligence and game theory to solve security challenges.

    The article is also published in Newswise.

  • The 2021 Top 100 Project Delivery Firms: Good in a Crisis

    The 2021 Top 100 Project Delivery Firms: Good in a Crisis

    With fluctuating prices in the construction market, labor shortages and high construction materials costs, contractors face challenges to be agile in pivoting to alternate construction project delivery methods that enable them to work within project budgets, design requirements and timelines to maintain profitability. Mounir El Asmar, a Fulton Schools associate professor in the School of School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools, provides guidance on innovative strategies and various delivery systems to help contractors cope with the variety of hurdles they face in today’s economy. (A limited number of articles are available to nonsubscribers on the Engineering News Record website)

  • For 12-year-old NASA hopeful, free tuition to ASU Online

    For 12-year-old NASA hopeful, free tuition to ASU Online

    Alena Wicker (aka Alena Analeigh) aspires to be the youngest person to work for NASA and travel into space. At 12, she is off to a good start. This summer she will begin studies in the Fulton Schools mechanical engineering program, hoping to earn a degree in the field by age 16. Her achievements have already earned her full-tuition support from ASU, the Desert Financial Credit Union and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Wicker also plans to help others through her company focused on encouraging girls of color to pursue education in STEM fields, and a foundation that provides scholarships to girls interested in that opportunity.

    See Also: 12-Year-Old ASU engineering student plans NASA Career, 3TV/CBS 5 News – Phoenix, June 3

  • Watch a Drone Swarm Fly Through a Fake Forest Without Crashing

    Watch a Drone Swarm Fly Through a Fake Forest Without Crashing

    Engineers are trying to find solutions to the challenge of designing highly reliable control systems for drone swarms. They want multiple drones to be capable of safely performing coordinated flight maneuvers on missions in places with randomly situated obstacles, such forests and densely developed built environments like big cities. One answer could come from research led by Fulton Schools Professor Daniel Bliss, director of the Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architecture, whose expertise includes signal processing with applications in remote sensing. Among his projects is one aimed at making advances in mobile computer processing and sensing that could enable drones to become increasingly adept at navigating variable terrain.

  • Contaminated water issues near Luke in Glendale close to an end

    Contaminated water issues near Luke in Glendale close to an end

    A filtration system is being installed in response to the discovery of contaminants in water supplies close to the Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix. Lab tests detected high levels of chemicals from a fire extinguisher foam that has long been used on the military base. Customers of the water utility company in the area have been provided bottled water since February while the Air Force installs treatment facilities to reduce the presence of the chemicals. Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff, an environmental engineer whose research focuses on water, says the levels of the chemicals are not yet dangerously high. There are places where water with similar levels of these chemical compounds has been consumed for many years without resulting in significant health problems, Westerhoff says. The Air Force plans to have the filtration system operating by the end of this month. (Access to the Daily Independent online is for subscribers only.)

  • The Electric Future Of Education Transportation

    The Electric Future Of Education Transportation

    Retiring the big yellow diesel fueled buses that have taken young students to and from schools for many decades may take some time, but it looks like cleaner methods of powering school buses — primarily compressed natural gas and electrical energy sources — are destined to become the new standard for transit for school systems. President Biden’s infrastructure plans call for electrifying school buses in the U.S. within about a decade. With support of government policies and various incentives, Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineer, professor and director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools, foresees the inevitability of school vehicles going green within a decade or two.

  • NO PARKING: CITIES RETHINK GARAGES FOR A WORLD WITH FEWER PERSONAL CARS

    NO PARKING: CITIES RETHINK GARAGES FOR A WORLD WITH FEWER PERSONAL CARS

    More and more parking has been a constant mandate for modern urban transportation planning. But several trends point to a big drop in the need for parking spaces, say experts including Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. Chester was among researchers at ASU and the University of California, Berkeley, who estimated of the numbers of parking spaces in the U.S. compared to the number of passenger vehicles. Researchers say that with more shared autonomous vehicles, robotaxis and micro-mobility devices, along with remote working and lower rates of car ownership among younger generations, the demand for more parking spaces will almost certainly dwindle.

  • Do trees provide the best shade for urban environments?

    Do trees provide the best shade for urban environments?

    In a study published by the American Meteorology Society, “Fifty Grades of Shade,” ASU climate scientists look at “the science behind shade.” Trees can do a lot to improve the livability of urbanized areas, but are not always the best solution — especially with all the underground infrastructure in cities. With her meteorological measurement technology — a mobile garden cart equipped with sensors to measure radiant temperatures — Ariane Middel and her team are exploring how urban design and customized shade structures can boost the comfort factor in hot urban climates. Their work has earned funding from ASU’s Healthy Urban Environments Initiative. Middel is an assistant professor in School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, one of the six Fulton Schools, and in ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering.

    See Also, How America’s Hottest City is Innovating to Survive, PBS Terra (YouTube), June 7

  • The Southwest Is America’s New Factory Hub. ‘Cranes Everywhere.’

    The Southwest Is America’s New Factory Hub. ‘Cranes Everywhere.’

    Almost a third of the new jobs in manufacturing industries in the U.S. in recent years have been in five Southwest states — including Arizona. One of the factors luring new and expanding companies is the engineering talent being produced in the region at institutions of higher education such as ASU. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, notes the large numbers of new employees needed by companies. The growth of the Fulton Schools — from fewer than 10,000 undergraduate students about eight years ago to more than 20,000 today — is providing a rich source of young recruits educated in areas of expertise needed by cutting-edge tech companies.  The Fulton Schools is planning to soon open a new school that will focus on manufacturing engineering.

May

2021
  • Science Olympiad at ASU fosters competition, education, philanthropy

    Science Olympiad at ASU fosters competition, education, philanthropy

    Teams from more than 120 middle schools and high schools participated in the a recent 2021 National Science Olympiad event. They competed virtually in science and engineering activities, were tutored by college students and helped raise funds for a charity organization. The Fulton Schools, along with ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Access Arizona, helped the Science Olympiad organization with the logistics of putting on the event at ASU. The Olympiad has proven to be one of the most important endeavors in raising students’ enthusiasm for learning and showing them the range of educational possibilities and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, said Professor James Collofello, the Fulton Schools vice dean for academic and student affairs.

  • Fickle monsoon could yield more megafires

    Fickle monsoon could yield more megafires

    Summer monsoons in Arizona’s mountainous high country bring rains that dampen the potential for severe wildfires and replenish groundwater aquifers. So, with global temperatures on the rise there’s a growing threat of weaker monsoons, resulting in more fire-prone forest lands and depleted water tables, say experts such as hydrologist Enrique Vivoni, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools, and ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. Results of recent research reported in the journal Nature Climate Change and studies by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration support the warning of Vivoni and others about the troubling outlook.

  • US university pledges cooperation with HCM City in human resources training

    US university pledges cooperation with HCM City in human resources training

    Government leaders in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, have worked with ASU and Fulton Schools officials for the past decade to bolster human resources training in Vietnam’s fast-growing center of culture and commerce. The city’s leaders met recently with Jeffrey Goss, director of the Fulton Schools Global Outreach and Extended Education, or GOEE, program to envision a roadmap for human resources training based on international standards for knowledge and skills needed to pursue opportunities presented by Industrial Revolution 4.0. The discussions set out a shared vision for a meaningful partnership between ASU and the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

  • Snakeskin-Inspired Pilings Could Stabilize Buildings

    Snakeskin-Inspired Pilings Could Stabilize Buildings

    One of the more fascinating approaches to solving engineering problems by using nature as a guide has emerged from research for the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavazanjian. Researchers with one of the center’s partners, the University of California, Davis, have been looking for more effective ways to stabilize buildings and other structures built on soft soils. One potential solution is to use snakeskin as a model for the columns of strong materials — called pilings — that are driven into soil to strengthen the foundations. The skin of snakes is constructed in such a way that it enables the reptiles to move more easily in one direction than another. So, pilings made like snakeskin would be easy to drive into soil but harder to pull out. Engineering researchers collaborated with snake experts to develop scale models of these pilings and test them in a lab. Results so far are promising.

  • How Partnership for Economic Innovation drives tech in Arizona

    How Partnership for Economic Innovation drives tech in Arizona

    Technology industries have overtaken other business sectors as the cornerstone of Arizona’s economy, writes Steven Zylstra, the president and chief executive officer of the Arizona Technology Council. That’s true as well in many other states around the country, he says, making it critical for Arizona to compete to maintain and build on its current tech business boom. That goal has led to formation of the Partnership for Economic Innovation, or PEI. Two of the new organization’s bigger ventures have been launched in partnership with the Fulton Schools and aided by local industry and economic development groups. Together they have established the WearTech Applied Research Center and Blockchain Applied Research Center, research development hubs focused on bringing state-of-the-art technology solutions to the market.

  • Knowledge Exchange for Resilience gives ASU students invaluable experience

    Knowledge Exchange for Resilience gives ASU students invaluable experience

    Student workers at ASU’s Knowledge Exchange for Resilience , or KER, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by collaborating on research aimed at exploring ways to make communities more resilient to challenges presented by such widespread threats to human health. Among them is Fulton Schools graduate student Kevin Vora, a data analytics research aide with KER who is pursuing a master’s degree in computer science with a focus on robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence. Vora analyzed COVID-19 cases by geographic region, discovering they resembled a patchwork of outbreaks rather than a single uniform pandemic. The data was provided to decision-makers to help them develop more informed public policies and interventions in the battle against the pandemic.

  • Valley Metro takes STEM mentoring program for underrepresented students to YouTube

    Valley Metro takes STEM mentoring program for underrepresented students to YouTube

    Valley Metro, which plans, develops and operates public transportation services in the Phoenix metro area, has been helping to promote higher education to young students in communities it serves. In 2018, Valley Metro launched Engineers of the Future as part of its workforce development efforts. The program has focused on introducing students in underrepresented communities to engineering through hands-on activities and connecting students to mentors in engineering fields. Lessons have been uploaded on the Valley Metro website and on YouTube. The videos, which provide a mix of instruction, activities and a virtual field trip, continue to get a growing number of views. Valley Metro plans to enhance the program by partnering with the Fulton Schools to add new educational content to the online lessons.

  • How wastewater is helping South Africa fight COVID-19

    How wastewater is helping South Africa fight COVID-19

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden has been advancing methods for wastewater testing for two decades. What he and others in the field have discovered over those years is today making analysis of the contents of wastewater a significant part of efforts to detect and defend against threats to human health in communities and even entire countries. The techniques have been used to gather data that has helped public health officials provide timely warnings about outbreaks of COVID-19 and plan effective responses to the potential danger. Halden says such testing of wastewater treatment plants enables keeping an eye on the habits, activities and health conditions of large swaths of the population. While this ability provides definite benefits, Halden says precautions are needed to ensure information gleaned from the testing is used strictly in the best interests of the public.

    See Also: Tempe named among world’s Smart 50 cities, May 24
    The city of Tempe has won an award for its wastewater science program, developed through a partnership with ASU ‘s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, which is directed by Professor Rolf Halden.

  • ASU’s new Health Futures Center provides fresh intersections with Mayo Clinic to transform health care

    ASU’s new Health Futures Center provides fresh intersections with Mayo Clinic to transform health care

    Medical research, entrepreneurship and learning are the intertwining focuses of one of ASU’s new state-of-the-art facilities. Work at the Health Futures Center will team the Mayo Clinic and the ASU Alliance for Health Care to pursue innovation across a spectrum of research, education and entrepreneurial ventures — with support from the Fulton Schools, ASU’s College of Health Solutions, the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation and the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute. The new center furthers ASU’s a long relationship with Mayo, which has led programs in nursing, medical imaging, regenerative and rehabilitative medicine, wearable biosensors, nursing education, many joint faculty appointments and joint intellectual property disclosures.

  • Vietnam’s universities keen to ‘go digital’

    Vietnam’s universities keen to ‘go digital’

    Over the past decade, through efforts including those of the Fulton Schools Global Outreach and Extended Education, or GOEE, program, Arizona State University has partnered with Vietnamese universities to help guide the country’s higher education institutions in embracing digital pedagogy and technology-centric learning modalities. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Vietnam’s higher education systems, experts from ASU ramped up efforts to teach digital immersion pedagogies to more than 1,000 Vietnamese educators through a series of webinars, virtual workshops and faculty development initiatives. This article on a major Vietnam news site reports on the progress of these and related efforts, many supported by GOEE as a part its role in projects led by the United States Agency for International Development.

  • Climate change and urban development leading to warmer nights in Phoenix,

    Climate change and urban development leading to warmer nights in Phoenix,

    Urban growth is propelling the trend of rising temperatures in the U.S. Southwest and increasing climate stresses on people and the region’s desert environments, says Ariane Middel, a Fulton Schools assistant professor who also works in ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center. Phoenix is among the country’s fastest-warming cities, in large part as a result of so-called urban heat islands caused mostly by construction of new roads, buildings and other facilities and structures that store heat in the day and release it at night. Because of that phenomenon, the metropolitan area is seeing its highest nighttime temperatures ever. The continuing amplification of heat is challenging communities to find ways to preserve their livability, Middel says.

    See Also: Hot Cities, Methane Leakers and the Catholic Church, Climate One, May 21

  • 3 ASU students awarded Killam Fellowships

    3 ASU students awarded Killam Fellowships

    Fulton Schools chemical engineering student Adam Chismar is one of three ASU students who will do his 2021-2022 academic year studies at one of the top universities in Canada with support from a Killam Fellowship. The fellowship is administered by the Foundation for Educational Exchange Between Canada and the United States of America, also known as Fulbright Canada. The program is designed to introduce students to new perspectives on potential solutions to issues facing both the U.S. and Canada. Chismar will attend Carleton University in Ottawa to study food science and explore food and hunger policy issues in Canada to see if any of those approaches could be adapted to help combat food insecurity in the U.S.

  • Contest Challenges AZ High Schoolers to Solve State’s Water Problems

    Contest Challenges AZ High Schoolers to Solve State’s Water Problems

    ASU’s Fulton Schools are joining colleagues at Arizona’s other public universities to present Challenge 2021, which will give teams of high school juniors and seniors an opportunity to learn about and propose solutions to the challenges Arizona faces in ensuring the viability of its water resources. The task was chosen because of the critical importance of reliable water supplies in Arizona’s desert climate, says Jennifer Velez, a Fulton Schools education outreach and recruitment program coordinator. The June 15 through 18 event will also offer students a look at the engineering schools at each of the three state universities. Last year, in the first Challenge event, students explored ways in which students could safely return to school as the COVID-19 pandemic waned. Velez says it gave students insight into how engineering can have positive impacts on society.

  • ASU student-built spacecraft to interact with the public

    ASU student-built spacecraft to interact with the public

    Fulton Schools students and alumni make up four of five ASU teams working on a project NASA has selected as part of its CubeSat Launch Initiative. The project’s space vehicle is one of 14 CubeSats — small research satellites — NASA has chosen to support. The teams are collaborating with ASU’s Interplanetary Initiative, Vega Space Systems and CETYS Universidad in Mexicali, Mexico. Fulton Schools Professor David Allee and Associate Professor Michael Goryll are among advisors to the teams. The ASU CubeSat, called LightCube, will launch aboard a spaceflight mission and deploy into orbit from the International Space Station. The public will be able to track the LightCube satellite using an app, then be able to transmit to the satellite with a ham radio. 

  • Transportation for the Anthropocene

    Transportation for the Anthropocene

    Many of our transportation systems are still being designed and managed for an era that is quickly passing, write Associate Professor Mikhail Chester and Professor Brad Allenby, who teach in the Fulton Schools civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program.  Chester also directs the Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering.  What’s needed, they say, are new paradigms that go beyond the frameworks of transportation systems of a now bygone industrial age. To meet 21st century needs, infrastructure must be agile and flexible, able to adapt to rapidly accelerating technological evolution as well as changes to the natural environment — especially climate change, but also geological and ecological shifts. Allenby and Chester’s article is in a publication of the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center, a network of eight partner universities in Arizona, California and Hawaii.

  • Science Museum shows potential routes forward in fight against man-made climate change

    Science Museum shows potential routes forward in fight against man-made climate change

    A new exhibit at London’s Science Museum puts a spotlight on new technologies designed to counteract the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions that have accumulated in the Earth’s atmosphere throughout the past century and accelerated troublesome climate change. Among the machines invented to reverse the threat are carbon capture systems such as the “mechanical trees” developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his research team at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. The exhibit features a prototype of these trees equipped with carbon absorbing filters, along with a sketch of an industrial size mechanical tree “farm” that could be capable of capturing of ton of carbon dioxide for the atmosphere in a day, according to the exhibit information.

    See Also: London Science Museum opens carbon capture exhibition, The Chemical Engineer, May 19

  • Inside Burt’s Bees partnership with Arizona State University

    Inside Burt’s Bees partnership with Arizona State University

    Burt’s Bees, a personal care products company describing itself as an “Earth friendly, Natural Personal Care Company” that makes products for health, beauty and personal hygiene, began a campaign last year to encourage more recycling of products materials by consumers and recycling facilities. One of the groups the company turned to for ideas was The Sustainability Consortium at ASU. That led to a collaboration with ASU’s Innovation Space program, which organized teams of Fulton Schools engineering students and ASU design and business students to work on the project. Professor of Practice Cheryl Heller, director of design integration for Innovation Space, says the student teams responded with imaginative solutions. Burt’s Bees, The Sustainability Consortium and other partners are now discussing how to move those ideas into actions and to encourage other consumer products companies to join the cause.

  • ASU Researchers Test Inventors’ Coronavirus-Killing Smartphone Technology

    ASU Researchers Test Inventors’ Coronavirus-Killing Smartphone Technology

    Fulton Schools Professors Morteza Abbaszadegan and Paul Westerhoff collaborated with the Galileo Group, a leading remote sensing services tech company, to design, build and test a smartphone attachment that uses light in the ultraviolet range to deactivate the coronavirus from commonly touched surfaces. Westerhoff reported that within seconds the device eradicated a range of viruses and bacteria on glass, ceramic and metal surfaces. Abbaszadegan (at left in photo), director of the National Science Foundation Water & Environmental Technology Center at ASU, says the tests showed a major improvement in hygienic conditions due to the device inactivating a large number of viral particles and bacterial cells. Galileo Group envisions the results leading to a low-cost solution that effectively decontaminates work spaces and frequently touched surfaces and equipment.

  • HDD at 50

    HDD at 50

    Marking a half century since the development of horizontal directional drilling, also known as HDD — a significant as a step in the evolution of the trenchless technology method used in modern underground construction — Trenchless Technology magazine has produced a special podcast series on the history and impact of the drilling technique and the advances construction engineers have made with it over the decades. In one episode of the podcast series, Professor Samuel Ariaratnam (pictured), chair of the Fulton Schools construction engineering program, talks about the early days of HDD education and provides his perspective on the ongoing globalization of HDD.

  • Athletes, teams dipping their toes into cryptocurrency, NFT pool

    Athletes, teams dipping their toes into cryptocurrency, NFT pool

    The cryptocurrency trend is spreading into professional sports. Athletes, teams and leagues are using these “digital assets” for various financial transactions involving charitable donations, selling memorabilia and collectibles, and funding various player and team promotional ventures. One National Basketball Association team is even launching its own collection of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, one of the newest forms of cryptocurrency.  Players are also getting involved in sports business ventures funded by NFTs. Fulton Schools Professor Dragan Boscovic, a cryptocurrency expert and director of the Blockchain Research Lab, explains how these digital cryptocurrency assets can even be in the form of videos, photographs or digital files, and how transactions carried out with these assets are managed by “smart contracts.”

  • Phoenix, SRP partner on new EV charging

    Phoenix, SRP partner on new EV charging

    New charging stations for electric vehicles will be installed at various public parks and libraries in Phoenix. It’s part of the city government’s incentive program in collaboration with the Salt River Project utility company to provide more access to charging stations for the convenience of electric vehicle owners. With electric powered vehicle ownership expected to keep rising, the city’s chief sustainability officer says Phoenix needs to make charging stations part of its long-term infrastructure development. Providing more recharging facilities would be a smart move to help promote sustainable transportation choices by consumers, says Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineer and director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Futon Schools. (Access to the Daily Independent online is for subscribers only.)

  • TSMC hires first recruiting class of 250 employees

    TSMC hires first recruiting class of 250 employees

    TSMC, a Taiwan-based semiconductor manufacturer, announced last year its selection of Arizona as a site for its new advanced semiconductor factory. The news blog of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council now reports that TSMC has hired more than 250 employees from the United States for the new manufacturing facility in Phoenix. About 20 percent of the new employees have earned undergraduate and/or graduate degrees from Arizona universities, including ASU. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, says he is gratified to see the schools’ graduates acknowledged for their abilities to help high-tech industries accelerate innovation and for those graduates to have the opportunity to support a leading global semiconductor company in establishing itself in Arizona.

  • Finding Scholarship and Grant Money For College

    Finding Scholarship and Grant Money For College

    Even as the costs of higher education rise, students continue to tap into resources to help them cover many of the expenses of their college studies. But it takes persistent effort and learning about the various programs, agencies, organizations, institutions and companies that provide support for students or can help students learn about the array of opportunities to receive financial aid. Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student George Montano (pictured) recalls how an online personal finance course started him on the path to applying for grants and scholarships to attend ASU. Montano, a first-generation college student, now has much of his tuition and room and board costs covered.

  • Microplastics are everywhere — but are they harmful?

    Microplastics are everywhere — but are they harmful?

    Tiny specks of plastics that come in large part from the enormous amounts of the material used in packaging and many consumer products are increasingly being found everywhere around the world. The degrading plastics are accumulating not only on land and in oceans and rivers, but in living things from small organisms to humans. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his research team in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering are among engineers and scientists trying to determine if microplastics pose a serious threat to human health. Some of them are small enough to penetrate into human tissues and even cells. But these microparticles are so miniscule that proving they clearly have a significant impact on health will be difficult, Halden says.

April

2021
  • Can Infrastructure Keep Up With a Rapidly Changing World?

    Can Infrastructure Keep Up With a Rapidly Changing World?

    What has worked in decades past won’t work again when it comes to the kind of public infrastructure that is needed in today’s world. That’s the message of engineers, scientists and other experts who say efforts to design and build sustainable infrastructure in the 21st century must be guided by a new mindset that takes into account an increasing number of evolving challenges. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, includes on that list factors such as climate change, economic volatility and rapid technological advances — especially in regard to integrating cybertechnologies and artificial intelligence into infrastructure systems. In addition, Chester says, it’s critical for governments to ensure social equity is enhanced and not further eroded by policy decisions that shape new infrastructure development — or the lack of it.

  • Here’s how Arizona manufacturing has evolved and impacts the economy

    Here’s how Arizona manufacturing has evolved and impacts the economy

    Arizona has long been reliant on real estate development as a leading source of economic activity. Today, however, the manufacturing industry is providing more jobs in the state than construction. Mark Gaspers, the chairman of the board of the Arizona Manufacturers Council, says multiple factors have led to growing investment by manufacturers in the state. Some of the major reasons are the partnerships and access to sizable pools of workforce-ready talent that manufacturers have with some of the state’s instituions of higher education, particularly the research universities. Gaspers includes the Fulton Schools among those that have become the most valuable to the regional expansion of manufacturing businesses. The article was originally published in Chamber Business News.

  • EASE up: New ASU program supports engineering students with autism

    EASE up: New ASU program supports engineering students with autism

    Employment Assistance and Social Engagement, or EASE, a new project involving the Fulton Schools and ASU’s College of Health Solutions, is now providing peer support to students with autism spectrum disorder. That is happening in part because of the efforts of Fulton Schools chemical engineering student Ignazio Macaluso (pictured), who is living with autism. Macaluso is now the curriculum developer for the program that got off the ground with the help of Fulton School Lecturer Deana Delp and Maria Diaz, a clinical professor in College of Health Solutions. Delp and Diaz hope to see the program expand from helping those students graduate from college to finding employment for them after graduation. About a quarter of ASU students living with autism who have registered with Student Accessibility and Inclusive Learning Services are studying engineering. The article has also been published in the Prescott E-News and the Herald Review in Cochise County.

  • Something very positive is happening in Greater Phoenix

    Something very positive is happening in Greater Phoenix

    Major tech industry companies are opening new operations or expanding current operations in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. One of the factors influencing the decisions of these businesses is the deep pool of talent at the Fulton Schools, says Professor Kyle Squires, the schools’ dean. The New Economy Initiative proposed by the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body of the state’s public universities, is designed to sustain and build on this trend, Squires writes. The initiative calls for an investment in the Fulton Schools to support its rise as a major source of employees for companies needing a highly skilled workforce. In addition, Squires points out, the Fulton Schools faculty are conducting research and developing technologies that are providing creative solutions for industry.

  • Investing in infrastructure

    Investing in infrastructure

    When we talk about upgrading aging public infrastructure, we tend to focus only on the physical aspects of the endeavor — rebuilding roads, bridges, dams, sanitation systems and the like. That narrow view is a weak foundation for guiding efforts intended to provide sustainable solutions to our infrastructure challenges, say Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester and Professor Braden Allenby, authors of the new book “The Rightful Place of Science: Infrastructure in the Anthropocene.” Fully modernizing infrastructure in the 21st century, they say, is not simply about boosting the technical resiliency of systems and facilities. Social and ecological impacts must also be prioritized, as well as today’s critical digital information systems, and the artificial intelligence, big data and analytics we need to effectively manage and secure our vital public resources.

  • ASU, UNLV students collaborate to solve homeland security challenges

    ASU, UNLV students collaborate to solve homeland security challenges

    Security experts call them soft targets. They are the easily accessible and largely unprotected places, such as sporting events and shopping centers, where the public gathers and that are difficult to secure from threats to peoples’ safety. In a recent design challenge event presented by the  Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency, a Department of Homeland Security Center for Excellence led by ASU, student teams were presented scenarios involving busy public spaces or a site of public service facilities. Teams had to devise security strategies for one of the three areas. The Hardening Soft Targets challenge was part of Devils Invent, a series of engineering and design competitions organized by the Fulton Schools. Mentors for participating student teams were led by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Ross Maciejewski and Professor of Practice Dan McCarville.

  • Conversation on Societal Impacts of AI

    Conversation on Societal Impacts of AI

    There are a number of important questions and issues revolving around the outlook and predictions for the future development of powerful artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies. Subbarao Kambhampati (pictured), a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and a past president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, discussed those topics in a conversation on the legal and societal impacts of AI with researchers at Jawaharlal Nehru University Center for the Study of Law and Governance, a leading school in India. Kambhampati addressed questions about the potential complexities arising from the use of AI for data collection and surveillance, and the potential biases of AI technology.

  • Sewers may hold the secrets to making us healthier

    Sewers may hold the secrets to making us healthier

    The tens of billions of gallons of wastewater produced daily in the United States is the source of a rich dataset that researchers are tapping to learn more about the state of the public’s health. Among researchers engaged in some of the most thorough wastewater-based epidemiology is Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Heath Engineering. Halden and his research team are part of growing efforts to examine wastewater to track the spread of diseases such as COVID-19 and the flu, and the use of opioids in various communities. While wastewater analysis is revealing significant information to drive public health protection strategies, Halden and other experts say much more could be accomplished if government would provide support to expand this research.

    See also: In the Tales Told by Sewage, Public Health and Privacy Collide, Undark, April 21

    Sewage Has Stores to Tell. Why Won’t The U.S. Listen, Smithsonian Magazine, April 26

  • The Reuters Hot List

    The Reuters Hot List

    Reuters, the major international news service, lists Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environment and sustainable engineering, as one of the world’s most influential climate scientists and academics. The rankings are based on how many research papers the scientists and academics have published on topics related to climate change and how often those papers are cited by other scientists in similar fields of study, such as biology, chemistry or physics — and how often those papers are referenced in by the news media, social media, policy papers and other outlets. The photo at right shows an image from an article earlier this year about a new anthology in which 40 experts from around the world share ideas about what our urban surroundings and climate could look like in the future. Chester co-edited the book.

  • Palo Verde generator helps Southwest meet climate goals, but future of nuclear is debated

    Palo Verde generator helps Southwest meet climate goals, but future of nuclear is debated

    A recent study concludes that the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix could help in the cause of reducing the use of fossil fuels for power generation. That would help to eliminate environmentally harmful carbon emissions from power utility grids across the Southwest. But experts such as Meng Tao, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering, warns that Palo Verde and other nuclear power plants are not the best solution because of the large amounts of other resources needed to operate the facilities. But Toa says nuclear power plants could be used to reduce the overall use of fossil fuels until advances in solar power and other renewable energy resources can  be made to provide a better solution.

  • Arizona colleges say a greater focus needed on diversity

    Arizona colleges say a greater focus needed on diversity

    Arizona’s largest public universities are making some progress in bringing students from diverse backgrounds to their campuses. In fall 2020, the University of Arizona had its most diverse class ever of newly enrolled students. At Arizona State University, enrollment of underrepresented minorities has risen steadily over recent years. In the fall 2020 semester, about 40 percent of newly enrolled ASU students identified as minorities. But both universities say even more diversity is a major goal. Lexi Roberts (pictured), a Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student who has leadership roles in several ASU student organizations, wants to see diversity increase in engineering education programs. Female engineering students who are members of minorities will benefit from seeing see more women like them succeed in the field, Roberts says.

  • New data shows impact of COVID-19 on transportation

    New data shows impact of COVID-19 on transportation

    Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools, is collaborating with colleagues at ASU and the University of Illinois, Chicago, on the COVIDFuture research team. The researchers are gathering data on the changes in peoples’ daily habits that have emerged in response to the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The data will be used to understand how the pandemic has affected choices about remote work and commuting, shopping, air travel and other mobility-related decisions. The team hopes to provide decision makers with information on how people’s behavior will or won’t change in a post-pandemic environment.

  • ASU team receives grant to create artificial intelligence undergraduate program

    ASU team receives grant to create artificial intelligence undergraduate program

    ASU faculty members Suren Jayasuriya and Sha Xin Wei will help to develop an undergraduate certificate program in artificial intelligence in digital culture with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Jayasuriya is an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the six Fulton Schools. Wei is a professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering. Working with Ed Finn, director of ASU’s Center for Science and Imagination, they have already been developing curriculum for the new program that promises to infuse experiential learning and the humanities into the teaching of artificial intelligence to future designers and engineers.

     

  • Vodka, toothpaste, yoga mats … the new technology making items out of thin air

    Vodka, toothpaste, yoga mats … the new technology making items out of thin air

    An artificial tree developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his research team is among featured items on exhibit in the exhibition title “Our Future Planet” at London’s Science Museum. The mechanical tree can work like living plants to breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen, thereby helping reduce the buildup of greenhouse gases that can threaten the health of the planet’s environment. It is among a growing array of new technologies being developed to perform carbon capture. Lackner’s tree is seen as one of the more promising mechanisms that could be made more affordable and highly efficient at the task of keeping carbon dioxide from rising to dangerous levels.

     

  • Why NFTs Aren’t Just for Art and Collectibles

    Why NFTs Aren’t Just for Art and Collectibles

    Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have been considered a form of cryptocurrency with limited applications. That outlook is changing. Beyond current uses in high-end purchases of art and collectibles and the gaming industry, NFTs are being used in more types of transactions. Fulton Schools Professor Dragan Boscovic, a cryptocurrency expert and director of the Blockchain Research Lab, says NFTs can be used to create digital objects that have unique identifiers. This improves the tradability and transparency in the use of NFTs, making transactions more secure, Boscovic says. He expects NFTs to remain a viable option for the foreseeable future, one that will help blockchain technology to realize its potential as a new method for doing business.

    See Also: NFT trend shows burst, but could have staying power, Daily Independent, April 5

  • Exhibition puts on show the tech we need to avert the climate crisis

    Exhibition puts on show the tech we need to avert the climate crisis

    A prototype of a “mechanical tree” developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his team in ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions is featured in a special new exhibit at the Science Museum in London. The exhibit titled “Our Future Planet” focuses on emerging technologies designed to mitigate the potentially threatening environmental impacts of climate change. One of the major ways being proposed to meet that goal is cleaning carbon dioxide from the air, and thereby preventing dangerous levels of the troublesome greenhouse gas from continuing to build up in the atmosphere. Lackner’s mechanical trees mimic the ability or real trees to absorb carbon. The exhibition highlights other engineered approaches to climate control, which could supplement natural processes that help maintain environmental health.

  • ASU Leadership Academy to graduate 8th cohort in May

    ASU Leadership Academy to graduate 8th cohort in May

    More than 240 ASU faculty and staff members have now completed the year-long ASU Leadership Academy experience. Mounir El Asmar, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, is a recent graduate of the program that focuses developing leadership skills, supporting individuals in advancing impactful projects, and creating a diverse culture of leadership at the university. Mounir calls it “one of the best experiences I’ve had at ASU,” that helps to create a productive network of partners and collaborators among ASU faculty and staff. About half of the participants who responded to a survey about the academy experience say they have since earned a leadership role in a new project or initiative.

  • Human fecal transplant reduces autism symptoms by almost 50%, study finds

    Human fecal transplant reduces autism symptoms by almost 50%, study finds

    Discoveries showing a significant connection between microbes in the intestines and signals received by the brain is raising hopes for potential new treatments for the symptoms of autism, especially in children. Studies led by Fulton Schools Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown (at left in photo) are demonstrating that a fecal transplant technique — called Microbiota Transfer Therapy — is helping to ease the gastrointestinal problems often experienced by children with autism. When those problems are successfully treated it improves the behavior of the children. Many people with autism experience chronic gastrointestinal problems. The discomfort the ailments cause can make children irritable, which decreases their attention and learning capabilities.

    See recent related news on Krajmalnik-Brown’s research: Gastric Bypass: We’re Still Understanding the Benefits of Weight-Loss Surgery, Discover magazine, March 18

  • ASU Graduate College recognizes research at 2021 Knowledge Mobilization Awards

    ASU Graduate College recognizes research at 2021 Knowledge Mobilization Awards

    The ASU Graduate College’s Knowledge Mobilization Initiative aids the university’s researchers in getting the academic knowledge they produce put to use for the public good through collaborations with industry and community-based organizations. The Graduate College’s annual Knowledge Mobilization Awards are given to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers whose research projects demonstrate ingenuity and innovation in addressing societal needs. Three Fulton Schools students — Akshay Kumar Dileep, Man Luo  and Marzieh Bitaab — were among recent winners and finalists in the awards program. Their separate projects involved methods of identifying at-risk students, biomedical information retrieval and detection of scam websites.

  • NASA awards Geisel Software and Arizona State University swarm robotics contract

    NASA awards Geisel Software and Arizona State University swarm robotics contract

    Sze Zheng Yong, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, will work with some of his students to develop communicationless coordination technologies for NASA that could be deployed in space missions. NASA has awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer technology grant for the project to ASU and Geisel Software, a custom software development company, to work on what has the potential to be ground-breaking swarming research. Phase I will focus on identifying and developing intent estimation and intent-expressive motion planning technologies that enable cooperative operation of swarms of space vehicles in lunar and planetary exploration.

  • What will it take to build an antifragile economy in Phoenix?

    What will it take to build an antifragile economy in Phoenix?

    The Great Recession that hit in 2008 revealed the fragility of the Phoenix metropolitan area’s once-booming economy in the years preceding the dramatic downturn. Business community leaders have since sought to lay foundations for a more sustainable regional economy. ASU has been a big part of the effort to create an “antifragile” economy, with the Fulton Schools playing a major role. Startup companies that have grown out of research advances by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mariana Bertoni and Assistant Research Professor Stanislau Herasimenka exemplify the kinds of promising ventures that foster economic resilience. Fulton Schools Dean Kyle Squires and business leaders point to other endeavors that are providing a highly skilled, well-educated and diverse workforce and a climate of innovation that are attracting new industry to the region. The article in AZ Big Media is also the cover story in the most recent edition of ASU Thrive magazine.

  • Loose-fit infrastructure can better account for climate change

    Loose-fit infrastructure can better account for climate change

    With the uncertainty we face in trying to redesign and rebuild the nation’s core infrastructure systems, the best solutions might be flexible and adaptable approaches. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, and his Carnegie Mellon University colleague Costas Samaras suggest “loose-fit” strategies to overcome the growing disconnect between what our current infrastructure is constructed to do and the different things we will need it to do in the near future to protect against the impacts of climate change and other threats. To be successful, they say, the country must confront the challenge not only as a necessary hardware upgrade but also address governmental, financial, management and cultural factors that will shape the outcomes of any infrastructure modernization effort.

  • The Metabolic Profile of Mothers with an ASD Child

    The Metabolic Profile of Mothers with an ASD Child

    Fulton Schools Professor James Adams was the lead principal investigator on a recent research study that has revealed important new knowledge about autism. The study concluded that mothers with a child on the autism spectrum have significantly different metabolic profiles than mothers with typically developing children. The research report, published in BMC Pediatrics, also notes significant differences in regard to mothers’ levels of vitamin B-12, leading to questions about the possibility of mothers of a child with autism benefiting from B-12 supplements. The research team is now at work on a similar study to find out if metabolic differences can be seen during pregnancy, which might mean a blood test could be used to identify mothers who are at a higher risk of having a child with autism. Adams, who directs the Autism/Asperger’s Research Program at ASU, also led the study proposal and design, oversaw recruitment of participants, helped to analyze the results and co-led the writing of the paper. The feature on the research in the April 2021 issue of Autism Advocate Parenting Magazine begins on page 41 of the online publication.

March

2021
  • Now is (finally) the time to future-proof our infrastructure

    Now is (finally) the time to future-proof our infrastructure

    Both recent events and updated forecasts for the not-too-distant future are making it more apparent that public infrastructure systems in the U.S. must respond to a growing urgency for more structural and operational resiliency. On an American Society of Civil Engineers news site, Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, is joined by colleague Constantine Samaras at Carnegie Mellon University in issuing a warning about the costs of inaction as challenges presented by a warming and more volatile climate continue to become more serious. Power utilities, transportation systems and other essential facilities and services are at risk if defenses against the destructive consequences of climate change, cybersecurity breaches and similar increasingly dire threats are not put in place.

  • How nonfungible tokens work and where they get their value – a cryptocurrency expert explains NFTs

    How nonfungible tokens work and where they get their value – a cryptocurrency expert explains NFTs

    In the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the use of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, is among the more ephemeral forms of financial transactions. Dragan Boscovic, a Fulton Schools research professor of computing, informatics and decision systems engineering, and director of ASU’s Blockchain Lab, explains why the NFT market is likely to expand as a highly efficient way of managing and securing digital assets, and why this “energy hungry” cryptocurrency is raising environmental concerns. Despite such potential drawbacks, Boscovic says NFTs are making inroads into the crypto-economy, especially in luxury goods and gaming industries and the high-end art market. Boscovic’s commentary has also been published in Vox, Yahoo News, the Houston Chronicle, the Connecticut Post, the Times Union in Albany, New York, the Seattle Post Intelligencer and The Street.

  • US News ranks 14 ASU graduate programs in top 10

    US News ranks 14 ASU graduate programs in top 10

    More than 30 ASU graduate degree programs are ranked in the top 20 in the nation within their fields of study in the latest US News & World Report rankings. The higher ranking programs included the Fulton Schools industrial engineering program, at No. 18, and the environmental engineering program, at number 20. The data for the rankings came from statistical surveys of more than 2,100 programs and from surveys sent to more than 23,000 academics and professionals, according to U.S. News & World Report.

  • Making food tracking tags impossible to forge

    Making food tracking tags impossible to forge

    Fulton Schools Professor Michael Kozicki and Assistant Research Professor Yago Gonzalez Velo are part of a multidisciplinary team of engineers and scientists hoping to use technology to help prevent foodborne illnesses. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the project that also involves researchers from Northern Arizona University is exploring the use of dendritic tags to enable tracing food at any point in the supply chain. Dendrites are shapes that can be found in the natural world, such as tree branches and blood vessels. By producing these kinds of tags electrochemically or photochemically, Kozicki says, they can enable singular identities for food products that are impossible to duplicate or forge — unlike standard bar codes and other identifying labeling. Read more about Kozicki and Velo’s work.

  • The Difference Engine at ASU aims to create change on the ground

    The Difference Engine at ASU aims to create change on the ground

    The Fulton Schools is joined by ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, W. P. Carey School of Business and Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law in ASU’s new enterprise called The Difference Engine: An ASU Center for the Future of Equality. Its mission is to develop the tools for the nation to confront rising social, political and economic inequality. In a recent interview, the leader of the initiative talks about The Difference Engine’s genesis, its specific goals and the kinds of projects underway and being planned to help spark the social changes the venture aspires to make.

  • Using tech to detect flooding before water rises on roads

    Using tech to detect flooding before water rises on roads

    Rapidly evolving rainstorms that are hard to predict often do serious damage to property and threaten public safety. University researchers are developing technologies to quickly detect the potential for flooding in areas where storms are brewing. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, is one of the leaders of the FloodAware project supported by the National Science Foundation. The early warning systems he and colleagues are working on promise to enable real-time views of rising waters. Chester says such a capability will allow authorities to block roads and take other precautions to prevent people from driving on streets where floodwaters are likely to rise to dangerous levels. Cities in North Carolina and Arizona are among those exploring use of the research team’s tech solutions.

  • Intelligent.com Announces Best Master’s in Electrical Engineering Degree Programs for 2021

    Intelligent.com Announces Best Master’s in Electrical Engineering Degree Programs for 2021

    Arizona State University was recently listed by Intelligent.com among the leading U. S. universities with the best electrical engineering degree programs. The ranking is based on assessments of the earning potential and career opportunities of graduates for these universities’ electrical engineering programs. The website offers curated guides to the best degree programs in addition to information about financial aid, internships and study strategies at these institutions. According to the website, steady job growth in electrical engineering market is one of the reasons programs in this field of engineering were researched and ranked

     

  • 3D-printed ‘veggie battery’ could power devices more sustainably

    3D-printed ‘veggie battery’ could power devices more sustainably

    A 3D-printed battery that might make mobile devices more environmentally friendly and provide a higher capacity power than current lithium-ion batteries has been produced by a team engineers at four universities, including ASU. The new battery uses electrodes made from vegetable starch. Fulton Schools Professor Arunachala Mada Kannan contributed to research on the new type of battery that promises to also be more sustainable than current batteries, as well as store and release more energy. To make the new battery, the researchers used polylactic acid, a biodegradable material that is processed from the starch of corn and sugar beet, which enables the battery to be more recyclable.

    See Also: 3D-printed lithium-ion battery shows green potential, The Engineer, March 23

  • Here what’s driving the rising PHX East Valley economy

    Here what’s driving the rising PHX East Valley economy

    Arizona is ranked as one of the top three fastest-growing states and greater metropolitan Phoenix is among the regions that are attracting the most talent in a variety of industries. ASU and its skilled graduates are cited as another source of talent and innovation that can help drive the growth and success of the local economy. Companies — especially those in the East Valley area — are already establishing strong connections with ASU engineering schools as they map their plans for business expansion and the growth of their work forces.

  • Can microbes save us from PFAS?

    Can microbes save us from PFAS?

    Some researchers are now hoping certain microbes might be able to clean up one of the more persistent types of environmental contaminants, specifically polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The substances have become known as “forever chemicals” because it is difficult to get them to degrade and thus prevent the damage they do. But even if the microbial cleanup methods work, say Rolf Halden and Bruce Rittmann, Fulton Schools professors of environmental engineering, that success might sidetrack us from efforts to reduce the industrial uses that lead to PFAS contamination in the first place. Halden says there should be a focus on finding ways to make use of PFAS safer, so that large-scale remediation operations won’t needed to prevent harm to environments. Rittmann is exploring the use of a combination of biological and chemical remediation techniques that would use microorganisms to neutralize these contaminants.

  • Tech company plans to develop lab at ASU Polytechnic in Mesa

    Tech company plans to develop lab at ASU Polytechnic in Mesa

    Mechnano, an advanced nanotechnology company, plans to establish a laboratory, at ASU’s Polytechnic campus — home to The Polytechnic School, one of the six Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The lab is expected to provide ASU student opportunities to learn cutting-edge nanotechnology processes. The facility will be a part of the ASU Polytechnic Innovation District , which is next to the campus. Mechnano brings together scientists and entrepreneurs to improve manufacturing materials.

    See Also: Nanotechnology company to create cutting-edge lab in Mesa, East Valley Tribune, March 30

  • Voices of Houston: Woman uses her engineering and innovative skills to help transform her community

    Voices of Houston: Woman uses her engineering and innovative skills to help transform her community

    Nelia Mazula, a 2001 ASU chemical engineering graduate, is a digital transformation strategist making inroads for women in the field predominantly led by men. She helps companies use the capabilities of digital transformation to improve their operations. Mazula, who also has a degree in international business, is involved in developing robots and AI entities that could someday interact with people in their daily activities. In addition, she helped her native country of Mozambique build a natural gas plant and now is working with a Houston community center to enhance a technology center named in honor of her late brother, Marcos Mazula. She takes time to communicate about her work and its impacts as a way to inspire more girls and young women to pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering.

  • ASU alumnus founds only Black-owned engineering firm on West Coast

    ASU alumnus founds only Black-owned engineering firm on West Coast

    Anthony Winston III, a 2006 Fulton Schools mechanical engineering graduate, wants the company he founded to not only promote sustainability in engineering but to also inspire social change. Winston Engineering Inc. is the only Black-owned residential and commercial mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering company on the West Coast. The company has set a goal for all of its projects to produce net zero carbon emissions to aid the cause of environmental sustainability for the sake of future generations. Another goal is helping to break down barriers that still often stand in the way of those in minority communities who aspire to own businesses. Winston has visited schools to talk to young students about his journey through college and into his own business and he plans to begin an internship program at his company to give students real-life business experiences.

  • What’s next for iris-recognition systems?

    What’s next for iris-recognition systems?

    Today’s facial and retinal recognition systems will make passports and other traditional forms of identification obsolete, says Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science whose research focuses on artificial intelligence. Human-aware AI technology is already enabling a major international airport to walk people through an “intelligence gate” that identifies them by their irises. Iris recognition already works better than using fingerprints, Kambhampati says. The systems are also being increasingly employed by police and other law enforcement organizations and security operations. These uses of such advanced technologies are beginning to raise issues about the erosion of privacy in public spaces and the ramifications of the errors these systems can make.

  • Student entrepreneurs win over $300,000 in ASU Innovation Open

    Student entrepreneurs win over $300,000 in ASU Innovation Open

    In the fifth annual ASU Innovation Open, sponsored by the Fulton Schools, Avnet and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, seven teams of students from various universities earned a total of more than $300,000 to advances their startup company ventures. The ASU-led team Optical Waters won the $25,000 Technology for Social Equity prize. The company is designing optical fibers that emit ultraviolet light to disinfect the inside of hard-to-reach spaces like pipes. Teams involved in the competition also get feedback and mentorship from experts to help guide their business planning. Teams from Yale University and Northwestern University were among the Innovation Open competitors.

  • Premature or precautionary? California is first to tackle microplastics in drinking water

    Premature or precautionary? California is first to tackle microplastics in drinking water

    California is preparing to be the first place in the world to set guidelines for reducing microplastics in drinking water. There are questions about the need for these particular guidelines and challenges involved in devising methods that will be effective in reducing human exposure to the tiny but potentially harmful bits of plastic in the environment. Still, Rolf Halden, a Fulton School professor and director on ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Heath Engineering, says the amount of microplastics waste continues to grow and it is becoming increasingly critical to take actions to reduce them to prevent more contamination. If the “soup of plastics” we live in gets thicker, Halden says, the dangers they pose will become more serious and more difficult to eliminate. The article also appeared in the Market Research Telecast, the Lost Coast Outpost and the Desert Sun.

  • Early signs remain encouraging for treating autism with bacterial pills

    Early signs remain encouraging for treating autism with bacterial pills

    A novel approach to treating autism being developed through research and experimentation led by Fulton Schools Professors Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and James Adams continues to draw widespread attention. Krajmalnik-Brown’s recent presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science provided an update on the new method called microbiota transfer therapy, which involves altering bacteria in the gut to improve both digestive health and brain function in children with autism spectrum disorder. Results have shown the treatment led to a decrease in the gastrointestinal symptoms of autism in the children and to improvement in their behavior. Researchers hope further studies will reveal which microbes and the molecules they produce are most effective in improving the health of people with autism.

  • ‘Easing’ students with autism into college, career-readiness

    ‘Easing’ students with autism into college, career-readiness

    When Fulton Schools Lecturer Deana Delp saw students with autism in the courses she teaches struggling despite their academic abilities, she went searching for solutions and found Advocating Sun Devils (formerly Autistics on Campus). The group strives to provide a supportive campus environment for people with autism. Along with Maria Dixon, a clinical professor in ASU College of Health Solutions, Delp has founded a peer mentoring program as a joint project of the engineering schools and the health college to assist students with autism with the transitions into college life and careers. Delp and Dixon are now exploring the potential for expanding the mentoring program to serve students in other STEM-related studies beyond engineering.

  • Mountain Ridge grad helps launch teen-driven science periodical

    Mountain Ridge grad helps launch teen-driven science periodical

    Fulton Schools computer systems engineering student Tina Sindwani is one of the founders of a new organization dedicated to giving teens a voice in the STEM community. Sindwani is the director and one of the editors-in-chief of The Scientific Teen, which now has teens with interests in science, technology, engineering and math from more than 20 countries contributing articles and participating in a podcast and in STEM-themed art and design projects. There are also plans for a YouTube series and a magazine. Sindwani also writes for the organization’s website. Her recent article reported on NASA’s Mars exploration spacecraft. Sindwani recently displayed her own STEM skills as one of the award winners in an ASU student engineering, technology and product design experience.

February

2021
  • ASU Climbs to Sixth in National Research Rankings

    ASU Climbs to Sixth in National Research Rankings

    Among the more than 750 universities in the nation without a medical school, ASU recently moved up to sixth place in research expenditure rankings. The kinds of creative and impactful achievements cited for helping to push ASU’s ranking upward include innovations that can improve the movement capabilities of robots. Work led Hanqing Jiang, a Fulton Schools professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is using curved structures similar those exhibited in art of origami to increase the flexibility of robotic technologies. Jiang says some robotic movements that typically have required complicated sets of gears, hinges and motors can now be done with the use of origami-like creases in sheets of flexible materials that enable robots to firmly grasp heavy objects and also gently grasp delicate objects.

  • Will Artificial Intel get along with us? Only if we design it that way

    Will Artificial Intel get along with us? Only if we design it that way

    When artificial intelligence was in its early stages of development, its creators were not envisioning technology that interacts with humans in the same way humans interact with each other. But as AI has advanced and been stirring our imaginations with its possibilities, the idea of human-compatible AI is gaining traction, says Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and a past president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Reaching that goal will require overcoming big challenges, he says. AI must develop social intelligence and be capable of adopting the kinds of mental states that guide human interactions, and be able to understand human emotions and values. To see a future in which AI agents work successfully with us, Kambhampati says, there must be close collaborations between AI experts and those in other fields, particularly behavioral psychology, sociology and the humanities.

  • ASU’s biggest virtual campus tour ever now streaming on Amazona Prime Video

    ASU’s biggest virtual campus tour ever now streaming on Amazona Prime Video

    A new video series that premiered recently features students sharing stories about their most meaningful ASU learning experiences. Among them is recent Fulton Schools graduate Lily Baye-Wallace. Through the Fulton Schools 4+1 program, Baye-Wallace earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in robotics and autonomous systems in just four and half years, while working part-time. She was also part of a team of students who collaborated with a music therapist to develop technology to help children with autism. The project, done through the Fulton Schools Engineering Projects in Community Service, or EPICS, program, won an award that was presented to team members at an international Society of Women Engineers conference.

  • Call them guardians: Seventeen airmen transfer to Space Force at US air base in Japan

    Call them guardians: Seventeen airmen transfer to Space Force at US air base in Japan

    Deployment of U.S. military airmen into the new U.S. Space Force continues to get off the ground. A contingent of 17 new members recently transitioned into the Space Force at Yokota Air Base in Japan, where they are expected to work with Japan’s space defense operations to protect the two countries’ satellites and deter potential national security threats. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, whose expertise includes military technology, provides some details on the technological and geopolitical aspects of what those space defense operations will entail.

  • Experts: Texas-style grid failure unlikely in Arizona

    Experts: Texas-style grid failure unlikely in Arizona

    Effects of the extraordinarily severe cold weather that recently hit Texas were made worse by the failure of the state’s electrical power systems. Fulton Schools Professor Vijay Vittal, a power systems engineer, says such a scenario in which extreme weather conditions leave millions of residents without power is unlikely to occur in Arizona. Vittal says power delivery systems in Arizona are interconnected and those in Texas are not, which left electricity providers there without sufficient backup capabilities when the big freeze crippled their facilities. Arizona’s interconnected systems proved their value last summer during a period when power utilities were able to avoid outages and meet demand during extended periods of record heat. The news was also reported by KTAR News in Phoenix. U.S. News and World Report, the Arizona Daily Sun and the Kenosha News (Wisconsin).

  • ASU researchers use bacteria to improve autism symptoms

    ASU researchers use bacteria to improve autism symptoms

    As the number of children with autism spectrum disorder increases, researchers continue to explore possibilities for new and better treatments for the development disorder. Fulton Schools Professors Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown (pictured), director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes and James Adams, director of the Autism/Asperger’s Research Program, talk about progress being made in easing symptoms of autism. They have found bacteria-based treatments that improve the health of the microbial environment in the human gut are showing effectiveness in producing a positive change in the behavior of people with autism. Parents are saying those treatments are helping improve the lives of their children with autism more than any previous treatments.

  • Waste into wealth: Harvesting useful products from microbial growth

    Waste into wealth: Harvesting useful products from microbial growth

    Through a microbial growth process known as chain elongation, the metabolic processes of certain bacteria can convert chemicals into useful products such as aviation fuels, lubricants, solvents, food additives and plastics. Anca Delgado (at left in photo), a Fulton Schools assistant professor of environmental and sustainable engineering, is exploring new possibilities for productive uses of this process. Research being conducted at ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology is demonstrating that advanced chemical conversion techniques might be able to minimize environmental waste and contaminants while producing biochemicals, biofuels and similarly valuable resources. These processes potentially could also enable producing energy from various forms of organic waste. Research findings by Delgado and ASU colleagues are detailed in the current issue of the International Society of Microbial Ecology journal. News about the research is also reported in Science Daily, Biotech World and Posibl.

  • ‘Time Zero’ tool adds dimension to COVID-19 arrival, spread and mutations

    ‘Time Zero’ tool adds dimension to COVID-19 arrival, spread and mutations

    Data derived from research led by Ying-Cheng Lai, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering and physics, reveals that COVID-19 first arrived in the U.S. significantly earlier than first thought. That time discrepancy significantly affected the ability to identify the speed at which the COVID-19 virus spread and the effectiveness of actions taken in attempts to reduce its spread. The predictive modeling framework developed by Lai and his colleagues for their research contributes to mathematical and computational epidemiology that offers a template for advances to more effectively battle the spread of not only COVID-19 but also future pandemics.

  • SEAS professor receives grant to study artificial intelligence in transportation

    SEAS professor receives grant to study artificial intelligence in transportation

    A George Washington University professor’s research team will use artificial intelligence technologies to enable development of an app that automobile drivers can use to detect signs of their oncoming symptoms of health problems. The project will explore development of autonomous driving technology that would take control of vehicles when drivers show signs of debilitating health conditions such as epilepsy or stroke. Transportation engineer and Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala says the research could give confidence to drivers with such health conditions. Drivers would know they could rely on autonomous vehicles to do the driving if their poor health conditions affected their ability to operate their automobiles safely. Today’s advanced AI technologies are capable of understanding driver behavior in a variety of scenarios, Pendyala says, which raises the chances of success for the GWU professor’s research project.

  • ASU’s cybersecurity dojo

    ASU’s cybersecurity dojo

    With cyberattacks on the rise, there’s an increasingly critical need for more cybersecurity experts. To help respond to the challenge, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Yan Shoshitaishvili has founded an education platform to provide students hands-on training in the core concepts, skills and practices needed by the cybersecurity industry and the U.S. government. Students will learn to mount defenses against dozens of cyberthreats. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé, director of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, says only highly trained and innovative cyber defense practitioners will be able to thwart the adroit and crafty hackers who are becoming more prevalent.

  • How Pandemic Lunches Gave Me Hope for the Planet

    How Pandemic Lunches Gave Me Hope for the Planet

    In an essay exploring the connections between how and what we eat, and the outlook for the future of our planet, a writer describes insights she gained from a conversation with Rolf Halden, a Fulton Schools professor of environmental engineering, and from his book, “Environment.” Halden talks about the impacts of the materials used for packaging food and in the cooking ware we use to prepare it. She learns of the need for what Halden calls “green chemistry” to ensure the chemicals in the waste we create won’t continue to contribute to environmental damage. And that reducing that waste in the first place would be a big step toward a healthier world.

  • Who should stop unethical A.I.?

    Who should stop unethical A.I.?

    Artificial intelligence technologies promise to make a lot of valuable contributions across a broad spectrum of endeavors in science, engineering, education, computing, security and more. But at the same time, some uses of A.I., and questionable claims about what it can do, are raising questions about ethics and the validity of the purposes for which some industries and companies are promoting and applying A.I. Experts such as Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools profess of computer science and a past president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, have concerns that misleading claims and other misinformation could undermine the credibility of the A.I. research community. Another issue is how to effectively prevent or call attention to misrepresentation of the abilities of the technology.

  • Biodesign researchers land coveted Hering Medal

    Biodesign researchers land coveted Hering Medal

    Ridding ecosystems of the dangerous chemical trichloroethene, or TCE, is one of the toughest environmental decontamination challenges. A research paper that details a formula for using specialized bacteria to reduce harmful TCE has earned an award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for the best paper published during 2020 in the Journal of Environmental Engineering. The team that authored the paper includes Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittman (pictured), director of the Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and environmental engineering doctoral student Yihao Luo.

  • Microbial ecosystems in the mouth and gut are linked to many ills

    Microbial ecosystems in the mouth and gut are linked to many ills

    When Fulton Schools Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown (pictured) and her research team discovered that certain microbes are consistently absent from children with autism, they emptied the guts of several autistic infants and inoculated them with fecal enemas taken from healthy children. They found the resulting diversity of microbes in the guts of the children with autism increased during a 10-week period of treatment, leading to positive effects that remained in some of the children for two years after the treatment — their gastrointestinal symptoms subsided and their behavior improved as well. Krajmalnik-Brown gave a session about the research at the recent annual meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science, which was conducted virtually and hosted by ASU. It was one of several sessions on research focusing on the link between microbial ecosystems and various illnesses and other health disorders. (Subscribing or creating an account to access The Economist is necessary to view the full article.)

    See Also: AAAS lecture: microbes and autism, ASU Biodesign Institute, February 7

  • Escaping empty stages: Bringing performances online

    Escaping empty stages: Bringing performances online

    Fulton Schools students Colin Killeen and Sophia Balasubramanian are among those who have been challenged by COVID-19 to keep their musical pursuits on track as the pandemic has squelched live performances and jam sessions over the past year. Bass guitar and keyboard player Killeen, an aerospace engineering student, has turned to online collaborations and digital resources to connect and play with fellow musicians. Guitar player Balasubramanian, a biomedical engineering student, says she has begun to focus more on songwriting and developing her own sound and style as a musician, but hopes to eventually perform. Until then she is trying to contribute to the music scene by supporting her favorite local music artists on social media and Instagram.

  • ASU launches ‘The Difference Engine: An ASU Center for the Future of Equality’

    ASU launches ‘The Difference Engine: An ASU Center for the Future of Equality’

    Rising social, political and economic equality is hindering the nation’s progress. A new ASU center will focus on providing ideas and tools to reverse that trend. The center will develop new designs, systems and perspectives to push back against the things that are hampering the quest for equality, says ASU President Michael Crow. The Fulton Schools — one of a group of ASU schools and colleges working together to launch the center — are committed to contributing solutions-oriented approaches to innovations to aid the pursuit of societal advancement, says Kyle Squires, the dean of the engineering schools.

    See Also: New center launches to combat inequality in community, The State Press, February 11

     

  • Florida water treatment hack reveals long ignored vulnerabilities in America’s infrastructure

    Florida water treatment hack reveals long ignored vulnerabilities in America’s infrastructure

    Cybersecurity must become a high priority focus for managers of public infrastructure systems, experts say. The need for that precaution was exhibited by the recent hack of a water treatment plant in Florida, which put lives at risk by increasing amounts of lye (sodium hydroxide) in the water supply. The incident emphasizes that civil and environmental engineers must also learn what they can do to prevent such cyber threats, says Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, a sustainable engineering expert. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Paulo Shakarian, a cybersecurity expert, describes details about the cyber attack on the Florida facility and talks about what defenses could be mounted to protect critical infrastructure from such security breaches.

  • Why A Small Arizona Business And The Salvation Army Like Cryptocurrencies

    Why A Small Arizona Business And The Salvation Army Like Cryptocurrencies

    Block chain technology makes possible the digital forms of money known as cryptocurrency, which enables transactions to be made without any physical forms of payment — coins, dollar bills, checks or credit cards, for instance. That makes many people and businesses hesitant to embrace digital currency. But some businesses and organizations are giving it a try. Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, director of ASU Blockchain Research Lab, says the many different kinds of digital money — there are thousands — make it difficult for businesses to decide which kind to use, and that the inability of cryptocurrency to process large numbers of transactions quickly is a drawback. Boscovic still expects to see increasing use of digital currency, but doesn’t foresee it becoming mainstream any time soon.

  • Free and Paid Online Resources to Start Learning HTML and CSS

    Free and Paid Online Resources to Start Learning HTML and CSS

    Mastery of HTML and CSS is an essential step to success in pursuing website development career opportunities in both high tech and low tech industries. For advice on where to learn these web content and style languages, U.S. News & World Report turned to Christina Carrasquilla, a senior lecturer in the Fulton Schools graphic information technology program. Carrasquilla provides guidance on which kinds of HTML and CSS courses are good options for everyone from novices to those with varying levels of experience. She also recommends studying code-editing to learn additional skills and getting involved in coding communities to put that learning into action in hackathons and similar events that provide hands-on experience in coding and website development.

  • A new approach has been created to create a chain of artificial genes according to the principle of “winner takes all”

    A new approach has been created to create a chain of artificial genes according to the principle of “winner takes all”

    The effectiveness of treatments for many diseases could be improved as a result of revelations from recent synthetic biology research at ASU. Xiaojun Tian, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is the lead author of a report on research describing a new process for inserting synthetic gene chains into body cells. The links in those chains are designed to perform various functions, Tian says, but those links have to compete with each other for the limited cellular resources they need to perform their specific roles. The researchers have devised a way to insert individual gene chains into multiple host cells to enable the chains to work together without depleting the cells’ resources. The discovery has the potential to make cancer treatment more effective, researchers say.

    See Also: Winner-take-all synthetic gene circuit opens new pathways to disease treatment, ASU News and SciTechDaily, February 8

    New synthetic biology approach may improve delivery of programmable medicines, The Science Advisory Board, February 8

  • How Arizona universities are meeting demand for skilled talent

    How Arizona universities are meeting demand for skilled talent

    Among the biggest attractions drawing major employers to Arizona are the exceptionally skilled graduates of universities in the state, says Chris Camacho, the president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. He points in particular to ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, noting the large numbers of well-educated students it is graduating each year from numerous degree programs. Camacho notes that those programs are producing students trained in areas of engineering that are increasingly critical to bringing innovation to companies in a wide range of industries — and to sustaining and strengthening Arizona’s knowledge-based economy.

  • How university students and faculty are joining mask innovation race

    How university students and faculty are joining mask innovation race

    Although health experts have stressed the importance of wearing face masks as the most effective way to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 disease, many have disregarded the advice. But creative efforts by some university students might convince more people to follow that advice by providing masks with new designs and features. A team of students working in ASU’s Luminosity Lab recently won an international prize for its prototype of a mask that team members — most of whom are Fulton Schools students — say is more comfortable, affordable, stylish and effective than most current face masks. The team designed the FloeMask, which has a bifurcated chamber that separates air exhaled from the nose from air exhaled from the mouth. The team’s prize provides funding to further develop its prototype and offers opportunities to manufacture the new mask. The article is also published in the Santa Fe New Mexican   and AZ Big Media.

  • Zero Electric Vehicles, Inc. Adds Three Critical Executives to Leadership Team

    Zero Electric Vehicles, Inc. Adds Three Critical Executives to Leadership Team

    Arizona-based Zero Electric Vehicles Inc., or ZEV, an is automotive design, electrical vehicle technology and manufacturing company that aspires to produce the most efficient, high-scaled production all-electric vehicle — and to develop the infrastructure to bring those sustainable energy vehicles to the world. ZEV recently appointed three of its members to the company’s leadership team, including Arunachala Mada Kannan (at left in photo), a Fulton Schools professor who has been working to advance fuel cells, solar cells and large-scale energy storage in batteries for more than three decades. Kannan will work as a battery consultant for ZEV. He will play a key role in developing a highly efficient battery package system to extend the driving range and life span of the company’s Trident automobile.

  • Polanyi’s Revenge and AI’s New Romance with Tacit Knowledge

    Polanyi’s Revenge and AI’s New Romance with Tacit Knowledge

    For all the promising capabilities of artificial intelligence technologies, there are reasons to tread carefully in fully placing our faith in their power to learn and act accordingly in performing the many critical  tasks we are increasingly assigning to them. There’s a risk that AI may not always make the wisest of decisions, writes Subbarao Kambhampati in the online magazine of the Association of Computing Machinery, the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. The Fulton Schools professor of computer science and past president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence explains the difference between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge.  Kambhampati says that while AI has mastered acquisition of tacit knowledge, it has significant shortcomings in acquiring explicit knowledge. He warns of potentially troublesome consequences if we rely only on AI technology without the benefit of explicit knowledge to guide its reasoning.

January

2021
  • Carbon capture technology has been around for decades — here’s why it hasn’t taken off

    Carbon capture technology has been around for decades — here’s why it hasn’t taken off

    Climate experts agree on the environmental threat posed by growing accumulations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They also agree on the need for carbon capture technology to help reduce that threat. But economics and other factors present challenges to the development and deployment of the technology. The stalemate between competing interests on this matter must be overcome, says Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. He directs the ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, where some of the more promising carbon capture systems have been designed. Lackner says failing to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide will undoubtedly heighten an already serious risk of dire consequences for the Earth’s habitability.

  • Arizona State, University of Arizona online programs rank high in U.S. News report

    Arizona State, University of Arizona online programs rank high in U.S. News report

    Arizona’s largest public universities offer online degree programs — both undergraduate and graduate programs — that were recently ranked about the best in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report. Among those programs offering remote technology-enhanced, interactive learning, ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering is ranked 10th overall in the nation — rising three places on the list over last year’s rankings. The online electrical engineering master’s degree program is ranked at number 2, while the sustainable engineering master’s program at number 5 and the engineering management master’s program is number 6. Read more. The Phoenix Business Journal news story is subscriber access only.

  • Dancing, vacuuming, learning: What’s next for robots and their creators

    Dancing, vacuuming, learning: What’s next for robots and their creators

    More than 20 research labs at ASU are involved in some facet of robotics research. Pursuits in robot-aided physical rehabilitation, robotic exoskeletons, human-robot collaboration and brain-machine interfaces are among the projects led by the university’s scientists and engineers. Among them are Fulton Schools faculty members Heni Ben Amor, who directs the Interactive Robotics Lab, Wenlong Zhang, director of the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Laboratory, Siddharth Srivastava, who runs the Autonomous Agents and Intelligent Robots Lab, Tom Sugar (at left in photo), director of the Human Machine Integration Lab, and Subbarao Kambhampati, an expert in the application of artificial intelligence technology to advance human-robot collaboration.

  • ASU on the cutting edge of robotics

    ASU on the cutting edge of robotics

    Fulton Schools faculty members are among researchers putting  ASU on the map of institutions leading the way in advancing an array of innovative robotics technologies. Spring Berman (pictured) is making progress in the control and optimization of multi-robot systems. Tom Sugar is creating exoskeletons to enhance human physical capabilities. Dan Aukes is combining robotics and machine learning technology to develop devices that help people overcome physical limitations. James Abbas is using robotics in biomedical engineering endeavors to make a Neural-Enabled Prosthetic Hand system to aid people who have had hand amputations, while Hyunglae Lee is also working on robotic-aided rehabilitation systems.

  • New Management Approach Can Help Avoid Species Vulnerability Or Extinction

    New Management Approach Can Help Avoid Species Vulnerability Or Extinction

    Thousands of the world’s animal species are considered endangered and many others are categorized as vulnerable to becoming endangered. Meanwhile, ecologists still lack reliable tools to predict when species may become at risk of decline. One step toward progress in that area, however, is a mathematical modeling process developed by Ying-Cheng Lai, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering and physics. That process could reveal how interspecies relationships and interactions are impacting the status of various kinds of animals in specific environments. The information the mathematical modeling might reveal could guide scientists in developing methods to sustain ecosystems in ways that benefit potentially endangered or vulnerable species. See original article in ASU NOW.

  • ASU faculty discuss equity and inclusion in STEM at virtual event

    ASU faculty discuss equity and inclusion in STEM at virtual event

    The documentary filmPicture a Scientist” focuses on a biologist, a chemist and a geologist and their experiences with harassment, discrimination and more subtle affronts — and on how each of the women overcame that inappropriate treatment to improve the culture in the STEM professions. A virtual screening of the film hosted by ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was followed by a livestream discussion of these problems and the solutions needed to rectify them. Members of the panels driving the discussion included Fulton Schools Dean Kyle Squires, Professor and Vice Dean of Strategic Advancement Ann McKenna and Assistant Professor Brooke Coley.

  • Cyber-evolution: How computer science is harnessing the power of Darwinian transformation

    Cyber-evolution: How computer science is harnessing the power of Darwinian transformation

    In an emerging domain of science called evolutionary computation, Stephanie Forrest, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science, is working with colleagues to use new technologies to replicate the process of evolution in nature. They have recently announced some of their latest findings in the research journal Nature Machine Intelligence. Forrest, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Biocomputing, Security and Society says that in addition to providing deeper insight into biological evolution, this form of computation could also help spark advances in artificial intelligence, engineering design, robotics, medicine, software development and even gaming strategy.

  • Mothers of children with autism have many significantly different metabolite levels

    Mothers of children with autism have many significantly different metabolite levels

    A recent major study that found mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder had several distinctly different metabolite levels two to five years after they gave birth compared to mothers of normally developing children. Researchers say this result could provide a starting point for further research that might help medical science close in on more definitive knowledge about the causes and characteristics of the disorder. James Adams, a Fulton Schools professor of materials science and engineering, played a leading role in the research that produced the latest findings. Adams, director of the Autism/Asperger’s Research Program, says these results are already leading to another investigation into metabolite levels and their connection to autism. See more coverage about the research in Science Daily and Study Finds.

  • It’s in the wastewater: How Arizona universities are testing for COVID-19

    It’s in the wastewater: How Arizona universities are testing for COVID-19

    Arizona government leaders have allotted funds to the three state universities to expand research on ways to help communities slow the spread of COVID-19. Some of that support is going to work led by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his team at ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering.  The center’s researchers have been developing a wastewater testing technique that can effectively track the spread of the coronavirus that causes the disease. That effort — along with similar research endeavors at other Arizona universities and others around the country — has evolved into a budding field called wastewater-based epidemiology that is being used across the United States, Europe, Australia and several other countries.

  • The Curious Strength of a Sea Sponge’s Glass Skeleton

    The Curious Strength of a Sea Sponge’s Glass Skeleton

    A sea sponge that has fascinated biologists for almost two centuries makes its own glass skeleton by using acid extracted from seawater. It’s only one of the interesting properties exhibited by the creature — nicknamed the Venus’ flower basket — that Fulton Schools Associate Professor Dhruv Bhate calls “the holy grail of engineering design.” A team of Harvard materials scientists and engineers is making new discoveries about the animal’s capabilities, including details about the makeup and structure of its almost uncrushable skeleton. In separate investigations, Bhate’s team is looking at how the sponge’s skeleton can maintain flexibility while also remaining so strong. If the capabilities of this sea sponge can be fully understood and replicated, it could lead to new ideas for designs of biology-inspired technology.

  • Dancing Boston Dynamics robots are impressive showcase of robot capabilities

    Dancing Boston Dynamics robots are impressive showcase of robot capabilities

    Fluidity and grace have not been among words frequently used to describe the movements of robots. But technological advances are enabling humanoid robots to do some complex and funky dance choreography. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Heni Ben Amor says four robots made by an engineering and robotics design spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology foreshadow a future in which robots that are human in size and shape are capable of mimicking intricate and rhythmic human motions. Amor, an expert in human-robot interactions and machine learning, predicts the day will come when humans and robots team up to give ballet performances.

  • Legacy Scholarship propels construction engineering alum

    Legacy Scholarship propels construction engineering alum

    The ASU Alumni Association’s Legacy Scholarship provides financial support for family relatives of ASU graduates to pursue a college education. Scholarship recipient Nicole Evans spent her time at ASU earning a degree in construction engineering through the Fulton Schools and holding leadership positions with the Student Alumni Association, including a term as its president. She credits her education at ASU and in the Fulton Schools with her career success — first as project engineer for five years with a construction company specializing in the gaming and hospitality industries, and now as a senior project engineer for a major full-service general construction contracting company.

  • Will humans ever reverse climate change?

    Will humans ever reverse climate change?

    How strong will our commitment be to reversing the detrimental impacts of climate change? Will we abandon those efforts when they get expensive, or when we simply tire of the endeavors if they require prolonged and arduous work? A writer asks the question of Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, who directs ASU Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. Lackner and his research team are developing some of the more promising technologies to reduce the amount of harmful carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — a major cause of global warming. Lackner and others are a bit skeptical that our communal resolve will overcome the obstacles to long-term actions to pull back on the causes of climate change, but they see increasing agreement about the need to take action.

  • What will cities look like in 2100?

    What will cities look like in 2100?

    Forty experts from around the world share their ideas about what our cities might look like in the future in a new anthology co-authored and co-edited by Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. Today’s cities were designed and built on old industrial era models, Chester says. Those models no longer provide a sound framework for responding to the sociological and technological changes to which our large metro areas are being challenged to adapt. In fact, the experts say it is change itself — how rapidly and dramatically it can happen in the modern world — that will test our ability to adjust to new realities.

  • ASU Researchers Making Quantum Leaps In Materials Engineering

    ASU Researchers Making Quantum Leaps In Materials Engineering

    While the 3D materials have made possible some of our most significant technological leaps forward, 2D materials are now poised to enable even more progress, says Sefaattin Tongay (second from right in photo), a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering. Tongay has been working for almost 20 years with the crystalline materials made of single layers atoms. He says the materials can enable advances in computing, energy generation, information security and more. The National Science Foundation has supported five of his research projects to explore the use of 2D materials to open the way to applications in many more devices and systems in promising areas such as quantum technologies. Tongay is also using his research to educate the next generation of materials scientists and engineers.

  • How do we solve a problem like climate change? With innovations like Mechanical Trees

    How do we solve a problem like climate change? With innovations like Mechanical Trees

    Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would help diminish some of the more threatening global impacts of climate change. Among the innovative carbon capture and removal technologies are the mechanical trees (pictured) being developed in ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. Lackner says a forest of these mechanical trees could efficiently take the dangerous greenhouse gas out of the air and store it underground or use it to make products such as fuels and cement. The technology offers an opportunity to not only stabilize the Earth’s warming climate but also become the foundation for a new revenue-generating industry that can provide numerous jobs.

    See Also: Mining the sky for CO2 with metal trees, towers and pumps, E&E News, January 5

    Carbon Engineering’s Tech Will Suck Carbon From the Sky, IEEE Spectrum, January 6

December

2020
  • ASU team to create augmented reality memorial to child victims

    ASU team to create augmented reality memorial to child victims

    A new kind of public memorial — made possible by today’s advanced visualization technologies — will be created by a group of ASU faculty members to honor children killed by the use of firearms. The team includes Robert LiKamWa, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, as well as arts, media and engineering. The project will involve designing and making virtual monuments to place at locations where children died. The work will apply the expertise provided through LiKamWa’s research lab to produce software and hardware for augmented reality and virtual reality systems. One purpose of the endeavor is to give momentum to efforts to publicly address the issue of gun violence and its consequences.

  • The Sunburst hack was massive and devastating – 5 observations from a cybersecurity expert

    The Sunburst hack was massive and devastating – 5 observations from a cybersecurity expert

    The recent far-reaching cyberattack against U.S. government agencies and corporations may be one of the most consequential hacks in history to date, says Paulo Shakarian, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science. He sees the potential for it to cause significant harm over a long period time. Amid uncertainties about the attack, some of things seem clear, Shakarian says. The hack was very likely the work of a nation, not a group of criminals. The hackers were able to break down the defenses of agencies and companies with extensive cybersecurity practices. And while the extent of the damage is not fully known, it almost certainly will result in troublesome consequences for the victims and possibly the country as well. Shakarian’s commentary has also been published in more the 40 newspapers and other news outlets, including the San Francisco Times, the Houston Chronicle, Seattle PI, Snopes.com, Arizona Daily Star, St. Louis Today and Yahoo News.

  • Air Force ROTC sergeant gets surprise of his life, path to officer commissioning

    Air Force ROTC sergeant gets surprise of his life, path to officer commissioning

    Technical Sergeant Vincent Boven, a 12-year U.S. Air Force veteran, will be able to stay on active duty while completing studies for his electrical engineering degree in the Fulton Schools. Boven has been selected for the Senior Leader Enlisted Commission Program, which supports “highly skilled and exceptionally motivated” enlisted members of the Air Force in earning college degrees. Boven’s commanders cited his exemplary performance in guiding and mentoring dozens of Air Force and Space Force cadets to graduation to earn positions as officers.

  • ASU student team’s fog-free mask design wins $1 million international competition

    ASU student team’s fog-free mask design wins $1 million international competition

    Fulton Schools students are three of the five members of an ASU Luminosity Lab team that has won the Next-Gen Mask Challenge. The competition tasked teams from around the world with developing new designs to produce more functional, affordable and comfortable face masks to fight the spread of COVID-19. The team’s Floemask — described as “the latest in respirator technology” — features bifurcated chamber design in which air exhaled from the nose is kept in a separate chamber from the face and mouth. It earned the team $500,00 of the overall $1 million in prize money. The ASU team and two other winning teams will be set up with rapid manufacturing opportunities to accelerate production of their new mask designs.

    See Also: ASU Luminosity Lab team wins face mask challenge and $500,000 prize, The State Press, December 22

    ASU student team’s fog-free mask design wins $1 million international competition, News 4 Tucson KVOA.com, December 22

    See Also: ASU team wins international competition with anti-fog coronavirus mask design, ABC News 15-Phoenix, December 23

    ASU Team Wins $500K XPRIZE For COVID-19 Mask Design, KJZZ (NPR), December 23

    ASU student team wins coronavirus face mask design challenge, KTAR News, December 23

    ASU students win international COVID-19 mask competition for fog-free design, get $500,000, Arizona Republic, December 24

    Students win $550K XPrize for face mask design, Medical Design & Outsourcing. December 24

    Researchers at Arizona State University develop breakthrough face covering amid COVID-19 pandemic, Fox 10 News-Phoenix, December 26

  • What Wastewater Studies Reveal About Coronavirus Spread

    What Wastewater Studies Reveal About Coronavirus Spread

    Knowledge that guided development of a COVID-19 vaccine came in part from data gathered through wastewater analysis techniques being used to assesses the prevalence and the rate of the spread of the coronavirus infection in communities. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden (pictured) had been among the first to develop those techniques — at first using the findings to determine how extensively various toxins and pharmaceuticals were impacting specific populations. He turned his attention to detection of COVID-19 as the disease reached pandemic proportions. Now a company that has emerged from the research in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, which Halden directs, will be expanding these wastewater studies to help the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services combat the disease.

  • US Treasury cyberattack likely orchestrated by foreign actors

    US Treasury cyberattack likely orchestrated by foreign actors

    Hackers sponsored by the Russian government are the most likely culprits in a recent hack of the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments, says Paulo Shakarian, a Fulton Schools associate professor and cybersecurity expert. Shakarian is also CEO and co-founder of ASU spinout CYR3CON, a company that is using machine learning technology to predict malicious hacking exploits before hackers use them. He describes these hacks as very sophisticated attacks against agencies whose defenses are difficult to breach — showing that sensitive government and industry information remains vulnerable to the machinations of the skillful “bad actors” of the cyber world.

  • It’s Dangerous to Drink Your Coffee This Way

    It’s Dangerous to Drink Your Coffee This Way

    Microplastic particles (pictured) that may have harmful health consequences could be entering your body through the coffee you drink — depending on the type of cup from which you’re drinking. A study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials reports that people are ingesting these tiny bits of plastic by drinking hot beverages from paper cups with linings containing thin plastic films. Heat can quickly degrade cup linings, says the study’s lead author. The study follows similar warnings about microplastics, including findings by Fulton Schools researchers. Nonbiodegradable plastics “are present everywhere,” and some pose serious health threats, says Varun Kelkar, a graduate research assistant in the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden.

  • ASU uses augmented reality to hold fall graduation

    ASU uses augmented reality to hold fall graduation

    A team of ASU students under the direction of Assistant Professor Robert LiKamWa produced an augmented reality presentation that connected viewers to the recent remotely conducted ASU fall graduation ceremonies. The production enabled using an Android or Apple device to place a virtual podium on the screen from wherever the users were to watch and listen to featured speakers and the rest of graduation event. LiKamWa is a faculty member in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative of the Fulton Schools and ASUs Herberger Center for Design and the Arts. LiKamWA directs the Meteor Studio, which explores research and design of software and hardware for mobile augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, and visual computing systems.

    See Also: An augmented reality graduation brings President Crow to your home, The State Press, December 16

  • Here’s how to navigate social media ‘fake news’

    Here’s how to navigate social media ‘fake news’

    A year dominated by a global pandemic and claims of irregularities in a presidential election have provided fertile ground for a minefield of dangerous misinformation, including a growing tide of conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns. Nadya Bliss offers ways to navigate these turbulent information wars. Bliss is executive director of the ASU Global Security Initiative and a professor of practice in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, one of the six Fulton Schools. Bliss recently wrote about ways to detect and address the disinformation strategies being used to manipulate public opinion. She says there’s a need for efforts to promote media literacy education and critical analysis skills  to give us defenses against these manipulative endeavors.

  • Pfizer vaccine presents unique distribution challenges

    Pfizer vaccine presents unique distribution challenges

    Daunting but not insurmountable. That’s one way the effort by federal agencies and private industries called Operation Warp Speed is being described. The goal is to produce and deliver about 300 million doses of COVID-10 vaccine in coming months. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Kristen Parrish says the task presents an array of logistics challenges — especially because of the ultra-cold temperatures at which the vaccine must be stored and distributed to ensure it is effective. Parrish, who has expertise in industrial refrigeration technology, also says there are limited numbers of both the high-tech freezers suitable for storage of the vaccine and of the highly skilled technicians who know how to best maintain and repair the freezers.

    See Also: Staying chill: How Arizona is preparing to store vaccines at freezing temps, Arizona Republic, December 14

  • AI Algorithms Are Slimming Down to Fit in Your Fridge

    AI Algorithms Are Slimming Down to Fit in Your Fridge

    Researchers recently demonstrated the possibility of squeezing a powerful artificial vision algorithm onto a simple, low-power computer chip that can run for months on a battery. This could lead to more advanced and energy-efficient AI capabilities such as image and voice recognition for home appliances, wearable devices and medical technologies, and to improvements in data security systems. Jae-sun Seo, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical engineering, says the advancements could also be used to enhance augmented reality technology — as well as open the way to significant progress in efforts to expand the performance capabilities of machine learning, one of Seo’s areas of expertise.

  • Slowing Climate Change With Sewage Treatment for the Skies

    Slowing Climate Change With Sewage Treatment for the Skies

    Systems being developed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are very expensive, but may also become very necessary if we are to maintain a livable environment on Earth. Every year, human activity is releasing much of the more than 35 gigatons of carbon dioxide going into the air, resulting in more massive accumulations of greenhouse gasses that are ratcheting up globing warming and its potentially dire consequences for the planet. Among emerging solutions are carbon capture systems such as those be created by ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. Progress by his research team is increasing the viability of technologies designed to clean the skies of the threatening gasses.

  • ASU Research Finds Surprising Inefficiencies In A Phoenix Park’s Irrigation Plan

    ASU Research Finds Surprising Inefficiencies In A Phoenix Park’s Irrigation Plan

    A phenomenon called the “oasis effect” is turning nighttime irrigation at some larger Phoenix parks into a potential environmental problem. Fulton Schools and School of Earth and Space Exploration Professor Enrique Vivoni (center in photo), a hydrologist, and his research team have found that irrigation systems in those parks that are intended to save water are also creating a lot of evaporation, resulting in the release of high levels of troublesome carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Heavy watered sports fields, residential communities and other properties with large areas of turf may also be a source of such emissions. The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department promises to take a close look at Vivoni’s research findings and seek solutions, if necessary.

  • SCIENCE MUSEUM OPENS UK’S FIRST MAJOR EXHIBITION ON CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE

    SCIENCE MUSEUM OPENS UK’S FIRST MAJOR EXHIBITION ON CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE

    The Science Museum in London is home to a world-class collection that provides a record of significant scientific, technological and medical advancement from around the globe. One of museum’s upcoming featured exhibits, “Our Future Planet,” focuses on cutting-edge technologies and nature-based solutions being developed to help prevent or reduce some of the most threatening impacts of climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The exhibit will include one of the Mechanical Trees created by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his research team at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. Progress is being made on optimizing the system’s carbon capturing effectiveness, building prototypes and commercializing the invention.

  • ASU researchers develop new outdoor solar testing for photovoltaics

    ASU researchers develop new outdoor solar testing for photovoltaics

    There’s a new tool to enable measuring the performance of solar energy panels as they are functioning in the field — not only in a laboratory. Fulton Schools electrical engineering doctoral student and graduate research assistant Alexander Killam developed the performance assessment technique, which record’s a solar panel’s voltage as a function of light intensity outdoors. Stuart Bowden, an associate research professor who leads the silicon section of ASU’s Solar Power Laboratory, says the method provides a data stream to show how solar panels degrade over time and in different environments. That could help the industry extend the lifespan of panels beyond 25 years. The method can track the performance of individual panels or an array of 20 up to 100 modules. See more news coverage in PV Magazine, Es De Latino, CitizenSide, California New Times, List Solar, Power Info Today, Novergy Solar

  • Coping with fire-scorched land more prone to mudslides

    Coping with fire-scorched land more prone to mudslides

    Along with the threats of wildfire, communities on hilly terrain can also be plagued by widespread mudslides and related dangers long after heavy downpours of rain. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester, an environmental engineer, say intense rains can trigger wet flows of land 10 times greater in areas recently burned by fire. That can happen as much as five years after the fires. Communities need to take stronger proactive measures to defend against such potential calamities, particularly extensive erosion control measures.

  • ASU students earn top 5 spot in international mask competition, could win $1 million prize

    ASU students earn top 5 spot in international mask competition, could win $1 million prize

    Electrical engineering graduate student John Patterson (pictured) and other Fulton Schools students are among members of a ASU Luminosity Lab team that is a finalist for the XPRIZE Next-Gen Mask Challenge that could win some of the competitors a combined $1 million. The contest asked people ages 15 to 24 around the world to design next-generation surgical masks that would “shift the cultural perspective” about wearing masks to help prevent transmission of COVID 19. The goal is for masks to be more comfortable, functional and stylish. The ASU team’s “Flosemask” will be judged along with the masks of other contest finalists by a panel of judges and industry experts.

  • ASU Graduate College announces Mexico-US binational award to research sustainable agriculture in Sonora, Arizona

    ASU Graduate College announces Mexico-US binational award to research sustainable agriculture in Sonora, Arizona

    ASU graduate students will have opportunities for hands-on experience in developing sustainable agriculture through a new program led by Fulton Schools Professor Enrique Vivoni. The collaborative project involving the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora in Mexico will study agricultural regions in Arizona and Sonora to assess possibilities for sustainable farming in those areas. The program will put research-based learning into action to improve agriculture environments in those communities, says Vivoni, who is also on the faculty ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. The project is supported by a 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Award from the U.S. Department of State.

  • Valley company receives federal contract for COVID-19 wastewater study

    Valley company receives federal contract for COVID-19 wastewater study

    AquaVitas, a company spun off from research in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden (members of his lab team pictured here), has been awarded a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services  contract to test water treatment plants across the country for signs of COVID-19. Halden and his team have developed wastewater analytics over the past several years that enable assessment of COVID-19 trends in communities. Data collected by Aquavitas will provide municipalities information that can be used to guide public health decisions in responding to COVID-19 outbreaks.

     

  • US fully restores protections for young immigrants

    US fully restores protections for young immigrants

    After a Supreme Court ruling this week against the ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began accepting new applications for the program that shields hundreds of thousands young people from deportation. Those affected by the court decision responded with a mixture of hope and concern that their futures are still uncertain. Fulton Schools aerospace engineering student Maria Garcia, who plans to apply for the reinstated program, says many students who are undocumented citizens don’t qualify for DACA protection, so a better solution must be found. The story is also reported in the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle.

  • New testing systems could become the IoT of photovoltaics

    New testing systems could become the IoT of photovoltaics

    ASU researchers have achieved a breakthrough in photovoltaics technology that can reduce the cost and extend the longevity of interconnected power delivery. Fulton Schools electrical engineering doctoral student and graduate researcher Alexander Killam is on the team that has produced the advance. Killam says the Sun-Voc system the researchers developed will give manufacturers of photovoltaics systems and large power utility installations the kinds of data needed to adjust system designs to increase energy efficiency and the lifespans of the delivery systems.

    The news is also reported in Solar Energy International, TechXplore and AZO Cleantech

  • New York Is Scouring Its Sewers for COVID-19. Are We Learning Enough From What We Flush?

    New York Is Scouring Its Sewers for COVID-19. Are We Learning Enough From What We Flush?

    New York City communities are looking into the contents of their wastewater facilities for clues about the spread of the COVID-19 virus and how to stop it. They’re using water testing methods developed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his research team at the Center for Environmental Health Engineering at the ASU Biodesign Institute. Halden encouraged New York officials to increase the frequency of its sewage testing efforts and to do that testing at multiple locations. Halden is a co-author of a cost-benefit analysis that found using wastewater-based epidemiology in combination with clinical testing is much less expensive than using traditional methods that focus on testing individuals for the coronavirus infection. The article was also published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

  • ROBOTS CAN NOW HAVE TUNABLE FLEXIBILITY AND IMPROVED PERFORMANCE

    ROBOTS CAN NOW HAVE TUNABLE FLEXIBILITY AND IMPROVED PERFORMANCE

    Designs of curved structure based on the art of origami have been shown to improve the flexibility of robotics technologies. Through “tunable adaptability” robots can adjust their stiffness to effectively perform specific tasks — a function that until now has been difficult for robots to perform. The research leading to the advancement was led by Hanqing Jiang, a Fulton Schools professor of mechanical engineering. The design of the curved creases and each curved crease, corresponds to a particular flexibility,” Jiang says. His team’s paper on the research, titled “In Situ Stiffness Manipulation Using Elegant Curved Origami,” has been published in the journal Science Advances.

  • Living with autonomous systems ‘we can trust’

    Living with autonomous systems ‘we can trust’

    A report entitled “Assured Autonomy: Path Toward Living With Autonomous Systems We Can Trust” says that the future development of autonomous technologies and systems — including vehicles — should to be guided by a broad range of stakeholders throughout society. The report was commissioned by a group of members of the Computing Community Consortium, including Nancy Cooke, a Fulton Schools Professor of human systems engineering, and Nadya Bliss, executive director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative and a Fulton Schools professor of practice. They and their colleagues call for a strategy to ensure stakeholders in government, academia, industry and society at large can share ideas and concerns about the safety, security and regulation of autonomous systems.

    See Also: AI is too powerful for engineers to handle alone, Electronics Weekly, December 3

  • Prepping for COVID-19 vaccines means making sure freezers are available

    Prepping for COVID-19 vaccines means making sure freezers are available

    A challenge for health professionals who will be in charge of COVID-19 vaccine distribution will be access to freezers that can keep the vaccines in the extremely cold temperatures required for effective storage, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Kristen Parrish (pictured). Another hurdle may be finding experienced refrigeration service professionals who can properly maintain and repair the freezers, Parrish says. Another problem could arise next spring as temperatures begin to rise in the greater Phoenix metro area, which will require freezers to run continuously for many hours and make it more difficult for them to maintain the necessary ultra-cold temperatures.

    See Also: Can the US Cold Storage Sector Handle the Strain of Covid Vaccines? Globe St.com

November

2020
  • ASU students’ lunar exploration system is a finalist in NASA competition

    ASU students’ lunar exploration system is a finalist in NASA competition

    Fulton Schools electrical engineering student Collin Schairer, mechanical engineering student Gowan Rowland and materials science and engineering student Julia Greteman are members of the ASU Luminosity Lab team designing a probe and launcher system capable of expanding exploration of the moon. The project has made the team one of eight university teams to be named finalists in a NASA space technology competition. The exploration targets are craters on the moon’s poles that never get sunlight and thus are difficult to probe. The ASU team is doing its work in the Fulton Schools new indoor motion-capture Drone Studio. In addition to the engineering involved, the project is challenging students to hone their skills in computer programming, industrial design and robotics.

  • What’s cellular about a cellphone?

    What’s cellular about a cellphone?

    Cell phones are used by almost everyone today, but few understand how these versatile, multi-functional communications devices sparked a still ongoing evolution of evermore sophisticated and far-reaching cellular networks. Dan Bliss, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering and director of the Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architecture, talks about the ideas that led to the first cellular networks and what the future generations of those networks will look like — and the additional functionalities that advances in the technology will make possible. The article also appeared in My San Antonio Express, Yahoo! News, Seattle PI, Stuff (Gadget Magazine), Beaumont Enterprise (Texas), Mesh Magazine, TechXplore, New Canaan Advertiser (Connecticut), Houston Chronicle (paywall).

  • 10 winners of ASU’s Graduate College grants find creative solutions for COVID-19 problems

    10 winners of ASU’s Graduate College grants find creative solutions for COVID-19 problems

    The ASU Graduate College’s first-ever Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight Grants have been awarded. The program selected winners from among graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who have developed innovative solutions to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among  10 winners from more than 70 applicants is Medha Dalal, a Fulton Schools postdoctoral scholar in engineering education. Dalal found a way to move forward with her work by providing hands-on engineering design experiences to high school counselors using mail-in design kits and a virtual workshop she created.  In one area of her research, Dalal examines ways of thinking that address complex challenges in engineering education.

  • Fragmenting society, with disinformation

    Fragmenting society, with disinformation

    In ASU’s “Thought Huddle” podcast, Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby discusses the proliferation of disinformation sources in an age that is seeing the rise of antagonistic “tribal political structures.” Allenby discusses how the growth and pervasiveness of today’s fractured communications environment has provided ground work for the growing influence of conspiracy theorists and targeted misinformation campaigns that have divisive impacts on societies. Allenby is a professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, as well as a professor of technology and ethics and a co-founder of ASU’s Weaponized Narrative Initiative.

  • Curved origami offers a creative route to making robots and other mechanical devices

    Curved origami offers a creative route to making robots and other mechanical devices

    Inspired by the art of paper folding called origami, Fulton Schools Professor Hanqing Jiang and doctoral student Zirui Zhai, both mechanical engineers, have developed designs for curved folding patterns that can enable robotic devices to change the stiffness and flexibility of their gripping capabilities. Shaping flexible materials into these patterns makes it possible to produce simple and inexpensive robotic grippers, swimming robots and other mechanical devices. Today’s adjustable stiffness systems are often bulky and can’t be used in soft robotics or micro-robots. Next, Jiang and Zhai plan to add more remote-control functions to trigger the folding of materials into origami structures. That will enable applying the technique to fields beyond robotics. The discovery is also reported by the Associated Press and tech news outets Manufacturing Business Technology, Gizmodo, Nanowerk and   Science Daily

  • Microbial remedies target chemical threats in the environment

    Microbial remedies target chemical threats in the environment

    Perchlorate and TCE are two chlorinated chemicals that case pose threats to human and environmental health. Research in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Biotechnology is demonstrating that a form of microbial life can be effective in cleaning up the areas known as Superfund sites that are contaminated by those chlorinated chemicals. Among leaders of the research are Anca Delgado, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, and Srivatsan Mohana Rangan, a Fulton Schools graduate research assistant in the same field. Rangan is lead author of the study on the project published in the current issue of the research journal Environmental Science & Technology. The news is also reported on News-Medical.Net.

  • ASU team joins Phoenix in fighting extreme heat through cooler pavement

    ASU team joins Phoenix in fighting extreme heat through cooler pavement

    ASU researchers are aiding the city of Phoenix in its efforts to reduce the impacts of extreme heat by using a new kind of pavement materials designed to reduce the urban heat island effect. Ariane Middel, a Fulton Schools assistant professor and urban climatologist, is leading the research team. Middel and fellow researchers have begun testing the impacts of the so-called cool pavements that have been applied to some Phoenix streets. The team expects to have results in a year from now on the long-term performance of the pavement material. Preliminary studies are showing some cooling effects and residents on the newly paved streets said road temperatures seem cooler.

  • ASU alumni turn passion for helping people into thriving nonprofits

    ASU alumni turn passion for helping people into thriving nonprofits

    Fulton Schools graduates are among the ASU alumni who are helping thousands of people around the world though dozens of nonprofits organizations the university’s former students have started. The entrepreneurs include Fulton Schools biomedical engineering graduate Mark Huerta mechanical engineering graduate Paul Strong and biomedical/medical engineering graduate Swaroon Sridhar. Their 33 Buckets venture has evolved into an operation that is providing clean water to small rural communities in underdeveloped countries. The endeavor started as a project for the Engineering Projects in Community Service program, or EPICS, through which student teams help communities solve engineering-based problems.

  • ‘Oasis effect’ in urban parks could contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, ASU study finds

    ‘Oasis effect’ in urban parks could contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, ASU study finds

    Some potentially significant revelations about the impacts of irrigation used to make public spaces greener and cooler — especially in hotter locales such as the Phoenix area — have been discovered by hydrologist Enrique Vivoni, a professor in the Fulton Schools and the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Aided by graduate students   Mercedes Kindler, Zhaocheng and Eli Pérez-Ruiz, Vivoni used an array of sensing technologies to measure the effects of irrigating one of Phoenix’s urban golf courses. Their year-long study showed a connection between the evaporation of water on the course and the resulting amounts of carbon dioxide emissions, which could contribute to global warming. The story is also reported in Science Daily and Phys.Org.

  • Fulton Schools launch collaboration with semiconductor industry giant

    Fulton Schools launch collaboration with semiconductor industry giant

    The expertise of a group of Fulton Schools faculty members is the driving force behind a new collaborative venture with one of the largest developers and suppliers in the semiconductor industry, Applied Materials.  Professor Michael Kozicki, Associate Professor Zachary Holman and Assistant Professor Heather Emady are on the team formed to carry our research projects over the next five years at the MacroTechnology Works laboratories in the ASU Research Park. The work will involve the tools used to make the semiconductor chips that go into many technologies, Kozicki says. Emady says the goal is to establish an even longer-term relationship with Applied Materials. Holman says students will be involved in the research.

    See Also: Semiconductor equipment maker leases ‘substantial’ lab space at ASU, Phoenix Business Journal, November 3 (Subscriber access only)

  • Survey Finds Americans Reluctant To Purchase Autonomous Vehicles

    Survey Finds Americans Reluctant To Purchase Autonomous Vehicles

    Despite technological advances in self-driving vehicles, many people say they would not purchase one. In a survey that gathered responses in five major U. S. metro areas — including Phoenix — on 5% percent of respondents said they would be early adopters of autonomous automobiles and about 50% said they would have to gain more confidence in the safety of the vehicles. But 40 percent didn’t see themselves ever being comfortable with autonomous transport.  The survey was part of research by Fulton Schools Assistant Research Professor Sara Khoeini and colleagues in Teaching Old Models New Tricks, or TOMNET, a Fulton Schools Tier 1 University Transportation Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Khoeini talks about how such vehicles might find more acceptance by the public. Read more.

  • Managing the microbiome raises new hope for autism treatment

    Managing the microbiome raises new hope for autism treatment

    The number of children born with autism spectrum disorder — a cause of lifelong developmental disorders — is growing, and there is no effective FDA-approved treatment. But research by Fulton Schools Professors Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and James Adams is showing promise for progress toward a viable treatment. They have discovered that those with autism have abnormal microbial conditions, and that adjusting the microbiota using healthy bacteria can help ease the gastrointestinal and behavioral symptoms of the disease. Krajmalnik-Brown and Adams are leading research to advance microbial transfer therapy and microbiome transplants in efforts to manage the disease.

  • Two ASU students nominated for Churchill Scholarship to study at Cambridge University

    Two ASU students nominated for Churchill Scholarship to study at Cambridge University

    Recent Fulton Schools chemical engineering graduate Maeve Kennedy (pictured) and current chemical engineering student Alexis Hocken are nominees for one of the most prestigious graduate fellowships. Kennedy and Hocken will find out in December if they are among those awarded a Churchill Scholarship, enabling them to do postgraduate studies in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields at the renowned Cambridge University in England. Nominees for the Churchill Scholarship are selected in part for their potential to become leaders in their fields. Kennedy and Hocken are former recipients of the Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarship programs for U.S. undergraduates studying engineering, natural sciences and math.

  • STEM students aren’t learning the soft skills they need after graduation

    STEM students aren’t learning the soft skills they need after graduation

    Despite strong education in the technological aspects of engineering provided at ASU, a columnist says more is needed to  ensure students in the field are better prepared for a competitive job market. Along with technical proficiency, students need soft skills — communication, teamwork, customer relations, conflict management and leadership skills, among others — to achieve career success, the commentator says. He points to Fulton Schools Professor Keith Hjelmstad, who has integrated soft skills workshops into some of the courses he teaches. Others should follow Hjelmstad’s example, the columnist writes, also suggesting incorporating studies in the humanities into STEM courses to give students in science, technology, engineering and math programs training in creative thinking and workplace social skills.

  • Counting critters: Students develop software to track bats

    Counting critters: Students develop software to track bats

    For their senior year capstone engineering design project, three Fulton Schools students are helping the managers Scottsdale’s 30,500-acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve monitor the health of long-time residents of the scenic area: bats. Computer science students Ryan Kemmer, Jerimiah Kent and Michael Umholtz are using machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence technology to track the movements the bats in and out of a gated mine on the preserve. The students hope to develop a software program for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy to help the organization continue the bat monitoring operation once the capstone project in complete.

  • Rapid Microgrid Design Aims to Accelerate Electrification in Rural Areas, Benefit Women

    Rapid Microgrid Design Aims to Accelerate Electrification in Rural Areas, Benefit Women

    The Fulton Schools Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions, or LEAPS, designs and develops technologies to bring energy sources to underserved communities and underdeveloped countries, often in remote locations. One of the lab team’s latest and most challenging ventures is a project to bring electrical power resources to a region of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The project focuses on the benefits of electrification for women and girls. LEAPS Director Nathan Johnson, a Fulton Schools assistant professor, says the goal is to find ways to provide reliable power while reducing time and expense in planning and design — and to see the system empower women by providing them electricity that expands their options for creating viable businesses.

  • Can You Actually Earn an Engineering Degree Online? How It Works and What It Costs

    Can You Actually Earn an Engineering Degree Online? How It Works and What It Costs

    Job market watchers say engineering is among career paths offering high salaries along with opportunities to do work that’s valuable to society. There’s also a broad spectrum of engineering fields to choose from to fulfill a variety of professional interests and aspirations. Plus, there’s are a range of options for earning degrees online in almost every branch of engineering. Robin Hammond, Fulton Schools director of career services, has advice on how prospective students can determine if engineering is a good fit for them, and how to shop for the online programs that would best serve their particular needs. Also important: Check out what companies are recruiting graduates of those schools and their engineering programs and how alumni are faring in their careers.

  • Holman Research Group makes advances in renewable energy resources

    Holman Research Group makes advances in renewable energy resources

    Electrical and mechanical engineers, materials scientists, physicists and chemists are combining efforts through Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zack Holman’s research group to both boost the efficiency of renewable energy technology and make it more affordable. The team is making advances with photovoltaic cells that can convert a larger percentage of solar power into electrical energy than previous cells. Through the operations of two startup companies, the researchers have also developed a foil solar panel that enables more cost-effective energy conversion and a surface coating for solar panels that helps keep them operating a maximum efficiency. Those products are seen as steps to making solar energy systems more commercially viable.

  • Q&A: U.S. Science Foundation Director on His Vision for the Agency

    Q&A: U.S. Science Foundation Director on His Vision for the Agency

    It’s less than six months since Sethuraman Panchanathan began a six-year appointment as U.S. National Science Foundation director — taking a hiatus from his roles as a Fulton Schools professor and the leader of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise — but he is moving quickly to pursue his vision for the NSF’s evolving mission. In an interview with the news outlet of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, one of the world’s largest organizations of professional engineers, Panchanathan says this is a defining moment for engineering and science. He sees progress in research to address the world’s growing challenges, increasing inclusiveness and U.S. global leadership in science and engineering, along with expanding STEM education and COVID-19 research, as critical to a better future.

  • The death of the email attack ‘campaign’

    The death of the email attack ‘campaign’

    Phishing —surreptitious attempts to fraudulently obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details in electronic communications — is more widespread than ever, and more malicious, faster and smarter. But new defenses against such cyber crime are being mounted. One effort involves cybersecurity researchers at Google, PayPal, Samsung and Arizona State University. ASU’s contribution draws on work by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Adam Doupé, Professor Gail-Joon Ahn and some of their colleagues in the Fulton Schools Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics. Detailed reports on the projects are in a recent ASU NOW article and a recent Internet Defense Prize-winning research paper titled  “Sunrise to Sunset: Analyzing the End-to-end Life Cycle and Effectiveness of Phishing Attacks at Scale.”

     

  • Semiconductor equipment maker leases ‘substantial’ lab space at ASU

    Semiconductor equipment maker leases ‘substantial’ lab space at ASU

    A leading producer of semiconductor equipment, Applied Materials, has signed a long-term agreement with four Fulton Schools research groups to pursue innovations in manufacturing and processing technologies used to make semiconductor chips and displays. Collaborative efforts with the company — to be based at ASU’s MacroTechnologyWorks facilities (pictured) — will be led by Fulton Schools Professor Michael Kozicki, Associate Professors Zachary Holman and Sefaattin Tongay, and Assistant Professor Heather Emady. In addition to enabling ASU researchers to employ their exceptional skills in developing new device technologies, Kozicki says the work with Applied Materials can provide students with experiences in engineering endeavors that align with the needs of the high-tech marketplace. (Subscriber access only) Read more.

  • ASU Professor Granted $2M to Accelerate Concrete 3D Printing

    ASU Professor Granted $2M to Accelerate Concrete 3D Printing

    Narayanan Neithalath, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, is getting an opportunity to expand his achiecements in construction materials innovation. The National Science Foundation recently announced support for Neithalath and four colleagues in his field to create a 3D printing network, called 3D Concrete, with collaborators in more than a dozen countries. Neithalath says the goal is to realize the potential for 3D concrete printing techniques to be faster, safer and more efficient than the production of conventional concrete, to reduce materials waste during production processes and to make concrete that can be used create unconventional structures.

October

2020
  • ASU alumna featured in short film series on the experiences of women in STEM

    ASU alumna featured in short film series on the experiences of women in STEM

    Since earning a geology degree from ASU, Kyla Iacovino has become a prominent in her field of petrology and volcanology, mostly through her work at NASA’S Johnson Space Center. She appears in a recent documentary series developed by the national radio show “Science Friday” about women making their mark in STEM fields. In the series, Iacovino talks about the challenges for women who want to succeed in science, engineering and technology while also raising children. Career and family issues are also on the minds of Fulton Schools students, including software engineering student Jen Vesper and mechanical engineering student Jasmine Ponty. Fulton Schools chemical engineering student Maren Frohlick, chair of the Women in Chemical Engineering organization, has thoughts on how such issues can be addressed as part of the movement to help women achieve equality in their professions.

  • Accelerating skills Acquistion

    Accelerating skills Acquistion

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Rob Gray applies his expertise in human systems engineering and perceptual-motor control to devising ways people can develop and hone athletic skills and similar physical abilities. Research that Gray conducts in his Perception & Action Lab involves studies to improve the effectiveness of sports training to achieve proficiency in various pursuits and professions requiring vigorous activity. He is also the host and producer of the The Perception & Action Podcast, which explores how psychological research can be applied to efforts to achieve sports performance goals. On another podcast, Gray is interviewed on these subjects as they apply to baseball training.

  • Tesla is putting ‘self-driving’ in the hands of drivers amid criticism the tech is not ready

    Tesla is putting ‘self-driving’ in the hands of drivers amid criticism the tech is not ready

    Tesla, the prominent electric vehicle and clean energy company, is being scrutinized for claims it is producing fully self-driving automobiles. Industry competitors contend Tesla’s technology doesn’t fulfill all the requirements for enabling cars to operate completely autonomously. Ted Pavlic, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of computing, informatics, and decision systems engineering, and an expert in robotics and autonomous systems, advises consumers to educate themselves about new driving technologies such as Tesla’s Autopilot system to better understand what current autonomous vehicles are actually capable of doing — and what they’re not.

  • The curious life of Benjamin Bartelle

    The curious life of Benjamin Bartelle

    An unconventional path brought Benjamin Bartelle to the job he began this year as an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools biomedical engineering program. Studies in neuroscience and molecular biophysics have been part of the trip, but so have a variety of sometimes out-of-the-mainstream artistic pursuits that have shaped his approach to both professional and personal endeavors. Bartelle brings a “spirit of creativity and chaos” to his work in both the classroom and the research lab. It’s a reflection of a free-spiritedness that has led him to work with a machine-based performance art collective, start his own circus company and choreograph fire dances, as well as gain expertise in molecular resonance imaging and strive to advance knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases.

  • Military police units train in Arizona for potential civil unrest

    Military police units train in Arizona for potential civil unrest

    Arizona is reportedly one of the states in which military police units are preparing to respond to civil unrest — especially any incidents that threaten to erupt into violent confrontations — during the upcoming national election day. Fulton Schools Professor Braden Allenby, whose research includes study of the use of force in military and police operations and the technologies and strategies employed in those cases, comments about the probabilities for a law enforcement response to any election day incidents at polling locations and what such responses might entail. Allenby says that with many people voting early or voting by mail, there may be less of flashpoint for potential conflict on election day — despite the contentious atmosphere during this election season.

  • New ASU technology could aid in NASA’s 2024 moon-landing mission

    New ASU technology could aid in NASA’s 2024 moon-landing mission

    A sizable contingent of Fulton Schools students — most in either the mechanical, aerospace or electrical engineering program — has contributed to development of technology to help NASA expand its exploration of the moon. The technology will aid a mission to detect water ice on the moon. Hydrogen contained in the water ice could be used to provide fuel for astronauts on a manned mission to the moon planned for 2024. Many students involved in the project in the past few years have graduated and now work for major technology companies or government science programs. More students are being sought to work on the ASU project.

  • Autism’s Gut Connection: Microbes Could Soon Lead to New Treatments

    Autism’s Gut Connection: Microbes Could Soon Lead to New Treatments

    Effective treatments of the symptoms of autism have long eluded researchers. But studies on bacteria in the human gut in recent years have yielded new knowledge about autism and led to development of a fecal transplant treatment that has shown promise in alleviating some debilitating effects of the developmental disorder. Fulton Schools Professors James Adams and Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown are among engineers and scientists who have contributed to detailed analysis of the human gut microbiome of autism patients and conducted trials that raise hope for deeper discoveries about the causes of autism and how to improve the lives of people afflicted by it.

  • Galileo Group tests and demostrates experimental smartphone technology for virtual disinfection of viruses and bacteria

    Galileo Group tests and demostrates experimental smartphone technology for virtual disinfection of viruses and bacteria

    The advanced technology company Galileo Group reported it has demonstrated the destruction of a live virus and bacteria in a lab setting using key ingredients of its patented smartphone LED system. Paul Westerhoff (pictured) and Morteza Abbaszadegan, Fulton Schools professors of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, performed the testing on the bacteria and viruses in preparation for demonstrating the effectiveness of surface-based bacteria and virus deactivation process. The new disinfection approach uses Galileo sensors and technology integrated or attached to an average computer tablet or smartphone.

  • XR@ASU creates new immersive learning experiences

    XR@ASU creates new immersive learning experiences

    ASU is helping lead the way into “the fourth realm of teaching and learning,” an intertwining of physical and digital worlds that blends virtual and augmented reality to form “extended reality,” or XR. Assistant Professor Robert LiKamWa directs research and design work to advance XR@ASU, aided by students exploring both the technical and creative aspects of bringing ideas for XR-based learning experiences to fruition. Efforts are based at LiKamwa’s Meteor Studio, which draws on resources of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative of the Fulton Schools and ASU’s Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts, as well as the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the six Fulton Schools.

  • Can nanobubbles and ultrasound beat disease bacterial issues in RAS?

    Can nanobubbles and ultrasound beat disease bacterial issues in RAS?

    Moleaer, a company that collaborates with ASU researchers in efforts to develop sustainable solutions for the aquaculture industry, announced its discovery that a mixture of oxygen nanobubbles and ultrasound can reduce levels of harmful bacteria in recirculating aquaculture systems. The process can eliminate or reduce waterborne pathogens, biofilms and bacteria, helping to protect aquatic food sources, restore aquatic health and improve water quality. The company credits researchers at ASU with the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment, or NEWT, for confirming the effectiveness of the new process. Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff is NEWT’s deputy director and several other Fulton Schools faculty members are involved in the consortium’s work.

  • Breakdown on the information highway

    Breakdown on the information highway

    The resilience of the internet is being tested daily by the millions of people working or being schooled at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are finding their internet connections regularly interrupted as a result of the consistently heavy traffic. Fulton Schools Professor Daniel Bliss, director of Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architectures, talks about why and how this is happening, what we can expect to happen as the situation continues, and steps to improve our internet connectivity that may prevent frustrating interruptions in service.

    See Also: How to troubleshoot and improve your home Wi-Fi signal,

  • A mariachi child genius breaking down stereotypes about immigrants

    A mariachi child genius breaking down stereotypes about immigrants

    Christian Armanti says the calming effect of singing along to mariachi music has helped him cope with the stresses of schoolwork. He has, in fact, excelled in his academic pursuits in nothing less than remarkable fashion. This semester, at age 12, he began studies at ASU in the Fulton Schools biomedical engineering program, having already earned an associate’s degree in science in community college, where he met a member of a mariachi band and joined the group. He also plays piano and trumpet, and dances and acts. As the son of parents from Colombia and Venezuela, U.S.-born Armanti has goals beyond becoming a neurosurgeon. He wants to help break down stereotypes of immigrants that can hinder them from striving to achieve educational and career aspirations.

  • Carbon capture ‘moonshot’ moves closer, as billions of dollars pour in

    Carbon capture ‘moonshot’ moves closer, as billions of dollars pour in

    The  International Energy Agency says the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power can’t be accomplished soon enough to meet goals to reduce the threat of  harmful greenhouse gases saturating the Earth’s atmosphere. So, to hit targets to capture and store emissions of dangerous gases such as carbon dioxide from power plants, factories and transportation, efforts are turning to still-developing carbon capture systems. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner is among the leading inventors of carbon capture technology. He says carbon capture can help achieve a significant drop in the buildup of air pollution caused by trucks, aviation and shipping, but a long-term solution still depends on further development and widespread use of clean and renewable energy.

    See also: Radiative Cooling and Carbon Capture: New Technologies For An Overheated World, Clean Technica, October 8

  • Students and staff adjust to classes only offered in person during the pandemic

    Students and staff adjust to classes only offered in person during the pandemic

    Some engineering classes are among those being taught in person this semester at ASU due the nature of particular courses. But faculty and students are being diligent in adapting to the limitations of gathering in groups in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students are participating in person twice a week, for a total of six hours, in the chemical engineering lab being taught by Fulton Schools Associate Professor David Nielsen because of the necessity for hands-on lab instruction — which involves use of equipment available only in campus facilities. Nielsen is making adjustments to maintain social distancing and doing some lab experiments virtually when possible. He credits his students for creating a safe environment by being “100% compliant” with precautions like wearing masks and following other guidelines to prevent spread of the coronavirus.

  • Honoring a trailblazer during National Hispanic Heritage Month

    Honoring a trailblazer during National Hispanic Heritage Month

    Jean Andino not only exceeded expectations by simply going to college, she earned engineering degrees at two of the leading U.S. universities. The Fulton Schools associate professor of chemical engineering, who is Puerto Rican, is today currently one of  only 15 mainland U.S.-born Hispanic women to earn a tenure or tenure-track engineering faculty position. Andino’s accomplishments have won her prestigious national honors, including a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers STAR Educator of the Year award. She is especially enthusiastic about her role in ASU’s Hispanic Research Center, which gives her opportunities to spread awareness of the significant contributions of the Hispanic culture.

  • Air conditioning technology is the great missed opportunity in the fight against climate change

    Air conditioning technology is the great missed opportunity in the fight against climate change

    Use of air-conditioning is increasing as temperatures rise due to climate change, leading to growing demand for energy. Changes in demand in Los Angeles are reported in a study led by ASU researchers, including Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, and Janet Reyna, a Fulton Schools doctoral graduate now at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. A potential remedy to the problem was addressed by Chester and Reyna in an earlier study in which they recommended “aggressive” energy efficiency measures to offset the impact of growing energy demand for both electricity and natural gas use. Solutions to such challenges are the focus of work at ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, which is directed by Chester. The MIT Technology Review article that draws on results of these research efforts is updated from its original version published September 1.

  • Computer Science students from ASU undertake difficult bat tracking project

    Computer Science students from ASU undertake difficult bat tracking project

    The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy tries to keep a close watch on the biological and wildlife activity in the more than 35,000-acre Sonoran Desert open-space preserve it manages within the boundaries of Scottsdale, Arizona. Fulton Schools computer science students Ryan Kemmer, Jerimiah Kent and Michael Umholtz are bringing scientific methodology, artificial intelligence and computer vision technology to that effort. They are exploring ways to accurately monitor the movement of bats from a gated mine on the preserve. That will help them develop a user interface for biologists to keep track of the behavior of the very small and very fast flying mammals. The students’ work is seen as having potential to establish a useful application of computer science to the field of animal biology.

  • First-year student and DACA recipient fights oppression with civic action and resiliency

    First-year student and DACA recipient fights oppression with civic action and resiliency

    Fulton Schools biomedical engineering student Angel Palazuelos has a long list of career aspirations. Beyond work as an engineer, the first-year student wants to go to law school, start a scholarship program and become a community advocate for higher education opportunities for others. Palazuelos has faced his own challenges in pursuing a college education as an undocumented student, having to overcome a lack of support and resources for those in his situation. But Palazuelos says the experience is making him more resilient and reinforcing his determination to help other students confronted by similar obstacles. 

September

2020
  • Defending Our Reality In the Era of Deep Fakes

    Defending Our Reality In the Era of Deep Fakes

    Our ingrained “seeing is believing” mindset needs to change in this age of the ever-expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence technology. Visual images of all kinds can today be created and manipulated by AI, making it difficult to discern with the naked eye what is real and what is not, says Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and an AI researcher. AI advances are enabling computers to depict people and scenarios that don’t exist or are heavily altered from reality — the so-called “deep fakes” that can be used to perpetrate consumer scams or produce misleading political propaganda. On the positive aide, Kambhampati says, new AI tech itself could help us better detect fake images. For example, the AI Foundation is developing the Reality Defender project to respond to the impact of deep fakes on democracy. Read more.

  • Biodesign Institute, on a research roll, announces new centers, state-of-the-art X-ray lab

    Biodesign Institute, on a research roll, announces new centers, state-of-the-art X-ray lab

    Two new science and engineering centers at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, along with a new lab, are expanding the university’s range of research pursuits. Among them is the Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, directed by Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, a Fulton Schools Professor of environmental engineering. The center will explore potential microbial-based therapies for diseases such as colon cancer, autism, diabetes, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome and others. Working with fellow Fulton Schools Professor James Adams, Krajmalnik-Brown has already advanced research on the management of symptoms of autism and gastrointestinal disorders through microbiota transplant therapy.

  • How to troubleshoot and improve your home Wi-Fi signal

    How to troubleshoot and improve your home Wi-Fi signal

    With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping many people at home to work, participate in virtual schooling and socialize via the internet, maintaining a strong Wi-Fi signal is critical. Fulton Schools Professor Daniel Bliss (at left in photo), director of ASU’s Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architectures, gives instruction on how to keep your Wi-Fi signal strong. He offers directions for how to prevent losing Wi-Fi connections, how to solve common problems and extending the reach of wireless networks.

  • ASU’s School Of Sustainable Engineering And The Built Environment Receives A Pollution Prevention Grant From The EPA

    ASU’s School Of Sustainable Engineering And The Built Environment Receives A Pollution Prevention Grant From The EPA

    The School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, was given more than $376,000 to continue their water efficiency project that began in 2018. Assistant research professor Mackenzie Boyer says when a company wants to switch out one flavored product for another they want to know how much water is needed to efficiently and effectively wash out the tank. “If you have a strong coffee in a coffee cup, and you try to wash it out, there will be more of that residual flavor left in your somewhat washed out coffee cup. But if you had a weak tea, then it’s a lot easier to get rid of that flavor,” Boyer said.

  • Autonomous planes head for skies, decades before passengers join the flight

    Autonomous planes head for skies, decades before passengers join the flight

    Following a successful FedEx Cessna 208 Caravan test flight with no pilot aboard in late June, FedEx CEO Fred Smith announced to shareholders that the company is working with Reliable Robotics to use small, fully automated, self-flying cargo planes to deliver cargo to remote areas. The technology will likely take decades to replace humans in large freighters. Daniel Bliss, an electrical engineering professor at ASU whose areas of expertise include increasing computational efficiency and advanced communications and navigation systems, is currently working with Europe’s Airbus to design a navigation and positioning system designed to ultimately be used for autonomous flight.

  • ASU researchers receive $6 million state contract to develop rapid, 20-minute COVID-10 saliva test

    ASU researchers receive $6 million state contract to develop rapid, 20-minute COVID-10 saliva test

    ASU researchers produced one of the first FDA-approved saliva tests to detect infection by the COVID-19 virus. They have followed up that achievement by developing a portable device that produces test results in as few as 20 minutes. The research team includes Jennifer Blain Christen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering. Christen specializes in handheld systems for thermal control and rapid optical readouts of test results. She says the team’s goal was to not only make the diagnostic tool as effective as possible but also to ensure the test is affordable.

     

  • ASU researchers find single-use contact lenses cause microplastic pollution

    ASU researchers find single-use contact lenses cause microplastic pollution

    Silicone hydrogel enables contact lenses to be softer and provide more comfort for wearers. Soft contacts are also a popular choice because shorter wear times help reduce infection and other related health risks. But the large amounts of soft contacts that are disposed of by being flushed down drains are adding dramatically to plastics pollution that threatens the environment. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, postdoctoral researcher scholar Charles Rolsky and graduate research assistant Varun Kelkar did one of the first studies to confirm the scope of the problem and its significantly detrimental consequences.

  • Building Tomorrow’s Leaders: Recruiting graduates who have the expertise to serve and protect

    Building Tomorrow’s Leaders: Recruiting graduates who have the expertise to serve and protect

    In USA Today’s Homeland Security Special Edition, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Adam Doupé (center in photo) points to ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, based in the Fulton Schools, for training students not only in highly technical computer science but also in the legal, economic and psychological aspects of cybersecurity. Doupé, the center’s associate director, says students get a broad, cross-disciplinary education — helping the center fulfill its role as one of the National Centers of Academic Excellence designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency. The article begins on page 73 of the special edition.

  • New research center focuses on inclusive STEM education

    New research center focuses on inclusive STEM education

     The Research For Inclusive STEM Education Center, a new ASU research center created this year to help forge a more inclusive STEM education for students, aims to achieve that goal through the undergraduate experience within science, technology, engineering and math. The center examines inequities within classrooms, research labs and learning environments to create interventions. RISE looks at identities beyond race and gender within STEM education. Kristen Parrish, an associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment in the Fulton Schools and the associate director of the center, said creating change in STEM leads to change in the university.

  • It’s 102 degrees in Arizona, but it’s officially too cold to swim. Here’s why

    It’s 102 degrees in Arizona, but it’s officially too cold to swim. Here’s why

    Temperatures in Phoenix are around 102 degrees outside, and pool water temperature can be 80 degrees, but for some, it feels too cold to go swimming. Thermal perception is the temperature “felt” by the body, regardless of what the thermometer reads, said Robert Wang, an associate professor in Arizona State University’s School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy. It varies from person to person, which explains why couples argue about where to set the thermostat.

     

  • Engineering sophomore creates contact-prevention multitool

    Engineering sophomore creates contact-prevention multitool

    A second-year student in the Fulton Schools has created a contact-prevention multitool to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Coronavirus Multitool, created by mechanical engineering student Benjamin Voller-Brown, helps reduce indirect transmission by limiting the amount of public surfaces people touch. Each tool is 3D printed from polylactic acid.

  • Opening of N-Line to Denver’s north suburbs a rare “bright spot” for COVID-battered transit sector

    Opening of N-Line to Denver’s north suburbs a rare “bright spot” for COVID-battered transit sector

    The opening of new rail lines in the Denver metro area marks the latest expansion of a major commuter transit system — a project well over a decade in the making. Opening new lines during a decrease in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting challenges for the system. But Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala is among transportation engineers and public transit experts who say Denver’s project will prove its value over time. Despite other forms a mobility arising and a growing work-from-home trend, there are plenty of workers and others who will benefit from the rail line, says Pendyala, who is director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools.

  • ASU ranked a top 10 university for technology company hires

    ASU ranked a top 10 university for technology company hires

    In a recent survey by the talent company SHL, Arizona State University ranked No. 6 out of 10 public and private universities in the U.S. in technology-sector hires, with 8,320 graduates now working at some of the largest tech companies across the country, including Amazon and Apple. ASU outranked Carnegie Mellon University; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of California, Los Angeles; and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

  • Storing information and designing uncrackable codes with DNA

    Storing information and designing uncrackable codes with DNA

    DNA is like a molecular vault that stores the intricate design blueprints for life on Earth. A group of ASU researchers whose combined expertise encompasses biology, chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering are exploring DNA’s capacity to carry information as a model for developing microscopic forms that can encrypt, store and retrieve information as effectively as the most advanced silicon-based semiconductor computer memories. A key member of the team is Chao Wang (pictured), a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering whose research focuses on bridging nanoscience and biotechnology.

  • Researchers detect 160-degree radiant temperature at Phoenix homeless encampment

    Researchers detect 160-degree radiant temperature at Phoenix homeless encampment

    Cities should provide more “engineered shade” to improve the livability of their neighborhoods and public spaces, says Ariane Middel, a Fulton Schools assistant professor and urban climate researcher. With mobile heat-sensing and measuring technology Middel designed and built, she recently compared ambient temperatures in diverse areas of Phoenix. In places where homeless people tend to camp or working-class people live there is a significant lack of shade compared to affluent neighborhoods where there are often tree-lined streets and much better shaded surroundings. Those contrasts can make a big difference in temperatures and comfort levels of the local climate, Middel says. As part of its community sustainability efforts, the city of Phoenix has been prioritizing tree planting in vulnerable areas.

    See Also: ‘Shadow hunter’: ASU climatologist helps others find shade from Arizona sun, 3TV/CBS 5 News-Phoenix

  • From high-altitude balloons to Moon missions

    From high-altitude balloons to Moon missions

    Work on a project funded by a NASA science education program has Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student Jessica Frantz setting her sights on contributing to space exploration missions in the future. Frantz says she’s gotten valuable experience as a part of team that has built instruments that have been attached to a high-altitude balloon to evaluate the health of Arizona’s desert vegetation. The project has brought challenges, but also given Frantz and her research team members confidence in their abilities to solve problems. She plans to pursue a career in aerospace.

  • Robot Wear

    Robot Wear

    Wearable robotics are becoming more of a normal part of the work environment in a variety of businesses and industries. At construction sites, in manufacturing operations and industrial plants, wearable robotics are helping workers do heavy lifting, reduce the impact of repetitive motions and improve worker safety. So-called robotic “industrial exoskeletons” are especially popular, says Fulton School Professor Tom Sugar, who is director of science and technology for the Wearable Robotics Association. Most importantly, Sugar adds, robotics are enabling people do their work with less physically strenuous efforts and thereby reducing risks of pain, injury and other debilitating health problems.

  • Focusing on the fate of flushed contact lenses

    Focusing on the fate of flushed contact lenses

    It’s estimated that tens of millions of contact lenses wearers are disposing of their old lenses by flushing them down drains. That adds up to about 90,000 pounds of contact lenses each year, which is adding significantly to growing amounts of microplastics pollution. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and two researchers in his lab, doctoral student Varun Kelkar and postdoctoral researcher Charles Rolsky, say the lenses break down to become part of the many tons of plastics finding their way into the environment and posing potential health risks to people and animal life.

  • AZBio awards ASU researchers for exceptional work in biosciences

    AZBio awards ASU researchers for exceptional work in biosciences

    Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown’s research is helping to produce renewable bioenergy, develop ways to improve human health, advance treatment for children with autism and eliminate environmental contaminants. The Fulton Schools professor’s accomplishments have earned her the Arizona Bioscience Researcher or the Year Award from AZBio, an organization that works to build Arizona’s bioscience industry. Krajmalnik-Brown, who directs ASU’s new Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, is contributing potential solutions to some of the most challenging problems in environmental engineering and science, says AZBIO’s president and CEO.

  • Are micro and nanoplastics accumulating in human organs and tissues?

    Are micro and nanoplastics accumulating in human organs and tissues?

    Plastics pollution has become a major global problem, with plastics waste spread throughout vast swaths of the planet, especially oceans. Recent research shows small bits of plastics are even finding their way into humans, with possible detrimental effects on the body’s organs and tissues. ASU’s Center for Environmental Heath Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, has been at the forefront of studies of plastics pollution and its impacts. In a recent interview, Halden, joined by Fulton Schools environmental engineering doctoral student Varun Kelkar and postdoctoral research Charles Rolsky — who also is the director of science in North America for Plastic Oceans International — provide details on what we know about the scope of the problem, what more we need to learn and what we can do to reduce the risks it poses.

  • IRF members partner on pavement engineering research

    IRF members partner on pavement engineering research

    Advances in fiber-reinforced pavement materials are expected from an expanded collaboration between a leading pavements industry company and Fulton Schools researchers. Professor Kamil Kaloush will have a key role in the effort through his role in the newly established FORTA Professorship position at ASU. Kaloush and other ASU researchers have worked with the FORTA Corporation for more than decade to develop more durable and versatile pavements. That success has spurred further investment by FORTA to fund the professorship and conduct more research at ASU. Kaloush, the chair of the International Road Federation Committee on Sustainable Pavements, will continue his work bringing together researchers, industry and government leaders to make road travel safer and roadways more resilient. Read more.

    See Also: IRF members partner on asphalt pavement engineering research, World Highways, October 16

  • Luminosity Lab develops new sterilization units for masks, general goods

    Luminosity Lab develops new sterilization units for masks, general goods

    Fulton Schools electrical engineering graduate student John Patterson (pictured) and undergraduate mechanical engineering undergraduate Katie Pascavis are among members of an ASU Luminosity Lab team developing methods of sterilizing personal protective equipment people are using to avoid the health risks posed by the COVID-19 disease. The project is producing protective face masks that remain effective for longer periods of time than standard surgical face coverings, Patterson says. Pascavis says the masks can be especially helpful in schools and for businesses that don’t have access to large supplies of protective equipment. The lab team has developed an ozone system designed to be used in dormitories and other communal spaces for sanitizing various materials.

  • Utility Global Comes Out With Bold Claims for Cheaper, Cleaner ‘Blue’ Hydrogen

    Utility Global Comes Out With Bold Claims for Cheaper, Cleaner ‘Blue’ Hydrogen

    Blue hydrogen, produced from natural gas through the process of steam methane reformation, is one of only a few methods that help make the industrial production of hydrogen a little cleaner — though it still falls short of the zero-emission or “green” hydrogen made using renewable power and electrolyzers. But a startup company claims to have made a technical breakthrough that enables making blue hydrogen less expensively and with significantly fewer carbon emissions. Ryan Milcarek, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has examined the technology. He deems it a promising technique for providing an alternative pathway to generating hydrogen in a less environmentally detrimental way than existing technologies. The technology has been tested at ASU and is now undergoing testing by the U. S. Department of Energy.

  • Virus Turns Up The Virtual Volume in AEC Sector Education

    Virus Turns Up The Virtual Volume in AEC Sector Education

    Engineering and construction educators are stepping up to challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic — specifically the closing down of many in-person classes. They are devising multiple ways to create productive learning environments through use of online, virtual and hybrid remote instruction resources. Anthony Lamanna, program chair in the Fulton Schools Del E. Webb School of Construction, says these alternative educational paths are well-suited to preparing students for careers in a range of construction and related engineering industries. Many of the tech-based teaching scenarios that have been developed in response to COVID-19 seem likely to be continued even after the pandemic subsides, Lamanna says.

  • Extreme Heat is Here, and it’s Deadly

    Extreme Heat is Here, and it’s Deadly

    With a heat-sensing robot she designed and built, Ariane Middel gathers data to gain detailed knowledge about the impacts of heat on the urban environment. Middel, a climate scientist and assistant professor in the Fulton Schools, is working with communities to fight off the extreme heat that is becoming a more frequent condition in many densely urbanized regions. Middel has focused in part on ways cities can create shade to maintain comfort levels for people. But she and other experts say more intense engineered heat mitigation efforts will be needed as climate change continues to turn up the heat in more places around the world.

    See Also: Facing killer heat during a pandemic, ASU NOW, September 3

  • New academic programs place emphasis on interdisciplinary learning and STEM

    New academic programs place emphasis on interdisciplinary learning and STEM

    ASU is adding a significant number of new undergraduate and graduate degree programs to its educational offerings, including new majors, minors and certification programs. Many are concentrating on the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math. They include a Fulton Schools master of science degree program in modern energy production and sustainable use. Another is an interdisciplinary master’s of science degree program in innovation and venture development, a joint effort involving the Fulton Schools, ASU’s Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts and W. P. Carey School of Business. The program will focus on giving students experience-based learning in creating business ventures.

    See Also: New graduate programs unveiled at ASU’s Innovation Open launch begin, The State Press, September 8

August

2020
  • Power Grids Aren’t Evolving Fast Enough for Global Warming

    Power Grids Aren’t Evolving Fast Enough for Global Warming

    Extreme heat this summer is putting stress on electrical powers grids in some regions of the United States. But the bigger problem is increasing long-term impacts of global warming. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester points out that many electrical grids were built decades ago and are not designed to cope with the environment we have today. That means both energy generation and distribution are likely to be hampered by the changing climate. Chester and other experts in his field say there’s an urgent need to figure out how to re-engineer the grid to be more resilient even as the climate becomes more unstable.

  • Can Tech Save The World

    Can Tech Save The World

    In a look at recent technological advances that could help the world implement more practices to sustain a healthy environment and clean up those that are threatened by the results of unsustainable human actions. The potential solutions include the carbon capture systems like those being developed by ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. Those systems are able to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which would help reduce the accumulations of greenhouse gases that contribute to the environmental harm done by global warming.

  • NAU Scientists Join $4 Million Nanotechnology Collaborative Infrastructure Southwest

    NAU Scientists Join $4 Million Nanotechnology Collaborative Infrastructure Southwest

    Research led by Trevor Thornton, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, gave rise to the National Nanotechnology Collaborative Infrastructure Southwest to explore the frontiers of nanoscience and engineering. The endeavor is now expanding with a recent National Science Foundation grant enabling ASU researchers to team with colleagues at Northern Arizona University. The next-generation initiative brings world-class expertise in theoretical and experimental quantum and soft/biological nanomaterials to the collaborative’s pursuit of nanotechnology innovations.

  • Research shows water quality could diminish in closed buildings during COVID-19 pandemic

    Research shows water quality could diminish in closed buildings during COVID-19 pandemic

    A serious health risk may be growing in water inside pipes in buildings that have been closed as businesses were shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic — especially restaurants, bars and gyms. Disease-causing microorganisms could be breeding in such stagnant water, says Kerry Hamilton, a Fulton Schools assistant professor who does research in ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Hamilton has coauthored a report with colleagues at Purdue University, a project funded by the National Science Foundation, to address challenges assessing water conditions in buildings that have been vacant for long periods and recommending best practices to restore water quality.

    See Also: Buildings Reopening After Coronavirus May Face Tainted Water Systems, KJZZ (NPR), September 1

  • Peak Demand And The Arizona Power Grid 101

    Peak Demand And The Arizona Power Grid 101

    Higher than normal summer temperatures in much of Arizona are a key factor in the recent rise in demand for electrical power. So far, utility companies are able to keep up, primarily because electricity in the state is generated through a mix of sources — nuclear and hydroelectric power, coal, natural gas and some solar power. Fulton Schools Professor Vijay Vittal, a power systems expert, explains how the array of power systems are managed to help prevent shortages and potential blackouts. Generation, transmission and distribution of electricity is closely coordinated to help maintain an adequate supply of power. Still, Vittal points out, events such as wildfires and a surge in the use of residential power because of the COVID-19 pandemic can put stresses on the systems and threaten the smooth functioning of power grids.

  • Pilot shows early COVID-19 detection in city wastewater

    Pilot shows early COVID-19 detection in city wastewater

    ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, is among the research groups leading the way in developing wastewater analysis techniques that are helping communities around the world to detect the spread of COVID-19. The detection method has particularly aided the United States, where COVID-19 testing and test results have lagged behind some other countries.

    Read more: ASU scientists searching sewers for traces of COVID-19

  • MANY HUMAN ORGANS ARE VULNERABLE TO MICROPLASTICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT, NEW STUDY DEMONSTRATES

    MANY HUMAN ORGANS ARE VULNERABLE TO MICROPLASTICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT, NEW STUDY DEMONSTRATES

    Previous studies have found microplastics in the oceans and the air, on land, in food and in marine animals. But a new study from ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Ralph Halden, indicates human organs and tissues can also absorb microplastics and nanoplastics. Halden says the center’s researchers intend to develop a plastics exposure database as a tool for further studies to compare exposures to these plastics in groups of people over time and in different places. Graduate research assistant and co-author of the study Varun Kelkar says the next step is to conduct epidemiology studies to assess if there are any significant health risks posed by accumulations of the non-biodegradable plastics in human body’s tissues.

    See Also: Scientists Can Now Detect Microplastics in Human Organs & Tissues, Green Queen, August 27

    Oh Great, Scientists Are Now Finding Traces of Plastic in Human Flesh, Vice News, August 25

    Microplastics Found in Human Organs for First Time, EcoWatch, August 18

    Plastic Component Found In Human Organs, Forbes, August 18

    Microplastic particles now discoverable in human organs, The Guardian, August 17

    Scientists find microplastics inside human organs, Futurism, August 17

    Study of human tissues finds plastic particles in every sample, New Altas, August 17

    Tiny particles of plastic have been found inside human organs, METRO (United Kingdom), August 18

  • Scientists are trying to find out exactly how much plastic is in our bodies—and what it’s doing to us

    Scientists are trying to find out exactly how much plastic is in our bodies—and what it’s doing to us

    As the use of plastics has proliferated in the modern world of manufactured materials, tens of thousands of tiny particles called microplastics often find their way into our bodies each year. So, scientists are trying to find out how much microplastic stays in our vital organs and what long-term health impacts that might potentially have. To do that, they’ve created a tool to accurately measure the mass and volume of plastic particles in human tissue — providing a standard metric that researchers can use to compare findings, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. In related work, two graduate students working under Halden have presented their findings on how nano and microplastics can be recovered from the body.

    See Also: Researchers Discover Microplastic Trapped in Human Organs: Liver, Lungs, and Spleen, Tech Times, August 17

    Microplastic pollution is found in human organs and scientists fear the tiny particles could increase the risk of infertility and cancer, Daily Mail, August 17

    Researchers find microplastics in every human tissue studied, Science Focus (BBC Focus Magazine), August 17

    Autopsies Show Microplastics in All Major Human Organs, MedicineNet and Health Today, August 17

  • Devilishly hot

    Devilishly hot

    Two climate researchers provide a guide to the hottest and coolest places on ASU’s Tempe campus as the fall semester opens amid a late summer heat wave. Ariane Middel (pictured) and Scott Krayenhoff, affiliates of ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center, did a three-year study to determine where the campus environment offers the most respite from the heat. It’s all about the shade, says Middel, whose research is aided by a mobile weather station she created to measure radiant heat outdoors. She found the formula for coolness on campus terrain is grassy areas well-shaded by trees. Middel is an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools with a joint appointment in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering. Krayenhoff is an assistant professor of environmental sciences at the University of Guelph in Canada. (The report is a recent update of an article originally published in 2019.)

  • Solar panels are starting to die. What will we do with the megatons of toxic trash?

    Solar panels are starting to die. What will we do with the megatons of toxic trash?

    Solar panel technology will have an important role as a renewable energy source that can help prevent bigger waves of climate change. But one drawback already beginning to arise is the electronic waste produced when those panels exceed their productive lifespans. Meng Tao, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, says those used-up panels will someday become close to 80 million metric tons of solar energy tech waste. A vast recycling plan for solar panels is imperative to prevent having to dispose of them in already overloaded landfills, Tao says. He recently co-authored a research journal review paper about recycling of silicon solar modules. The article is also published in WIRED and Mother Jones.

  • Stimulating the deep brain

    Stimulating the deep brain

    Debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease can be eased through inserting electrodes into an area of the brain that plays a central role in enabling the body’s movement. The discovery results from research by Bradley Greger, a neuroscientist and Full Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering, in collaboration with Francisco Ponce, a neurosurgeon with the Barrow Neurological Institute. The patient involved in the research project and his family are sharing their experiences as he goes through the procedure to provide information about the value of the medical procedure and the research to others with Parkinson’s Disease.

  • Regardless of trigger, ammonium nitrate was likely basis for Beirut explosion

    Regardless of trigger, ammonium nitrate was likely basis for Beirut explosion

    Lack of basic safeguards for storing hazardous materials appears to have been the major contributing factor in the recent explosive blasts resulting in death and destruction in Beirut, Lebanon. Professor Kiril Hristovski, chair of the Fulton Schools Environmental and Resources Management program and a hazardous materials management expert, gives his assessment of conditions that likely led to triggering the ammonium nitrate explosion. Hristovsky says the United States has thorough regulations to guide safe practices in storing and managing explosives materials — rules that it seems apparent were not followed in Beirut.

  • Tetra Tech’s Melinda Tam Discusses How Cybersecurity Plays into the Digital World

    Tetra Tech’s Melinda Tam Discusses How Cybersecurity Plays into the Digital World

    Only several years after graduating from ASU with a degree in electrical engineering, Melinda Tam started an electrical, instrumentation and controls engineering firm. Fifteen years later, the company had more than 100 employees and four offices across the United States. She has been focusing on helping clients develop technology to transform field data into intelligent information for utility operations, maintenance and management in the water industry. That work involves making advances in the digital transformation field to help clients overcome security challenges brought on by the rapid growth in digital technology. In an interview, she delves into details about the acceleration of digital transformation endeavors and the race to secure them against cyber threats.

  • Why climate change is about to make your bad commute worse

    Why climate change is about to make your bad commute worse

    A fast-changing climate is poised to become a significant problem plaguing public infrastructure in the United States — including a big threat to make our driving experiences more aggravating. Mikhail Chester, Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering and co-leader of the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network, says many of the country’s roadways are not designed to recover from the environmental stresses that a changing climate and its extreme weather events can inflict. Power lines, bridges, sewers and dams are also in danger of being damaged by the frequency and intensity of such events likely to be driven by new normal in our climate situation.

  • Not So Soft Soap

    Not So Soft Soap

    As COVID-19 spread around the world, health organizations, governments and disease experts encouraged frequent and vigorous hand washing to protect against the coronavirus infection. Demand shot up for antibacterial soaps, sanitizers and disinfectants. But some have raised concerns about the possible negative effects of that preventative action — particularly skin irritation and sensitivity, as well as developing a resistance to antibacterial products. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, an environmental health engineer, points to risks posed by some antimicrobial chemicals used in disinfectants, cleaning and personal care products that could do harm to people and the environment.

  • ‘We have to create a very safe environment’: Summer classes at ASU give idea of what’s to come in fall

    ‘We have to create a very safe environment’: Summer classes at ASU give idea of what’s to come in fall

    As ASU prepares to begin fall semester classes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, logistics are being worked out to enable students, faculty and staff to maintain social distancing on campus to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection. A Fulton Schools summer session chemical engineering lab that has made the transition back to in-person instruction is providing an example of putting those plans into action. Fulton Schools Lecturer Michael Machas, who is teaching the lab course, says the many precautions put in place in the lab space have eased his initial concerns about the in-person course presenting a health risk. Given all the protective measures being taken, some students say the lab environment might be one of the safest places they could be during the pandemic.

  • Chemical Spilled In Tempe Train Derailment May Break Down Quickly

    Chemical Spilled In Tempe Train Derailment May Break Down Quickly

    Arizona’s hot summer temperatures cause liquid materials to evaporate quickly, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Kiril Hristovski. That could help reduce the risk from combustible chemicals that spilled from train cars in a recent train derailment and bridge collapse at Tempe Town Lake near ASU, says Hristovski, chair of the Fulton Schools Environmental and Resource Management program. He also notes that these chemicals are biodegradable, which would enable microorganisms that live in soil to use the chemicals as a food source. The spilled substances however, are toxic in water, he adds.

    See Also: Overall Number Of Train Accidents Down In Arizona And The U.S., KJZZ (NPR), August 7

  • Could sewage have warned about Covid-19?

    Could sewage have warned about Covid-19?

    Researchers at leading universities in Mexico are among those around the world adopting methods of detecting the spread of COVID-19 that have become a major focus of work in ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden (center in photo), the center’s director, and Associate Research Scientist Erin Driver (at right) are leaders in wastewater epidemiology, which involves analyzing wastewater to detect signs of community health risks, including levels of COVID-19 infection. A related technique, called sewage metrology is also being used to reveal the genetic indicators of the coronavirus in the materials found in wastewater. (Note: Using the Google Chrome browser gives readers the option to see a version of this article translated into English.)

  • ASU professor details hazardous materials risks in incidents like Tempe Lake Bridge derailment

    ASU professor details hazardous materials risks in incidents like Tempe Lake Bridge derailment

    Two of the train cars involved in a recent bridge collapse, train derailment and fire on a railway bridge over Tempe Town Lake contained toxic chemicals. In the wake of the accident, Kiril Hristovski, a Fulton Schools associate professor and chair of the Environmental and Resource Management program, talks about challenges involved in hazardous materials transport and handling of toxic materials. First responders to the railway destruction in Tempe did a professional job, keeping a dangerous situation from becoming more serious, Hristovski says. But he adds that the potential for such situations to quickly become more threatening to people and property make it imperative for all possible precautionary measures to be put into effect to prevent such incidents from happening.

  • ASU leads new research center to power up electrical grid

    ASU leads new research center to power up electrical grid

    A multi-university research enterprise being established by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop and more sustainable and resilient electricity grids will be based at ASU. The Energy Frontier Research Center will be led by Stephen Goodnick, a Fulton Schools professor electrical engineering and Robert Nemanich, an ASU Regents Professor of physics. They will coordinate work with colleagues at seven other major research universities to take on some of the toughest scientific and engineering challenges that are impeding progress in advancing energy technologies. Goodnick and Nemanich say one major focus will be on the use of next-generation materials to improve the performance of semiconductors systems.

  • ASU among top 10 ‘Best Buy’ public schools

    ASU among top 10 ‘Best Buy’ public schools

    One major college guide publication ranks Arizona State University as one of the best of the more affordable leading public universities. The Fisk Guide to College cites ASU for its innovative approaches to higher education and research, identifying several particularly strong academic programs — including the Fulton Schools engineering degree programs — among the offerings in the university’s 16 colleges and schools. ASU overall is touted for being a “national model of how to navigate the emerging demographics of U.S. higher education.”

July

2020
  • ASU engineers offer insight on Tempe railway bridge collapse

    ASU engineers offer insight on Tempe railway bridge collapse

    Beyond determining precisely what led to the recent train derailment, bridge collapse and resulting fire on the Union Pacific Salt River Bridge over Tempe Town Lake near ASU, other questions must be answered about the impacts of the incident to adequately assess how to effectively repair and rebuild the damaged sections of the bridge and the rail line. Fulton Schools engineers point to many technical considerations that must be taken into account to guide restoration of the structure, particularly the replacement of steel, concrete and other construction materials that will be necessary. One thing is certain, the engineers say, railway bridges are critical links in the country’s freight transportation network and any prolonged delay in their repair is disruptive to businesses and communities that rely on what railways deliver.

    See Also: ASU engineers look at possible reasons for Tempe rail bridge collapse, 3TV/CBS News 5-Phoenix, July 31

    Tempe Fire: Workers injured during train derailment cleanup effort over Tempe Town Lake, Fox 10 News-Phoenix, July 31

    Train derails, causing fire and partial Tempe Town Lake bridge collapse, ABC 15 News-Phoenix, July 29

    NBC News 12-Phoenix

  • Researchers pinpoint how sorbent materials catch and release carbon

    Researchers pinpoint how sorbent materials catch and release carbon

    Carbon capture technology is a promising tool for efforts to reduce the buildup of environmentally harmful carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. One leading example of the technology is the Mechanical Tree developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his team at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. His recent research has revealed how sorbent materials can capture and release carbon, which is a key capability of all air capture systems. In a new research paper, he and three colleagues explain precisely how sorbent materials ­capture and release carbon. That discovery could lead to better designs for carbon capturing sorbent materials and be used to improve the performance of Lackner’s Mechanical Tree systems.

  • Train derailment, bridge collapse under investigation in Tempe

    Train derailment, bridge collapse under investigation in Tempe

    Flames and thick black smoke billowed into sky at Tempe Town Lake near ASU when a freight train derailment and bridge collapse ignited a fire on a section of the railway bridge over the lake. Some of the train cars contained toxic and flammable material. For comment about the impacts and aftermath of the damage, reporters sought out Anthony Lamanna, associate professor and undergraduate program chair for construction management in the Fulton Schools Del E. Webb School of Construction. Lamanna commented on factors that are likely to be examined in an investigation of the derailment and the fire. Lamanna, whose expertise includes bridge assessment, strengthening and repair, said it must be determined if the train derailment caused the bridge collapse or a bridge collapse caused the derailment.

    See Also: Investigators working to find cause of train derailment, bridge collapse in Tempe, 3 TV/CBS 5 News-Phoenix, July 29

  • Watcher in the Wastewater

    Watcher in the Wastewater

    Scientists say monitoring of urban wastewater could improve surveillance systems for detecting COVID-19 and other pathogens —disease-causing bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms. Various studies around the world are showing that genetic traces of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen in wastewater indicate trends in the spread of COVID-19. Among those carrying out significant wastewater monitoring projects is Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his research team at ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. The team is leading a wastewater surveillance program for the city of Tempe. Halden says the monitoring can’t reveal precise numbers of infected individuals within a specific geographical area, but can provide general assessments of whether disease rates in particular areas are falling or rising.

  • Efforts to cool Phoenix include pale pavement coating to reflect sunlight

    Efforts to cool Phoenix include pale pavement coating to reflect sunlight

    With much of its ground surface covered in concrete, asphalt and similar pavement materials, Phoenix offers a prime example of the urban heat island effect — which produces persistent and uncomfortably high temperatures in the metropolitan area, especially in summer. The city is now embarking on a Cool Pavement Pilot Program to attempt to prevent the heat buildup on streets and other paved expanses. Experts in ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center, including Fulton Schools Assistance Professor Ariane Middel, are among engineering and science consultants for the project. Reducing the heat buildup would also help to save money on electric bills and cut down on air pollution from greenhouse gas emissions, Middel says. The articles was also published in the Daily Independent.

    See Also: How Reflective Paint Can Combat The Urban Heat Island Effect, KJZZ News (NPR), July 24 (an interviewwith Ariane Middel)

  • Researchers at ASU double down on their drive to improve and save lives

    Researchers at ASU double down on their drive to improve and save lives

    ASU’s Skysong Innovations team is helping many of the university’s leading researchers to put their creativity and technological skills to work helping to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Among them are Fulton Schools faculty members. Cody Friesen, associate professor of materials science and engineering, is helping to bring clean water to communities around the world through his Zero Mass Water startup. Jennifer Blain Christen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working with a multidisciplinary team of ASU researchers to develop a novel diagnostic for the COVID-19 disease. Klaus Lackner, a physicist and professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, is leading research at his Center for Negative Carbon Emissions to develop carbon-capture technologies to remove dangerous greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

  • Researchers investigating possible link between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19

    Researchers investigating possible link between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19

    Researchers conjecture that a strong immune system may provide individuals some defense against COVID-19 — and one way to maintain a healthy immune system is by avoiding a vitamin D deficiency. James Adams, a Fulton Schools professor of materials science and engineering, is among those who are leading research to discover if vitamin D supplements can help prevent infection by the novel coronavirus or even help in recovery from the disease. Adams is heading a preliminary study of vitamin D in COVID-19 patients in conjunction with the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine. It’s not clear if vitamin D deficiency causes severe COVID-19 symptoms, or if the deficiency is another symptom of the disease, Adams says. But he is hoping research reveals whether vitamin D has a potential as supplemental treatment for COVID in conjunction with drugs or vaccines.

  • ‘U.S. will continue to lead the world in scientific investment and innovation’

    ‘U.S. will continue to lead the world in scientific investment and innovation’

    In his new job as director of the National Science Foundation, Fulton Schools Professor Sethuraman Panchanathan foresees the agency putting multiple goals on its list of priorities under his leadership. More medical and health research, helping to boost breakthroughs in technologies such as artificial intelligence, and supporting advances in quantum information science, wireless communications and synthetic biology are on that list. There’s also strengthening productive scientific relationships with other countries and with industry. Panchanathan sees the United States continuing to make investment in science innovation one of its most important national priorities. Panchathan is on leave from his education and research leadership positions at ASU while serving as the NSF’s director.

  • Inside Your World: COVID-19 early warning system

    Inside Your World: COVID-19 early warning system

    A sewage-testing program in Tempe, Arizona, led by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his research team at ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering is drawing interest from communities around the United States. The testing program is revealing information about the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tempe and helping guide city officials in taking steps to control outbreaks of the coronavirus infection. After several months of testing, the results show the monitoring program is effective. Halden says the same kind of effort could be implemented in more tan 100,000 wastewater treatment facilities worldwide if sufficient resources are invested in testing.

    See Also: Testing wastewater could be next clue in fighting coronavirus, Fox17 News (Nashville), July 16

  • Advice for the new NSF director

    Advice for the new NSF director

    Mary Sue Coleman, president of the Association of American Universities, says the United States faces formidable national security, economic and social justice challenges. Coleman writes in an editorial that aiding progress in those areas should be a priority for Sethuraman Panchanathan (pictured), the Fulton Schools professor who is on leave from his ASU leadership roles to serve as the director of the National Science Foundation. The country can benefit from a deeper public understanding of the value of science and engineering, more diversity in the science and engineering workforce, and ways to more efficiently move innovative research advances into the marketplace, Coleman says. She urges Panchanathan to become one of the nation’s leading advocates for such causes.

  • ASU professor, doctoral student develop program to detect ‘fake news’

    ASU professor, doctoral student develop program to detect ‘fake news’

    Mix the expanding capabilities of powerful technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning with increasing access to far-reaching communications platforms. Combine those factors with a lot of people persistently and craftily working to create and control the political and social narratives that shape public viewpoints. That’s a recipe for “fake news” to proliferate and thrive. Huan Liu, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering, and computer science doctoral student Kai Shu, are among experts working to develop defenses against the growing pervasiveness of false narratives that are sowing divisiveness into today’s world. In an interview, they discuss the complexities of the fake news environment and the challenges of helping people discern what’s real from what’s not.

    See Also: Fake news spotter under development at ASU, EdScoop, July 17

  • Data analytics can predict global warming trends, heat waves

    Data analytics can predict global warming trends, heat waves

    New research is revealing data that can provide early warning signals of potentially catastrophic weather events and climate trends, particularly severe heat waves and global warming. The methods to detect and track the warning signs to enable such predictive capabilities are the work of Zhihua Wang, a Fulton Schools associate professor whose expertise includes climate modeling and land-atmospheric interactions, and Chenghao Wang, a former ASU research scientist now at the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University. The researchers say the methods are applicable for predicting extreme weather events within the next few days or weeks and also forecasting meteorological and climate trends over coming decades or even longer. The article also appears in the Eurasia Review, TDnews and Phys.org.

    See Also: Climate change: Scientists look at 20th century data, heat extremes for early-warning signals, Down To Earth, July 16 

  • Is it safe to microwave food?

    Is it safe to microwave food?

    Food cooked with microwave radiation generally poses little risk to people’s health. But microwaving food in plastic containers might lead to significant problems. Some research has shown that some foods will lose a good portion of their nutritional value and their antioxidant benefits. Other studies suggest certain risks from cooking starchy foods in microwaves.  The big threat, however, appears to be what could happen when the food is cooked in plastic containers, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Certain chemicals from the containers have been shown to seep into the food — chemicals that might disrupt the healthy functioning of the body’s hormones and overall metabolism.

     

  • A U.S. Firm Is Turning Arabian Desert Air Into Bottled Water

    A U.S. Firm Is Turning Arabian Desert Air Into Bottled Water

    The Arabian Desert might be one of the last places to come to mind as a potential source for drinking water. But Zero Mass Water, a startup founded by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering, may change that notion. The company plans to put its renewable energy based system into operation in the United Arab Emirates. The system powered by solar energy draws moisture from the air to produce clean water. The facility the company is building near the city of Dubai could offer a model for other dry desert regions to produce drinking water in sustainable ways. Friesen also wants to start using Zero Mass Water’s capabilities to provide water for agricultural uses. (The article was also published in The Economic Times and the Bangkok Post.)

  • Rolf Halden / Sewage COVID

    Rolf Halden / Sewage COVID

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is interviewed about the work of his research team at ASU Biodesign Institute‘s Center for Environmental Health Engineering that is giving communities an assessment of the levels of infection from the COVID-19 virus among the local populace. Researchers are doing this by chemical monitoring of the contents of wastewater, which Halden calls an “information super highway” that is providing accurate and valuable data about the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wastewater samples contain all the bodily fluids and other substances physicians examine to diagnose individuals’ health, Halden says, so “the sewage doesn’t lie.”

    See Also: Tempe using wastewater data to increase outreach, COVID-19 testing in parts of north Tempe, Arizona Republic, July 13

  • Phoenix using ‘cool pavement’ to try lowering temperatures

    Phoenix using ‘cool pavement’ to try lowering temperatures

    A team of ASU faculty members will conduct a year-long research project to assess the thermal impacts of new “cool pavements” on reducing the urban heat island effect in Phoenix. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ariane Middel and Professor Kamil Kaloush are on the team. Common pavement materials absorb heat in the daytime and release it at night. In Phoenix’s desert climate that can boost night-time temperatures more than 20 degrees, making paved areas especially uncomfortable. The researchers will help Phoenix officials measure the performance of the cool pavements in reducing that heat-radiating effect. School of Sustainability Assistant Professor Jennifer Vanos and School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning Professor David Sailor and Assistant Professor David Hondula are also on the research team.

    See Also: ‘Cool Pavement’ Coming Soon To Some Phoenix Neighborhoods, KJZZ (NPR), July 19

  • Why are Artificial Intelligence systems biased?

    Why are Artificial Intelligence systems biased?

    The world wide web and the internet have often been touted as impartial appraisers of information — and therefore reliable sources on which to base informed, objective decision making. But problems have arisen with the use of artificial intelligence systems used to gather and assess information from the web and the internet. Often, what AI provides reflects many ingrained societal biases, writes Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, a leader of major AI organizations and one of the experts who started the Conference on AI, Ethics and Society. Today, reining in such harmful biases is among the most urgent tasks in managing the risks of data-driven AI technology, Kambhampati says. One the positive side, many research institutions, corporations and governments are aware of the problem and appear willing to help solve it.

  • ASU’s top academic programs continue to climb in world rankings

    ASU’s top academic programs continue to climb in world rankings

    Among academic programs that made substantial gains in the recent Global Ranking of Academic Subjects was the Fulton Schools environmental science and engineering program, which finished 10th — up from 39th in 2019. Cutting-edge research that is contributing to public health, protecting the environment and development of solutions to the impacts of climate change have elevated the reputation of the program, says Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools. The Global Ranking rates more than 4,000 universities on 54 areas study.

  • ASU psychology department receives NSF funding to study behavioral effects of COVID-19

    ASU psychology department receives NSF funding to study behavioral effects of COVID-19

    Beyond its life-threatening physical toll, the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the mental health of many people. The National Science Foundation is supporting ASU researchers in exploring how the disease is affecting individuals’ emotional well-being and impacting their behavior. Among the research team members is D. Vaughan Becker, a Fulton Schools associate professor human systems engineering. Becker will join his colleagues to investigate how the pandemic might be spawning different societal prejudices, ideologies and viewpoints on public policies. The hope is that the research will help government leaders, corporations, institutions and the general populace learn how to better respond to and cope with psychological ramifications of the COVID-19 crises.

  • ASU professor redesigning cooling vests to deal with hot temperatures in Arizona

    ASU professor redesigning cooling vests to deal with hot temperatures in Arizona

    One of the engineering world’s most valuable contributions to clothing design and innovation could be the kinds of attire being conceived through research led by Konrad Rykaczewski, a Fulton Schools associate professor of mechanical engineering. The water-absorbing cooling vests he is developing show promise for leading to clothes that will enable wearers to better withstand the hot summer temperatures in places such as Phoenix and the surrounding desert environs in southern Arizona. Rykaczewski hopes to produce clothing that will especially protect people who work outdoors. At right is one of Rykaczewski’s vests shown in an infrared photograph that demonstrates its evaporative cooling capability.

  • Palm Coast to begin testing wastewater for COVID-19 RNA

    Palm Coast to begin testing wastewater for COVID-19 RNA

    As it prepares to reopen schools in the midst of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Palm Coast is turning to Aquavitas, a company that has spun off from research at the ASU Biodesign Institute‘s Center for Environmental Health Engineering led by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden. The Florida city is partnering with the state’s health department for a wastewater epidemiology project to determine where in the community the threat of COVID-19 infection is highest. Aquavitas specializes in developing data-driven environmental diagnoses in efforts to protect public health. Along with Halden, AquaVitas is led by chief executive Adam Gushgari, who earned a doctoral degree in civil, environmental and sustainable engineering from the Fulton Schools, and chief technical officer Erin Driver, an ASU assistant research scientist.

  • Covid Drives Real Businesses to Tap Deepfake Technology

    Covid Drives Real Businesses to Tap Deepfake Technology

    Images and videos generated by artificial intelligence technology became known as deepfakes, due to the intent of many creators of the imagery to deceive people. Now use of such manipulated images is moving into the mainstream. Major corporations are now using AI-synthesized imagery to enhance their marketing and advertisement — especially as COVID-19 restrictions make conventional videos more difficult to produce. Digitally made models are among the first AI-produced imagery in ads. Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science, AI researcher and a former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, says using synthetic models instead of real people might lead to a false sense of accomplishment that people from a wide range of groups are being represented in mass media when that is not actually the reality.

  • An optimist takes the helm at the National Science Foundation

    An optimist takes the helm at the National Science Foundation

    There are challenges aplenty for the agency that oversees the United States government’s support for scientific endeavors. Not everyone in the country’s leadership institutions agrees on what priorities should be set for the National Science Foundation or on a vision for its future. But the NSF’s new director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering, is positive about the outlook for the agency and the important strides it can make. Panchanathan is on leave from his position as ASU’s executive vice president and chief research and innovation officer to take the helm of the NSF. With his experience helping ASU evolve into a leading research university, he is confident he can help keep the agency on an upward trajectory.

    See Also: Indo-American Scientist Appointed Head Of America’s Top Science Funding Body, South Asian Link, July 5

June

2020
  • Testing wastewater for coronavirus: ASU researchers notice spike following end to lockdown

    Testing wastewater for coronavirus: ASU researchers notice spike following end to lockdown

    With his experience analyzing wastewater to detect signs of public health problems, Rolf Halden (pictured), a Fulton Schools professor of environmental engineering, wasn’t surprised to see a spike in cases of COVID-19 in Arizona after the state ended the lockdown of certain types of businesses and lifted restrictions on public gatherings. Most of those measures have been reinstated as the number of cases have since risen sharply. But Halden says reducing the spread of COVID-19 infections will also require more conscientious actions by individuals to follow health guidelines to protect themselves from contracting the disease.

  • ASU research and innovation leader Sethuraman Panchanathan confirmed as National Science Foundation director

    ASU research and innovation leader Sethuraman Panchanathan confirmed as National Science Foundation director

    Sethuraman Panchanathan is the new director of the National Science Foundation, the U.S. government’s top science agency. He will take an extended leave from his positions as ASU’s executive vice president and chief research and innovation officer — and as a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering — to take on his new duties helping set the course for the nation’s science endeavors. He is the second American of Indian origin to take the job. See more news coverage from around the world of Panchanathan’s appointment as NSF director: Daily Excelsior, American Bazaar, Nextgov, Hindustan Times, Outlook India, Business Today, New India Times, ExecutiveGov, HPC Wire, Deccan Herald, TechGenyz, The Siatat Journal.

  • Valley water technology company looks to expand after $50M cash infusion

    Valley water technology company looks to expand after $50M cash infusion

    A company founded by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering, appears to be the verge of a major expansion in the use of its system that employs solar energy technology to produce drinking water by capturing moisture from the air. The venture called Zero Mass Water has attracted a substantial amount of new funding from major business investment sources. Friesen says the company’s ultimate mission is to contribute to ensuring the safe drinking water is available around the world. (Subscriber access only)

  • Carbon tax should fund CO2 removal, says CEO of ‘mechanical trees’ firm

    Carbon tax should fund CO2 removal, says CEO of ‘mechanical trees’ firm

    Funding development and use of so-called mechanical trees designed to clean carbon dioxide from the atmosphere should be funded by tax revenues, says the CEO of an Irish company that produces the structures. The mechanical trees are among technologies developed through research led by Fulton Schools Profess Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at ASU. The trees are among the tools the center has devised for capturing carbon dioxide to reduce the environmental threat posed by greenhouse gases building up in the atmosphere. The work is contributing to the emergence of a carbon disposal industry.

  • Covid 19: CDC Report On Feces And Coronavirus Will Change How You Use The Bathroom

    Covid 19: CDC Report On Feces And Coronavirus Will Change How You Use The Bathroom

    The possibility of fecal transmission of the coronavirus responsible for the COVD-19 pandemic is being suggested by some medical and research sources. But Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says that while such a transmission route should be investigated, it is certainly not the primary way the disease is being spread. Others point to a report by the Centers for Disease Control demonstrating the virus could live in feces. Bottom line: People should take steps to ensure their use of restrooms follows guidelines to protect themselves from contact with fecal material.

    See Also: Tempe first to combine strategies to learn how water sources can affect our public health, Wrangler News, June 20

  • With every flush, a stream of data for these coronavirus trackers

    With every flush, a stream of data for these coronavirus trackers

    Monitoring and analyzing the contents of communities’ wastewater streams is revealing useful information for tracking the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his research team at ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering have been undertaking similar studies to assess public health conditions for many years. Now, with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, the value of that work is being widely recognized and the expansion of “wastewater epidemiology” on a global scale is seen as critical to future efforts to protect against widespread health threats.

  • ASU researcher tests face mask efficiency before and after sterilization

    ASU researcher tests face mask efficiency before and after sterilization

    Wearing of protective face masks is seen as providing a significant defense against exposure to the type of coronavirus responsible for the COBID-19 pandemic. But does sterilization of the masks make them more or less effective in shielding users from airborne particles and vaporous droplets that can spread the infection? Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff and fellow researcher Pierre Herckes, a professor in ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences, are leading work funded by the National Science Foundation to answer the question. For now, they say, wearing a mask, whether it’s been disinfected recently or not, is the wise choice — along with washing your hands.

  • ASU launches nation’s 1st master of innovation degree program

    ASU launches nation’s 1st master of innovation degree program

    A first-of-its-kind Masters of Innovation and Venture Development is being launched by the Fulton Schools, along with ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. To graduate from the program, students must  launch a new product or service — specifically one that contributes solutions to societal problems and/or addresses related business community issues and challenges. Faculty from each of the three schools will co-teach courses and guide student teams in a real-world business start-up environment. Brent Sebold, a Fulton Schools Academic and Student Affairs lecturer and a university-based entrepreneurship and innovation programs administrator, is among the new degree program’s founding faculty members.

    See Also: ASU launching yearlong innovation, venture development master’s program, KTAR, June 22

  • ASU’s Rolf Halden On New Book ‘Environment’

    ASU’s Rolf Halden On New Book ‘Environment’

    Damage we are doing to the natural environment is a growing threat to human health. That’s the urgent warning Rolf Halden gives in his new book. The idea that there is a barrier between people and nature is a mistaken perception that makes us think we can degrade the environment without similarly negative consequences for society, says Halden, a Fulton Schools professor of environmental engineering. His research includes analyzing wastewater in public facilities to identify toxins, viruses and other indications of biohazards to which communities are being exposed. Such studies reflect the fact that if land, water and air around us are polluted, then we essentially become polluted as well. But Halden says he sees signs of an awakening to the reality that protecting the ecological health of our surroundings is essential to quality of life.

    See Also: Yale Scientists Use The Sewer System To Track And Predict Changes In Coronavirus Outbreak, WNPR-Connecticut Pubic Radio, June 10 (Rolf Halden is quoted)

  • Artificial Intelligence Can Predict Our Behavior, But It Had To Adjust To COVID-19

    Artificial Intelligence Can Predict Our Behavior, But It Had To Adjust To COVID-19

    The “digital footprints” we produce of ourselves through use of the internet and other online activity can enable artificial intelligence technologies to compose behavioral portraits of people and communities. Those depictions can be used to formulate predictions about the future actions and choices of individuals and groups. While such forecasting capabilities may sound disturbing to many, Subbarao Kambhampati (pictured), a Fulton Schools professor of computer science, says such footprint data can also contribute to revealing significant information and identifying trends that can be employed in the cause of such efforts as combating major public threats like the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Clamming up (and down and sideways)

    Clamming up (and down and sideways)

    Studying the digging skills of razor clams is helping researchers such as Fulton Schools Associate Professor Junliang Tao design technologies to explore subsurface environments. Tao, a geotechnical engineer, is developing robots that can mimic the way clams “swim” through soil. The multidirectional motions they use to move underground can provide a blueprint for mobile devices equipped with sensors, power and communication components. With such capabilities, small burrowing robots could work collectively to perform studies of potential building or agricultural sites, or aid search and rescue operations. Read more about Tao’s work: Burrowing Sensor Robots Could Unearth Nature’s Subterranean Secrets, Mimicking Nature To Enhance Search For Knowledge Underground.

  • 6 Cybersecurity Stocks Keeping Your Data Safe

    6 Cybersecurity Stocks Keeping Your Data Safe

    The modern work culture is changing rapidly as more people are doing their jobs remotely — at home or elsewhere — instead in company offices. Then there’s the emerging 5G network infrastructure that is enabling more robust communications and connectivity possibilities. But those expanding technological capabilities also present tougher cybersecurity challenges, says Brad Allenby, a Fulton Schools professor and a professor of engineering and ethics with ASU’s Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics. More network devices and bigger volumes of data mean an increasing need for more effective ways to protect the privacy of data and other corporate and personal information, Allenby says.

  • The world’s first building made from carbon-fiber reinforced concrete starts construction in Germany

    The world’s first building made from carbon-fiber reinforced concrete starts construction in Germany

    Work is beginning on a new university building in Germany claimed to be the first in the world that will be constructed entirely of carbon fiber reinforced concrete. Advocates for use of the material say it offers more durability and is better for the environment than the standard mix of building materials. Barzin Mobasher, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, has been researching and working with structure-reinforcing materials for decades. Mobasher says the carbon-reinforced material provides more resistance to cracking and erosion than conventional steel and concrete building components. The use of the new alternative, however, still faces some regulatory and economic hurdles.

    See also: Carbonhaus is the World’s First Building Made of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Composites Manufacturing, June 12

  • Our Infrastructure Is Being Built for a Climate That’s Already Gone

    Our Infrastructure Is Being Built for a Climate That’s Already Gone

    Climate change and related environmental factors mean that the kinds of civil infrastructure built in the past no longer provide a reliable guide for designing, building or replacing electrical power lines, roads, dams, railways, reservoirs, sewage systems, pipelines and other essential public amenities. Engineers such as Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, warn that using the old models will produce infrastructure that is likely to fail when facing the array of changes in water flow, temperatures, storm severity and similar climatological trends already affecting much of world. As never before, Chester says, we must design for uncertainty and extremes.

  • This Bot Hunts Software Bugs for the Pentagon

    This Bot Hunts Software Bugs for the Pentagon

    A tool called Mayhem has proved to be a prolific prober of software to unmask security flaws. The software bug finder earned the team that made it the top prize in a major cybersecurity technology challenge. Mayhem has since been used successfully by U.S. military forces and has found flaws in software that controls networking devices and automotive and aerospace systems. Ruoyu Wang, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of computer science and engineering, says the next step is for bots like Mayhem to become capable of collaborating with humans. Wang is working on more powerful bug-finding software that relies on help from humans, whom he says are able to understand the intent and functioning of computer software programs in ways Mayhem can’t.

May

2020
  • Utah researchers looking at sewage for answers on coronavirus rates

    Utah researchers looking at sewage for answers on coronavirus rates

    Officials and researchers in Utah are looking at what is in wastewater to attempt getting an indication of the prevalence of COVID-19 infections in various communities in the state. They’re hoping that more localized data gathered from analyzing the contents of wastewater treatment plants will provide more details about infection rates than testing thousands of people for the disease. The diagnostic wastewater testing method has been developed over more than 15 years in work led by Rolf Halden, a Fulton Schools professor of environmental engineering. The ongoing project has since expanded its studies to include wastewater samples from more than 300 cities around the world to help assess local public health conditions.

    See Also: COVID-19 in wastewater can show the virus’s spread, hotspots, UA researchers find, Arizona Daily Star, May 30

  • Mobile weather station can measure how a person experiences heat

    Mobile weather station can measure how a person experiences heat

    Hot days in places like the desert Southwest can feel even hotter in cities as a result of the urban heat island effect — brought on by heat radiating from concrete building surfaces and pavements. Ariane Middel, an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, is measuring the impact of heat on people with her one-of-a-kind mobile weather station. The technology takes temperature and climatological factors into consideration, helping Middel explore ways cities can keep their outdoor environments cooler despite the high temperatures. One potential solution? Cityscapes that feature buildings and public infrastructure designed to provide more shaded areas.

  • CDC REPORT ON FECES AND CORONAVIRUS WILL CHANGE HOW YOU USE THE BATHROOM

    CDC REPORT ON FECES AND CORONAVIRUS WILL CHANGE HOW YOU USE THE BATHROOM

    Exposure to droplets from our mouths might not be the only way we are transmitting the coronavirus virus to others. The Centers for Disease Control reports findings indicating feces could be a source of transmission. That possibility should change how people use restrooms, health experts say. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, founder of ASU’s Human Health Observatory, says that particular path of transmission has not been strongly confirmed, but he still encourages caution in staying clear of poop particles. Halden and his research team are already examining the contents of wastewater for signs of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection. He advocates nationwide wastewater tracking to get a more accurate estimate of the spread of the infection from the virus.

    See Also: Flinn Foundation extends grantmaking response to COVID-19 in Arizona, May 19
    The Flinn Foundation’s grant to ASU will fund a COVID-19 environmental surveillance project led by Professor Rolf Halden that will use wastewater epidemiology to identify hot spots of COVID-19 infections.

  • There’s Still Time To Get A (Remote) Summer Internship

    There’s Still Time To Get A (Remote) Summer Internship

    With the coronavirus crisis came the cancellation of many college student summer internships. But thanks to technologies that enable working remotely, many companies are offering online internship options. Fulton Schools student Ananay Arora is among those who have landed a position. He’s working with a software engineering team at the California-based Apple technology company from his apartment near ASU’s main campus. Arora has also joined two fellow Fulton Schools students to start a website to help students find remote summer internship opportunities. Other websites and job services operations are helping students get intern work in a tough job market. Related article: ASU students enable peers worldwide to navigate internship uncertainty.

  • Cool clothing invented for hot climes

    Cool clothing invented for hot climes

    There is plenty of clothing to protect humans from exposure in frigid climates, but not much to keep people safe from the heat of summertime in especially hot environments like the desert Southwest. Konrad Rykaczewski, a Fulton Schools associate professor of mechanical engineering is helping to remedy that imbalance. He is developing designs for ventilated clothing with materials that reflect solar radiation and also keep wearers cooler by slowing evaporation, trapping moisture, increasing air flow around the body and providing small shade elements. Rykaczewski intends to keep developing and testing the clothing with an eye toward commercialization in few years.

  • Excitonic complexes in 2D semiconductors exploited to achieve optical gain

    Excitonic complexes in 2D semiconductors exploited to achieve optical gain

    Combining the capabilities of nanolasers and semiconductors has the potential for enabling advances in electronics and related technologies. Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering Cun-Zheng Ning and his research collaborators have unlocked some of the workings of physics that promise to yield a significant advancement. They’ve discovered a process for producing low-power nanolasers in 2D semiconductor materials. The achievement could lead to improvements in high-speed communication channels for supercomputers and data centers. Read more: Researchers shed new light on creating nanolasers using 2D materials.

  • New stimulation approach produces ‘form vision’ in blind people

    New stimulation approach produces ‘form vision’ in blind people

    Bradley Greger (pictured), a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering, is among researchers whose efforts are aiding advances in the combining of cortical vision prostheses and brain-machine interfaces to help people with blindness. Specialists in the field are implanting the medical device in those with profound blindness in a way that provides visual information directly to the brain. Greger says the same technology could potentially restore other senses, such as loss of touch due to spinal cord injury and improve treatment of people with neurological disorders such a Parkinson’s disease.

  • 3 students win Udall scholarship to pursue environmental, tribal careers

    3 students win Udall scholarship to pursue environmental, tribal careers

    Fulton Schools biomedical engineering student Nekiyah Draper is one of three ASU students among the recent winners of the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship. The awards recognize outstanding Native American undergraduates who are pursuing careers in public policy, health or environmental fields. After earning her undergraduate degree, Draper plans to pursue a graduate degree while working at a prosthetics manufacturing lab. She aspires to become a certified prosthetist and eventually operate prosthetics labs on the Navajo Nation.

  • The future of flying is up in the air

    The future of flying is up in the air

    In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger numbers on U.S. airlines so far this year are down by 95% over last year. Few, if any,  industry observers say they’re certain what this means in the long term for commercial passenger aviation. But many agree things won’t revert to the way they before COVID-19. Tim Takahashi, a Fulton Schools professor of practice in aerospace engineering, expects airlines to take steps to provide space between passengers, plus take other measures to protect air travelers’ health. The best solution will come only when a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, says Marc O’Brien, chair of the Fulton Schools aviation program.

  • ASU Professor Creates Lab at Home to Support Healthcare Workers

    ASU Professor Creates Lab at Home to Support Healthcare Workers

    Michael Kozicki (pictured) is using his years of experience in micro contamination management to provide a useful service for health care workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kozicki, a Fulton Schools electrical engineering professor, has built a laboratory in his home to perform studies of ozone reconditioning of surgical masks and related medical gear. The reconditioning helps health care professionals keep their work and personal materials safe, as well as enabling reuse of critical medical items that are in short supply. This work became part of a program spearheaded by students at ASU’s Luminosity Lab who are now making and deploying sterilization systems to Arizona health care facilities.

  • ‘Cool pavement’ experiments help urban planners find ways to ease rising temperatures

    ‘Cool pavement’ experiments help urban planners find ways to ease rising temperatures

    One way in which cities in warmer regions are trying the reduce the impact of heat on residents is by the use of reflective coatings on street pavements. The coatings reflect sunlight rather than storing it and converting it into heat. Ariane Middel (pictured), an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, and a colleague who is an urban planning researcher at UCLA are finding that the effectiveness of using reflective coatings and “cool pavements” can vary in different situations and are not a one-size-fits-all solution to heat mitigation. Middel says a combination of strategies, including urban infrastructure designed to provide more shading and development of heat-reducing technologies, will be needed to keep desert regions livable.

  • Vegetation shifts can outweigh climate change in desert rangelands

    Vegetation shifts can outweigh climate change in desert rangelands

    Researchers from ASU, the University of California, Riverside, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture report a surprising discovery about the impact of a change in vegetation on desert range lands in the Southwest. It has been thought that when woody shrubs replace grasses on the desert terrain, it results in less water entering streams and groundwater aquifers. A new study finds encroachment of shrubs on sloping landscape can instead increase the amount of water going into groundwater storage. One of the researchers, Enrique Vivoni, a professor in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, says the study verifies that land topography plays a big role in redistributing available water in deserts.

  • Zoom plans to hire hundreds of engineers for video R&D centers in Phoenix, Pittsburgh areas

    Zoom plans to hire hundreds of engineers for video R&D centers in Phoenix, Pittsburgh areas

    The fast-growing company Zoom Video Communications plans to locate one of two new research and development centers in the Phoenix area and hire hundreds of engineers to work at the facilities in the next few years. The CEO of the leading video-conferencing venture said the decision to expand into Arizona was influenced by an “incredibly well-educated, skilled and diverse talent pool” provided by the state’s universities. ASU President Michael Crow cited the 4,500 engineering graduates coming out of ASU each year, plus the high caliber of the university’s engineering faculty as a draw for companies looking for innovators in technological fields.

    See also: Zoom To Expand With Engineering Center In Phoenix, Patch, May 14

    Zoom to hire hundreds in Phoenix for R&D facility, Phoenix Business Journal, May 14 (subscriber access only)

    Behind the deal: how ASU’s engineering growth attracted Zoom to Arizona, May 17 (subsriber access only)

    Zoom expanding to Phoenix, hiring for hundreds of tech jobs, May 14, Fox10 New-Phoenix

    Zoom to launch new research and development center near ASU, The State Press, May 14

    Zoom to open research and development center in Phoenix, create hundreds of jobs, 3TV/CBS 5 News-Phoenix, May 15

  • Vancouver in pilot program to look for COVID-19 clues in wastewater

    Vancouver in pilot program to look for COVID-19 clues in wastewater

    Vancouver, Washington, is among an increasing number of cities to use methods for testing wastewater to reveal clues to the prevalence of the COVID-19 virus in communities. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is among researchers pioneering wastewater-based epidemiology to mine sewage for indicators of human health. Halden, director of ASU’s  Center for Environmental Health Engineering, and his lab team use a process called polymerase chain reaction testing to identify fragments of virus-associated RNA, the ribonucleic acid that carries the virus’s genetic information. Halden says the process provides a more accurate way to assess the spread of the coronavirus than individual medical testing.

    See Also: Sewage may help map virus spread, Boston Globe

  • ASU, Banner Health team up to ease COVID-19 patient isolation

    ASU, Banner Health team up to ease COVID-19 patient isolation

    ASU’s first all-virtual hackathon aimed to provide COVID-19 patients technology to connect them with family members and other loved ones while they are in medical isolation. For the Devil’s Invent Hackathon, students worked with Banner Health’s Innovation Group to devise technical solutions for families of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when hospitals visits are restricted. More than 100 ASU students and faculty members joined the effort directed by Anthony Kuhn, a Fulton Schools lecturer. Two winning solutions were selected from more than a dozen presentations. Members of those teams included Fulton Schools students Bodhi England, Xueqi Li, Kashish Patel, Dhrasti Dalai, Krishna Koparde and Thanzima Rahman.

  • Can you get coronavirus from a public pool or water slide?

    Can you get coronavirus from a public pool or water slide?

    What public recreational activities are safe to participate in as Arizona allows some businesses to reopen while the state is still trying to prevent spread of the COVID-19 pandemic? Arizona’s governor says plans for gyms and swimming pools to open are coming soon. Morteza Abbaszadegan, a Fulton Schools professor of environmental microbiology and director of the National Science Foundation Water and Environmental Technology Center, says it is unlikely people would contract the COVID-19 virus in a well-maintained swimming pool because the chlorine used in pool water inactivates the virus. But Abbaszadegan cautions people to be careful not to come into contact with railings or similar frequently touched surfaces around pools that might harbor the virus.

  • Computer Scientists Build New Tool to Fight Coronavirus

    Computer Scientists Build New Tool to Fight Coronavirus

    To support medical researchers seeking ways to treat people infected by COVID-19, computer scientists are applying their skills in artificial intelligence. They’re using AI to compile and correlate relevant data to help track the spread of the pandemic and identify people at high risk of infection, says Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.  In addition, Kambhampati says AI experts are combing through large volumes of research findings to provide new insights that could help researchers target their work to develop a vaccine or provide more effective health care options to help patients.  

  • ASU researchers find decline in coronavirus traces in Tempe wastewater

    ASU researchers find decline in coronavirus traces in Tempe wastewater

    Wastewater testing by ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, has helped the City of Tempe learn that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is on the decline in the community. The center’s researchers have been looking at the average traces of the coronavirus in the wastewater over 24-hour periods. Halden says such testing provides a more accurate assessment of the rate of infection in an area than simply counting the people who come to hospitals with COVD-19 symptoms. Now the neighboring cities of Guadalupe and Gilbert will have the center’s researchers conduct analysis of their wastewater to gauge the levels of coronavirus presence among the local populations.

    See Also: Breakthrough in efforts by ASU researchers to track COVID-19 through wastewater, Fox 10 News-Phoenix, May 8

    Researchers test wastewater to identify Covid-19 hotspots, Water Technology, May 8

  • ASU scientists searching sewers for traces of COVID-19

    ASU scientists searching sewers for traces of COVID-19

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden has been among the first researchers to promote testing of wastewater for the abundance of information it can provide about human health. He has gotten good results using wastewater monitoring techniques to test for levels of opioid use in local communities and to track the spread of seasonal flu outbreaks. Now his lab team’s attention has been turned to assessing the levels of outbreaks of COVID-19 infection in urban areas. That testing offers a much more accurate picture of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic than results of testing individuals for the infection, Halden says. He is hoping his team’s success will motivate more wastewater-based testing throughout the U.S.

    See Also: As Indiana Reopens, One City Scans Sewage for Guidance, MedPageToday, May 7

    How far has the coronavirus spread? The answer may be in the sewers, MSN.com, May 5

    Rhinelander Spread Tons Of Sludge Near Site Of Contaminated Wells, WPRX Public Radio (Wisconsin), May 5

  • The Environmental Issue with Contact Lenses No One Is Talking About

    The Environmental Issue with Contact Lenses No One Is Talking About

    Contact lenses flushed in toilets or washed down sinks each year in the United States add up to between six to 10 million tons of plastic, eventually adding to the troubling amounts of plastic waste in the world’s waterways and oceans. Those plastics and the chemicals in them can have detrimental effects on the food chain among aquatic organisms, animals and humans, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, an environmental engineer who presented his lab’s research on plastics pollution at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Without widespread efforts to safely recycle plastics and reduce their use overall, the threat of increasingly significant environmental damage will grow.

  • On-the-ground for L.A.’s far-reaching climate strategy

    On-the-ground for L.A.’s far-reaching climate strategy

    A “street-smart” robot named MaRTy, the creation of Ariane Middel, an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, is playing a role in strategies to keep Los Angeles cool as climate change is making things warmer — especially in major metropolitan areas. MaRTy, an assemblage of meteorological sensors, is one of the tools aiding researchers from ASU and UCLA in assessing what will and won’t work to diminish the impact from rising heat in the Los Angeles area. MaRTy is being used to evaluate the effectiveness of the city’s Cool Street program. Middel says efforts to reduce the urban heat island effect in cities, along with other climate change impacts, must be tackled not only on a technical level but approached as public health and community building efforts.

  • Street smarts required in heat mitigation

    Street smarts required in heat mitigation

    Solar reflective coatings are being used on city streets to keep surrounding temperatures lower during summer months. Radiant temperatures from road pavement have a big impact on how a people experience heat in dense urban environments. But the reflective street coatings aren’t actually cooling those temperatures enough to make a dramatic difference to pedestrians, says Adrianne Middel and other ASU researchers. Middel, an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, is director of Sensable HeatScapes and Digital Environments, or the SHaDE Lab. Her studies of roadway heat mitigation efforts are showing city planners need to focus additionally on planting trees and providing shade structures to take the heat off people.

  • ASU partners with local cities to test coronavirus levels in sewage water

    ASU partners with local cities to test coronavirus levels in sewage water

    ASU researchers are partnering with three cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area to monitor the cities’ wastewater to gauge the levels of COVID-19 infections in those communities. The effort could help establish an early warning system to help detect potential threats to public health before those threats turn into disease outbreaks, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of the ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Researchers are capable of monitoring in real time data gathered from wastewater that indicates traces of coronavirus and other information critical to protecting people’s health, Halden says. This approach might also have economic benefits by reducing the need to spend public funds to perform clinical coronavirus tests.

    See Also: Scientists Turn to Sewage as Indicator of Coronavirus Spread in Population, News 18 India, May 1

    The true number of coronavirus cases might be found in raw sewage, South Florida Sun Sentinel, May 1

    Testing insufficient, researchers analyze sewage to check spread of coronavirus, Microbiz India, May 1

April

2020
  • Tempe testing for COVID-19, expecting to publish results later this week

    Tempe testing for COVID-19, expecting to publish results later this week

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden (pictured) and his team at ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering are planning to soon release a report on their studies of wastewater in Tempe that’s expected to provide real-time data about the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city. It should enable residents to see information on the city’s website about the levels of COVID-19 infection in specific neighborhoods. Halden says what the contents of Tempe’s wastewater reveal will have implications for Arizona and the country. The analytical techniques used to test the water and the results those tests produce can guide other places in efforts to assess the presence of coronavirus infection in their areas. The findings will help Tempe officials in deciding whether to loosen or tighten public restrictions depending on the prevalence of infection.

    See Also: ASU researchers believe sewage gives them a way to track the coronavirus, Fox10 News-Phoenix, April 28

  • Coronavirus curve flattening in Arizona, ASU experts say

    Coronavirus curve flattening in Arizona, ASU experts say

    There are numerous cases of coronavirus infection cases in Arizona and the numbers continue to rise. But the spread of COVID-19 in the state does appear to be leveling off, according to an Arizona Department of Health Services report. The number of cases seems to be manageable at this point, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Esma Gel, who contributed to the report. The studies behind the findings don’t conclude what strategies — such as school closures and social distancing — are having a significant impact on the slowing numbers of infections. Projections about the pandemic are based on a disease transmission model developed by the team of ASU researchers that is still “a work in progress,” Gel says, but can provide officials a guide for making decisions about how and when to lift public restrictions.

  • Worse Air Quality In Phoenix Communities Of Color Could Mean Higher COVID-19 Risk

    Worse Air Quality In Phoenix Communities Of Color Could Mean Higher COVID-19 Risk

    Air quality is playing a role in how communities are being most impacted by the COVID-19 disease. Higher air pollution can exacerbate the spread of infection from the virus. Darshan Karwat, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School for the Future of Science and Innovation, is doing research to assess environmental factors in Phoenix neighborhoods heighten the risk of residents to exposure to COVID-19. He sees a correlation between higher poverty and pollution levels and higher rates of illness. Karwat is working with ASU colleague Jennifer Vanos on a project to help determine what policy changes could help reduce disparities in pollution levels among Phoenix neighborhoods.

    See Also: What will traffic and pollution look like post-coronavirus? The Week, April 23
    Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, is quoted.

  • Poop could be the key to tracking COVID-19 outbreaks

    Poop could be the key to tracking COVID-19 outbreaks

    Studying the contents of wastewater is an especially accurate way to track the spread of the coronavirus that’s causing the COVID-19 pandemic. A single sample of wastewater can provide information that can’t be revealed through any other method, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Halden is one of the leading practitioners of wastewater-epidemiology and is hoping to work with colleagues in the field to assess the reach of COVID-19 into communities around the country. He and fellow researchers estimate their collective work could potentially test for the rate of COVID-19 infections among as much as 70 percent of the population.

    See Also: Wastewater Monitoring Gives Vital Clues About SARS-CoV-2 Spread, Technology Networks, April 24

    New Coronavirus detected, monitored in wastewater, Science Daily, April 23

  • New appointee Yung Koprowski brings wealth of transportation knowledge to Gilbert Town Council

    New appointee Yung Koprowski brings wealth of transportation knowledge to Gilbert Town Council

    Fulton Schools alumnus Young Koprowski says she will bring her background as a transportation engineer to her new post with the town council in Gilbert, east of Phoenix. Her experience as a business owner and employer will also serve her well in the position. Gilbert leaders are interested in employing technologies to improve traffic efficiency and minimize traffic problems. Koprowski’s certifications as a traffic operations engineer and a road safety professional also made her an attractive candidate for the council appointment. Read more about Koprowski’s accomplishments: Fulton Engineers Stand Out Among Phoenix Young Professionals.

  • L.A. hunkered down. But it hasn’t stopped building mansions, stadiums and apartments

    L.A. hunkered down. But it hasn’t stopped building mansions, stadiums and apartments

    Can a sprawling metropolis such as Los Angeles maintain precautions to keep public activity from increasing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic — especially if outdoor construction activity continues at a robust pace? While some states have limited construction activity, California categorizes it as essential work that should continue. The decision is drawing criticism, but Professor Edward George Gibson, chair of the Fulton Schools construction management program, says he trusts the construction industry to make safety and protection of people’s health a priority.

  • TESTING SEWAGE FOR CORONAVIRUS COULD HELP PREDICT FUTURE COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

    TESTING SEWAGE FOR CORONAVIRUS COULD HELP PREDICT FUTURE COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

    What researchers find — or don’t find — in wastewater could be critical to the success of any plans to ease restrictions on public activity in response the coronavirus pandemic. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, who directs ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says a recent study that  found the genetic material of the virus in treated wastewater validates the value of analyzing wastewater in helping to protect people from infection by the virus. Halden has coauthored a study in the journal Science of The Total Environment that explores the advantages and challenges of such wastewater-based epidemiology.

    See Also: Cost-effective wastewater-based epidemiology can extract vital health information, ASU NOW, April 23

    Waste water tests could monitor 2 billion people for the coronavirus, New Scientist, April 23 (subscriber access only)

  • Learning From Engineers

    Learning From Engineers

    To learn how to respond to public crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s useful to look at such potential catastrophes as an engineering problem that needs engineering solutions, say Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby and Associate Professor Mikhail Chester. The two civil, environmental, and sustainable engineering experts assert that the formulas and practices necessary to ensure public infrastructure systems are efficient and resilient could be applied to public health challenges such as the rapid spread of contagious diseases. From resource management, financial planning, coordination of government response efforts, public leadership strategies and the application of logistics, using engineering principles as a problem-solving model could help countries better cope with many serious threats to societal stability.

  • Researchers develop new process to up solar cell performance

    Researchers develop new process to up solar cell performance

    A major impediment to the efficiency of solar cells has been overcome through a collaboration of physicists and engineers, including David K. Ferry, a Fulton Schools emeritus professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering. Together they have developed a new approach to producing what’s called a hot carrier solar cell and combining it with ultrahigh-efficiency single junction semiconductor devices, which could raise solar cell efficiency by 20 percent —and possibly “revolutionize” the field of photovoltaics and renewable energy generation.

     

  • New 2-D Catalyst Fits Two Co-Catalysts on One Nanosheet for Better Water Purification

    New 2-D Catalyst Fits Two Co-Catalysts on One Nanosheet for Better Water Purification

    Christopher Muhich, a Fulton Schools professor of chemical engineering, is among a multi-university team of engineers and scientists to develop a new 2D catalyst that can improve water purification using the disinfection capability of hydrogen peroxide. While the project is still in early stages, researchers foresee providing an environmentally friendly process that increases the efficiency of the water decontamination without the need for additional chemical treatment. The nanotechnology-based effort is being carried out through the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, or NEWT, a National Science Foundation center in which ASU is a partner. Read about Muhich’s contribution to the project.

  • ASU team works to speed up wireless communication with millimeter waves

    ASU team works to speed up wireless communication with millimeter waves

    Ahmed Alkhateeb, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, is leading a team of students in using machine learning to speed up the availability of data by increasing the capability of millimeter wave communication systems. This type of electromagnetic wave works at a high frequency, making it optimal for enabling emerging 5G networks to transmit large data packets with minimal interruptions. Millimeter waves could allow carriers to transmit data speeds faster than ever, including downloading high capacity items such as movies within seconds. Alkhateeb’s team is hoping to combine machine learning and artificial intelligence to achieve significant advances in wireless communication and in overcoming other major related technological challenges.

  • ASU supplies health care providers with protective gear

    ASU supplies health care providers with protective gear

    Fulton Schools students such as biomedical engineering student Tarun Suresh (pictured) are involved in a community networking effort organized in response to the spread of the coronavirus that is connecting hospitals in need of supplies with ASU and community resources. Materials science and engineering student Julia Greteman leads one of the student production groups in ASU Luminosity Lab. She is using 3d printing technology to make protective face masks for health care workers. Two of the Fulton Schools, the School for the Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy and The Polytechnic School, are part of the response network’s ASU contingent.

  • From ants to algorithms

    From ants to algorithms

    ASU researchers are learning more about how organic systems evolve and function by studying ant colonies. Biologists, physicists and engineers, including Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic. By exploring the collective behavior of ants — how they communicate, organize labor and make decisions without central control — they are revealing an intriguing network in which all the parts work effectively by following their natural individual instincts. Pavlic, the associate director of The Biomimicry Center at ASU, is contributing his expertise in understanding adaptive decision-making strategies in autonomous systems.

  • A defense of geoengineering

    A defense of geoengineering

    How much should Earth’s environment be manipulated by technologies to reduce the risks of global warming and other impacts of climate change? Geoengineering efforts like the carbon capture system developed Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner (pictured) and his research team are raising the question. Lackner’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions has developed “mechanical trees” that can absorb and sequester the detrimental greenhouse gas. Some argue such systems won’t stop activities like burning fossil fuels that cause the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But others contend we can’t afford to dismiss technologies that can help put nature back on course.

  • Coronavirus Contact Tracing App Won’t Log Your Location, But It Will Reveal Who You Hang Out With

    Coronavirus Contact Tracing App Won’t Log Your Location, But It Will Reveal Who You Hang Out With

    A contact tracing mobile app the Australian government plans to introduce to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 has the potential to provide critical information. But it also raises concerns. Fulton Schools Professor Katina Michael and a colleague at the University of Wollongong in Australia describe the proposed TraceTogether app that will use Bluetooth technology to sense whether users who have voluntarily opted-in have come within nine meters of one another. The surveillance could help respond to the coronavirus crisis by proactively placing confirmed and suspected cases in quarantine. The downside is that it could lead to infringement on users’ privacy and civil liberties.

  • Water where you need it

    Water where you need it

    Before Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen developed solar panels that harvest water from the air, he achieved another technological advance: rechargeable high-energy batteries —zinc-air batteries — that are eco-friendly and affordable. Those breakthroughs propelled his Zero Mass Water startup, which is helping to provide clean water in locales with a range of climate conditions in more than 35 countries. As the venture has expanded, Friesen has applied for 88 patents in related technologies and won the 2019 Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventions that shoe strong potential for improving the world.

  • What COVID-19 Has Taught Us About Our Infrastructure

    What COVID-19 Has Taught Us About Our Infrastructure

    The strengths and weakness of critical infrastructure systems throughout the United States are being revealed during the upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, say Fulton Schools faculty members Brad Allenby, Mikhail Chester and Thaddeus Miller. The situation is putting a spotlight on challenges the nation faces in ensuring the resiliency of its infrastructure systems and their ability to adapt in times of crisis. A key lesson, say the three engineers, is that in addition to prioritizing better design, engineering and construction practices in updating existing systems or building new infrastructure, it will also require good governance and effective education to achieve lasting solutions.

  • ASU researchers testing Tempe wastewater for coronavirus

    ASU researchers testing Tempe wastewater for coronavirus

    Two years ago, Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his team at ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering began testing Tempe’s wastewater to find indications of the prevalence of opioid use in the city. Now the researchers are planning to examine the wastewater systems to give Tempe officials an idea of the breadth of the spread of the coronavirus infection in the area. The water testing approach can reveal more about the reach of the COVID-19 pandemic into the city than individual testing at medical facilities, Rolf says.

  • ASU team building ‘UV BBQ’ to sanitize masks

    ASU team building ‘UV BBQ’ to sanitize masks

    Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff, has refocused his research team’s efforts from sanitizing water to sanitizing medical equipment to help combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team is developing a device that uses a type of ultraviolet light capable of providing a level of radiation sufficient to kill the COVID-19 virus. Applied in the right dosage, the UV light can disinfect medical equipment without damaging it — including protective face masks, says Westerhoff, an environmental engineer. ASU is working to provide the devices, which researchers are called the “UV-BBQ,” (as in barbecue) to facilities across Arizona that have a critical need for them.

  • Construction in Arizona continues during COVID-19 spread, but with health precautions

    Construction in Arizona continues during COVID-19 spread, but with health precautions

    Construction has been deemed as essential labor during the social-distancing period mandated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite continuing activity on building projects, some construction companies report the situation is still causing drops in revenue that might last for months. But Fulton Schools Professor Edd Gibson, a construction management expert, says the construction industry’s characteristic resilience should enable business to bounce back after the crises subsides. While the building process is being slowed by social distancing, Gibson says projects appear to be getting done safely and at good pace.

  • Epidemiologists are studying wastewater to gauge rates of COVID-19 infection.

    Epidemiologists are studying wastewater to gauge rates of COVID-19 infection.

    With multiple efforts underway to get accurate data on the spread of COVID-19, scientists and medical specialists are turning to wastewater-focused epidemiology. Examining the chemical content of wastewater systems is providing researchers a “package of genetic material” that can be used to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19  in various communities or regions, says Rolf Halden, a Fulton Schools professor who directs ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Halden and other experts in wastewater research say if this method of investigation can be improved, it can aid not only monitoring of the presence of the coronavirus but also provide strategies to combat future pandemics.

  • Army program will pay $100K for solutions to national ventilator shortage

    Army program will pay $100K for solutions to national ventilator shortage

    The continued threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic has prompted the U.S. Army to offer to pay manufacturers who can produce low-cost ventilators to care for people who have the contracted the COVID-19 disease. Through a Teach Search competition, businesses are submitting ideas for solutions in hope of obtaining Defense Department research contracts to develop new ventilator prototypes. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, founding chair of the Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations and National Security, comments that such technology development programs are becoming critical in light of the possibilities for widespread health crises.

  • New research examines wastewater to detect community spread of Covid-19

    New research examines wastewater to detect community spread of Covid-19

    Researchers are trying to devise and conduct testing to help provide accurate estimations of the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Some are focusing on examining wastewater for indications of the reach of the pandemic. Wastewater is a good indicator of the chemistry inside us, so coronavirus tracking efforts at water treatment plants should yield valuable information, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, an environmental health engineer. Wastewater-based monitoring is likely to reveal about more about how widely the virus is circulating than testing individuals, Halden says.

  • ASU researchers look for traces of COVID-19 in Tempe wastewater

    ASU researchers look for traces of COVID-19 in Tempe wastewater

    Tempe city officials are attempting to gauge how widespread outbreaks of the coronavirus are in the municipality. They are relying on a research team led by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. The team is using the methods it has employed in the past in cities across the United States to detect other viruses to develop early warning systems for flu and other outbreaks. Tests are being conducted to determine if the method will detect the COVID-19 disease. Halden says the test won’t track a virus outbreak back to any individual but could provide a look at the level of the presence of COVID-19 in the area.

  • EPA releases a list of disinfectants that can help you fight the new coronavirus

    EPA releases a list of disinfectants that can help you fight the new coronavirus

    Health agencies and experts are reaching out to the public with information about what will or will not help protect people from the coronavirus contagion. For instance, some sanitizing products are better than others as disinfectants to control the spread of the virus. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, provides details about what products are best to use and how to best use them effectively. But social distancing, avoiding stress and taking other steps to protecting one’s health are equally important ways to help prevent being vulnerable to the coronavirus, say Halden and other experts.

March

2020
  • How innovation zone could be an East Valley game-changer

    How innovation zone could be an East Valley game-changer

    Business leaders are viewing the Innovation Zone project as a catalyst for solidifying Arizona’s stature as a leading hotspot for technology and engineering startups, as well as existing front-runners in those industries. The key starting point for the Innovation Zone’s creation is ASU’s Polytechnic Campus, more specifically The Polytechnic School, one of the six Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU. The schools give tech companies convenient access to engineering students being trained for careers in growing fields such as aerospace, alternative energy, human-technology integration, robotics and digital manufacturing, and to university faculty doing research in those areas and more.

  • Plastic-eating bacteria could be small step toward tackling world’s pollution crisis

    Plastic-eating bacteria could be small step toward tackling world’s pollution crisis

    A strain of bacteria that can degrade harmful chemical compounds in polyurethane has been discovered. It could lead to at least a partial solution to reducing the amount of plastic pollution that’s threatening the health of both environments and communities around the world. Polyurethane foam is used in many things with which people come into frequent contact. The material is covered in flame retardant that can disrupt the human endocrine system, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. The bacteria strain could be a useful tool in destroying polyurethane, Halden says, but more research and resources are needed to take significant steps to clean up plastics pollution.

    See Also: Scientists Discover Plastic-Munching Microbe in Waste Site, Smithsonian Magazine, March 31

    Researchers have identified bacteria that can degrade plastic, Press Stories, March 30

    Some Bacteria Can Eat Plastics, The Midland Weekly, March 3o

  • Solving the water crisis drop by drop

    Solving the water crisis drop by drop

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen s drawing attention as an “impact inventor” for the work being done by Zero Mass Water, his startup venture based on technology that harvests clean drinking water from moisture in the atmosphere. The system is demonstrating the potential to improve access to safe water for communities around the world. His company’s Hydro panels are basically solar panels that produce water instead of electrical power. In dry climates like that of Arizona’s desert regions and overcast places like the Pacific Northwest, the system operates reliably. The technology has so far been installed in more than 35 countries.

  • Enlisting AI in our war on coronavirus: Potential and pitfalls

    Enlisting AI in our war on coronavirus: Potential and pitfalls

    Artificial intelligence technologies may not be able to discover a vaccine to stem the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, but they can be an effective tool for other efforts to cope with the crisis. Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and chief AI officer of the AI Foundation, says AI can help trace infection clusters around the world and help the public distinguish between reliable and unreliable information about the virus on the internet and elsewhere. AI could also assist with vital communications and collaborations between medical professionals. Still, there could be some potential societal downsides to broadening the use of AI to track and influence public behavior.

  • Could coronavirus permanently impact our ‘daily commute’ habits?

    Could coronavirus permanently impact our ‘daily commute’ habits?

    Along with the other significant societal impacts of the spread of the coronavirus, the pandemic might even affect the urban transportation environment. Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, whose expertise includes transportation systems planning and travel behavior, says the public may recognize the advantages of the reduction in traffic congestion resulting from the public reaction to the virus. Or it could make people more wary of shared modes of transportation, such as buses and ride-share services. But more likely, Pendyala says, traffic will bounce back to its normal levels when the pandemic wanes.

  • Machine Learning expands prediction capacity in complex, chaotic systems

    Machine Learning expands prediction capacity in complex, chaotic systems

    Ying-Cheng Lai, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering and physics, is leading research that’s enabling machine learning technology to make longer-term predictions about interruptions, failures or other significant changes and trends in the workings of various systems and processes. His team’s use of artificial recurrent neural networks to increase predictability might eventually make it possible to forecast something like the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses and illnesses.

  • Stand and be counted

    Stand and be counted

    Experts in many fields at ASU say it’s critical that the U.S. Census gets as accurate a count as possible of the number of people in the country. The count is used to apportion seats in Congress among the states and determine how almost $700 billion in federal funds are spent. It’s especially essential for guiding the nation’s transportation planning, says Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Pendyala says census data is used to gather socio-demographic information that helps government leaders forecast what will be needed to best serve the future transportation needs of the communities they serve. Ultimately, he emphasizes, good transportation systems are essential to maintaining strong local, regional and national economies.

  • ASU engineering professor makes amazing solar cell advances

    ASU engineering professor makes amazing solar cell advances

    Solar energy cells on the market today are more efficient than a decade ago, but the current level of cells’ efficiency in converting energy from the Sun into electricity is being significantly exceeded by a new cell developed by Zachary Holman, a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, and his research collaborators. Chris Jones, an ASU associate professor of history and an expert in the history of the world’s energy transitions, says the progress by Holman and his colleagues definitely qualifies a big leap in energy technology advancement.

  • Sci-fi tech tackles climate change with fake trees

    Sci-fi tech tackles climate change with fake trees

    In an article that’s part of a Fortune magazine special report, “Business Faces the Climate Crisis,” the focus is on carbon capturing artificial trees developed in the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions led by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. There’s debate about the ramifications of using the technology to help clear the atmosphere of the carbon dioxide that is leading to detrimental climate change. Lackner’s system is seen as part of a number of proposed geoengineering solutions to climate change problems. But critics contend these remedial technologies would make industries complacent about taking steps to reduce pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the first place.

  • Engendering equality in research

    Engendering equality in research

    Women are underrepresented in the research world, especially in STEM research — science, technology, engineering and math — and in medical research. Three ASU researchers are leading efforts to remedy the imbalance. Among them is Erin Chiou, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of human systems engineering.  Chiou is the editor of the new book “Advancing Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Through Human Systems Engineering,” in which she examines, for instance, how the lack of women participants in product testing and design has led to a world ill-fitted to the needs of women that, in turn, intensifies broader gender disparities that already exist in society.

  • Today’s engineers, builders already envisioning tomorrow’s infrastructure

    Today’s engineers, builders already envisioning tomorrow’s infrastructure

    Participants from 24 countries gathered recently at ASU for the 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers Construction Research Congress to explore what the construction industry — including civil, industrial, building and cyber infrastructure engineers — must do to provide the world with resilient communities. Hosted by the Fulton Schools Del E. Webb School of Construction, the event’s leadership committee of Fulton Schools faculty members Mounir El Asmar, Kristen Parrish, Samuel Ariaratnam, G. Edward Gibson Jr., Anthony Lamanna, Pingbo Tang, David Grau, Steven Ayer and Wanda Dalla Costa planned presentations focusing on identifying and solving challenges faced by cities trying to shape built environments to ensure a sustainable futures.

  • Study explains How Rattlesnakes Catch Rainwater On Their Backs

    Study explains How Rattlesnakes Catch Rainwater On Their Backs

    One way some rattlesnakes species have adapted to survive in hot, dry desert climates is though an ability to absorb or “harvest” rain, sleet and even snow. Researchers, including Konrad Rykaczewski, a Fulton Schools associate professor of mechanical engineering, have found the snakes coil themselves in ways that most effectively expose their skins to precipitation. Through nanoscale-sized features of the texture of their skins, these rattlers are able to capture water in a labyrinthine network of tiny channels from which they can imbibe the moisture. The ability enables the snakes to take advantage of a source of water with minimal use of energy or risk. The report on the study is published in the American Chemical Society’s ACS Omega research journal.

  • The Truth about Bioplastic

    The Truth about Bioplastic

    The promise of environmentally friendly bioplastics that degrade naturally and can then be recycled and reused for productive purposes is largely unfulfilled. Most makers of bioplastics are not following through on what needs to done to ensure bioplastics don’t end up adding to the growing amount of plastics waste that is harming ecosystems in oceans and rivers and across landscapes. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Taylor Weiss, who is developing algae-based plastics, says bioplastics need to processed at facilities specifically designed to do proper recycling so they don’t become just more greenhouse gas emitting garbage.

  • Inside the hive’s mind

    Inside the hive’s mind

    Insects’ brains may be tiny, but their complexity and cognitive processing abilities fascinate scientists and engineers. What can be learned from studying and mimicking the capabilities of some insect brains has been used used to model technologies such as control systems for autonomous airplanes and search-and-rescue “roach-bots.” At ASU, Fulton Schools Professor Yu Cao and Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic are teaming with colleagues on research for a U. S. Department of Defense research agency aimed at advancing computational abilities to do things like scaling down artificial intelligence devices. In pursuit of that goal, they’ll be using knowledge gained from examining the mental capacities of certain species of bees.

  • ASU researchers are pioneers in new solar cell technology

    ASU researchers are pioneers in new solar cell technology

    A solar cell with one of the highest power-conversion efficiencies yet achieved is the work of two Fulton Schools faculty members and research collaborators at the University of Colorado, Boulder. With those colleagues, Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman and Assistant Professor Zhengshan (Jason) Yu, both of whom teach in the electrical, computer and energy engineering program, coauthored a paper about the accomplishment recently published in Science magazine. The paper describes the team’s breakthrough with a new technique for layering a cell made of perovskite — a crystal structure designed to harvest high energy photons — with a silicon solar cell. The result is a cell that boosts conversion of the sun’s energy into electricity by about a third more than previous cells. The advance could also make the cost of solar energy more affordable.

  • Patients Try Most Intuitive Hand Prosthetics Yet in Pilot Trial

    Patients Try Most Intuitive Hand Prosthetics Yet in Pilot Trial

    Researchers have developed a biointegrated prosthetic device that works through a regenerative peripheral nerve interface. The system uses muscle grafts connected to the remaining peripheral nerves of people who have lost a hand or an arm. When amputees think of moving hands and fingers — just the way they did when they hand real hands— the grafts amplify signals that are then conveyed through wires to a robotic prosthesis. The device represents a significant technological advance in prosthetics, says Bradley Gregor, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering, who does research in areas related to work of the neuroscientists and others who’ve made the new prosthetic technology.  

  • How ASU researchers are working to predict when monsoons will hit

    How ASU researchers are working to predict when monsoons will hit

    How severe will the impacts of the next monsoon storm be when it hits monsoon-prone places such as Arizona? “The answer is in the ground,” says Giuseppe Mascaro, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. Mascaro and his research team are finding ways to predict the effects of weather events in particular regions by examining the levels of soil moisture in those areas. By monitoring satellite data from NASA, Mascaro’s team can get detailed information about ground and soil conditions that reveal what is likely to happen when heavy monsoon rainstorms shower specific terrain. Read about related hydrological forecasting research Mascaro is doing with fellow ASU engineer Enrique Vivoni.

    See Also: Family files lawsuit against U.S. government after deadly 2017 Payson floods, ABC News-Northern Arizona, February 29
    Mascaro is quoted in the article reporting on a lawsuit related to the fatal results of a 2017 flash flood near Payson, Arizona.

February

2020
  • Making Waves team ties for 1st Place in Spark Tank Challenge

    Making Waves team ties for 1st Place in Spark Tank Challenge

    Fulton Schools engineers teamed with U.S. airmen at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix for an Air Force innovation challenge. Together they developed the Dynamic Unmanned Threat Emitter, designed to help train military pilots to identify and react effectively to threats such as surface-to-air missiles and antiaircraft artillery. Dan Bliss (at far left in photo), a Fulton Schools associate professor of electrical engineering, and doctoral student Wylie Standage-Beier (second from left) put together a software defined radio communications system that can be operated from a computer. The system can help pilots and their aircraft perform intelligence, surveillance and defense missions. Bliss foresees the possibility of future collaborations to provide more high-tech support for Luke Air Force base.

    See Also: Luke AFB, ASU idea is co-winner in annual Air Force competition, Goodyear Independent, March 2

  • What do we look for in a ’good’ robot colleague?

    What do we look for in a ’good’ robot colleague?

    As robots and related artificial intelligence technologies become more prevalent in manufacturing, health care and many other industries — as well as in the military — questions are arising about how to best develop effective working relationships between humans and robots. Nancy Cooke, a Fulton Schools professor of cognitive science and chair of the human systems engineering graduate program, says robot coworkers can be as cooperative or as frustrating to work with as humans. She and other experts point to potential solutions that can avoid friction and generate constructive relations between people and their robot colleagues on the job.

  • Researchers develop new gel-based nanosensor for radiation dose monitoring

    Researchers develop new gel-based nanosensor for radiation dose monitoring

    Therapeutic radiation treatment has to be done with extreme precision to be fully medically beneficial. Overdosing or underdosing in the use of high-energy radiation beams can each present serious risks to patients. Too much healthy body tissue can he destroyed by overdosing, while underdosing can do too little to remove a dangerous tumor. Kaushal Rege, a Fulton Schools professor of chemical engineering, along with research collaborators at a Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Arizona, are developing a hydrogel of gold salts and amino acids that can carefully measure doses of radiation by being applied directly to a patient’s skin.

  • ASU Mini-Satellite To Launch From ISS Wednesday

    ASU Mini-Satellite To Launch From ISS Wednesday

    A small satellite designed to study the formation and impacts of urban heat islands in seven cities throughout the United States — including Phoenix — has successfully launched from the International Space Station. The satellite was built over the past several years by the Phoenix CubeSat project team through the work of about 100 ASU students, including many Fulton Schools students. The project’s mission is to gain a better understanding of the factors that lead to urban heat islands and to collaborate with communities in efforts to plan development of urban infrastructure in ways that help to alleviate buildup of excessive heat in densely developed cities.

    See also: ASU’s Phoenix CubeSat Satellite launched into orbit, The State Press, February 24

  • ASU students using technology and drones as they work to improve search for lost hikers

    ASU students using technology and drones as they work to improve search for lost hikers

    State and local agencies in Arizona embark on an average of about a dozen search and rescue missions throughout the state each week — often on large expanses of land where people may be lost in remote areas, without resources and in need of medical aid. Research being led by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Stephanie Gil may soon provide advanced technology to help rescuers locate and provide resources to missing persons. She and her student team are developing specially equipped drones capable of finding people and delivering water, basic medical equipment and communications devices to them. The researchers are collaborating on the project with the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military affairs.

     

  • How your favorite airline can slash its colossal carbon emissions

    How your favorite airline can slash its colossal carbon emissions

    Some major airline companies are committing to dramatically reducing the prodigious amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide the industry emits into the atmosphere. Meeting that goal will be expensive and technologically challenging, but it’s still achievable, says Timothy Takahashi, a Fulton Schools aerospace engineering professor of practice. Huge batteries or hydrogen fuel cells are too heavy for larger planes to be feasible alternatives to CO2-emitting liquid fuels, he notes, but biofuels might do the trick if their production is increased significantly. The answer might be combining alternative fuels with flying planes higher in the atmosphere and making flights shorter, both of which would be more fuel-efficient, Takahashi says.

  • CARBON CAPTURE WINS FANS AMONG OIL GIANTS

    CARBON CAPTURE WINS FANS AMONG OIL GIANTS

    The threatening accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere — due in large part to industrial activity — is fundamentally a big “waste-management problem,” says Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, emphasizing that it’s the responsibility of those who put the CO2 into the air to take it out. Some of the major corporations among those whose operations contribute to CO2 buildup are now looking at ways they can help deal with the problem. One potential fix is carbon-capture technology that Lackner and his colleagues at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions are developing. The center’s “mechanical trees” are able to filter CO2 from ambient air.

    See Also: ASU professor’s “mechanical trees” pull tons of CO2 from air, Chamber Business News, February 24

    So-called ‘negative emissions’ might actually work, at least in California, Grist, February 11

    Can negative emission technologies overcome climate catastrophe? Chemical World, February 7

  • Students showcase remarkable ideas at ASU Day at the Capitol

    Students showcase remarkable ideas at ASU Day at the Capitol

    Arizona state legislators and other visitors to ASU Day at the Arizona State Capitol grounds in Phoenix got a look at what Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, described as “the ways our students and faculty put to practice their creativity in designing solutions to real-world problems that impact the world.” Among featured exhibits was one on the ASU Blockchain Research Lab. Fulton Schools computer engineering master’s degree student Manish Vishnoi (gesturing in photo) explained the nature of the lab’s work. Visitors also got introductions to the innovations being developed by Fulton Schools faculty members and students at the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics and the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Environmental Heath Engineering.

     

  • Illuminating Water Contamination

    Illuminating Water Contamination

    Growing up in Brazil, Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes became aware of communities in which many people suffered from a lack of access to clean water. Today she is working to find solutions to that widespread hardship. As a Fulton Schools environmental engineering doctoral student, Lanzarini-Lopes is involved in research to apply the ability of LED light to trigger a water-purification process — using flexible optical fibers woven into a fabric to disinfect water at a close range. Her research is supported by NASA, which is looking at the system for potential use on the International Space Station, and by the ARCS Foundation, which supports outstanding students seeking degrees in science, engineering and medical research.

  • Community connections will help send ASU rocket to edge of space

    Community connections will help send ASU rocket to edge of space

    ASU’s Helios Rocketry team of about 50 students, many of them Fulton Schools students, are competing in the Base 11 Space Challenge to build a liquid-fueled rocket capable of traveling to the deep reaches of outer space. In pursuit of its goal, the team is learning lessons not only in the development of space-flight technologies and systems but also in the skills it takes to recruit and work with industry partners. Helios Rocketry is collaborating with aerospace, aviation and engineering companies in the Phoenix and Mesa areas to access the facilities and tools it needs to design and construct its rocket. Next, the team plans put together a business team to expand partnerships and manage fundraising.

     

  • How Small Fibers Can Make Concrete Stronger

    How Small Fibers Can Make Concrete Stronger

    Much of the billions of tons of concrete used each year in construction projects around the world could be made more durable by an advanced fiber-reinforced concrete, says Fulton Schools Professor Barzin Mobasher. He is leading research to develop high-performance synthetic, glass, polymeric and nylon fibers that could not only increase the resilience of buildings, roads and infrastructure but also could speed up construction projects and save costs over time by making concrete structures and facilities less prone to corrosion and cracking. Read more on the ASU NOW and Modern Contractor Solutions news sites.

  • Trump Proposes a Cut in Research Spending, but a Boost for AI

    Trump Proposes a Cut in Research Spending, but a Boost for AI

    The U.S. President’s federal budget proposal is heavy on funding to pursue advances in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies, but short on support for more basic science and engineering work. Researchers and policy analysts say that support is critical to spurring innovations in a range of critical areas. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, an AI expert, says such funding cuts will risk undermining promising progress in many fields — including those that potentially can boost the capabilities of AI and quantum technologies.

  • Report names ASU a factor in rapid expansion of Phoenix’s tech market

    Report names ASU a factor in rapid expansion of Phoenix’s tech market

    “The Greater Phoenix Tech Story,” a recent report by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and a local commercial real estate business group, concludes that the Phoenix area is one of the country’s fastest-growing technology hubs — citing ASU as one of the key factors leading to that growth. Tech companies are building a talented workforce by hiring many of the university’s graduates, especially Fulton Schools graduates, according to report. Engineering is critical to the success of many of the companies, and in the Fulton Schools those businesses find students with an “entrepreneurial mindset” and a focus on being innovators, says James Collofello, Fulton Schools vice dean of Academic and Student Affairs. Students are encouraged to become “intrapreneurs,” and to gain the skills necessary to create new startup companies or join existing startups, Collofello says.

  • Is ‘Expired’ Milk Safe to Drink? Here’s How to Know When to Throw Away Food

    Is ‘Expired’ Milk Safe to Drink? Here’s How to Know When to Throw Away Food

    Confused by the “sell by” and “used by” labels found on food packaging? Experts say most people are, and the confusion is causing a significant amount of food waste. One study found that close to half the produce, meat and dairy products some people buy is getting thrown out because of those labels. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says much of the food that has passed its “sell by” date is safe to eat. Humans have an innate ability to sense a lack of freshness with food through visual and tactile clues, along with our sense of smell, Halden says. But a practical remedy, he advises, is to buy no more food than you will realistically eat before its gets old and freeze foods to preserve them for longer periods of time.

    See Also: To toss or not? Knowing when ‘expired’ really means expired, ASU NOW, February 24

    Knowing when ‘expired’ label dates really means expired, AZ Big Media, February 25

  • This Valley woman’s work is out of this world

    This Valley woman’s work is out of this world

    Hopes for future space exploration could be dampened if effective solutions aren’t found for breathing problems astronauts have experienced during long periods of time spent inside spacecraft. One of the engineers working on a remedy is Phoebe Henson, a Fulton Schools alumnus who earned an electrical engineering degree in 2015. Henson is a member of the Human Space Group at the Honeywell Aerospace facility near Phoenix. The team has already helped NASA by developing a system that removes excess carbon dioxide from the air inside the International Space Station. Now Henson and her colleagues are at work on advanced materials to capture and filter out the carbon dioxide from air supplies — and possibly even recycle the CO2 and turn it back into oxygen. That kind of work helped Henson become one of only several Arizonans named to Forbes magazine’s 2019 list of 30 Under 30 rising stars. (Subscriber access only)

  • Arizona poised to win in new economy if we invest wisely

    Arizona poised to win in new economy if we invest wisely

    Successful efforts to leverage investments and create partnerships to grow the Fulton Schools engineering programs is one example of what needs to done to boost Arizona’s economy, says ASU President Michael Crow. A special investment the Arizona Board of Regents is now requesting from the state government builds on that example, Crow says. That new funding would be used to spur more breakthroughs in engineering and science — advances that would in turn create a top-tier, concentrated environment of technology and talent in the greater Phoenix area to provide the state a key strategic economic development asset for the future.

    See also: Arizona’s 3 university presidents promote research as economic driver — ASU NOW, February 6 (article cites research advances led by Fulton Schools faculty members Klaus Lackner and Cody Friesen)

    Presidents of Arizona’s state universities embrace new economy initiative, KJZZ (NPR)

  • Scientists hope to win global competition with concrete that incorporates and reduces carbon dioxide emissions

    Scientists hope to win global competition with concrete that incorporates and reduces carbon dioxide emissions

    Carbon dioxide emissions are a big part of the growing greenhouse gas problem contributing to climate change impacts and air pollution. Scientists are in a race to find ways to reduce those emissions. One team of researchers is working on ways to trap CO2 emissions from industrial operations in cement, including emissions released from the production of concrete. But Allen Wright, executive director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, led by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, says to significantly curb those emissions, efforts need to go much further. Policymakers must enable research aimed at developing advanced carbon management technologies at a large scale. The article is also published on the AZ Big Media news site.

January

2020
  • ASU scientists boost gene-editing tools to new heights in human stem cells

    ASU scientists boost gene-editing tools to new heights in human stem cells

    The promise of improving human health with use of the gene-editing tool called CRISPR has been limited because its editing capabilities are often imprecise. But David Brafman, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is at work on developing ways to improve CRISPR’s efficiency. Results of his efforts published in the research journal Stem Cell Reports details how Brafman’s lab team has developed a new approach to enriching DNA base-edited cell populations. The genetic modification of stem cells enabled by this method looks as if it will be useful for disease modeling, drug screening and tissue engineering, and for revealing the causes of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The article has also been published on Phys.Org, Science Codex and Technology Networks.

    See Also: Gene-editing taken to advanced levels in human stem cells, News-Medical.net, January 20

  • New high-voltage power plant in Japan can support Navy’s electric stealth destroyers

    New high-voltage power plant in Japan can support Navy’s electric stealth destroyers

    Some of the Navy’s most advanced high-tech ships are being supplied energy by equally advanced power plants. Some of those ships sport state-of-the-art electric propulsion systems and stealth design among their innovative features. The ships use gas turbines to produce electricity that is then used to power electric motors for propulsion, explains Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby. The electricity generated can also be used to power weapons systems, he adds. Allenby is the author of the book “Future Conflict & Emerging Technologies,” and editor of “The Applied Ethics of Military and Security Technologies.” He is a former Stockdale Fellow at the U.S Naval Academy and an associate faculty member with ASU’s Center for the Future of War.

  • Investment in engineering could reap massive economic benefits

    Investment in engineering could reap massive economic benefits

    In the second of a three-part series, ASU President Michael Crow points to the Fulton Schools as one of the university’s more prolific catalysts of innovation and technological advances that fuel economic growth in Arizona and beyond. But Crow says more investment will be needed to give engineering education and research the tools needed to fulfill their potential as the “backbone of a range of industries” for a New Economy being driven by smart technologies and systems that combine the physical, digital and biological worlds that are changing the way we live.

     

  • Arizona State University developing drone software for search and rescues

    Arizona State University developing drone software for search and rescues

    High-tech advancements are promising to help make search and rescue operations more effective. One example is work to develop software and design algorithms to enable flying drones and ground robots to more quickly locate missing or stranded persons. Those efforts are underway in the lab of Stephanie Gil (at far right in photo), a Fulton Schools assistant professor of computer science. Along with her student research assistants, Gil is exploring how drones can not only locate those who are lost, but also deliver water, medical supplies and communication devices to them. Read more about the lab’s work.

  • ASU Graduate College announces 2019-20 Outstanding Faculty Mentors

    ASU Graduate College announces 2019-20 Outstanding Faculty Mentors

    Among ASU faculty members named as outstanding mentors of the university’s graduate students for the 2019-2020 academic years is Yang Weng (at far right in photo), a Fulton Schools assistant professor in the electrical, computer and energy engineering program. The awards recognize mentors who not only guide students through their studies but also help them in successfully pursuing long-term career goals. This year’s nominees for the award “are the strongest we’ve had yet,” says Zachary Reeves-Burton, program manager of mentoring initiatives and professional development for the Graduate College.

  • No time to relax, competitive forces fiercer than ever

    No time to relax, competitive forces fiercer than ever

    Arizona’s economic health has been on the upswing, so now offers the perfect opportunity to make investments to ensure the economy keeps moving in that direction, says ASU President Michael Crow. One way to do that is taking steps to elevate the state’s stature as a hub of innovation — especially in education, research, discovery and entrepreneurship. A big part of ASU’s contribution to the goal, Crow says, should be to build “the greatest engineering school in the world, the largest, the most creative, the most innovative,” as well as to create new science and technology centers that push advances in engineering and science fields into the marketplace.

  • New Autism Treatment Targets Gut Health

    New Autism Treatment Targets Gut Health

    New research indicates a critical link between the health of the human gut and cognitive function. Fulton Schools researchers such as Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown are among those showing a new gut microbiome therapy could lead to better treatments for neurodevelopment disorders, including autism. An ASU research team completed a study of 18 children who received Microbiota Transfer Therapy, also known as fecal transplant, which is producing improvements in autism-related symptoms. The study shows the gut-brain connection is real, Krajmalnik-Brown says, and that the new treatment that is providing greater gut microbiota diversity raises hope for long-term improvements in the health of people living with autism.

  • New era begins, ASU breaks ground for campus

    New era begins, ASU breaks ground for campus

    A new ASU campus, located at the Mesa City Center, will focus on training students in high-tech media production, including digital and sensory technology, experiential design, media arts and related subjects. Among the first educational attractions at the campus will be ASU’s METEOR Studio, directed by Robert LiKamWa, an assistant professor of electrical engineering in the Fulton Schools and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. The studio works on mobile software and hardware systems for computer vision and augmented reality. Read more about recent work at METEOR Studio

  • Wearable technology drives Phoenix to be leader in innovation

    Wearable technology drives Phoenix to be leader in innovation

    Several Fulton Schools faculty members will be involved in the research to be done by the new WearTEch Applied Research Center, a collaboration between ASU and local government, along with healthcare and economic organizations. The effort to establish Arizona as a hub of MedTech innovation will focus on wearable technologies, wearable robotics, bioelectronics medicine and neurotechnology development. The center will enable leading university researchers to partner with industry to quicken the pace of moving fundamental research from the lab to the marketplace and “make ASU’s backyard the competitive home of wearable medical technology,” says Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools.

  • ASU, Arizona partner to develop autonomous, unmanned systems for rescue operations

    ASU, Arizona partner to develop autonomous, unmanned systems for rescue operations

    The Robotics, Embedded Autonomy and Communications Theory Lab, or REACT, led by Stephanie Gil (at left in photo), a Fulton Schools assistant professor of computer science, gives ASU students opportunities to work on real-world projects. The latest is a collaboration with the Arizona Search and Rescue Coordinators Association and the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. The project aims to deploy robotic drones developed by the lab on search and rescue operations throughout the state. The software and intelligence technology Gil’s team will build into the autonomous robotic systems enables drones to gather environmental information and use it to work as a team, and to use that capability to perform more effectively in searches in remote and hazardous areas.

  • TONG WINS NSF-AMAZON AWARD TO IMPROVE AI FAIRNESS

    TONG WINS NSF-AMAZON AWARD TO IMPROVE AI FAIRNESS

    Ross Maciejewski (pictured), a Fulton Schools assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has a leading role in a major computational research endeavor expected to produce advances in social network analysis, neural science, intelligent transportation systems, critical infrastructures, blockchain networks and related areas — and to develop useful open-source tools and publicly available datasets. Maciejewski is teaming with Hanghang Tong, a computer science professor at the University of Illinois, on the project that’s part of the National Science Foundation’s Fairness in Artificial Intelligence program, aimed at creating trustworthy AI systems to devise solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges.

  • Zero Mass Water: How the water in the air can save us

    Zero Mass Water: How the water in the air can save us

    By combining solar power, air and electricity to ignite a condensation process that draws water from the atmosphere, Cody Friesen (pictured), Fulton Schools professor or materials science and engineering, founded the startup Zero Mass Water, which is making big waves as a promising source for renewal water. With large-scale solar hydropanels that produce enough water for businesses and small communities, the system is being used in locales in almost 40 countries around the world. More versions of the Zero Mass Water system are in development, Friesen says. That progress promises to enable bigger and better systems that can provide water to larger and larger areas.

  • How Desert Rattlesnakes Harvest Rainwater

    How Desert Rattlesnakes Harvest Rainwater

    “Beautiful nano-labyrinths” are the secret to rattlesnakes’ ability to quench their thirst in dry climates where water is scarce, says Konrad Rykaczewski, a Fulton Schools associate professor of mechanical engineering. A team of biologists and engineers, including Rykaczewski, has discovered how the snakes become “living rain buckets.” The researchers found western diamondback rattlesnakes in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert can collect water when rain or snow is falling because water droplets stay pinned to the snakes’ skin and their scales form a network of tiny channels that capture the water.  It’s suspected that the snakes evolved the precipitation harvesting anatomical trait as a survival mechanism in response to the desert environment.

    See also: How rattlesnakes collect water in the desert, ABC News, January 17

    Rattlesnakes have skin that’s sticky for raindrops so they can sip from their scales, CBC Radio (Canada), January 17

  • B.C. naturopath’s pricey fecal transplants for autism are experimental and risky, scientists say

    B.C. naturopath’s pricey fecal transplants for autism are experimental and risky, scientists say

    A naturopath practitioner claims to have achieved dramatic improvement in treating the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder in children with fecal transplants. But physicians and scientists are skeptical, including Fulton Schools Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, whose research has helped to develop the fecal transplant method the naturopath says he is using. Krajmalnik-Brown joins medical professionals and other researchers who warn it is too early in the testing of the procedure to verify its effectiveness and safety. While some results are encouraging, she adds, for now there is too much potential risk involved and more research is needed to confirm the treatment as a viable option.

  • Arts, Media and Engineering students tackle the big ‘why” questions

    Arts, Media and Engineering students tackle the big ‘why” questions

    Students in ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering apply the latest technologies, research methods and knowledge from diverse disciplines to answer big-picture questions revolving around human endeavors in science, engineering, culture and society. The school’s new interim director is Associate Professor Pavan Turaga, who also teaches in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the six Fulton Schools. He sees the fusion of pursuits intertwining arts and humanities with, for instance, the hard sciences and engineering methodologies leading to valuable discoveries and solutions that won’t be achieved without such unconventional cross-disciplinary collaborations.

  • Facebook Says It Will Ban ‘Deepfakes’

    Facebook Says It Will Ban ‘Deepfakes’

    To prevent the spread of false information on its website, the large social media network Facebook plans to ban videos extensively altered by artificial intelligence technology. The company’s vice president of global policy management, Monica Bickert (at left in photo), announced that such videos, called deepfakes, would be banned when they are either in user’s posts or in advertisements. Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and leading artificial intelligence researcher, says automated systems for detecting deepfakes will likely have limited effectiveness and provide incentives for users to attempt to fool Facebook’s detection systems. Kambhampati is also quoted in the related articles: Fake Trump video? How to spot deepfakes on Facebook and YouTube ahead of the presidential election, USA Today, January 8, and in Is seeing still believing? The deepfake challenge to truth in politics, Brookings Institution/Center for Technology Innovation, January 8.

  • AI computing will enter the ‘land of humans’ in the 2020s: The promise and the peril

    AI computing will enter the ‘land of humans’ in the 2020s: The promise and the peril

    Humans’ relationships with computers are going to evolve significantly — particularly because of advances in artificial intelligence technology, says Subbarao Kambhampati, Fulton Schools professor of computer science. Advances in “natural interaction modalities” mean human-computer and human-robot connections will have a big role in shaping modern reality, writes Kambhampati, the chief AI officer of the AI Foundation, which focuses on responsible development of AI technologies. He says the next decade will be a test of how we learn to balance the positive aspects of that new reality with its potentially negative impacts.

  • Negative carbon dioxide emissions

    Negative carbon dioxide emissions

    With the rate at which carbon dioxide is being emitted into the atmosphere, it will take much more than gradually reducing those emissions to keep the greenhouse gas from reaching more threatening levels. Among the more promising solutions to the problem is technology coming out of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner. His lab’s “artificial trees” (one of them is pictured here) are able to capture carbon dioxide and remove it from the air. An investment group is financing deployment of clusters of the devices at carbon-capture “farms” in various locations.

December

2019
  • Daily Commutes Might Worsen Exposure To Heat Waves

    Daily Commutes Might Worsen Exposure To Heat Waves

    Rates of illness and death increase for commuters in cities when the weather is extremely hot or extremely cold, according to a study published in Science Advances reporting on research by Chenghao Wang, a recent graduate of the Fulton Schools doctoral program in civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. Phoenix is among cities included in the research. Wang’s study found people working in areas in which the urban heat island effect is strongest appear to be more at risk when temperatures climb significantly.

  • Democracy 2.0: Returning power to the people

    Democracy 2.0: Returning power to the people

    Research finds politics — more than race, religion, gender or age differences — is forging the deepest divide between Americans. Stephanie Forrest, a Fulton School professor computer science and engineering and director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Biocomputing, Security and Society, explores the sources reshaping public discourse and how they exacerbate political partisanship. Her research involves inquiries similar to work of others who are examining the trend and seeking ways to quell polarizing forces. Two leading researchers in this area will give talks at ASU on January 6 as part of a lecture series established by ASU and Princeton University.

  • Mother, student, designer — now graduate

    Mother, student, designer — now graduate

    With a degree in graphics information technology, 2019 Fulton Schools graduate Rebecca Sjorup says she’s ready to start her own business. Beyond a technical education, her experience at ASU taught her “that quitting isn’t for me’” and that “persistence and discipline can take you far and even with the countless all-nighters it is so worth it.” Read more: Mother, student, designer — now graduate

    New Fulton Schools mechanical graduate Jun Sasaki had a similar experience. “From various soft skills to time management, everything I’ve learned at ASU will be valuable for my personal development,” he says. His recommendation to college students: “Make connections and lifelong friends because these are the people that you will keep around in your life forever.” Read more: ASU mechanical engineering graduate encourages students to get involved

    Graduate Jose Guerrero will be seeking a career with the skills he has gained while earning a graphic information technology degree with a minor in film studies. His message: “Don’t be afraid to do what you want to do in life. You only have one life to live and you’re the person living it.” And when you make mistakes, “don’t take them seriously, just learn from them.” Read more: ASU grad sets sights on impacting design and film industries

  • ABOR seeks millions in new funding to expand ASU’s engineering education capacity

    ABOR seeks millions in new funding to expand ASU’s engineering education capacity

    As part of a “New Economy Initiative,” the Arizona Board of Regents is proposing a large investment by the state government to increase the number of engineering graduates from ASU. The plan includes adding faculty and establishing science and technology centers to foster partnerships between private industry, government and the university. ASU has been able to “catalyze the tech ecosystem” in Arizona, says Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, but the need for new engineers continues to grow at a steady pace. The investment could also enable students to do research for startup companies and other tech-oriented businesses. The chair of the Arizona Technology Association says the initiative plan is critical to ensuring the growth of the state’s tech industries. (Subscriber access only)

  • Local woman finds ASU an ally in male-dominant field

    Local woman finds ASU an ally in male-dominant field

    Esther Sim recalls hearing about college engineering courses with a ratio of male to female students of more than 10 to 1. Learning in an environment not so one-sided was an important factor in her decision to go to ASU. The senior biomedical engineering major says she found a support system in the Fulton Schools that allayed some of her concerns about such imbalances.  Sim (at right in photo, with Fulton Schools computer science major Haley Harelson) still sees a need for more gender diversity in most branches of engineering. Kyle Squires, dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools, and Jeremy Helm, senior director of academic and student affairs, say they share her perspective and that recruitment of more women into the profession remains a major priority.

  • Holiday hackathon makes toys accessible for children with disabilities

    Holiday hackathon makes toys accessible for children with disabilities

    Desert WAVE, an all-female robotics team of Fulton Schools students, joined members of Degrees of Freedom, an all-female robotics team of high school students, to apply their technical know-how to “hack” toys to make them accessible to children who face challenges manipulating interactive toys. The toys were modified to help the children playing with them develop problem-solving and socialization skills — as well as have fun. The teams developed and built push-button activators for the toys, which will be distributed during the holiday season by a nonprofit group serving members or the local community with disabilities.

  • ‘They think all I do is draw’

    ‘They think all I do is draw’

    Shandiin Yessilth, the Fulton Schools’ Outstanding Fall 2019 Graduate in Construction Management, is among Diné women bringing construction, architecture, design and community planning skills to Native American communities. She is currently gaining experience in an internship with Kitchell Corporation, a major construction contractor in the Southwest. Yesslith is being mentored by a fellow Diné, Kim Kanuho, a planner and president of a Native-owned design company, and also is managing construction labor on a project led by Diné architect Tamarah Begay. Yessilth plans to return to ASU in the fall of 2020 to pursue a master’s degree in sustainable engineering. Read about other exceptional Fulton Schools fall 2019 graduates.

  • Fiber-reinforced Concrete Speeds Construction, Reduces Costs

    Fiber-reinforced Concrete Speeds Construction, Reduces Costs

    By mixing fibers made of steel or comparable composites of materials into concrete, Fulton Schools professor Barzin Mobasher says building concrete structures and using it as a pavement could be more cost-efficient, reduce the carbon footprint of construction projects and provide significantly higher resiliency to everything from normal wear and tear over time to earthquakes. Mobasher has been leading research to develop this fiber-reinforced concrete for more than a decade and is starting to see it attract contractors’ interest. The material was recently used on a section of the Phoenix metro area light rail line.

  • Tempe company, ASU win NASA grant to develop disruptive spacecraft technology

    Tempe company, ASU win NASA grant to develop disruptive spacecraft technology

    ASU has become a leader in making technological advances in additive manufacturing, says Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools. Progress being made in that area has led to a NASA grant to support work by researchers at ASU, Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies Inc. and Kennesaw State University in Georgia to develop new technologies that will boost innovation in aerospace engineering. Efforts will include development and production of new tools to enable engineers to design components lighter and strong enough to withstand the stresses of launching and landing spacecraft. (Subscriber access only)

    See also: NASA awards Tempe engineers, ASU researchers $755K in grant money, KTAR News, December 12

  • Robocalls Targeting Immigrants, Foreign University Students

    Robocalls Targeting Immigrants, Foreign University Students

    Most Americans are aware the Internal Revenue Services does not make telephone calls to people to tell them they owe the federal tax agency money. But that knowledge is far less prevalent among particular populations. That’s why robocalls by phone scammers are targeting immigrants and foreign students at universities in the United States, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Adam Doupé (in red shirt, with students in photo). That’s one reason Arizona is among the places where perpetrators of such scams most frequently target their efforts, says Doupé, whose expertise includes vulnerability analysis, web security, mobile security and network security.

    See also: Report reveals Arizona is fifth worst state for robocalls, The State Press, December 4 article quotes Fulton Schools Professor Katina Michael

  • No. 1: ASU receives recognition for innovation

    No. 1: ASU receives recognition for innovation

     “We are trying to blur the line between society, the marketplace and the classroom every day,” says Brent Sebold (pictured in photo), director of Entrepreneurship + Innovation in the Fulton Schools of Engineering. The statement encapsulates a guiding mission of ASU that has led to the university being named No. 1 in innovation among the country’s institutions of higher education for five straight years by the U.S. News and World Report. Sebold is among faculty who focus on teaching the importance of entrepreneurship and value creation to ASU students to shape them into innovators. Student endeavors such as the all-female Desert WAVE robotics team — composed of Fulton Schools students —is one of the endeavors that have brought ASU wide recognition for its innovative ways.

    See also: Fighting stereotypes ASU Robotics Team shows women can excel in stem fields, College Times, December 6

  • Testing of Industrial Exoskeletons Deemed a Full Success

    Testing of Industrial Exoskeletons Deemed a Full Success

    New wearable robotics technologies developed by exoskeleton experts such as Fulton Schools Professor Thomas Sugar (at left in photo) were in the spotlight at a recent international conference. The event included hands-on testing demonstrations of new exoskeleton devices, some of which are designed for medical, industrial and military applications. The next Wearable Robotics Association conference is scheduled to be in Phoenix in early 2020.

  • How A Group Of ASU Students Launched A Research Satellite Into Space

    How A Group Of ASU Students Launched A Research Satellite Into Space

    The trend toward hotter temperatures in much of the world is more intense in densely developed cities where the urban heat island effect is spreading — especially where there are large expanses of concrete and asphalt paving. A team of ASU students, including many Fulton Schools students, is hoping to find ways to reduce the effect through data they will collect from a small satellite the team built and recently sent into orbit. Aerospace engineering major Jaime Sanchez de la Vega talks about the making of the specially designed “cube sat” named Phoenix.

  • USPCAS-E: The power of collaboration realized

    USPCAS-E: The power of collaboration realized

    Energy engineering pursuits by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman (at right in photo) are being enhanced by research and education collaborations developed through the U.S.-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Studies in Energy. Fulton Schools Professor Sayfe Kiaei is the USPCAS-E project director at ASU. The organization is fostering projects aimed at modernizing energy infrastructure, improving energy engineering education, providing academic exchange programs, establishing effective public policy on energy matters, and promoting entrepreneurship in the field — among many other related endeavors. Holman has traveled to Pakistan to lead technical training for faculty and students, and hosted exchange scholars in his ASU laboratory.

  • The most important engineering innovations of 2019

    The most important engineering innovations of 2019

    Mechanical “trees” offer an effective way to counteract the dangerous buildup of greenhouse gases — specifically carbon dioxide — in the atmosphere, which is exacerbating the detrimental impacts of climate change. A “forest” of these trees designed by a tech investment startup company and ASU researchers led by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of  the university’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, promises to remove more carbon dioxide from the air than any other similar endeavor to date. The pilot project the company is planning to install in California could capture emissions each day equivalent to those produced by more than 1,800 households. Read more.

    See also: Popular Science picks ASU professor’s ‘MechanicalTree’ as a 2019 top technology, ASU NOW, December 5

  • ASU students’ research could help uncover why wrong-way driving is big in AZ

    ASU students’ research could help uncover why wrong-way driving is big in AZ

    Using a simulator to test reactions of drivers, students in the Fulton Schools human systems engineering program are exploring ways to prevent people from ignoring the “wrong way” signs and driving their vehicles down ramps and onto freeways — and heading into oncoming traffic. Officials in Arizona have reported almost 3,500 instances of such wrong-way driving in the state during a recent two-and-half-year period. Fulton Schools graduate students Mathew Dusharm and John Falluca hope to provide answers for why there is so much wrong-way driving and how to stop motorists from making those errors.

     

  • Obsessed With Efficiency: The 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 In Energy

    Obsessed With Efficiency: The 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 In Energy

    Recent doctoral graduates from the Fulton Schools civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program Aashay Arora and Matthew Aguayo are among innovators “figuring out how to make new materials do amazing things.” They’ve developed coatings embedded with phase-change materials that insulate buildings — reducing energy use while keeping building interiors cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather. Arora and Aguayo’s startup, EnKoat, uses special paints, plaster and stucco that release heat at specific temperatures to achieve the insulating effect. Their company’s products are getting their first large-scale testing on a building on ASU’s Polytechnic campus. Read more.

November

2019
  • ASU academics recognized as world’s most influential researchers over the past decade

    ASU academics recognized as world’s most influential researchers over the past decade

    A good indicator of researchers’ impact is the number of times their work is cited by peers as useful in enabling further research advances. ASU recently had 10 of its faculty members ranked among the most frequently cited researchers in the world. The list includes Paul Westerhoff, an ASU Regents’ Professor in the Fulton Schools and Sefaattin Tongay, an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools. Westerhoff has become a leading exert in water treatment, contaminants in lakes, river and streams and the application of artificial intelligence in solving global water challenges. Tongay focuses on understanding the optical, electrical, mechanical and magnetic properties of nanomaterials and developing ways to use the abilities of nanomaterials in applications of quantum materials.

  • Internet Companies Prepare to Fight the ‘Deepfake’ Future

    Internet Companies Prepare to Fight the ‘Deepfake’ Future

    Technologies that can create fake videos are getting more sophisticated. Some even use cutting-edge artificial intelligence. Such tools — which reduce the time, expense and skill needed to doctor digital images — are making it easier to spread disinformation through what are called “deepfakes.” Though internet companies are trying to mount defenses against the the image manipulations, Fulton Schools professor and AI expert Subbarao Kambhampati says the new technology makes it difficult even for trained viewers to tell real from fake images and may eventually make it all but impossible.

  • ASU is 7th in national research rankings

    ASU is 7th in national research rankings

    Arizona State University had more than $617 million in research expenditures in the most recent fiscal year, raising it to No. 7 on the National Science Foundation rankings. That success is due to researchers such as Fulton Schools assistant professor Zachary Holman (pictured in photo), whose team set a world record for the efficiency of particular kinds of solar cells in generating energy. In the rankings, ASU moved up to No. 8 in electrical, electronic and communications engineering, ahead of MIT and Stanford.

  • Arizona State University students design satellite to research Urban Heat Island

    Arizona State University students design satellite to research Urban Heat Island

    A cube-shaped satellite named Phoenix now in orbit on the International Space Station is only the size of a loaf of bread. But the ASU students who built it — including Fulton Schools students — hope to see the so-called CubeSat have a big impact on deepening knowledge about the urban heat Island effect that poses challenges to the livability of growing cities such as Phoenix. If the thermal images the satellite produces achieve that goal, says aerospace engineering senior Jaime Sanchez De La Vega, the project’s chief engineer, “that would be amazing.” Read more on the Phoenix CubeSat website.

     

  • Big issues loom with driverless cars, experts say

    Big issues loom with driverless cars, experts say

    A recent symposium to discuss how Arizona can best adapt to the use of autonomous vehicles on its roadways explored potential issues that could arise from a proliferation of self-driving automobiles. One concern is about computer systems in such cars being hacked. Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineer (and director of School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools) thinks such hacking could present an ethical dilemma for the autonomous car industry. It’s unclear who would bear responsibility if the data the vehicles’ computer systems are constantly gathering is accessed and used in detrimental ways, Pendyala says.

  • Speech provides a window to brain health

    Speech provides a window to brain health

    Researchers have found that human speech abilities — or the lack of them — can be an accurate early indicator of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and similar health problems. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Visar Berisha (at right in photo) has teamed with Julie Liss, a professor in ASU’s College of Health Solutions (where Berisha has a joint appointment) to start Aural Analytics, a company that uses new technology developed at ASU to detect changes in speech patterns that appear at the earliest stages of such disease and disorders. A recently awarded National Science Foundation research grant is helping the venture make progress. Aural Analytics’ technology is now being used in clinical trials at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

  • ASU, Banner Team Creates Gel To Measure Radiation Exposure During Treatment

    ASU, Banner Team Creates Gel To Measure Radiation Exposure During Treatment

    Relief from cancer and other serious diseases can be provided by radiation treatments. But those treatments pose risks because too much exposure to radiation can trigger other medical problems. Kaushal Rege, a Fulton Schools professor of chemical engineering (second from left in photo) is part of a research team testing a new device that could prevent such complications by providing more exact measurements of radiation dosages. Rege is partnering with the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Arizona, to develop a device that uses a gold nanogel to reveal dosage amounts to enable medical practitioners to keep radiation exposure at healthy and effective levels.

     

  • ASU team takes first place in the state’s first Robo Hackathon

    ASU team takes first place in the state’s first Robo Hackathon

    A team of Fulton Schools students won the $5,000 first prize in the first-ever ASU Robo Hackathon involving competitors from universities and colleges throughout Arizona. Using artificial intelligence robot kits, teams had to assemble and program their AI machines to perform five challenging tasks. Yinong Chen, a Fultons Schools computer science and engineering principle lecturer, helped to design the competition tasks. The event was organized by ASU’s University Technology Office to provide an opportunity for students to test their skills with new technologies, to connect with potential employers and learn about challenges they will face in the workplace or as tech entrepreneurs. Read more.

  • Real Life Telepathy is Closer than You Think

    Real Life Telepathy is Closer than You Think

    Computer-aided telepathy is beginning to become a real thing, potentially enabling communication between people by transmitting their thoughts through devices connected to their brains. Bioengineer and neuroscientist Bradley Greger, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical and health systems engineering, says questions still need to be answered about how much information can actually be gathered from the brain using such devices. But some experts are already speculating that the new telepathic technologies might someday give rise to brain-to-brain communication services.

  • ASU’s Acoustic Ecology Lab brings sound to the center of climate, health and more

    ASU’s Acoustic Ecology Lab brings sound to the center of climate, health and more

    Fulton Schools computer science and engineering student Valarie Adams and mechanical engineering student Cameron Carver are among ASU students being trained in the science of sound so they can explore acoustic ecologies to help find solutions to environmental challenges — in both natural and built environments. ASU students are being introduced to the field through the Acoustic Ecology Lab in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative of the Fulton Schools and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Much of the lab’s work involves applying virtual reality technologies to research in various science and engineering fields.

  • What self-driving cars can’t recognize may be a matter of life and death

    What self-driving cars can’t recognize may be a matter of life and death

    Some of the most obvious problems with self-driving cars when it comes to road safety are not being sufficiently addressed by the industry, says Katina Michaels, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering. She and other experts say more rigorous engineering is needed in designing autonomous vehicles, including better programming of artificial intelligence systems that are more capable of recognizing scenarios that present potentially dangerous driving hazards.

  • New ‘Artificial Leaf’ Uses Sunlight to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

    New ‘Artificial Leaf’ Uses Sunlight to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

    The detrimental effects of climate change brought on by heavy accumulations of greenhouse gasses might be alleviated to a significant degree with new technology that could turn atmospheric carbon dioxide into a source of alternative fuel. The system uses an “artificial leaf” is similar in nature to the “artificial tree” technology developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. His “trees” have resin-coated plastic leaves could possibly remove 100 times more carbon dioxide from the air as nature trees — and use the gas to create biofuels.

  • In the Impending Cyberwar, Engineers Must Be on the Front Lines

    In the Impending Cyberwar, Engineers Must Be on the Front Lines

    Technology that once existed only in science fiction is today rapidly evolving and broadening its reach and its power throughout the real world. The trend is evident in increasingly sophisticated uses of cyberwarfare techniques, say Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby and Associate Professor Mikhail Chester, writing in the American Society of Civil Engineers News. They contend the capabilities of cyber tech make it perhaps a more effective weapon in geopolitical conflict than conventional weapons of war. Allenby and Chester say it raises a critical challenge to ensure our country’s engineers gain sufficient expertise in cybersecurity to know how to protect the infrastructure and technologies engineers design, build and use from cyber threats. (Illustration at right courtesy of Pixabay)

  • Water from air: ASU professor’s technology produces clean drinking water around the globe

    Water from air: ASU professor’s technology produces clean drinking water around the globe

    As Zero Mass Water’s technology is being used in more places around the work to help communities prevent water scarcity, the company is also involved in education outreach to teach younger generations about society’s water challenges. The company emerged from research led by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen, who developed a system to produce water by capturing moisture from atmosphere. Students at a Phoenix elementary school recently got an introduction to the science and engineering involved in Zero Mass Water’s system, along with a lesson about the importance of developing renewable water resources for the future.

    See also: Engineer discovers how to extract water from air and sunlight, The Hill/Changing America, November 8

    From thin air: Partnership brings clean water-bottling technology to Flint, Crain’s Detroit Business, November 10

  • Engineers Create Tiny ‘Artificial Sunflowers’ That Bend Towards The Light

    Engineers Create Tiny ‘Artificial Sunflowers’ That Bend Towards The Light

    A team of scientists and engineers have designed solar panels that can increase the amounts of energy they can produce by mimicking the ability of sunflowers to take advantage of daylight hours to absorb more energy. Their system — called SunBot, for sunflower-like biomimetic omnidirectional tracker — uses temperature-sensitive materials to make tiny ‘stems’ that bend toward a bright light source. The system could be used to improve a variety of solar technologies. Fulton Schools Professor Hanqing Jiang, Associate Professor Xu Wang and doctoral student Hamsini Gopalakrishna are members of the research team.

    See Also: Sunflowers inspire light-tracking solar material (video), Chemical & Engineering News, November 13

    Fake Sunflowers that Easily Bend Towards the Sun Could Generate Efficient Solar Energy, News18 (India) November 13

  • ASU team accepts the NSF Quantum Leap challenge

    ASU team accepts the NSF Quantum Leap challenge

    A group of ASU engineers and scientists is among the research teams the National Science Foundation has assembled for its Quantum Leap Challenge Institute to develop new technologies using the latest knowledge about quantum mechanics. The ASU team includes Fulton Schools faculty members Nongjian Tao, Sefaattin Tongay, Qing Hua Wang and Stephen Goodnick. Their work will contribute to the increasing sophistication and miniaturization of electronics through the expanding ability to manipulate and control matter at the level of individual atoms and molecules. The endeavor has the potential to revolutionize computing and sensing technologies.

  • Arizona the “wild west” of stem cell therapy; experts say promising therapy ripe for exploitation

    Arizona the “wild west” of stem cell therapy; experts say promising therapy ripe for exploitation

    The lure of new cures promised by marketers of stem cell-based medical therapies should be approached with a buyer-beware attitude, say physicians and researchers, including David Brafman and Emma Frow, assistant professors in the Fulton Schools biomedical engineering program. The stem cell therapy industry is still largely unregulated and its claims mostly unproven, the experts warn. Brafman and Frow recently completed studies of services offered by stem cell clinics in the Southwest and found reasons to question the effectiveness of many of the treatments the clinics provide.

  • Engineering perceived deficits to assets

    Engineering perceived deficits to assets

    Fulton Schools engineering education and systems design doctoral student Michael Sheppard is a former Navy combat medic with a military service-connected disability. Sheppard is doing research on the psychological and emotional disabilities that often affect armed forces veterans. Now he is beginning work to help develop resources for veterans to transition into their postmilitary lives and turn their disabilities into productive assets.

     

  • Star students: ASU team watches as its project is launched into orbit

    Star students: ASU team watches as its project is launched into orbit

    ASU students worked for four years to complete a small cube-shaped satellite equipped with technology for studying the urban heat island effect in seven U.S. cities. A small group from among members of the project team — many of them Fulton Schools engineering students — recently watched the satellite blast off into space from a NASA launch site. Project manager Sarah Rogers, an aerospace engineering graduate student, said the spacecraft has provided an “incredible experience” for the 100 or so students who learned valuable lessons from the endeavor.

    See Also: Satellite built by students soars to space on mission to map heat in Phoenix, other cities, Arizona Republic, November 8

    ASU Students Launch NASA-Funded CubeSat To Study Urban Heat Island, KJZZ News, November 11

    ASU student-led team sends “Phoenix” satellite to space, The State Press, Nov 11

  • Two ASU engineering alumni won big on the latest season of Shark Tank

    Two ASU engineering alumni won big on the latest season of Shark Tank

    Fulton Schools alumni Eric Goodchild and Jake Slatnick earned a deal for a big investment in their startup company, Aira, on the popular television program “Shark Tank.” The company’s founders have developed a wireless charger that uses technology — called “Qi” —that is capable of charging several electronic devices simultaneously and is compatible with a large variety of devices. Goodchild and Slatnick, both of whom graduated from ASU in 2015, plan to bring their new technology to the market with Nomad, the major tech accessory company. They attribute some of their success to the entrepreneurial mindset fostered by many ASU programs and initiatives.

  • Made In Arizona: Scottsdale-based company selling technologies to make water from sunlight and air

    Made In Arizona: Scottsdale-based company selling technologies to make water from sunlight and air

    More than a decade ago, Cody Friesen developed technology that used the power of sunlight and moisture in the atmosphere to produce pure drinking water. Today, Zero Mass Water, the company founded by Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering, is seeing its system being employed in 30 countries. The venture is promising to have a significant impact on preventing water scarcity in an increasing number of communities around the world.

October

2019
  • ASU spinout provides recon for the cybersecurity battlefield

    ASU spinout provides recon for the cybersecurity battlefield

    One of the biggest cybersecurity challenges is blocking the efforts of potential hackers before they can trigger their malicious malware programs. CYR3CON, a venture that emerged from research led by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Paulo Shakarian, recently filed its first patent for software designed to predict where hackers are likely to strike. Shakarian, CYR3CON’s CEO and co-founder, developed the framework of his new cybersecurity system as an analyst in the Army focusing on predicting the actions of terrorists and insurgents on the battlefield. The system is still being refined in Shakarian’s Cyber-Socio Intelligent Systems Laboratory at ASU. The goal is to make the system the standard of quality in predictive cybersecurity.

     

  • Stem cells pose risk, offer promise for ED, other diseases

    Stem cells pose risk, offer promise for ED, other diseases

    While there is some indication that cell-based therapies might help treat symptoms and control some urological conditions, researchers says there is a lack of scientific evidence to verify that stem cells are truly effective in these areas and do not cause any unintended harm. In a recent broad study of services offered by stem cell clinics, researchers including Emma Frow, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering, point out that few of the clinics are using cell treatments for urological problems and that there are no Federal Drug Administration-approved stem cell products for use in urology.

  • Stress and corrosion can accelerate alloy cracks

    Stress and corrosion can accelerate alloy cracks

    ASU researchers are among those who have been discovering that certain environmental conditions can accelerate the corrosion of metallic materials, which poses a threat to materials used in the construction of airplanes, bridges and power plants. The new insight into parallel actions of materials stress and corrosion can help in designing new alloys the deter stress corrosion-induced materials failures, as well as point to better ways to assess the stability of metal alloys that are part of existing structures and technologies. Among leaders in this research is Karl Sieradzki, a Fulton Schools professor of materials science and engineering. Read more.

  • A student project measures fruit ripeness by measuring Ethylene Gas production

    A student project measures fruit ripeness by measuring Ethylene Gas production

    A biosensing system that reveals the ripeness of fruit earned a research group a $100,000 prize at the third annual ASU Innovation Open presented by the Fulton Schools of Engineering and Avnet, one of the world’s largest electronics components companies. The funds will enable Strella Biotechnology, led by a University of Pennsylvania researcher, to advance its work. The group’s system will help fruit growers to reduce the amount of waste created by its production processes and improve the quality of its products.

  • ASU-led project looks for new uses for solar power

    ASU-led project looks for new uses for solar power

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Zachary Holman joined KJZZ’s The Show to talk about a new project to increase the use, and kinds of uses, of solar power. Holman and the ASU research team lead the project. They are working with MIT and schools in Ireland in this multi-year project, which focuses on manufacturing, materials and other aspects of photovoltaic devices. 

  • Department of Defense awards FIU biomedical engineering team $6 million to expand testing of pioneering prosthetic hand system

    Department of Defense awards FIU biomedical engineering team $6 million to expand testing of pioneering prosthetic hand system

    James Abbas, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering, is on the team of researchers that has developed a pioneering prosthetic hand system that enables amputees to regain a sense of feeling objects. Now the researchers are moving into a new stage of testing the technology, using military veterans who are amputees and others who have had hand amputations. Abbas, who has been a key partner in evaluating the “neural-enabled” prosthetic hand system, says its sensory feedback capability promises to have dramatic impacts on the lives of its users.

  • Data shows higher CO2 emissions in the Valley

    Data shows higher CO2 emissions in the Valley

    Carbon dioxide emissions are up by almost 300 percent in the Phoenix metro area over the past three decades. It’s the result of population growth, says Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. In addition to the air pollution concerns raised by those increasing emissions, the city will be further challenged by the impacts of climate change, Chester says. The combination of smoggy brown haze over the city and the expected rise in heat in urban environments is certain to raise more public health issues for the Phoenix area.

     

  • Street Art Meets Climate Science in the Big, Blue Face of Zeus

    Street Art Meets Climate Science in the Big, Blue Face of Zeus

    A large recently completed mural painted with a surface-cooling coating on a building in Los Angeles may be a sign of things to come as cities face the challenges of a warming climate. Artists, community activists, urban planners and climate experts collaborated on the project. One of them was Ariane Middel, an assistant professor and urban climatologist in the Fulton Schools and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering. Using a thermal camera and a temperature-sensing robot, Middel measured the heat signature of the mural to demonstrate the cooling effects of the coating on the surrounding environment.

  • California earthquake: MICROBES could save buildings from Big One – ‘Time is running out’

    California earthquake: MICROBES could save buildings from Big One – ‘Time is running out’

    ASU’s Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavaznajian, is at the forefront of developing solutions to protect natural and built environments from the potentially devastating impacts of earthquakes — including the powerful tsunamis they’ve triggered. One of the center’s researchers, Associate Professor Leon van Paassen, explains the techniques being developed to sufficiently stabilize soils to enable them to withstand shocks from earthquakes. One method involves injecting nutrients into the ground to be consumed by microbes. That causes the microbes to generate nitrogen gas bubbles that could significantly dampen ground vibrations during earthquakes, and thus prevent damage to structures standing on those soils — especially cities built on loosely compacted soils that can liquefy during a strong quakes.

  • Speeding up Construction

    Speeding up Construction

    Work led by Fulton Schools Professor Barzin Mobasher is showing how using fiber-reinforced concrete can save time, effort and costs in construction projects. His research team has come up with a series of equations, calculations and procedures for using just the right amount of fiber in concrete mixes to build structures that are more crack-resistant and durable over time and easier and less expensive to repair. The fiber and concrete formula could also provide environmental benefits by producing less of a carbon footprint than conventional concrete materials. Mobasher’s methodology also includes various sets of calculations for concrete mixes using different types of high-performance fibers, including synthetic, glass, polymeric and nylon fibers.

  • Navrotsky comes full circle with opening of new ASU center

    Navrotsky comes full circle with opening of new ASU center

    National Academy of Sciences member Alexandra Navrotsky (holding sign in photo) has returned to ASU to the lead the Navrotsky Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe. Her job is to oversee interdisciplinary explorations of newly discovered materials, including those found elsewhere in our solar system. That research thrust will enhance materials science and engineering pursuits aimed at developing new detectors and spacecraft materials needed to enable discoveries beyond our planet. Navrotsky rejoins ASU as a professor in the Fulton Schools, as well as the School of Molecular Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

     

  • ASU graduate creates tool to help with physical therapy

    ASU graduate creates tool to help with physical therapy

    A serious spinal cord injury Daniel Campbell sustained in 2012 led him to design a devise to aid his own physical rehabilitation therapy. He called it “The Spartan” and found that therapists and patients wanted to use it. A few years later, as a Fulton Schools undergraduate studying engineering with a focus on robotics, Campbell was refining the rehabilitative tool and entering competitions to raise funding to provide the device to others with similar injuries. Today he has a degree and is seeing The Spartan being used in rehab facilities in Arizona and California.

  • Riding the brain wave: ASU scientists research human electrical activity

    Riding the brain wave: ASU scientists research human electrical activity

    Rosalind Sadleir and her research team are work on more accurate and less invasive ways to measure electrical activities in the human brain and body. The Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering is hoping that deeper knowledge of these electrical activities will reveal ways to more quickly diagnose neurological problems like Parkinson’s Disease and related health disorders. The team is developing a new imaging technique that more closely pinpoints where the electrical activity is occurring in the brain. The project involves a collaboration between ASU and experts at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

     

  • What we can’t see can hurt us: Connecting the dots between breast cancer and food

    What we can’t see can hurt us: Connecting the dots between breast cancer and food

    Research is showing possible links between certain chemicals called endocrine disruptors and the onset of breast cancer — and that research points to our modern diet being largely responsible for the slow accumulation of these disruptors in our bodies. The researchers, Fulton Schools professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, and Devin Bowes, a graduate student in the Fulton Schools biological design program, also say there are measures we can take to reduce ingesting endocrine disruptors and other chemicals we are exposed to through some processed foods and some of the materials in which they are packaged.

    See Also: National Geographic, October 10

    Fast food increases exposure to a ‘forever chemical’ called PFAS

    Long-lasting chemicals used in food packaging can seep into the food and then build up within our bodies, according to data from a new study. It looks at packaging containing a toxic chemical known as PFAS, which has been linked to cancer, thyroid disorders, weight gain and hormonal changes. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden says PFAS is among the chemicals to which people are often exposed that do not degrade, and thus pose risks to the health of both humans and the natural environment.

  • Prepping for the Big One

    Prepping for the Big One

    It’s called liquefaction, the intense soil-displacing shaking brought on by earthquakes that turn solid ground mushy and dangerous. ASU’s Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavazanjian, has developed technology to prevent of liquefaction by injecting nutrients deep into soil. Micro-organisms ingest the nutrients, producing gas that in turn prevents the pressure that leads to liquefaction. ASU engineers are teaming with colleagues at other universities to test the method in parts or Portland, Oregon that could be prone to liquefaction. They’re using tools such as the truck called T-Rex (see picture), which can simulate earthquake action by shaking small areas of the ground.

    See Also: Where solid ground could turn into ‘soup’ KGW8 News, Portland, October 11

  • Before the flood: System to predict rising water is tested in Phoenix and Flagstaff

    Before the flood: System to predict rising water is tested in Phoenix and Flagstaff

    Even with one of the driest monsoon seasons on record this year, Arizona still saw rains that led to flash flooding and emergency rescues of people swept away in swift waters running through desert washes. Such persistent threats to public safety could be reduced by FloodAware, a warning system being developed by engineers and scientists at ASU, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Margaret Garcia, a leader of the FloodAware research, explains how a mobile hydrology app, image-processing technology and water resource engineering can help provide real-time flood monitoring to give public safety officials timely alerts about potentially dangerous flooding at specific locations.

  • California’s massive power outage is a wake-up call for the whole country

    California’s massive power outage is a wake-up call for the whole country

    The world’s infrastructure systems can’t be adapted fast enough to handle growing challenges being brought on by climate change, says Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. The threatening climatic conditions and extreme weather events that are interrupting power grid operations in California are an example of what is beginning to happen across the country. Chester and other experts warn that infrastructure designed and built for the more stable and predictable climate of the past will become more prone to instability that poses risks to public safety. (Image by H. Hach from Pixabay )

    See Also: You can expect more blackouts as the country heats up, Popular Science, October 11

  • New photovoltaic research partnership spans countries, disciplines

    New photovoltaic research partnership spans countries, disciplines

    ASU’s Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies Engineering Research Center, known as QESST, will lead a collaboration involving five universities in three countries to make advances in solar cell technology and explore new applications for photovoltaic devices. QESST is directed by Christiana Honsberg, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering. Among results the research project is expected to produce are technologies that are more efficient at converting sunlight into electricity, integration of solar cells into indoor “internet of things” sensors and wearable technology and low-cost solar cell manufacturing. News of the project is also posted on the Solar Novus Today, Solar Builder magazine and Phys.org websites.

  • Stunning Photos Show What It’s Really Like To Work Deep Underground In An American Coal Mine

    Stunning Photos Show What It’s Really Like To Work Deep Underground In An American Coal Mine

    Coal miners typically descend thousands of feet into the earth to their work sites. Risks they face in underground environments can be dangerous if safety measures are not followed diligently. Miners can be exposed to extremely heavy air pressure and to dangerous gases like carbon monoxide and methane. Proper ventilation will prevent harmful conditions, says Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavazanjian, a geotechnical engineer, but mine operators must follow established procedures that make practices to protect workers’ health a priority. Kavazanjian also commented about the issue in a 2010 article in The New York Times.

     

  • Laser Activated Gold Nanorods Create Silk Seal for Incisions and Wounds

    Laser Activated Gold Nanorods Create Silk Seal for Incisions and Wounds

    A new body tissue sealing technique being developed by Fulton Schools Professor Kaushal Rege’s research team uses a laser to heat up gold nanorods to gently melt silk fibers. Those fibers then fuse with collagen — a protein within the body’s various connective tissues — to bond tissues and aid in healing of wounds and incisions, while also possibly preventing infections. The method can be applied to reinforcing the use of stitches to seal tissues or to potentially provide a resilient alternative to conventional stitching. Read more.

     

  • The Problem With ‘Cool Pavements’: They Make People Hot

    The Problem With ‘Cool Pavements’: They Make People Hot

    Many cities trying to cool down ambient outdoor temperatures for the public’s comfort have been using so-called “cool pavements,” especially on their streets. But researcher Ariane Middel is finding these typically white pavement materials that are supposed to lower temperatures, by reflecting energy from sunlight, are actually causing a rise in heat. Middel is an urban climatologist and an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools and the School of Arts, Media. She and fellow researchers have recently been studying the impact of measures to keep urban heat down in Los Angeles. But she has discovered temperatures are being boosted by the solar radiation that is reflecting off of the white paving materials.

    See Also: ASU researcher finds white ‘cool pavements’ actually make you hotter, 3TV/CBS 5 News – Phoenix, October 11

  • From pipelines to fibre optics: How drilling technology is reshaping the urban landscape

    From pipelines to fibre optics: How drilling technology is reshaping the urban landscape

    Horizontal direction drilling, or HDD, has been transforming the way power lines, gas lines and fiber optic cables are installed underground. Fulton Schools Professor Sam Ariaratnam, chair of the construction engineering program, has been at the forefront of research leading to HDD advances that have and made the technique standard practice in the underground construction industry over the past two decades. In an article reporting on how HDD is reshaping modern urban landscapes in Canada, Ariaratnam talks about the technical and environmental benefits being demonstrated by this minimally invasive drilling method.

     

  • ASU professor’s company Zero Mass Water awarded prestigious MIT prize

    ASU professor’s company Zero Mass Water awarded prestigious MIT prize

    It’s not just Zero Mass Water’s technological achievement in developing fully solar-powered hydropanels that can produce water by absorbing water vapor from the air. It’s how the company has made it a priority to bring its system to underserved communities around the world. “As inventors, we have a responsibility to ensure our technology serves all of humanity, not simply the elite” says the company’s founder, Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering. That guiding principle recently helped Friesen and Zero Mass Water win the Lemelson-MIT Prize given annually to “honor outstanding mid-career inventors dedicated to improving our world through technological invention.” (Read more in a September 19 post on this page.)

  • First-ever clinical trial begins studying fecal microbiota transplant with Pitt-Hopkins syndrome

    First-ever clinical trial begins studying fecal microbiota transplant with Pitt-Hopkins syndrome

    ASU’s Autism/Aspergers Research Program, directed by Fulton Schools Professor James Adams, is partnering with a research foundation to do the first clinical trial of a new therapy developed by Adams and his research team to treat some of the ailments associated with autism. The trial will focus on the potential for the Microbiota Transfer Therapy to combat the effects of Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, a rare genetic disorder often classified on the autism spectrum. The hope is for the treatment to alleviate or reduce constipation and other gastrointestinal and gut problems that often plague children with Pitt-Hopkins syndrome.

  • New wearable tech center in midtown Phoenix to foster research and development

    New wearable tech center in midtown Phoenix to foster research and development

    Fulton Schools faculty members have key roles in a new wearable technology center in Phoenix. The WearTech Center is a public-private partnership between the Partnership for Economic Innovation, ASU and the state government. Gregory Raupp, professor of chemical engineering and the Fulton Schools’ director of Partnerships and Innovation, is the center’s research director. Thomas Sugar (pictured at right), graduate program chair and professor in the Fulton School’s engineering and manufacturing engineering program, is part of GoX Labs, a tenant at the WearTech center. The venture’s mission is to partner with industry to develop wearable technology solutions. Current devices include smartwatches, fitness trackers, augmented and virtual reality headsets and wearable cameras, and health- assessment devices. (Subscriber access only)

    See Also: WearTech Center — focused on R&D — opens at Park Central, AZ Big Media, October 1

September

2019
  • Free (Robot) Hugs! An Embracing Multimodal Dataset

    Free (Robot) Hugs! An Embracing Multimodal Dataset

    With the proliferation of artificial intelligence technology, human interactions with AI-equipped robots are expected to become an increasing part of daily life. So, scientists and engineers are exploring paths to better human-robot relationships. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Heni Ben Amor has led research using a humanoid remote-controlled robot to give hundreds of hugs to humans wearing sensors to collect data on their hugging experiences. The result is a human-robot hugging interaction data set that could aid efforts to train companion robots and have applications in robots used for assembly tasks, therapy and even entertainment. Details are reported in a recent research paper authored by Ben Amor and Fulton Schools doctoral students Kunal Bagewadi and Joseph Campbell, who work in Ben Amor’s Interactive Robotics Lab.

  • ASU engineers want to use traffic cameras to warn about urban flooding

    ASU engineers want to use traffic cameras to warn about urban flooding

    Using infrared technology to take photographic images with traffic cameras, and then using algorithms to process those images, a group of Fulton Schools engineers says they will be able to help urban motorists avoid streets that are flooded or likely to soon be underwater. Margaret Garcia, an assistant professor in ASU’s School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, says the system could even help to determine if there’s flooding in areas without the infrared cameras.

     

     

  • ASU and MCC team up with USDA research service to expand agriculture education

    ASU and MCC team up with USDA research service to expand agriculture education

    Fulton Schools and Mesa Community College students are teaming with a U.S. Department of Agriculture research center to promote education in sustainable agriculture. They’re aiding in development of agricultural research techniques that can be applied in the lab and in hands-on field work. An undergraduate course to be offered as part of the project is expected to begin in the 2020 spring semester. The venture may provide impetus for developing more concentrated studies of food systems and related agricultural subjects at ASU, says Rebecca Muenich, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment.

  • The Man Who Makes Water From Thin Air Wins Half-A-Million Dollar Prize

    The Man Who Makes Water From Thin Air Wins Half-A-Million Dollar Prize

    The Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology awarded Cody Friesen its annual $500,000 prize for inventions that can improve the quality of life for people around the world. Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering, founded Fluidic Energy and Zero Mass Water, companies that provide rechargeable batteries to power electric grids in emergency situations and solar energy panels that can produce drinkable water by absorbing water molecules from the air. So far, the technology has helped to deliver water to communities in more than 30 countries.

    See Also: MIT honors alumnus for innovations in drinking water, battery technologies, Boston Globe, September 18

    Arizona engineer, inventor wins $500,000 prize for water-air tech, KTAR News, September 19

    Cody Friesen PhD ’04 awarded $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, MIT News, September 18

    ASU professor, startup founder wins $500,000 for panels that create water from air, sunlight, Phoenix Business Journal, September 18 (Subscriber access only)

  • Reasons to be optimistic about Arizona’s water future

    Reasons to be optimistic about Arizona’s water future

    Ensuring Arizona can avoid water scarcity in a future that’s predicted to be drier throughout the Southwest will take foresight and concerted endeavors by public officials, scientists, industry, community leaders and the public to find solutions to water supply challenges. Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff was one of the water experts who spoke at a recent conference sponsored by ASU’s offices of Knowledge Enterprise Development and Government and Community Engagement. Westerhoff, the Fulton Chair of Environmental Engineering, stressed the need for industries and businesses to engage in efforts to develop best practices in their management and use of water resources.

  • Phoenix Residents Will Need To Adapt To An Even Hotter Climate

    Phoenix Residents Will Need To Adapt To An Even Hotter Climate

    Continuing urbanization is resulting in cities with more heat-absorbent surfaces — concrete sidewalks, parking lots and roads paved with asphalt, for instance — that are intensifying the urban heat island effect. With her robot that measures how heat impacts the human body, Ariane Middel is studying ways for cities that face hotter futures to help keep people cool and shielded from the sources of higher temperatures. Middel. an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, is working with Phoenix and Tempe to create more shade in urban environs.

     

  • HEARTBREAKING IMAGES THAT SHOW THE IMPACT OF PLASTIC ON ANIMALS IN THE OCEANS

    HEARTBREAKING IMAGES THAT SHOW THE IMPACT OF PLASTIC ON ANIMALS IN THE OCEANS

    There is little about large accumulations of plastics in the world’s oceans that isn’t problematic, scientists and engineers report. The pollution is posing a growing risk to sea life, with animals up and down the food chain being threatened by the effects of plastics in their environments, says Charles Rolsky, an ASU doctoral student who conducts research with Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden in the Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Halden says early research indicates microplastics that are also finding their way into human’s bodies could pose serious health threats to people. The growing plastics waste situation even has serious economic implications for many large industries.

  • Starry-eyed ASU students create satellite to better understand climate change

    Starry-eyed ASU students create satellite to better understand climate change

    The large swaths of concrete and asphalt that cover much the urban environment’s surfaces are a major factor in the ongoing rise in temperatures that are making life more uncomfortable — and even unhealthy — in big cities. A team of ASU students, many of them Fulton Schools students, hope to gather valuable new information to help address the problem. They’re building and preparing a small satellite designed to help study the impacts of the urban heat island effect as it flies over several major cities, including Phoenix. A grant from NASA is supporting the CubeSat venture. Aerospace engineering student Sarah Rogers is the project manager.

     

  • New surveillance tech means you’ll never be anonymous again

    New surveillance tech means you’ll never be anonymous again

    It’s getting way beyond facial recognition. New ways researchers are developing technologies to find, detect and monitor people are expanding rapidly and becoming more effective. Tracking people by their heartbeat, microbial cells and scent are just some of the expanded capabilities. Such advances make it urgent to restrict use of such surveillance tools when it could violate democratic principles, says Katina Michael, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering, who is also on the faculty of the ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society. The impacts of these technologies need to be revealed and controlled to maintain public trust in the governments and other institutions that might use them.

  • These Scientists Are Changing Soil at a Molecular Level to Withstand Earthquakes

    These Scientists Are Changing Soil at a Molecular Level to Withstand Earthquakes

    Engineers and scientists are experimenting with using microbes to re-engineer soils underground in a way that prevents soil from liquefying. In collaboration with two other universities, ASU’s Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavazanjian, is developing a technique researchers hope can eventually be applied to liquefaction-prone locales around the world. That would fortify soil and help to keep liquids from saturating the ground during earthquakes and preventing damage to buildings, roadways and other vital structures. Trillions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure is at risk until solutions are found that will stop liquefaction on a large scale, Kavazanjian says.

  • Fires in the Amazon: Arizona researchers determine what’s true, what’s not

    Fires in the Amazon: Arizona researchers determine what’s true, what’s not

    As social media in particular rapidly spreads information and misinformation about the more than 100,000 separate fires that have erupted in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, ASU researchers are helping separate fact from fiction about the blazes and their potential environmental impacts. Among them is Kai Shu, a Fulton Schools computer science and engineering doctoral student who authored the book “Detecting Fake News on Social Media” with his academic adviser, Fulton Schools Professor Huan Liu. The flurry of photos, reporting and misreporting spreading about the Amazon fires demonstrate the challenge of getting the straight story on such dramatic events.

  • ASU professor studies how different types of shade can help keep us cool in the heat

    ASU professor studies how different types of shade can help keep us cool in the heat

    Trees, awnings, shade sails, umbrellas, landscaping and urban environmental design — all of those and more are becoming vital to coping with a growing need to cool things down in locales where temperatures continue to climb. Ariane Middel is using technology she designed — a mobile biometeorological instrument platform named “MaRTy” —   in her work with colleagues to find the most effective methods of protecting the populace from the rising heat. Middel is an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering.

    See Also: Keeping Pedestrians Cool Focus of First-Ever U of G Research, University of Guelph, September 3

    Arizona researchers say shade is not all created equal, KTAR News, September 1

  • Operation Safe Roads: Do stiffer traffic citation fines lead to safer streets?

    Operation Safe Roads: Do stiffer traffic citation fines lead to safer streets?

    In some countries, fines for traffic violations that are many times higher than fines in Arizona and throughout the United States seem to have a deterrent effect on inattentive driving that leads to serious vehicle crashes. But transportation engineer and Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala says raising fines probably would not by itself result in making driving safer on Phoenix streets and highways. Pendyala recommends that better roadway design and public awareness and education efforts need to be part of a solution to the rising numbers of auto collisions.

  • All-female robotics team wins major awards while slashing stereotypes of women, Latinos in STEM

    All-female robotics team wins major awards while slashing stereotypes of women, Latinos in STEM

    A rookie team of ASU engineering students — most of them Fulton Schools students — put in the surprise performance of a recent international underwater robotics competition. The team named Desert WAVE (Women in Autonomous Vehicle Engineering) took third place over all at the RoboSub international event. The team was formed in collaboration with an Arizona-based organization that provides opportunities to youngsters in underserved communities. Another version of the story was posted on the website of the national morning news show Good Morning America.

    See Also: ASU’s all female robotics team is #1 in the country, 3TV/CBS 5 News – Phoenix, September 6

     

  • Contact Lenses Another Source Of Plastic Pollution

    Contact Lenses Another Source Of Plastic Pollution

    The billions of contact lenses being disposed of by flushing them down drains and toilets is exacerbating the plastics pollution problem that is threatening the health of the environment as well as the human food chain. Contact lenses can survive the filtering processes of water treatment systems, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of the ASU Center for Environmental Health Engineering. That means old contact lenses end up adding to the increasing accumulations of toxic pollutants on land and in the ocean, where they are ingested by land animals and sea creatures — including those that are sources of food for people.

     

  • Troops of the future may ditch night-vision goggles in favor of eye injections to see in the dark

    Troops of the future may ditch night-vision goggles in favor of eye injections to see in the dark

    A vision physiologist and a nanoparticle expert have injected nanoparticles that convert infrared light into visible light into the eyes of mice. The injections gave the mice the ability to see in the dark for as long as 10 weeks. The researchers say the technique could work safely in humans, and be especially useful for troops in nighttime military operations. Brad Allenby, a Fulton Schools professor of engineering and ethics, and founding chair of the Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations and National Security, says more studies would be needed to ensure such injections have no negative effects in humans, but that enhanced visual capability would give troops and security personnel a significant advantage.

  • Hackers use old scam with a twist to target Facebook users

    Hackers use old scam with a twist to target Facebook users

    Fake Facebook pages are being used to trick users of the social media network to click on a video embedded in a message that appears to be from a Facebook friend. Clicking on the video can give hackers access to much of your personal information, warns cybersecurity expert Partha Dasgupta, a Fulton Schools associate professor of computer science and engineering. Dasgupta says such so-called phishing scams have lured social media users into becoming victims of identity theft.

August

2019
  • 50 grades of shade: Researchers find that it’s not all created equal

    50 grades of shade: Researchers find that it’s not all created equal

    With a long-range forecast for higher summer temperatures in the Phoenix metro area, communities are taking steps to provide more shade in the urban environment. Ariane Middel (at left in photo) is among ASU researchers leading biometeorological studies to determine more effective ways to use landscaping, buildings, canopies and other structures to offer people some respite from the heat by shielding them from sunlight. Middel is an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools, as well as the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.

     

  • Can We Survive Extreme Heat?

    Can We Survive Extreme Heat?

    The damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina slamming New Orleans in 2005 could be a picture of what’s to come from extreme climate events driven by warming temperatures throughout the world, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester, who directs the Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering at ASU. Chester’s fellow engineers and their climate science colleagues point to more than heat affecting the severity of weather events, but also how constant high temperatures can trigger social and psychological stresses. They say re-engineering cities like Phoenix to mitigate and withstand the heat is becoming imperative to quality of life.

     

  • Mini-spacecraft built by ASU students will study urban heat island effect

    Mini-spacecraft built by ASU students will study urban heat island effect

    Fulton Schools students are among more than 100 ASU students, faculty members and researchers who teamed up to design and build the Phoenix spacecraft. The small “cubesat” is set to be launched in October to the international Space Station for a two-year mission. The spacecraft will to take thermal images of several American cities (including Phoenix) to help determine the effects of their urban heat islands. The goal is to give local governments and communities data to help them confront their heat-related environmental challenges.

    See Also: Starry-eyed ASU students create satellite to better understand climate change, The State Press, September 16

  • Hitting the Books: We can engineer the Earth to fight climate change

    Hitting the Books: We can engineer the Earth to fight climate change

    The longer it takes to launch efforts to reduce the levels of carbon emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere, the bigger and more expensive a feat of geoengineering it will require to evade the dangers of a rapidly warming planet. The carbon-capture technology capable of helping to fine-tune the climate is being developed in research led by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner in ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. But the solution is going to also require resolving some political and social conflicts.

     

  • Will CRISPR succeed in curing disease?

    Will CRISPR succeed in curing disease?

    Promising indications that the gene-editing tool called CRISPR can be used to effectively fight cancer and other serious health disorders and diseases is about to put to the test in clinical trials. Samira Kiana, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering and an expert in gene therapy, describes the complex obstacles and challenges involved in verifying CRISPR’s curative powers.

  • ‘Shadow hunter’: ASU climatologist helps others find shade from Arizona sun

    ‘Shadow hunter’: ASU climatologist helps others find shade from Arizona sun

    With a robot she calls “a mean radiant temperature cart,” ASU urban climatologist Ariane Middel is gathering data that can be used to develop “thermal comfort maps.” The robot and the maps can help calculate routes that provide the most shade for those seeking refuge from Arizona’s searing summer sun. The system could also be adapted to aid architects and planners in designing structures and spaces to provide more shade. Middel is an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, and an affiliate faculty member with the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. Read more.

     

  • How do I love ants? Let me count the ways

    How do I love ants? Let me count the ways

    Doctoral student Andrew Burchill has one of the most painstaking jobs in science. His work with ASU’s Social Insect Research Group includes “mass animal christening,” that so far has been requiring him to identify and keep track of vast multitudes of ants by painting tags on them with a human eyelash taped to a toothpick. But Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic has come to Burchill’s rescue. Pavlic combined his skills in electrical and computer engineering, computer science and life sciences — and expertise in telecommunications and the behavior of complex systems — to solve a problem Burchill says has long been frustrating biologists.

  • Study reveals how phone phishing catches its prey

    Study reveals how phone phishing catches its prey

    Perpetrators of phone scams are using social engineering to exploit their victims’ vulnerabilities. Scammers employ sophisticated methods such as visual cues, altered caller IDs and alarming voice content to fraudulently obtain people’s sensitive personal information. Adam Dumpé, a Fulton Schools assistant professor computer engineering, is working with a research team to explore development of effective countermeasures to safeguard against the scams.

  • As Phoenix Heats Up, the Night Comes Alive

    As Phoenix Heats Up, the Night Comes Alive

    Phoenix is already one of the hottest cities in the United States, with well over 100 days a year seeing temperatures at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And it’s getting hotter — along with some other large urban areas around the country — due to global climate change and the urban heat island effect. Ariane Middel, an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, is among urban climate researchers using the city as a living laboratory to explore strategies for warming cities to adapt to the meteorological changes and reduce the impacts of the rising heat.

  • Toxic groundwater lies beneath Phoenix, and a cleanup has been delayed for years

    Toxic groundwater lies beneath Phoenix, and a cleanup has been delayed for years

    For many years, harmful chemicals were dumped on the ground around industrial plants in Phoenix. The groundwater polluted by those health-threatening solvents remains at the center of governmental, financial and legal disputes that have been delaying cleanup of the contaminated water that stretches for 15 miles. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says the risk of public exposure to the chemicals can be alleviated only by an aggressive cleanup effort.

     

  • What just happened? The rise of interest in Artificial Intelligence

    What just happened? The rise of interest in Artificial Intelligence

    Misconceptions and misperceptions about artificial intelligence technology cloud some of the public’s understanding of AI technology and its potential societal impacts. It’s instructive to look at the evolution of AI’s capabilities to get a more revealing grasp of how it might change the world, says Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and chief AI officer for the AI Foundation. In the first of a series of columns on the subject, Kambhampati examines how AI has progressed in gaining abilities in particular kinds of intelligence in ways comparable to — and different than — human intellectual development.

     

  • Team of all-female ASU students took 3rd in a world robotics competition

    Team of all-female ASU students took 3rd in a world robotics competition

    Among more than 50 teams from 12 countries, the all-female Desert Wave team of Fulton Schools students finished third in the recent 2019 International RoboSub competition. That made Desert Wave the highest-placing team from the United States. Robots entered in the competition were designed to help gather knowledge in underwater environments that could pose dangers for people. The team composed largely of freshman students plans to return to the RoboSub event next year. Read more.

     

     

  • Artificial Intelligence brings Wimbledon highlights to TV Viewers

    Artificial Intelligence brings Wimbledon highlights to TV Viewers

    A recent edition of the science and technology program “Details” reports on how artificial intelligence technology was used to enhance TV viewers’ experience of this summer’s Wimbledon tennis championships. Journalist Andrey Derkach turned to Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kamphampati for AI expertise. Kamphampati explained how an AI-powered system implemented by IBM analyzed video footage to produce a highlights report for various media platforms. He says the way the system selected what to feature exhibited a bias due to the quirks of crowd reactions influenced by the popularity of certain players. The report begins several seconds past the 12:30 mark in the video. The program was first aired on July 1 and then archived on its website.

  • Joint ASU-Army project helps bridge the gap between civilians, soldiers

    Joint ASU-Army project helps bridge the gap between civilians, soldiers

    A joint ASU-U.S. Army project is providing valuable information to aid the country’s military in its missions around the world. Each semester, ASU students are assigned to research densely populated urban regions in other countries. The goal is to help U.S. military forces better understand the cultural, demographic, social and economic environments of those regions before U.S. troops deploy to those areas. Fulton Schools biomedical engineering student Nathan Hui is among those who have participated. Hui says his extensive information-gathering for the Army on Algiers, Algeria, provided excellent training in conducting research.

  • Arizona Corporation Commission member questions risks of APS lithium battery sites

    Arizona Corporation Commission member questions risks of APS lithium battery sites

    Firefighters were injured in an explosion earlier this year resulting from a fire at an Arizona Public Service utility company storage facility west of Phoenix. The incident has prompted a member of the state commission that regulates public utilities to recommend APS consider using sources of power other than the lithium ion batteries used at the facility. Fulton Schools Professor Hanqing Jiang, whose research involves developing advances in lithium ion batteries, says they are the best kind of batteries for power storage applications and can be prevented from catching on fire with proper safety precautions.

    See Also: 4 months later, investigators still looking for cause in APS battery facility explosion, Fox 10 News-Phoenix, August 8

  • Phoenix area freeway system not to blame for wrong-way drivers, says expert

    Phoenix area freeway system not to blame for wrong-way drivers, says expert

    Five incidences within five days involving people driving automobiles in the wrong direction on freeways in the Phoenix area raised questions about the cause of such mishaps. Some voiced concerns that local freeway designs could be contributing to the problem. But Fulton Schools Associate Professor Yingyan Lou, an expert in intelligent transportation systems and the modeling and optimization of those systems, says Arizona’s freeways — particularly busy Interstate 10 — adhere to the some of the best design codes. Better visibility of road signage might help reduce wrong-way driving, Lou says, but studies show driver impairment remains the biggest cause of such incidents.

     

  • Survey of Stem Cell Clinics Reveals Cause for Concern

    Survey of Stem Cell Clinics Reveals Cause for Concern

    Clinics offering direct-to-consumer stem cell treatments can vary significantly in their practices and the expertise of clinicians. That is among key findings of a study published in the journal Stem Cell Reports of almost 170 stem cell businesses in six states in the U.S. Southwest. David Brafman and Emma Frow, Fulton Schools assistant professors of biomedical engineering, led the survey work. Brafman, Frow and their colleagues hope to bring more transparency to the stem cell marketplace, raise consumer awareness and provide insights to guide federal and state agencies in properly regulating the marketplace.

    See Also: Google bans ads for unproven stem cell therapies, Breitbart News, September 6

    More ‘Buyer Beware’ Warnings for Unregulated Stem Cell Clinics, HealthDay News report in U.S. News & World Report, DoctorsLounge and United Press International (Unregulated stem cell clinics can be dangerous, study finds), August 1

    Assessing direct-to-consumer stem cell clinics, Science Daily, August 1

    ASU research reviews unregulated stem cell clinics in six southwestern states, ASU NOW, August 1

    Study examines direct-to-consumer stem cell clinics in 6 Southwestern states, August 1, Science Codex (Cell Press) and Global Health News Wire

    Investigation Into 170 U.S. Stem Cell Clinics Finds Some Scary Trends, Gizmodo, August 2

    ASU Study Describes Fragmented, Unregulated Stem Cell Businesses In Arizona, Southwest, KJZZ (NPR), August 6

    Deep dive into US stem cell clinics gives reason to worry about ‘unsafe or useless treatments, Genetic Literacy Project, August 7

July

2019
  • Predicting the flood before the waters rise

    Predicting the flood before the waters rise

    When summer monsoon rains and big storms cross each other’s paths, the result can wreak a lot of damage, especially in busy Southwestern urban areas such as Phoenix. Early warning systems are one way to reduce the chance of such occurrences putting people— particularly those driving in heavy traffic — in danger. Fulton Schools faculty members Margaret Garcia, Mikhail Chester and Giuseppe Mascaro are at work on Flood Aware, a system employing traffic cameras, image processing algorithms and hydraulic models of storm water systems to provide timely warnings about impending urban flooding.

    See Also: Researchers turn to technology to help detect when storms will flood Valley streets, ABC15 News-Phoenix, August 22

    ASU engineers working on warning system for urban flooding, Fox 10 News-Phoenix, August 1

    Engineers Working to Predict Flooding, 3TV/CBS News 5 – Phoenix, July 31

  • Data biases can skew outcomes of AI-based systems

    Data biases can skew outcomes of AI-based systems

    Artificial intelligence systems can be as beneficial or as detrimental as the data fed into them, according Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, a recent former president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. In a talk presented by the Manthan Forum for Public Discourse in India, Kambhampati said the challenges posed by increasing reliance on AI technology stem from biased data being put into AI systems that skews the outcomes those systems produce.  

  • Perovskite oxide shows potential for cleaner green energy

    Perovskite oxide shows potential for cleaner green energy

    The mineral perovskite oxide is being used to develop a new chemical-materials compound to produce a form of semiconductor that promises to enable more efficient application of solar energy cells. Researchers involved are from Washington University, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and ASU, where Shalinee Kavadiya, a Fulton Schools postdoctoral research scholar, perfected the compound. It could also possibly be used for semiconductor applications in liquid crystal displays.

  • Here’s What We Know About How Plastic Is Impacting Our Health

    Here’s What We Know About How Plastic Is Impacting Our Health

    Scientists and engineers, along with health and environmental organizations, are become increasingly concerned about the amount of plastics around the world. That’s not only because plastics waste is adding significantly to the growing amount of refuse in landfills and is polluting oceans. It’s also because of the growing potential for negative impacts on the health of humans and wildlife. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Center for Environmental Health Engineering, say it’s now almost impossible to find humans and animals who haven’t been exposed to plastics and possibly also to toxic additives used in manufacturing them.

     

  • Scientists engage public on human augmentation

    Scientists engage public on human augmentation

    Samira Kiani, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is among 10 scientists and engineers selected for the 2019–2020 Alan I. Leshner Leadership Institute for Public Engagement project in conjunction with the Science magazine fellows program at the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology. The Fellows are undertaking public outreach projects to explore issues involving emerging human augmentation capabilities. Kiani (second from left in photo) is co-producing a documentary film about the potential benefits of genetic engineering and societal concerns about altering human DNA through “gene editing.”

  • ASU professor’s solar-powered library is transforming global education

    ASU professor’s solar-powered library is transforming global education

    Five years ago, Laura Hosman challenged her engineering students to develop a solar-powered library that would fit in a backpack. That was the beginning of SolarSPELL, which has evolved into a tool for a global humanitarian mission that is bringing education and health care information to people in remote communities. Hosman (second from left in photo), an associate professor in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society, is continuing to get more ASU students involved in the endeavor through internships and engineering capstone design projects.

  • Biodesign receives $1.5 million to develop early warning system for flu outbreaks

    Biodesign receives $1.5 million to develop early warning system for flu outbreaks

    Researchers at ASU’s Biodesign Institute hope to produce better ways to predict viral outbreaks — starting with flu outbreaks. The National Library of Medicine is funding the project involving several ASU research labs and centers. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of Biodesign’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says the capabilities of new advanced technologies promise to provide information revealing how to detect earlier warnings of such outbreaks. Halden and his team will use their expertise in wastewater analysis to improve methods for identifying biohazards in communities.

  • New curriculum will focus on philosophy of artificial intelligence

    New curriculum will focus on philosophy of artificial intelligence

    A new ASU academic program is combining studies of technology creation — primarily artificial technology — with sociology and literature. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will fund development of a new curriculum for a concentration within an undergraduate digital culture degree program in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, a collaborative of the Fulton Schools and the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts. Suren Jayasuriya, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the new program’s project director.

  • Sun Devils honor professors who go the extra mile for students

    Sun Devils honor professors who go the extra mile for students

    Leaders of both ASU’s Graduate and Undergraduate Student Government bestow the Centennial Professorship Award on faculty members to recognize their leadership in classroom learning and innovative practices in their fields. Among recent recipients of the award is Javier Gonzalez-Sanchez, a Fulton Schools lecturer with expertise in software engineering and human-computer interaction. He plans to use the monetary prize that comes with the Centennial Professorship Award to bring more smart objects — such as sensors and embedded and autonomous devices — into classroom projects.

  • DARPA grants ASU up to $38.8 million to create epigenetic tool for fight against weapons of mass destruction

    DARPA grants ASU up to $38.8 million to create epigenetic tool for fight against weapons of mass destruction

    ASU researchers will develop new technology to meet demands of modern warfare and national security in a project funded by a major grant from a U.S. Department of Defense research agency. The goal is to build a device capable of detecting if people have been exposed to substances associated with weapons of mass destruction. The device will be a point-of-care device to aid in the treatment of individuals exposed to biological agents, radiation, chemicals and explosives. Jennifer Blain Christen, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, will serve on an advisory group for the research team.

    See Also: ASU lands $39M grant to detect soldiers’ exposure to weapons of mass destruction, ABC15 News-Phoenix, July 23

    ASU lands $39M grant to detect soldiers’ exposure to weapons of mass destruction, Phoenix Business Journal, July 23

  • Exposed to extreme heat, plastic bottles may ultimately become unsafe

    Exposed to extreme heat, plastic bottles may ultimately become unsafe

    Most plastic containers release only tiny, harmless amounts of chemicals into the food or liquids they hold. But those amounts increase when the plastic containers are exposed to hot temperatures, and that raises concerns about possible negative health impacts that could result over time, warns Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. All the more reason to be aware of — and take steps to prevent — the potential problems of living in a world where we are surrounded by plastics, Halden says.

     

  • ASU researcher studying how to prevent pedestrian deaths around Phoenix

    ASU researcher studying how to prevent pedestrian deaths around Phoenix

    What are the causes of a rise in fatal roadway accidents involving pedestrians — particularly in cities such as Phoenix? Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, a transportation engineering expert, says multiple factors are involved. Urban growth, driving speeds, multilane streets, larger automobiles and road designs all appear to be contributing factors. Pendyala gives more details about what research is revealing in a radio interview with KTAR News in Phoenix. Studies are indicating that better street illumination at nighttime and more signs cautioning drivers to watch for pedestrians might be among effective remedies to the problem.

     

  • Your state probably isn’t prepared for droughts or floods

    Your state probably isn’t prepared for droughts or floods

    A new review in Science of The Total Environment shows just unprepared we are for such floods and droughts—especially as the climate warms. We’re bad at monitoring water resources, we use outdated flood maps and our responses tend to be reactive rather than proactive. To protect ourselves from the water shortages and excesses of the future, we need to rethink how we prepare, the study illustrates.

     

    In the new review, lead author Olga Hart, a doctoral candidate in the lab of Professor Rolf Halden at Arizona State University, looked at drought, water supply and demand, climate change and flooding guidances used by every state. She mapped preparedness for each of those factors and how severe climate change risks are anticipated to be for each state.

  • Elk Grove stay-at-home dad leads fellow online students to create innovative hospital bed

    Elk Grove stay-at-home dad leads fellow online students to create innovative hospital bed

    A team of online students in the Fulton Schools electrical engineering program — including a father of three children — worked remotely to design and build a hospital bed to prevent people with limited mobility from developing pressure ulcers often caused by long periods of being bed-ridden. The team’s Personal Care E-Assistant bed helps stimulate blood flow and includes a passive motion system to reposition patients. The bed also has remote control, monitoring and communication capabilities. The invention won the Fulton Schools Palais Senior Design Prize for its potential to have a widespread positive impact on society.

  • What makes a piece of news fake?

    What makes a piece of news fake?

    Social media has the ability expose users to a myriad of misinformation, including fake news — news stories with intentionally false information. Numerous deep learning methods currently exist to detect fake news, but these methods are unable to explain why it is recognized as such. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State University and Arizona State University, including Fulton Schools computer science doctoral student Kai Shu and Professor Huan Liu, is working to help explain why any piece of fake news is detected as being false.

  • Phoenix’s deadly streets became even deadlier in 2018. What’s the city going to do about it?

    Phoenix’s deadly streets became even deadlier in 2018. What’s the city going to do about it?

    Pedestrian fatalities have been increasing on roadways in busy urban areas — including in Phoenix. Substance abuse, distracted or speeding drivers and bigger, heavier vehicles are seen as sources of the rising roadway dangers. But transportation engineering experts such as Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala say the problem can be remedied to a significant degree by better road design that prioritizes pedestrian safety. An investigation has revealed that many of the most dangerous streets for pedestrians have not been redesigned in decades.

    See Also: Why are the streets of Phoenix so deadly for pedestrians?, KTAR News (Phoenix), July 17

  • ADOT wins ASU sustainability award for Navajo Nation bridge

    ADOT wins ASU sustainability award for Navajo Nation bridge

    The Arizona Department of Transportation and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Arizona Water Science group made the Laguna Creek Bridge on the Navajo Nation a pilot site to test next-generation monitoring technologies. The bridge is equipped with sensors and gauges to provide surface flow data during and after storms. Drones, video cameras, laser-aided surveying and 3D surface modeling are also among the innovative features. The bridge won one of the first Sustainable Infrastructure Awards recently given by ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester.

    See Also: ADOT Bridge Project Near Kayenta Wins Prestigious Award, KNAU News (Flagstaff), July 9

    Arizona bridge project wins infrastructure award, Transportation Today, July 10

    ADOT Bridge Project on US 160 Receives ASU Sustainable Infrastructure Award, SignalsAZ.com, July 14

    ADOT Project Receives Sustainable Infrastructure Award, Construction Equipment Guide, July 16

  • Understanding underground vaults

    Understanding underground vaults

    A power outrage in the downtown Phoenix business district caused by an explosion in underground electrical power facilities resulted in the death of an Arizona Public Service utility company employee. Barzin Mobasher, a Fulton Schools Professor of civil engineering and a structural engineering expert, explains the necessity for underground water, sewer, electrical and cable systems in busy urban areas, but points to the potential dangers that come with working in subterranean structures.

June

2019
  • Parking lot sprawl

    Parking lot sprawl

    Urban planners have seemed to often operate under the impression that you can never have enough parking for automobiles. Researchers, however, are discovering that there is such a thing as too much space allotted for parking — and it’s costing cities a considerable amount of money. Not to mention that all of those heavily paved surfaces that come with such parking lot sprawl intensify the urban heat island effect. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, is among researchers making important findings about the impact of parking infrastructure. Read more about it in ScienceDirect and on Full Circle.

     

  • Could Antibacterial Triclosan Weaken Women’s Bones?

    Could Antibacterial Triclosan Weaken Women’s Bones?

    Overuse of the chemical triclosan in consumer products — particularly antimicrobial soap and the like — may be increasing the risk of bone density loss, especially in women. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering at ASU, comments on a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that offers more findings pointing to the potential for triclosan to present a health threat. Halden recommends people limit their exposure to the risk by not using products containing the chemical.

  • Why Do Tools Rust In Dry Arizona?

    Why Do Tools Rust In Dry Arizona?

    Despite Arizona’s mostly dry desert climate, materials still rust like they do in the wetter and more humid regions elsewhere. Karl Sieradzki, a Fulton Schools professor of materials science and engineering, explains that iron and its alloys, like steel, still oxidize in desert climates. The difference is they do so considerably more slowly in places with low moisture — such as the desert Southwest. But a stainless-steel tool coated in a thin layer of chromium can remain rust-free.

  • ASU professor engineers climate clothing of the future

    ASU professor engineers climate clothing of the future

    Re-engineering clothing is one way people might be able to live more comfortably in hotter climates. Konrad Rykaczewski, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of mechanical engineering, develops microelectronics for cooling systems. He is applying approaches he uses in that work to developing clothing designed to keep wearers cool in high temperatures. Rykaczewski is also experimenting with materials and simple tech devices embedded in clothing that will also minimize the heat-producing energy people generate by moving — another way for clothing to keep the wearer cool.

     

  • Service-learning trip has ASU and Vietnamese students co-develop smart farm technology

    Service-learning trip has ASU and Vietnamese students co-develop smart farm technology

    Eleven ASU engineering students recently joined in the launch of Global EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) by collaborating with Vietnamese engineering students and a sustainable farming organization to develop smart technology to boost agricultural efficiency. Working remotely at first and then at the ASU-supported Maker Innovation Space in Da Nang, ASU students helped to produce a soil humidity sensor to provide farmers data they can use to make decisions about raising their crops. Fulton Schools aerospace engineering students Karryn Baca and Tommy Montero and computer science student Merin Jacob were among members of the project team.

     

  • ASU female engineers to debut biomed project on international stage

    ASU female engineers to debut biomed project on international stage

    Fulton Schools biomedical engineering students Mariam El Sheikha and Kelsey Boos will debut their device to aid upper limb function recovery for stroke patients at an international showcase in London as part of the PLuS Engineering Summer School. El Sheika and Boos — members of one of three ASU engineering teams bringing projects to the summer school in England — were on an interdisciplinary bioengineering product development team for a class on the fundamentals of developing and bringing a biomedical device to the market. Both students are planning to enter medical school.

     

  • How the Gut Microbiome Could Provide a New Tool to Treat Autism

    How the Gut Microbiome Could Provide a New Tool to Treat Autism

    Fulton Schools researchers are at the forefront of research to reveal the secrets surrounding the nature of autism and hot to treat the condition. Professors James Adams and Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown have teamed up on investigations that have led to increasing evidence showing bacteria in the human gut may have a strong connection to behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. Their continuing collaborative studies are bearing out initial suppositions that treatments to correct dysfunction in the collection of bacteria, fungi, viruses and the like in the gut (called the microbiome) could alleviate some debilitating effects of autism.

  • Putting Universities in Charge Yields Early Success

    Putting Universities in Charge Yields Early Success

    NASA’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI) is breaking the mold in the way academic and industry partners shape their collaborative research projects. The program lets students propose the focus of research they want to conduct for the national space agency. Yongming Liu, a Fulton Schools professor who has students involved in ULI research, says the new approach gives students valuable experience in how research to solve real-world technological problems is formulated, solved and implemented. The photograph shows students in an aviation program at The Polytechnic School, one of the Fulton Schools, working with a flight simulator used in research related to an ASU/NASA ULI project.

  • Innovation zone for borderlands

    Innovation zone for borderlands

    A consortium of engineers has proposed an extensive array of ventures along the United State-Mexico border that would focus on innovative development of energy and water resources and include industrial parks, research and education centers and agriculture enterprises. ASU Regents’ Professor Ron Adrian, a Fulton Schools professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is among co-authors of the proposal. In an interview, Adrian talks about the consortium members’ hope that these various facilities and businesses  would bring economic prosperity to the border region that would help to ease border security problems. Read more about the vision for the border innovation zone.

  • We have the tech to suck CO2 from the air — but can it suck enough to make a difference?

    We have the tech to suck CO2 from the air — but can it suck enough to make a difference?

    Klaus Lackner began thinking about technology to make air safer to breathe almost three decades ago. Now startup businesses and other commercial enterprises are pursuing ventures based on carbon-capture systems similar to those Lackner has been developing in the ASU Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. The Fulton Schools professor’s atmosphere-cleansing techniques are about to be deployed through a new partnership between ASU and an Ireland-based company. Using a passive energy- and cost-saving approach, the technology relies on wind to pull air into a carbon-storage system. Lackner’s systems and others have been shown to work, but the challenge now is scaling up operations enough to make a significant difference on a global scale.

    See Also: University researchers behind new push for “mechanical trees” to help capture CO2, ABC Channel 7 News (Denver), July 11

    Direct action: Carbon capture gears up for climate battle, The Engineer, June 12

  • Energy Infrastructure Project Could Improve Border Security

    Energy Infrastructure Project Could Improve Border Security

    A consortium of engineers has proposed an extensive array of water and renewable energy infrastructure developments along the United States-Mexico border to put the region on a path to prosperity. They see the plan helping to improve border security by bringing economic stability to depressed areas. Ron Adrian, an ASU Regents’ Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the Fulton Schools, is among the engineers who authored the proposal. Read more about the proposal in an earlier post on this page dated March 6.

  • ASU alumnus and ASU Gammage take on the 2019 Tony Awards

    ASU alumnus and ASU Gammage take on the 2019 Tony Awards

    The executive director of ASU Gammage, Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, will walk down the red carpet at the annual Tony Awards on June 9 attired in a custom-made gown created by Loren Aragon, a 2004 Fulton Schools mechanical engineering graduate. The gown is an example of the “culturally fueled” aesthetic Aragon brings to his job as a designer and artist for a Native American owned and operated couture fashion brand based in Phoenix. Aragon, whose previous designs have been featured at Disney World, is helping Native American fashion and culture make its mark in the larger fashion industry.

    See Also: Native American designer dresses head of Gammage for Tony Awards, KTAR News (Phoenix), June 10

  • Reprogram How You Think About Infrastructure

    Reprogram How You Think About Infrastructure

    Climate change, autonomous technologies and major shifts in economic and societal landscapes are among factors accelerating a fundamental reshaping of the world — a world in which the rigid blueprint for civil infrastructure design that has been in place for many decades won’t serve us well in the future, says Fulton Schools Associate Profess Mikhail Chester. With his team at ASU’s Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering, Chester is working on approaches to infrastructure development that have the agility and flexibility to respond to the changing needs of society into the next century. 

May

2019
  • More evidence that autism is linked to gut bacteria

    More evidence that autism is linked to gut bacteria

    Medical researchers believe they are making valuable discoveries toward a deeper understanding of autism and how to treat it — particularly through recent studies of how microbes in the human gut play a significant role in development of the condition. The Economist article begins with a report on recent research by Fulton Schools Professors Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown James Adams and their collaborators showing that a process called microbiota transfer therapy helped to reduce the symptoms of autism in children. Their findings are detailed in a report on the website of the research journal Scientific Reports-Nature.

    The Economist article also cites work by researchers at Caltech in collaboration with Krajmalnik-Brown to further explore the gut-brain connection as it relates to autism. The team’s findings are published online in the journal Cell: “Human Gut Microbiota from Autism Spectrum Disorder Promote Behavioral Symptoms in Mice.” More on the latest research is also reported in The Guardian article “Autism symptoms replicated in mice after faecal transplants” and inGut Bacteria Influence Autism-like Behaviors in Mice” (ASU Biodesign Institute)

  • Waymo to resume self-driving truck testing in Arizona

    Waymo to resume self-driving truck testing in Arizona

    The self-driving vehicle venture Waymo is set to test its trucks in Arizona, starting with trips on freeways in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Fulton Schools Professor Lina Karam, who has participated on a public outreach panel on automated mobility with Waymo’s chief external officer and helped to establish the Institute for Automated Mobility, says Arizona offers a good testing ground for self-driving vehicles. Those vehicles can potentially be driven much more safely by automated systems than those driven by humans, Karam says, but it will require Waymo and other companies to set high quality standards for their industry and share knowledge on how to improve self-driving technology. (Phoenix Business Journal subscriber access required.)

  • ASU internet of things entrepreneurs create a wealth of smart stuff

    ASU internet of things entrepreneurs create a wealth of smart stuff

    New internet of things technologies being invented and developed by ASU researchers are providing new devices to improve human health, increase our safety and security, and generally enhance our quality of life. Fulton Schools Professor Hanqing Jiang, Professor N.J. Tao, Associate Professor Erica Forzani and Professor Junshan Zhang are among the innovators in these smart technologies — from edible electronics that monitor gastric acid levels and a mobile diagnostic device to measure metabolic data to a computing startup offering better network connectivity and artificial intelligence for internet of things devices.

     

  • ASU engineering boot camp prepares students to make societal impact

    ASU engineering boot camp prepares students to make societal impact

    Engineering is about much more than mastering the skills necessary to do successful research and technology development. It’s also about learning the customer-centric design process, effective communication and translating tech talk into the language of business. Fulton Schools sophomores are getting immersed in lessons on these additional skills through experiences in the Engineering Futures Technology and Entrepreneurial Mindset Skills Boot Camp. Presented with the help of corporate partners, the boot camp is geared toward getting students prepared to succeed in student internships during their undergraduate years.

  • Students mobilize their research on water solutions in the Sonora-Arizona desert

    Students mobilize their research on water solutions in the Sonora-Arizona desert

    Fulton Schools students participated in a collaboration of researchers from ASU and Tecnológico de Monterrey university in Mexico in a water solutions workshop focused on ideas for improving the management of natural resources in the neighboring deserts regions of southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Enrique Vivoni (at left in photo), a professor in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, said the meeting could result in future joint research, education and public engagement efforts involving the two universities.

     

  • ASU, Mayo Clinic collaborate for impact

    ASU, Mayo Clinic collaborate for impact

    Four of the six ASU faculty members spending the summer working with Mayo Clinic researchers through the ASU Alliance for Health Care are on the Fulton Schools faculty. They will help take on some of the biggest medical and health challenges. Assistant Research Professor Ayan Banerjee will focus on diabetes research. Associate Professor Erica Forzani will help to explore ways to prevent brain damage in people with urea cycle and liver disorder. Assistant Professor Julianne Holloway will aid work to regenerate the tendon-to-bone interface on the rotator cuff. Assistant Professor Feng Ju will pursue innovations in MRI technology.

  • Building the Ultimate Carbon Capture Tree

    Building the Ultimate Carbon Capture Tree

    Forests of carbon-capturing mechanical trees could play a big role in helping reverse much of the unhealthy impacts of the massive amounts of carbon dioxide that power plants, industrial processes and automobiles have emitted into the atmosphere since the first industrial age. The tree technology being developed by ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, led by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, faces challenges to successful deployment. But progress is being made toward optimizing the carbon capturing effectiveness of the system and building prototypes to do advanced testing.

    See Also: Changing the atmosphere, The Business Post (Ireland) May 26

  • ASU director’s paper garners award for positive impact on the field

    ASU director’s paper garners award for positive impact on the field

    A research paper co-authored by Fulton Schools Professor Stephanie Forrest will be recognized with an award for the Ten-Year Most Influential Paper at the upcoming International Conference on Software Engineering. Forrest, who teaches in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decisions Systems Engineering in the Fulton Schools, directs ASU’s Biodesign Center for Biocomputing, Security and Society. With her co-authors, she explored biological processes like evolution to generate ideas for how to automate locating and fixing computer software bugs.

  • Peptides show promise for early detection of pancreatic cancer

    Peptides show promise for early detection of pancreatic cancer

    Pancreatic cancer is one of the cancers that remain the most lethal. But new research is producing an innovative technique for early detection of the first signs of pancreatic cancer. With an early diagnosis, medical interventions could be made to arrest the disease. The research is described in the Nano Research journal by Tony Hu, an associate professor of biomedical engineering in the Fulton Schools and his collaborators in a new field of research called peptidomics that is revealing important clues about effective cancer prognosis. The article was also posted on AZ BIO, the Arizona Bio Industry Association news site.

  • We’re On Our Way To Planting Synthetic Trees

    We’re On Our Way To Planting Synthetic Trees

    The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere by industry, automobiles and other technologies and human activities is a major culprit in climate change that is warming the planet, acidifying the oceans and intensifying dangerous weather events. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner has been involved over the past 25 years in seeking ways to remove much of that threatening buildup of CO2. In an interview, he talks about the synthetic mechanical “trees” that have been developed in his lab — and are being moved toward commercialization — and what they could do to help clear the air of CO2 and impede the acceleration of climate change.  

  • ASU awarded NASA grant for study on Colorado River water management

    ASU awarded NASA grant for study on Colorado River water management

    A research team for a project to devise long-range strategies for management of the water in Colorado River Basin will be led by Enrique Vivoni, an associate professor in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. The team has received a grant of $1 million from NASA’s Earth Science Division for the project, which will include helping government officials developing a drought contingency plan. The Colorado River Basin holds most the Arizona’s current renewable water supply. Vivoni and his team will obtain data for their research from Earth-observing satellites and data from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

  • Study expands understanding of bacterial communities for global next-generation wastewater treatment and reuse systems

    Study expands understanding of bacterial communities for global next-generation wastewater treatment and reuse systems

    Activated sludge microbiomes are likely to aid the world’s growing population in efforts to keep up with the demand for clean water. The Global Water Microbiome Consortium has released results of a study that yields new insights into how microbiome engineering can be applied to development of next-generation wastewater treatment and water reuse systems. ASU’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann, participated in the project. Researchers completed an “unprecedented global sampling” that provides significant new knowledge about the microbiology of activated sludge, Rittmann says.

    See Also: Bacterial communities for wastewater treatment system, Science Daily, May 13, and a report on ASU NOW

  • ASU to develop payloads for Blue Origin lunar transportation

    ASU to develop payloads for Blue Origin lunar transportation

    Fulton Schools students were members of ASU teams that recently launched small space vehicles carrying payloads with equipment for conducting research beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The teams’ successes in that Blue Origin New Shepard project sponsored by Amazon has helped to open the door for ASU students and faculty researchers to put payloads on Amazon’s Blue Moon space craft for a future trip to do research on the Moon.

    See Also: ASU And Blue Origin Team Up To Conquer The Moon, Patch, May 10

    Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Plans To Carry ASU Payloads To The Moon, KJZZ (NPR), May 10

    Jeff Bezos has unveiled Blue Origin’s lunar lander, MIT Technology Review, May 9

  • 3 students named Goldwater Scholars for excelling at undergraduate research

    3 students named Goldwater Scholars for excelling at undergraduate research

    Winners of the Goldwater Scholarships are selected from among the highest-achieving undergraduates in the nation who are making notable contributions to research in science and engineering. Two of the three new Goldwater Scholars at ASU are Fulton Schools students Madeleine Howell and Maeve Kennedy. Both began their research endeavors in the labs of Fulton Schools faculty members in the School of Biomedical and Health Systems Engineering. Howell, a chemistry major who is minoring in materials science and engineering and mathematics, worked in the lab of Assistant Professor Barbara Smith. Kennedy, a chemical engineering major and Fulton Schools Grand Challenge Scholar got her introduction to research in the Bioinspired Complex Adaptive Systems Laboratory directed by Associate Professor Vincent Pizziconi.

  • Self-powered clinic to bring expanded medical care to Uganda

    Self-powered clinic to bring expanded medical care to Uganda

    ASU researchers have turned a 40-foot-long shipping container into a rapidly deployable mobile medical clinic equipped with solar power and water treatment systems. The clinic will be taken later this summer to Uganda to aid communities in need of additional health and medical care. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Nathan Johnson led the project team. Engineering doctoral student Cody Van Cleve coordinated work to equip the clinic with a 10-kilowatt power systems and technology capable of cleaning more than 1,000 galleon of water per hour. Reports about the project have been broadcast on almost 100 network-affiliated local TV news programs throughout the United States. See an April 6 post below on this page for previous news media coverage of the project.

  • Start-Ups Hoping to Fight Climate Change Struggle as Other Tech Firms Cash In

    Start-Ups Hoping to Fight Climate Change Struggle as Other Tech Firms Cash In

    A number of commercial tech enterprises are emerging to help meet challenges posed by climate change. Fulton School Professor Klaus Lackner says it will probably be necessary for governments to help support these ventures at first. But he foresees “a brand-new industry at a huge scale” eventually taking shape because of the increasingly critical need to deal with the environmental impacts of a changing climate. As director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, Lackner has been leading work to develop carbon-capture technology to help halt the progression of global warming. Read more about Lackner’s project in the April 29 post below: “Lackner’s carbon-capture technology moves to commercialization”

  • Tiny bee brains could reveal solutions for miniaturizing artificial intelligence

    Tiny bee brains could reveal solutions for miniaturizing artificial intelligence

    One of the next big challenges in artificial intelligence technology is finding ways to miniaturize it. Such an advance would enable AI systems to become significantly more energy efficient. Fulton Schools professor Yu Cao and assistant professor Ted Pavlic are teaming with professors in ASU’s School of Life Sciences and at the University of California San Diego to look at the brain powers of some of the smallest species of bees. They hope to gain insights that might provide ideas for effective methods of scaling down AI devices. Part of the research will involve Cao and Pavlic working on engineering a robotic bee brain.

     

  • All-female Mesa robotics team pumped for contest

    All-female Mesa robotics team pumped for contest

    The 15 Fulton Schools students one the Desert Women in Autonomous Vehicle Engineering team — aka Desert WAVE — are gearing up for this summer’s Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International RoboSub competition in San Diego. They’re at work on the electrical engineering, computer programming and 3D printing tasks involved in preparing their robot, named Phoenix, to maneuver through an obstacle course. Equipped with two cameras and using passive and active acoustics to ping its location off of its surroundings,  the robot can “see, hear and think on its own” as it navigates the course, said team member and software engineering major Andrea Schoonover, a junior majoring in software engineering.

  • ASU students attend world-renowned cybersecurity conference

    ASU students attend world-renowned cybersecurity conference

    Fulton Schools computer science students Muhammed Kilig and Raida Khan were among undergraduates selected to attend one of the most prominent gatherings of cybersecurity experts. Kilig and Khan were eligible for invitations to the RSA Conference because they had also won spots in the RSAC Scholars program.  because they were also selected to join the RSA Scholars Program, which is administered through ASU’s Cybersecurity Education Consortium. The conference gave Kiling and Khan opportunities to network with representatives of more than 600 companies.

  • ASU student-led payloads launched on Blue Origin space vehicle

    ASU student-led payloads launched on Blue Origin space vehicle

    Three astronautical rocketry teams — composed of students in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration — recently launched their payloads into space as part of the Blue Origin space exploration program. The payloads are the first designed and built by ASU students to be launched into outer space. Teams were challenged to develop payloads that would provide an answer to a science question (such as how planets form), test technologies under development (such as remote acoustic sensors) or collect data on the how the five human senses — smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch — work in space.

    See Also: Blue Origin reaches space again on latest New Shepard test flight, Space News, May 2

April

2019

March

2019
  • ASU, Barrow Neurological Institute partner to advance neuroengineering

    ASU, Barrow Neurological Institute partner to advance neuroengineering

    The internationally prominent Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix is joining ASU to pursue innovations in technology and therapies to improve brain and spinal cord function for people with neurological disorders. The Fulton Schools will be a key participant in the endeavor. Professor Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, says the partnership offers an opportunity to achieve a unique convergence of engineering and neuroscience that could have dramatic impacts on medical advances. Squires says the goals include “reverse-engineering” of the brain, which could reveal information to guide development of improved rehabilitation strategies.

     

  • Arizona cattle rancher uses engineering background to breed better beef

    Arizona cattle rancher uses engineering background to breed better beef

    During more than three decades at ASU, Charles Backus taught electrical engineering, helped boost the university’s stature as a research institution and shaped the foundations of ASU’s Polytechnic campus. At the same time, he was building and running a cattle ranch on the rough terrain of the high desert on the far outskirts of the Phoenix metro area. Today, Backus’ success as a rancher is drawing attention for his application of science and engineering to the care and management of his growing cattle herd. Using genetic selection, artificial insemination, non-hormone, non-antibiotic feeding programs and humane treatment of his animals, the ranch is producing beef of exceptional quality. Backus is paving the way for an advanced approach to ranching that is especially suited to the Southwest’s desert environment.

    See Also: Arizona rancher uses science to raise healthy beef, Tucson.com, March 24

  • Facts vs. Hype: A Debate on the Future of Photocatalytic Water Treatment

    Facts vs. Hype: A Debate on the Future of Photocatalytic Water Treatment

    For decades researchers have looked at photocatalysis as a promising method for purifying water, though the excitement it once sparked has waned over the years. But a recent workshop to reassess potential real-world applications of the process was organized by the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment. ASU is member of the center and Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff is its deputy director. Researchers focused on areas in which photocatalytic technology might still be valuable, such as in remote communities with small populations that lack energy infrastructures. The article about the workshop was also published on the technology news website Nanowerk.

    See Also: The Technology Horizon for Photocatalytic Water Treatment: Sunrise or Sunset? Environmental Science & Technology

  • Silicone Wrinkles Can Be Beautiful

    Silicone Wrinkles Can Be Beautiful

    Lithium batteries show big promise as a versatile, dependable and resilient source of power. But one impediment to their performance are dendrites, spiky crystalline formations that can set batteries on fire. Fulton Schools Professor Hanqing Jiang is leading research on the use of silicone to prevent those dendrite formations. Jiang is finding that a process that causes the silicone to take on a pattern of wrinkles — giving it a three-dimensional, sponge-like form — is inhibiting dendrite growth. His lab team’s findings have been published in a recent issue of research journal Nature Energy.

     

  • Retiree’s Love of Engineering Prepares Students for Their Careers

    Retiree’s Love of Engineering Prepares Students for Their Careers

    Upon retirement from General Motors’ after 35 years with the major automaker, Jim Contes was asked in 2008 to teach automotive engineering classes part-time at The Polytechnic School, one of the Fulton Schools. Soon he was offered a full-time job. Now, more than a decade later, he is a senior lecturer who has seen at least 150 of his students go on to jobs in the auto industry. Today he says his focus as a teacher is preparing students for an automotive world that has changed dramatically from the past and will continue to change from the present.

     

  • Automated control system caused Ethiopia crash, flight data suggests

    Automated control system caused Ethiopia crash, flight data suggests

    With modeling tools developed by his research team, Timothy Takahashi makes a case against pilot error being the cause of the recent deadly crash of a Boeing 737 passenger jet in Ethiopia. The Fulton Schools professor of practice in aerospace engineering created a hypothetical flight profile of the aircraft’s actions to determine that its autopilot system had put functions of most key components of the of plane under computer control. From that point on, the plane began to lose altitude and gain speed — while also preventing pilots from taking control. Figuring out how to prevent reoccurrence of such situations presents a big challenge for airlines. The article has also been published in MarketWatch, the San Francisco Chronicle, AlterNet and Citizen Truth.

  • STEMCON Vietnam to raise Vietnam’s competence in STEM

    STEMCON Vietnam to raise Vietnam’s competence in STEM

    ASU and the Fulton Schools helped to organize the recent international Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Conference in Vietnam. The event focused on strategies to boost STEM education in Vietnam as part of efforts to develop a future contingent of skilled workers for the growing digital economy in the Southeast Asian country. Through the work of the Fulton Schools’ Global Outreach and Extended Education program — known as GOEE — ASU became one of the founding members of the High Engineering Education Alliance Program, which seeks to boost the quality of education in engineering and other STEM subjects in Vietnam and, more broadly, to aid the U.S. Agency for International Development in fostering productive relationships between industries and educational institutions in Vietnam and the United States.

     

  • What is human trafficking, and how can technology combat it?

    What is human trafficking, and how can technology combat it?

    Computational science and artificial intelligence experts are being recruited to help stop the global spread of human trafficking. ASU’s Global Security Initiative recently organized a conference at the United Nations on how to use those technological resources in this effort. Nadya Bliss, the initiative’s director and a professor of practice in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, one of the Fulton Schools, identified the challenges facing this endeavor and described how computer science, advanced security systems and AI-based recognition and detection technology can best be aligned against the forces involved in human trafficking.

  • Building an energy corridor along the border instead of just a wall

    Building an energy corridor along the border instead of just a wall

    An “energy park” that spans over almost 2,000 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border, with big installations of solar and wind power technologies, natural gas pipelines and desalination plants. Is the idea just too big and bold to take seriously? Not at all, says Fulton Schools Professor Ronald Adrian. He is part of a national consortium of 28 prominent engineers and scientists proposing such a vast industrial region on the border. Adrian says it could put large tracts of unused land to valuable use as sites for new energy and water facilities along with agriculture and industrial centers — a much more productive enterprise than building a big wall separating the two countries. Read more.

    See Also: Bold Plan? Replace the Border Wall with an Energy–Water Corridor, Scientific American, February 14

    Scientists Propose Energy Park Instead of Border Wall, Civil & Structural Engineer, March 6

    Green wall! Plan calls for chain of alternative energy zones along border, World Tribune, March 10

    Instead of a wall, what if we built an energy corridor? Enjoy Travelling and BIC Magazine, March 15

    Scientists suggest it’s time to build a US-Mexico border wall, Smart Energy International, March 18

    Could an Energy Park Secure the U.S. Mexico Border? Government Technology, March 22

    U.S.-Mexico Energy Park Would Offer a Different Kind of Security, Inside Sources, April 15

    The Engineers’ Plan for Creating Border Security With Clean Energy, The Atlantic, May 7

February

2019
  • Big Ideas: “A carbon dioxide removal marketplace” with Paul Gambill, CEO of Nori

    Big Ideas: “A carbon dioxide removal marketplace” with Paul Gambill, CEO of Nori

    Paul Gambill, who graduated from ASU  in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree earned in the Fulton Schools computer systems engineering program, is the co-founder and CEO of what is described as “the world’s only carbon dioxide removal marketplace.” In a wide-ranging interview, Gambill talks about other entrepreneurial, environmental and community endeavors he has founded, co-founded or supported, his business philosophy, the motivations guiding his career path, and his “Big Idea That Might Change The World.”

  • New chemistry-based data storage would blow Moore’s Law out of the water

    New chemistry-based data storage would blow Moore’s Law out of the water

    A new computing technique could lead to transistors that fit on single molecules — an advance that might open up new possibilities in data storage. Research in ASU’s Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors directed by Fulton Schools Professor Nongjian “NJ” Tao is focusing on the combination of physical and chemical properties at the molecular scale. The work shows promise as a platform for progress in ultra-miniaturization of electronic devices. That could mean storage equipment and the general processing of information operating through tiny high-speed, high-power molecular switches.

  • Arizona State University radiant with solar cell research awards

    Arizona State University radiant with solar cell research awards

    For a third year in a row, ASU faculty members have won more awards that any other academic institution from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office. Four of the six recent awards to fund solar energy research went to Fulton Schools faculty members, including Assistant Professors Mariana Bertoni and Zachary Holman, and Associate Research Professors Andre Augusto and Govindasamy Tamizhmani. Their research includes work to advance solar photovoltaics, solar-thermal power technologies and preparing the solar energy workforce for the future of the industry.

  • The water in this hospital is all pulled out of thin air

    The water in this hospital is all pulled out of thin air

    Zero Mass Water, a venture founded by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Cody Friesen, continues to bring a new source of clean water to more places. The company’s tech system — called Source — can produce water from moisture it draws from the atmosphere. Recently, a hospital in Jamaica installed an array of Zero Mass Water’s solar-powered hydro panels on its roof to power a system capable of providing almost 800 gallons of water a month. The company’s next major objective is to make its system as affordable as any source of potable water in the world.

     

  • What to Expect in an Online Engineering Degree Program

    What to Expect in an Online Engineering Degree Program

    ASU’s online Master of Science engineering degree programs in the Fulton Schools are highlighted in an overview of universities offering a range of online education options. The programs are especially attractive to students who want concentrate their studies on specific areas such a software engineering, and want the same quality of learning online as students who get the on-campus experience.

  • ASU SciHub workshop brings science, engineering and art experts together to change how we see the world

    ASU SciHub workshop brings science, engineering and art experts together to change how we see the world

    Engineers, scientists and artists are joining forces through ASU’s new Science Hub collaborative to find ways to expand human perceptual capacities. Co-directed by Fulton Schools Professor Nathan Newman, SciHub is examining how the brain and the human eye shape our understanding of physical reality and how we could learn to overcome some of the limits on how we see and hear the world around us. That idea will be explored in an upcoming workshop titled Science, the Arts and Possibilities in Perception that will include an art exhibit and music performances.

  • Parking? Lots! Car Spaces Would Comprise 10% of Phoenix

    Parking? Lots! Car Spaces Would Comprise 10% of Phoenix

    Is there such a thing as too much parking for automobiles? Yes, say the ASU authors of a study of the parking infrastructure in the Phoenix metropolitan area. When putting the amount of land used for parking into the mix of calculating an urban region’s livability, parking infrastructure has a significant impact or an area’s walkability, air pollution, the urban heat island effect and transport equity among the population. For details, see the research paper “Valley of the Sun-Drenched Parking Space,” by Fulton Schools doctoral student Christopher Hoehne, Associate Professor Mikhail Chester and Assistant Research Professor Andrew Fraser, along with Assistant Professor David King in the School of Geological Sciences and Urban Planning.

     

  • Five Carbon Capture Techniques That Could Help Mitigate Global Warming

    Five Carbon Capture Techniques That Could Help Mitigate Global Warming

    A system that envisions artificial “trees” designed to remove as much as a ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a day is seen as one of the most innovative engineering endeavors to help combat the threatening impacts of the global warming resulting from climate change. The system is being developed in ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner.

    See Also: One man’s two-decade quest to suck greenhouse gas out of the sky, MIT Technology Review, February 27

  • NSF grant aims to expand diversity, inclusion for ASU STEM faculty

    NSF grant aims to expand diversity, inclusion for ASU STEM faculty

    A team of ASU leaders has been assembled to drive a project supported by the National Science Foundation to boost diversity among university faculty in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Professor Lenore Dai (second from right in photo), director of the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of the six Fulton Schools, will lead administrative accountability operations for the project. In that role she will help to change faculty promotion and recruitment policies to align with the aims of the diversity project.

     

  • Desert WAVE robotics team makes a splash for women in STEM

    Desert WAVE robotics team makes a splash for women in STEM

    A team of Fulton Schools students preparing to compete in a major collegiate underwater robotics competition are hoping their efforts also contribute to breaking down stereotypes of women in engineering, science and technology. At ASU’s Polytechnic campus, the team named Desert WAVE — for Women in Autonomous Vehicle Engineering — is designing and building a “robosub” to bring to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International competition this summer.

    See Also: All-girls robotics team from ASU readies for competition, Chamber Business News (Arizona), February 15

  • ASU tackles range of issues at world’s largest annual science meeting

    ASU tackles range of issues at world’s largest annual science meeting

    The 2019 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science brought together educators, policymakers, engineers, scientists and journalists from around the world to explore new ideas and potential solutions to the society’s challenges. Fulton Schools faculty members and students helped to energize the event. Sustainable engineering doctoral student Evvan Morton (pictured) talked about shifting the focus of policy making on environment issues. Professor Subbarao Kambhampati gave an overview of the rise of artificial intelligence and its impact. Assistant Professor Samira Kiani discussed gene-editing technology and how it could shape the future of human health, food, climate and more.

  • Are the cities prepared for Climate Change?

    Are the cities prepared for Climate Change?

    Chile has been experiencing extreme flooding, causing at least one declared catastrophe. The impacts of climate change are considered a key factor ramping up the force of the floods. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, talks about the challenges of planning and designing infrastructure to prepare for such potentially calamitous events. Chester says there is growing concern that current infrastructure such as roads, bridges and dams — designed and built for the environmental conditions of the past — won’t stand up to today’s exceedingly extreme weather events driven by changes in the climate. See a video related to the story:  Chile: Rainfall causes deadly flooding in north, catastrophe declared.

  • Lane change: Old road recycled to build a new stretch of I-10

    Lane change: Old road recycled to build a new stretch of I-10

    Saving time, money and the environment, the Arizona Department of Transportation is recycling asphalt from an old road to pave a new section of the Interstate-10 highway between Tucson and Phoenix. Kamil Kaloush, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, says such recycling — if performed correctly — can also help save energy and limit carbon dioxide emissions that add to the troublesome greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere. The article was also published in the Tucson Sentinel.

  • A CO₂ sponge: Arizona scientist working to combat rising carbon dioxide levels

    A CO₂ sponge: Arizona scientist working to combat rising carbon dioxide levels

    Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is looking like a critical necessity for reducing the amount a greenhouse gasses that are a cause of Earth’s growing climate problems. One of the technologies designed to help clean carbon dioxide out of the air is being developed at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by scientist Allen Wright and Klaus Lackner, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. With carbon dioxide levels continuing to climb, Wright says it’s important to get carbon-capture technology ready for large-scale use. The article was also published in The Arizona Daily Star, The Arizona Daily Sun, The Daily Miner and Casa Grande Dispatch.

  • ASU team helps Marine base prepare to stay strong in the face of disaster

    ASU team helps Marine base prepare to stay strong in the face of disaster

    A team of seven experts in resilient and sustainable systems were recruited to help U.S. Marines at a base in Hawaii come up with plans for how to maintain water, communications and energy services — along with mobility capability — during major natural disasters and other emergency situations. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Nathan Johnson lent his expertise on how to innovate energy systems — including smart networks and off-grid solutions. Expertise in infrastructure sustainability, including maintaining critical operations under dangerous situations such as physical attacks by hostile forces or cyberattacks, was provided by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester.

  • Do consumers need to jump on 5G? Not so fast

    Do consumers need to jump on 5G? Not so fast

    The new highly hyped tech advance known as 5G will boost the capabilities of computer-to-computer communications. Which for consumers means . . . not that much, actually. Martin Reisslein, Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering and an expert in communications networks, says 5G is an enhancement for machines that interact with machines and with humans using machines. The 5G improvement involves reducing “latencies” — the time it takes between communication initiation and response. It will make a difference only to those for whom “milliseconds matter,” Reisslein says. So that may be an advantage for players of fast-paced computer games, but not for most other users.

  • Robots on cutting edge of patient rehab

    Robots on cutting edge of patient rehab

    Robotics engineering is playing a major role in driving advances in physical rehabilitation systems. In the laboratory of Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Wenlong Zhang — whose work focuses on the design, modeling and control of cyber-physical systems — students are assisting in the development of robotic devices capable of comprehending human movement patterns. The robotic devices with soft and flexible components can improve the rehab process for people who need to regain movement after serious injuries or strokes, or who have conditions that limit their movement.

  • Four ASU faculty names Senior Members of National Academy of Inventors

    Four ASU faculty names Senior Members of National Academy of Inventors

    David Allee and Nongjian “NJ” Tao, Fulton Schools professors of electrical engineering. are among four ASU faculty members who have been elected by peers to the prestigious National Academy of Inventors. Allee was recognized for his work on advances in flexible technologies, particularly sensing systems for radiation detection and electric and magnetic field imaging. Tao, director of ASU’s Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors, was cited for work on molecular electronics, nano electronics, and chemical and biological sensors and wireless devices for human and environmental health.

     

  • Incoming AAAS Leshner Fellows Focus on Human Augmentation

    Incoming AAAS Leshner Fellows Focus on Human Augmentation

    The 10 recently named American Association for the Advancement of Science 2019-2020 Leshner Public Engagement Fellows will strive to reach diverse audience to explore societal issues related to science and engineering advances in human augmentation. Samira Kiani (bottom row, second from left in photo), a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biological and health systems engineering, is among the new Fellows. Her efforts will focus on public engagement on genetic engineering and the genomic revolution in biomedical engineering.

  • Quantuum strangeness gives rise to new electronics

    Quantuum strangeness gives rise to new electronics

    The ultra-miniaturization of in semiconductor technology is opening doors to what can be achieved in the realm of molecular electronics. Working at an infinitesimal scale, Fulton Schools Professor Nongjian “NJ” Tao (at far left in photo) and his research colleagues are manipulating quantum phenomena to enable development of new kinds of nanoelectronic devices with unusual properties and expanded capabilities. Such advances have the potential to make possible a broad range of technological innovations. The article is also posted on the research news website Science Daily

  • Engineers develop inflatable ‘smart pill’ inspired by pufferfish

    Engineers develop inflatable ‘smart pill’ inspired by pufferfish

    In yet another case of biomimicry providing a platform for engineering innovation, researchers are testing a “smart pill” the could inflate inside the stomach — similar to the way a puffer fish puffs up. The pill might one day be used to transport tiny sensors in the body to areas where they could help detect ulcers, cancers and other signs of disease. Fulton Schools Professor Hanqing Jiang, whose research includes ingestible electronics (but who is not involved in the smart pill puffer fish-mimicry project) says the work may produce an important advance in the development of biomarkers to monitor human health.

  • ASU researchers selected to develop energy technologies

    ASU researchers selected to develop energy technologies

    Research into cutting-edge, high-impact energy technologies aimed at helping the Arizona Public Service power utility company upgrade the electrical power it delivers to its many customers will be led by Anamitra Pal and Mojdeh Hedman, assistant professors in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, of the six Fulton Schools. The project is being made possible by support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. Fulton Schools students will participate in the work focusing on advancing technologies for providing energy from clean and renewable sources.

  • ASU researcher touts carbon capture device to fight climate change

    ASU researcher touts carbon capture device to fight climate change

    Creation of a new kind of sanitation industry could be a big part of the solution to at least one of world’s climate change challenges. Researchers at ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, are refining technology that can remove carbon dioxide from of the air. The buildup of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is a major cause of global warming. Lackner views the system as a garbage removal tool to clean the air. He says the captured carbon dioxide could be stored and sold for productive uses — giving rise to profitable business ventures.

  • Tainted water: the scientists tracing thousands of fluorinated chemicals in our environment

    Tainted water: the scientists tracing thousands of fluorinated chemicals in our environment

    Nondegradable chemical compounds used in foam materials, clothes and food wraps are among the most valuable products of polyfluorinated chemistry. But now scientists and engineers see cause for concern that the compounds are having damaging effects on the environment — especially on water quality —and on humans. Environmental engineer and Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is among those lending his expertise on the subjects of assessing the levels of risk posed by the chemicals and how to better remove the compounds if more evidence is discovered of threats arising from their use.  

  • Our plastics, our selves

    Our plastics, our selves

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, explains the ways research is revealing how plastics pollution can have toxic effects and other negative impacts on the environment, and on humans and other creatures. That’s the reason for the importance of what an all-female expedition team is doing while traversing a part of the Pacific Ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. They’re collecting sand, water and air samples for studies to help gauge the magnitude and dangers of plastics waste in the planet’s oceans.

  • Digital license plates that cost whopping $499 now an option for Arizona drivers

    Digital license plates that cost whopping $499 now an option for Arizona drivers

    Arizona has authorized the use of digital license plates for motor vehicles. Proponents say plates could revolutionize the driving experience and makes things like vehicle registration renewal more convenient. But others, including Aviral Shrivastava, a Fulton Schools associate professor of computer science, say such plates, which work off of cell phone networks, pose potential problems with data security and privacy for drivers. Hacking of the embedded systems technology used by the plates could lead to theft of information about automobiles and drivers, Shrivastava says.

  • New generation of robots use machine learning to complete tasks

    New generation of robots use machine learning to complete tasks

    Advances in machine learning methodology are broadening the potential for making technologies that are more teachable — especially robotics technology. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Heni Ben Amor leads a research team working on developing robots that can learn on their own. The team is giving robots various goals to achieve, but leaves it to the robots to figure out how to meet those goals. These smarter, self-teaching robots expand the possibilities for how they could aid human endeavors. (This report has aired on news programs of almost 200 CBS News broadcast media affiliates.)

    See Also: Arizona researchers developing robots that can learn, KPAX TV-Montana, February 5

  • One step at a time: ASU professor looks to make prosthetics more adaptable

    One step at a time: ASU professor looks to make prosthetics more adaptable

    Despite advances in prosthetics, most still lack a high degree of flexibility, says Jennie Si, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering. Si and Helen Huang, who earned a doctoral degree at ASU, are collaborating on development of lower-limb “active” prosthetics that adapt to individual users to provide a full range of motion. Si and Huang hope to improve on prototypes until users can feel as if they have natural limbs and fully functional knees.

  • ASU Innovation Open awards ingenuity

    ASU Innovation Open awards ingenuity

    A business venture based on a device to save apples from spoilage was awarded the top prize of $100,000 at the ASU Innovation Open. Ideas for a new kind of multidirectional microphone, a water-capture technology that could boost water conservation and a shoe insole to help people rehabilitate after orthopedic surgery, were among winners at the event sponsored in part by the Fulton Schools. Kyles Squires, the Fulton Schools dean, welcomed attendees and participants to the Innovation Open Final Demo Day, to celebrate what he called a growing “wave of innovation and creativity.”

    See Also: Strella Biotechnology is $100,000 winner of ASU Innovation Open, AZ Big Media, February 5

    Food spoilage idea takes $100k prize at ASU Innovation Open, Arizona Chamber Business News, February 6

  • ASU student weaves the art of computer science with dance

    ASU student weaves the art of computer science with dance

    Courtney Ngai is bridging the worlds of computing, engineering and artistic expression in her pursuits at ASU. She finds endeavors in those fields share elements of discipline, improvisation and creativity, and she sees connections between the objectives of science and art. A solo dance project she is working on draws its theme from similarities she finds between the use of improvisational dance and the structures used in writing code. She has plans to employ talents in both areas after graduation by working as a software engineer and continuing to study and perform dance.

  • Tempe and ASU use sewage to pinpoint the opioid problem. Here’s what they found.

    Tempe and ASU use sewage to pinpoint the opioid problem. Here’s what they found.

    A study led by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is providing Tempe data on the extent of opioid use in the city. Samples taken from local sewage and wastewater treatment systems can in many cases reveal both the level of opioid use and pinpoint the levels of use in various locations in the area. The results of the study will be used to help city officials develop approaches to developing programs to educate the public about opioids and prevent medically unauthorized use of the addictive drug.

    See Also: Groundbreaking study finds opioid drugs in Tempe wastewater system, 3TV/CBS 5 News – Phoenix, February 1

    Tempe, Ariz., Wastewater Testing Yields Opioid Crisis Data, Government Technology, February 22

January

2019
  • Is the extra cost of organic worth it?

    Is the extra cost of organic worth it?

    A number of factors come into play when deciding whether to adopt a strict diet of organic foods. Research is confirming some significant benefits to eating organics. That can be especially true for pregnant women, young children, the elderly and allergy sufferers, says Rolf Halden, a Fulton Schools professor and director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. But others point to claims that favor nonorganic foods over organics or contend that nonorganics pose no more risk overall than organics.

  • Drinkable water is scarce. These companies are pulling it out of the air

    Drinkable water is scarce. These companies are pulling it out of the air

    New technologies that can capture moisture from the air and turn it into water are being viewed as one potential solution for a growing scarcity of drinkable water around the world. Zero Mass Water, a startup company founded by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools professor of materials science and engineering, has developed one of the more promising air-to-water systems. Using solar-powered rooftops panels, it can produce clean water even in desert climates. The system is currently being sold in more than 18 countries.

    See Also: Zero Mass Water’s Hydropanels Pull Water From Thin Air At #CES2019, Clean Technica, January 11

    This Machine Turns Sunshine and Air Into Clean Water, Sun-Connect, November 30, 2016

  • When is it OK for AI to lie?

    When is it OK for AI to lie?

    As artificial intelligence advances in more sophisticated ways, the technology will gain new capabilities — including the ability to evade telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in certain situations. At the Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Society conference, Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science, and his former graduate student Tathagata Chakraborti (second from right in photo) explored scenarios in which it might be permissible for AI to be a bit deceptive in its interactions with humans.

  • NASA’s Psyche Mission inspires science and engineering students nationwide

    NASA’s Psyche Mission inspires science and engineering students nationwide

    Fulton Schools electrical, mechanical and computer engineering students are on ASU teams involved in the U.S. space program’s mission to explore an intriguing asteroid called Psyche located between Jupiter and Mars. Through capstone projects, the teams are working on technologies for systems and devices that will be used in studies of the asteroid that has experienced the same kinds of violent collisions that formed Earth and other planets.  

  • bioSyntagma Awarded “Best Oncology-Focused Precision Medicine Company 2018″

    bioSyntagma Awarded “Best Oncology-Focused Precision Medicine Company 2018″

    A business co-founded by Fulton Schools alumnus David Richardson has won one of the Global Health and Pharma Technology Awards for its achievements over the past year. Richardson, who earned a degree in mechanical engineering, is also the CEO of the company, bioSyntagma, which was honored as the “Best Oncology-Focused Precision Medicine Company 2018” by the publication that recognizes global companies for improving public health, enhancing patient care and lowering healthcare costs. bioSyntagma, whose devices help in the discovery of biomarkers, got its start through ASU’s Venture Devils enterprise.

     

     

  • Building softer, friendlier robots

    Building softer, friendlier robots

    The Southwest Robotics Symposium gave several Fulton Schools students an opportunity to showcase their work to develop the next generations of technologies to advance human-robot interaction. It was the fifth year for the annual exhibition. The general chair for the event, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Wenlong Zhang, says the symposium is leading to collaborations between researchers that promise to foster new innovations in robotics and autonomous systems. The gathering featured presentations of research projects by students and faculty from 20 universities in six countries, as well as industry research.

    See Also: ASU’s Southwest Robotics Symposium previews the new technology guiding the next wave of human-robot interaction, Robotics Tomorrow, January 28

     

  • ASU startup wins Arizona Innovation Challenge

    ASU startup wins Arizona Innovation Challenge

    A startup called Breezing is among the winners of the Arizona Innovation Challenge. The company’s product is a wearable device — also called Breezing —that provides precise assessments of a person’s resting metabolic rates. The winning companies in the Innovation Challenge will receive grant funding from the Arizona Commerce Authority to invest in their businesses. The Breezing device provides metabolic data to help users develop nutrition, lifestyle and exercise plans to benefit their health. Toa says the next generations of Breezing products are in development.

  • Women’s underwater robotics team makes waves in the desert

    Women’s underwater robotics team makes waves in the desert

    A team of Fulton Schools students are building an autonomous robotic submarine to compete in the National Underwater Robotics Challenge in June at ASU’s Polytechnic campus. The team, named Desert WAVE (Women in Autonomous Vehicle Engineering), is believed to be only the second all-female underwater robotics team in the world. Next, Desert WAVE will head to San Diego to participate in the international RoboSub competition.

    See Also: Dorks Estate: Desert WAVE, ASU’s first all-female underwater robotics team, The State Press (Podcast)

  • ASU engineering students working to build a better basketball practice

    ASU engineering students working to build a better basketball practice

    With a sensor that attaches to the rim of basketball basket and an app that keeps track of how many shots at the basket are made or missed, two Fulton Schools students are hoping to give players a system to improve their performance on the basketball court. Computer science student Connor Harris and electrical engineering student Benjamin Willis are planning to explore product development for their system.

  • Capturing Carbon

    Capturing Carbon

    Scientists say some of the environmental impacts of climate change threaten to be catastrophic. That’s why it’s critical to begin reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is triggering manifestations of a fast-changing climate, such as extreme heat waves, rising sea levels and the loss of the oceans’ coral reefs. The Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, is developing carbon capture technology designed to remove carbon from the air and dispose of it or store it for productive uses.

  • BREAKING SOLAR RECORDS & SETTING NUCLEAR STANDARDS

    BREAKING SOLAR RECORDS & SETTING NUCLEAR STANDARDS

    Meeting the challenge of supplying the world more energy from clean and renewable sources will require significant advances in solar power technology. Research led by Zachary Holman, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical engineering, is resulting in progress toward increasing the amount of sunlight that can be converted into electrical energy. The key is integrating other materials with conventional silicon-based solar cells used in photovoltaic systems.

     

  • Powered prosthetic knee users able to walk in minutes

    Powered prosthetic knee users able to walk in minutes

    A new intelligent system for “tuning” powered prosthetics promises to enable people using a robotic prosthetic knee to walk comfortably within minutes of using the technology — rather than taking several hours. Jennie Si, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, developed the system with colleagues at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. The prosthetic device was devised for scenarios in which a patient is walking on a level surface, but it could be developed further to enable users to go up and down stairs, Si says.

    See Also: AI Helps Amputee Walk With a Robotic Knee, IEEE Spectrum, January 25

    Machine Learning Customizes Powered Knee Prosthetics for New Users in Minutes, R&D Magazine, January 23

    Reinforcement Learning Expedites ‘Tuning’ of Robotic Prosthetics,  I-Connect007, January 18

  • New Record for Solar Efficiency

    New Record for Solar Efficiency

    Fulton Schools researchers are helping to advance technologies that are making solar energy systems more effective and at the same time less expensive. A research team led by Zachary Holman (pictured), an assistant professor of electrical and energy engineering, and Jason Yu, an assistant research professor, have mixed an additional material with the silicon in current solar cells that boosts the percentage of sunlight those cells can convert into electrical power. They foresee the new cells making their way onto commercial solar panels in the coming years.  

  • Risk of infection from water in the air at home

    Risk of infection from water in the air at home

    A more detailed framework for assessing and managing the risks of bacterial disease transmission through water spray from sinks, showers and toilets has been developed by researchers, including Kerry Hamilton, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. Hamilton and a colleague at Drexel University show reasons for communities to maintain thorough monitoring and testing operations to reveal signs of water-quality degradation and prevent the spread of serious infections and diseases.

  • Training Engineers To Spot Opportunity And Impact

    Training Engineers To Spot Opportunity And Impact

    The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network, known as KEEN, is working with colleges and universities to embed the entrepreneurial mindset into their undergraduate engineering programs. ASU starts by integrating entrepreneurship-minded education into freshmen learning experiences. Professor Ann McKenna (pictured), director of the Polytechnic School, one of the six Fulton Schools, says many teachers and higher education institutions need to take similar paths to have a significant impact on the engineers of the future.  

  • New full-color night vision could revolutionize troops’ ability to operate in dark

    New full-color night vision could revolutionize troops’ ability to operate in dark

    An advance in night-vision systems could aid military operations in a variety of areas — including battlefield encounters, medical treatment in the field and identification of potential threats. The technology is part of the trend toward the use of “techno-human” systems to provide an advantage in modern military conflicts, says Brad Allenby, a Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, and a professor of ethics and engineering.

  • Unveiling Earth’s floodplains

    Unveiling Earth’s floodplains

    Identifying floodplain boundaries is critical to the success of many environmental protection and urban development endeavors.  Now there’s a new tool to provide high-resolution datasets of Earth’s surface properties to ensure the accuracy of floodplain mapping. It’s the work of a team of scientists that includes Enrique Vivoni, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment — one of the Fulton Schools — and ASU’ School of Earth and Space Exploration. The datasets could help in development of sustainable water management plans and enable better assessment of the environmental strain on regions seeing growing human populations.

  • She drove the numbers, now she’s ‘The Auto Professor’

    She drove the numbers, now she’s ‘The Auto Professor’

    Norma Hubele’s mission is nothing less than to “change the way people choose their cars.” The Full Schools professor emeritus of industrial engineering is trying to do that with a mathematical and statistics-based system she developed to determine the safety ratings for different models of automobiles. That system, she says, improves vastly on the safety rating tests conducted by the federal government. Hubele hopes to educate the public about the flaws in those government ratings tests so that consumers will pressure the auto industry to adopt her ratings methodology. The article was also published in the East Valley Tribune.

     

  • ASU researchers address a primary cause of treatment failure for pancreatic cancer

    ASU researchers address a primary cause of treatment failure for pancreatic cancer

    A big roadblock to successful cancer treatment is the resistance of some tumor cells to therapeutic drugs — especially in the case of pancreatic cancer. Jia Fan and Bo Ning, assistant professors at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, have revealed the cause of this resistance to chemotherapy drugs. They have been mentored in their research by Tony Hu, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering. He has also helped Fan and Ning in their collaborations with the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Hu says the discovery of a biomarker to predict the body’s responses to chemotherapy is a big step for clinical prognosis of pancreatic cancer.

  • ASU 3D print lab finds sustainable solutions to plastic waste, opens doors for STEM students

    ASU 3D print lab finds sustainable solutions to plastic waste, opens doors for STEM students

    Through recycling and repurposing of its plastic waste materials, the Fulton Schools 3DPrint and Laser Cutter Lab is advancing ASU’s educational and sustainability missions. Almost 100 percent of the waste material is being put to cost-effective use — in new 3D printing projects, as donations to K-12 programs for hands-on lessons that teach science, technology and engineering fundamentals to young students, and for providing ASU students opportunities to gain skills in prototyping processes that are critical to multiple engineering and manufacturing fields.

  • 12 Millennials to watch in 2019

    12 Millennials to watch in 2019

    David Richardson earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in the Fulton Schools in 2012 before getting a master’s degree in nanoscience. His expertise in those fields helped him co-found the precision medicine company bioSyntagma. Today, as the company’s CEO, he is leading work that promises to make personalized medicine a reality and help medical science get closer to potential cures for cancer.

    See also: Fred Bueler III, who earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Fulton Schools, is featured in 22 Millennials to watch in CRE. Bueler has had a leading role in many major construction projects during his 13 years in the building industry. AZ Big Media, January 9.

  • Thinking about installing solar panels? Experts answer 6 common questions

    Thinking about installing solar panels? Experts answer 6 common questions

    As development of solar power systems for residential use ramps up, consumers need facts about both the benefits and challenges of these renewable clean-energy installations. Fulton Schools Emeritus Professor Ronald Roedel says a basic understanding of how the new energy technologies work under various weather, climate and environmental conditions can help homeowners make informed decisions about investing in these photovoltaic systems. Roedel, a longtime solar energy researcher, is the director of the Professional Science Master’s program in Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization.

December

2018
  • Experts wrestle with today’s tough biotechnology questions at third Arizona Biosecurity Workshop

    Experts wrestle with today’s tough biotechnology questions at third Arizona Biosecurity Workshop

    The recent Arizona Biosecurity Workshop at ASU explored timely questions about potential impacts of the rapidly expanding capabilities of biotechnologies — particularly advances in genetic engineering. Concerns have been heightened about the capacity of these technologies to alter both humans and their environments. One way to foster productive dialog on the issue is a multimedia program led by Samira Kiani, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering. Kiani’s project aims to bring scientists and the public together to examine the social, ethical and medical risks and benefits of new biotechnologies.

  • Five student ventures progress to compete for $100,000 prize in 2019 ASU Innovation Open

    Five student ventures progress to compete for $100,000 prize in 2019 ASU Innovation Open

    The Fulton Schools co-hosted the third annual ASU Innovation Open pitch competition at which 15 teams of students from leading universities involved in early-stage entrepreneurial ventures presented their business concepts to judges. Five teams were chosen to move on to the Innovation Open finals in February to vie for funding. Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, gave the welcome address at the event. Each of the five top teams received a cash prize from Zero Mass Water, an ASU spinoff company led by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering.

  • GPEC earns grant to promote MedTech entrepreneurship

    GPEC earns grant to promote MedTech entrepreneurship

    Dozens of entrepreneurial ventures and hundreds of jobs are expected to result from a U.S. Department of Commerce grant awarded to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. The goal is to accelerate the transition of new medical and wearable technologies from the research lab to commercial applications and startup businesses. Arizona State University, Maricopa County Community College District’s Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation, the Partnership for Economic Innovation and the StartupAZ Foundation are partners in the project anchored at the 30-acre Phoenix Biomedical Campus (pictured). The endeavor will help to boost the scope and impact of ASU’s MedTech Ventures Program, says its director, Fulton Schools Professor Gregory Raupp.

  • ASU engineering students win big at MS&T Conference competition

    ASU engineering students win big at MS&T Conference competition

    Competing against upperclassmen from eight other universities, five Fulton Schools first-year engineering students became the first team from ASU to win the first-place prize at the ASM Geodesic Dome student competition. The event at the Materials Science and Technology Conference tests skills in applying fundamentals of materials science and engineering. The winning Dome of the Devils geodesic structure withstood 1,000 pounds of pressure, earning the team a $1,000 award.

  • NBC organizes social entrepreneurship workshop

    NBC organizes social entrepreneurship workshop

    Richard Filley was a featured presenter at a recent major entrepreneurship workshop in Oman. Filley is the lead entrepreneurship faculty member in the Fulton Schools Technology Entrepreneurship and Management program. His talk at the event focused on launching social entrepreneurship ventures —businesses with the goal of improving the quality of life. He also addressed ways to foster innovation and creativity, and to develop entrepreneurship mentoring and education. Over his career, Filley has shared his expertise in these areas in more than 20 countries.

  • Building prosthetics that can feel

    Building prosthetics that can feel

    Biomedical engineers at ASU and Florida International University have developed a hand prosthesis that can connect with users’ nervous systems and enable them to experience the sensation of touch. Fulton Schools Associate Professor James Abbas (pictured), director of the ASU Center for Adaptive Neural Systems, helped to lead the 12-year-long project to design and build the Neural-Enabled Prosthetic Hand System. Abbas explains that the first-of-its-kind hand prosthesis uses components similar to those in electrode ear implants to give people “feeling” in their thumbs and forefingers.

     

  • Student gains research and publishing experience through Center on the Future of War

    Student gains research and publishing experience through Center on the Future of War

    Hannah Hallikainen, a Fulton Schools chemical engineering major, aspires to a career that combines her interests in technology and public policy. She has delved into the latter area recently through the Student Research Fellows program in ASU’s Center for the Future of War. Hallikainen has been a test reader for the recently published book “LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media,” conducted historical research on the Boxer Rebellion and U.S. immigration policy, and contributed to an article published in Politico about a historic Supreme Court immigration case.

  • Three ASU faculty elected AAAS fellows

    Three ASU faculty elected AAAS fellows

    Huan Liu (at left in photo), a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering, is one of three ASU faculty members recently elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . The special status in the organization recognizes the value of their career contributions. Liu’s research focuses on advanced data mining, machine learning, cybersecurity and designing algorithms for effective problem-solving and real-world applications involving intelligent systems.

     

  • Fellowship allows Arizona professors to learn from Israeli peers

    Fellowship allows Arizona professors to learn from Israeli peers

    For a second straight year a contingent of ASU professors will travel to Israel as part of the Jewish National Fund’s Faculty Fellowship Program. The excursion gives the faculty members opportunities to meet and share information with peers and colleagues in similar academic disciplines and research pursuits in Israel. This year’s group includes Bradley Greger, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering and Thomas Dempster, an associated research professor or engineering in the Center for Algae Technology and Innovation. Adam Carberry, a Fulton Schools associate professor, talks about the valuable experience he had in Israel as part of last year’s Faculty Fellowship group.

    Previous articles:  Educational excursion: Faculty members seeking insights in Israel

    Fulton Schools faculty members took educational sojourn to Israel

  • How smart is the latest artificial intelligence?

    How smart is the latest artificial intelligence?

    How far have artificial intelligence technologies actually advanced? Where will they go from here? And what rewards, challenges and issues will arise as AI becomes more ingrained in society? Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, Associate Professor Spring Berman and Assistant Professor Heni Ben Amor say the key is to understand the different ways humans and AI technology experience and learn about the world— and to figure out how people and machines with their disparate perspectives can exist compatibly and productively.

     

     

  • Personal journeys lead ASU entrepreneurs to success at Demo Day

    Personal journeys lead ASU entrepreneurs to success at Demo Day

    Fulton Schools students are among the ASU students who have earned support for their business start-up ideas, social program and tech-based ventures in the university’s Demo Day entrepreneurship competition. Recent mechanical engineering graduate Luis Castillo is part of team that is refining an invention called the Murphy Mobility Device to enable people to do physical therapy exercises to recover from injuries. Biomedical engineering graduate student Nicholas Hool is advancing Hoolest Performance Technologies with an earbud device that helps alleviate emotional anxiety.

  • Citizen-Centered: Educating future smart city experts

    Citizen-Centered: Educating future smart city experts

    “Smart cities” are the future. New and powerful smart technologies are being incorporated into the core infrastructure of many urban regions. And the change is going to reshape life within many metropolitan environments. How to ensure these smart tech systems best serve the public? One way is to train the future engineers, technologists, urban planners and policy makers who will be designing those systems. That’s the aim of a project that will involve Fulton Schools Professors Ann McKenna, Gail-Joon Ahn and Ram Pendyala, along with Assistant Research Professor Troy McDaniel. They’ll team with others to help ensure smart cities are human-centric places. (The story is on page 17 of the recent Smart Cities issue of the online TechConnect magazine.)

November

2018
  • Studying Ways to Reduce Arizona’s Searing ‘Heat Island’

    Studying Ways to Reduce Arizona’s Searing ‘Heat Island’

    The Phoenix area is one of the hottest urban environments and getting hotter. Maricopa County officials are teaming with Fulton Schools engineers to devise strategies for slowing the trend toward higher temperatures. Matthew Fraser, a professor of environmental and sustainable engineering, says one focus of the effort will be on using building and pavement materials that would lessen the impacts of heat. Extreme heat also causes unhealthy air quality. Fraser and his colleagues will also work on developing new technologies to address that problem.

    See Also: Funding the future: Maricopa County, ASU combat urban heat

  • 5 ways to help robots work together with people

    5 ways to help robots work together with people

    If we want robots to perform at their best for us, then engineers who are designing, building and programming them need to also better understand the people who will be using robotic technologies. Nancy Cooke, Fulton Schools professor of human systems engineering, writes that a deep understanding of the essential ingredients of good communication, interaction, collaboration and teamwork is critical to making a world where robots and humans can rely on, trust and support each other. Read more about Cooke’s research.

    See Also: Your next colleague could be a robot. Here’s how to get along, Fast Company, November 29

  • Big power from a small container

    Big power from a small container

    With his solar-powered electrical grid-in-a-box, engineer Nathan Johnson and his research team are aiming to provide more energy security for communities and other users around the world. The project led by the Fulton Schools assistant professor will include developing training for technicians to provide engineering and design services to help people and organizations operate and maintain these microgrids for a variety of uses — including national defense, humanitarian aid, health care and disaster response.

  • ASU researchers awarded $5.8M NIH grant to develop antimicrobial susceptibility test

    ASU researchers awarded $5.8M NIH grant to develop antimicrobial susceptibility test

    Health-threatening bacteria are developing resistance to the antibiotics we use to treat the diseases the bacteria cause. Nongjian Tao, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering, is part of team that will develop new and more effective antibiotics or other drugs, along with diagnostics technologies to better identify resistant microbes. Tao, director of ASU’s Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors, will focus on designing and building the new technology.

     

  • Google Tweaks Email Program That Assumed An Investor Was Male

    Google Tweaks Email Program That Assumed An Investor Was Male

    Objections have been raised over some potentially offensive preconceptions being blamed on predictive algorithms built into artificial intelligence systems intended to aid users of services such as Google Gmail. Specifically, an algorithm that showed a bit of gender bias. The problem prompted Google to disable an AI tool from using any gendered pronouns. Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and past president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, explained how these algorithms can get into such trouble. Kambhampati has been involved in other efforts to help AI steer clear of inappropriate tendencies. Read more.

  • Butter

    Butter

    ASU’s Team BUTTER (Ballistic Universal Times Trajectory Egg Recovery) placed fifth among more than 30 teams from around the world that participated in the most recent American Astronautical Society CanSat competition. The group of Fulton Schools students had to build, launch and land a can satellite carrying a variety of technological components — plus an egg that had to remain unbroken throughout the flight. Read more about Team BUTTER’s exploits

     

  • What smart hazmat suits and Sonora cactus skins have in common

    What smart hazmat suits and Sonora cactus skins have in common

    Konrad Rykaczewski has been closely examining the characteristics of various flora and fauna for ideas on how to translate their natural capabilities into models and designs for useful technologies. Most recently the Fulton Schools assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering — working with a team of students and support from an ASU Biomimicry Center grant — discovered how the waxy, water-repellent surfaces of Sonoran cactus skins might be imitated to develop smart material for the protective suits worn by hazardous materials handlers.

    See Also: Prickly pear cactus “smart” skin can improve hazmat suits, Earth.com News, November 19

    Future hazmat suits could be inspired by cactus skin, Engineering.com/Designer Edge, November 19

  • Neural-enabled prosthetic hand helps amputees feel again

    Neural-enabled prosthetic hand helps amputees feel again

    Among the latest advances in prosthetics is a system that uses a neural implant to enable the brain and an advanced prosthetic hand to provide users with sensations of touch. The achievement is the result of a multi-institutional research project that included contributions from a team at ASU led by James Abbas, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering and the director of the Center for Adaptive Neural Systems. Abbas hopes the technology will eventually be adapted for people with lower limb amputations and double amputations. 

    See Also: New prosthetic hand provides the actual sensation of touch, Machine Design, November 27

  • ASU students come for the education and stay for the support

    ASU students come for the education and stay for the support

    To the varied selection of services designed to keep students on paths to graduation, ASU has begun new efforts collectively called the Student Success Suite Initiative. It includes a set of tools that help students explore careers that align with their skills and aspirations, says Tami Coronella, associate director of student academic services for the Fulton Schools. She points, for instance, to Me3, a visual image-oriented website providing online interactive quizzes to guide students in more clearly defining academic and career goals.

  • What is the future or Arizona’s energy landscape?

    What is the future or Arizona’s energy landscape?

    An Arizona ballot proposition that would have mandated a significant jump in the use of renewable energy sources in the state by 2030 was rejected by voters by more than a 2-to-1 margin. While it’s a setback for clean energy efforts, Fulton Schools Professor Emeritus Ronald Roedel and other ASU faculty members doing energy-related work see the tide eventually turning. The growing need for renewable energy sources will inevitably become more apparent to state leaders, while and the solar energy industry or other clean energy industries will continue to make progress, says Roedel, who is director of the Fulton Schools Professional Science Master’s program in Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization.

     

     

  • Bausch & Lomb cites ASU research in contact lens recycling collaboration

    Bausch & Lomb cites ASU research in contact lens recycling collaboration

    Manufacturers of contact lenses and researchers are joining forces to spread the word about the need to reduce the plastics pollution caused by the many millions of contact lenses being flushed down drains and toilets. Bausch & Lomb, one of the largest makers of contact lenses, cites research findings at the ASU Center for Environmental Health Engineering, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, for evidence of the negative environmental impact of the problem and of positive results that contacts-recycling efforts could produce.

  • Teaching for Tomorrow: Penny Ann Dolin Creates Learning Opportunities for the Real World

    Teaching for Tomorrow: Penny Ann Dolin Creates Learning Opportunities for the Real World

    Artistic talents are only part the mix in what constitutes marketable creative skills. So, aspiring professional photographers, designers and others in Penny Dolin’s classes in the Fulton Schools graphic information technology program, get lessons in writing, communication, critical inquiry, technology, problem-solving methods and more. The professor of practice is at the forefront of her field in development of immersive and contextual learning environments in higher education.

     

  • Frozen: A research project goes for the cold

    Frozen: A research project goes for the cold

    ASU engineers are teaming up with the Bashas’ grocery store chain, the Salt River Project utility and the thermal energy systems company Viking Cold Solutions to develop a more energy-efficient and cost-saving way to store and protect the quality of large quantities of frozen food. Fulton Schools Associate Professors Kristen Parrish and Robert Wang are overseeing testing of a new low-tech chemical and mechanical refrigeration technique at the project test site — a 10,0000-square-foot industrial freezer filled with tons of ice cream. See the Cronkite News report ASU, Bashas’ and SRP work to lower the peak. Read more: Sub-Zero Sustainability.

     

  • Five Faculty named President’s Professors

    Five Faculty named President’s Professors

    Keith Hjelmstad, a professor in the Fulton Schools civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program, has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to undergraduate education with the title of ASU President’s Professor. Those who nominated Hjelmstad for the honor emphasized the impacts his development of innovative curricula and courses are having not only at ASU but on a national level. His approach creates “a social environment for learners” in which students learn how to interact and teach each other while at the same time learning course materials.

  • New prosthetic hand system allows user to ‘feel’ again

    New prosthetic hand system allows user to ‘feel’ again

    A new prosthetic hand system with a fully implanted, wirelessly controlled neurostimulator has restored “feeling” to a person with a hand amputation. The news announced at the recent annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience involves a multi-institutional research team that includes James Abbas, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering. The team’s achievement has led to the first time a person has been fitted with a neural-enabled prosthetic hand system that can be used outside the laboratory in an everyday environment.

  • ASU researchers use citizen science and social media to build flood information network

    ASU researchers use citizen science and social media to build flood information network

    ASU researchers are exploring the use of the latest information technologies to develop a widespread real-time warning system to alert communities to the potential dangers of oncoming floods. Mikhail Chester, a Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, is leading a multi-university team for the project. Arizona will be used a test bed to determine if the warning system can be adapted for other states and regions — and if it can also be effective for hurricane and drought warning networks.

  • Negative emissions technology needed to remove CO2 and head off climate change

    Negative emissions technology needed to remove CO2 and head off climate change

    New and more effective technologies that can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are needed to curb the detrimental impacts of climate change. That’s a conclusion from a panel that produced a report for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. One of the experts commenting on the report is Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. Lackner says there are ways to make CO2 capture and removal technology economically feasible.

  • Could silk and gold replace stitches and staples?

    Could silk and gold replace stitches and staples?

    Liquid silk and gold nanoparticles are looking like the best combination of materials to produce a more effective way of closing up an injury or an incision to human body tissue. They could reduce the risk of damage or infection to tissues sometimes caused by use of conventional staples and stitches. Kaushal Rege, a Fulton Schools professor of chemical engineering, is leading research to fully develop two types of the laser-activated silk and gold nanosealants.

    See Also, Doctors could soon ditch stitches and seal skin wounds with lasers, Digital Trends, November 19

     

     

  • Sethuraman Panchanathan Named Science and Technology Adviser to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey

    Sethuraman Panchanathan Named Science and Technology Adviser to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey

    The Institute of Automated Mobility was recently launched with the promise of making Arizona a leader in innovation of autonomous vehicle technologies and systems. Fulton Schools Professor Sethuraman Panchanathan has been chosen as one the top advisers to the institute.  Panchanathan, who is also ASU’s chief research and innovations officer and the executive vice president of Knowledge Enterprise Development for the university, is the founder of the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing. The center focuses on research that could be useful to the new automated mobility endeavor.

  • This is what’s cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

    This is what’s cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

    It’s estimated there are more than 140,000 tons of plastics spread out over an area that covers a million square miles of the Pacific Ocean that’s now being called the Great Pacific Garbage patch. Scientists and engineers working with various organizations are involved in cleanup projects that are making a dent in the problem. But more needs to done to stop more plastic from being dumped in the ocean in the first place, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering.

October

2018
  • What’s next for AI in sports?

    What’s next for AI in sports?

    Artificial intelligence and athletic performance are becoming inextricably intertwined in the world of sports. Researchers such as Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Yezhou Yang are adapting emerging AI technologies to provide data analysis, computer vision and robotic visual learning that shows athletes how to enhance their abilities while reducing the risk of physical injuries. Yang, an affiliate faculty member in ASU’s Global Sport Institute, is also exploring how to make some AI athletics analytics tools accessible through a cell phone app.

  • Between Classes: Season 2 Episode 3, Kyle D. Squires

    Between Classes: Season 2 Episode 3, Kyle D. Squires

    There’s an abundance of territory to explore at the intersection of engineering and the arts. So say Professor Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools, and Professor Steven Tepper, dean of ASU’s Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts. “Collisions” between engineers and artists often produce a fertile breeding ground for creativity and innovation, Squires and Tepper agree. They suggest that might be demonstrated in an entertaining fashion if engineering, arts and design students competed in a zombie costume contest. But, seriously, they conclude, the mixing of the artistic spirit and the drive to engineer solutions to big challenges is a recipe for making a better world.

  • Plastic Pollution Is Showing Up in Our Poop

    Plastic Pollution Is Showing Up in Our Poop

    More than nine billion tons of plastics have been produced since the mid-20th century and plastic waste has found its way not only into our much of natural environment but also into humans. Researchers say many tiny bits of the waste — called microplastics — are being ingested by a large percentage of the human population. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, says there seems to be no immediate cause for alarm, but the news should cause close examination of the potential for negative health impacts from the microplastics we are ingesting and even inhaling.

  • ASU, ARL researches tout superhero-like strength with new alloys

    ASU, ARL researches tout superhero-like strength with new alloys

    New super-strong copper-tantalum alloys have been developed by Army researchers in collaboration with a mechanical engineering and materials science research team led by Fulton Schools Professor Pedro Peralta and Associate Professor Kiran Solanki. With the alloy’s ability to withstand extreme temperatures and powerful impacts, it’s being compared to vibranium, a fictional material used in Captain America’s shield and the Black Panther’s super-hero outfit.  

  • Cities looking at how self-driving cars can change their communities

    Cities looking at how self-driving cars can change their communities

    Despite a slow start in the use of self-driving cars, experts say it is all but inevitable that autonomous vehicles will become a larger part of our transportation environment — especially in busy cities. Lina Karam, a Fulton Schools Professor of electrical and computer engineering who studies autonomous vehicles, says local governments and city planners need to start preparing for the ways a proliferation of self-driving vehicles will impact urban infrastructure needs.

  • ASU, UNSW students innovate to create zero waste

    ASU, UNSW students innovate to create zero waste

    Fulton Schools mechanical engineering graduate student Sudhanshu Biyani was part of the ASU student team that won the top prize at the recent PLuS Alliance Circular Economy ResourCE Hack. The competition was designed to inspire ideas for zero-waste alternatives to waste management challenges. Biyani and his teammates developed Farmer’s Friend, an app to connect farmers and end users of food waste.

  • Blockchain ready: how Master’s students at ASU are preparing for the blockchain-powered future

    Blockchain ready: how Master’s students at ASU are preparing for the blockchain-powered future

    ASU students are getting more opportunities to learn about one of the fastest-emerging and highest-paying software fields: blockchain engineering. Blockchain technology is a key driver of cryptocurrencies and the digital economy. ASU is becoming a leader in the field as home to the Blockchain Research Laboratory, directed by Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, and the Blockchain Innovation Society, an international student-led group. Now the Fulton Schools Master of Computer Science degree program offers six courses focusing on various aspects of blockchain engineering and development.  

  • ASU researchers develop tool to help determine a neighborhoods walkability

    ASU researchers develop tool to help determine a neighborhoods walkability

    Researchers in ASU’s College of Health Solutions are analyzing the “walkability” of neighborhoods as part of a study to assess the effect of specific neighborhoods’ characteristics in helping people stick to physical activity regimens — or discouraging them from continuing their aerobic exercise routines. To get accurate data for the study, the researchers turned to three Fulton Schools computer scientists, Associate Professor Ross Maciejewski, Assistant Professor Ariane Middel and graduate student Akshar Patel. They are developing a unique tool to reveal the correlation between certain neighborhood features and residents’ level of physical activity.

     

  • What is climate-ready infrastructure? Some cities are starting to adapt

    What is climate-ready infrastructure? Some cities are starting to adapt

    Floods, heat waves, storms, hurricanes, wildfires and other damaging natural events are becoming more intense with the growing effects of climate change. Associate Professor Mikhail Chester and Professor Brad Allenby, faculty members in the Fulton Schools’ civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program, warn that current infrastructure doesn’t have the resilience to withstand the onslaught of the extreme weather events likely to occur more frequently. They look at ways our infrastructure systems can be adapted to hold up against burgeoning climatic threats.

  • ASU granted $3M to build smart cities education program

    ASU granted $3M to build smart cities education program

    Fulton Schools faculty members will have leading roles in a new interdisciplinary graduate-level program for those aspiring to be future leaders of endeavors to design and develop “smart cities.” The Citizen-Centered Smart Cities and Smart Living program will train students to become the engineers, scientist, entrepreneurs and policymakers capable of shaping cities in human-center ways. Troy McDaniel, Fulton Schools assistant research professor and associate director of the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing, says industry partners, nonprofits and community groups will be involved in the training program and smart cities research projects.

    See Also: $3M grant supports education and training on smart cities, ASU NOW, September 21

  • ASU Professors tackle large-scale public health challenges in partnership with Dignity Health

    ASU Professors tackle large-scale public health challenges in partnership with Dignity Health

    ASU and Dignity Health, one of the largest health care facility corporations, are collaborating on an initiative to seek solutions for major medical challenges. A series of initial grants are funding research intended to achieve the goal. The funded projects include two that will be led by Vikram Kodibagkar and Brent Vernon, Fulton Schools associate professors of biomedical engineering. Kodibagkar will work on developing advances in magnetic resonance imaging of brain tumors. Vernon will lead a multi-institutional program to translate liquid embolics  to clinics.

     

  • ASU researchers are grasping onto the future of soft robotics

    ASU researchers are grasping onto the future of soft robotics

    Combining expertise in robotics, haptic technologies, biomedical engineering, 3D printing and polymer molding, Fulton Schools researchers are developing devices and techniques to improve neuromuscular rehabilitation. Assistant Professor Panagiotis Polygerinos and Assistant Research Professor Qiushi Fu are leading work that promises to provide customized therapies to help people to regain lost motor skills in their hands and legs caused by injuries or strokes.

     

  • Fighting fake photos, one social media stream at a time

    Fighting fake photos, one social media stream at a time

    Today’s imaging and voice technologies make it increasingly possible to manipulate photos and videos to give viewers false impressions of what they’re seeing and hearing. But there are experts who can use other technologies to verify the veracity of the content of pictures and video productions. Some of those experts work for Truepic, a tech company focused on image authenticity, which is teaming with ASU’s Weaponized Narrative Initiative to combat the purveyors of misleading manufactured news reports and images. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, the initiative’s co-founding director, hopes to see the effort counter some of the disinformation schemes attempting to influence the national midterm elections.

  • Staying ahead of cyberattacks

    Staying ahead of cyberattacks

    Despite regular news about malicious hackers successfully breaching the defenses meant to protect websites and other electronic repositories of personal or confidential data and other information, researchers are making strides in thwarting cybercriminals. In an ASU KEDtalk, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Paulo Shakarian explained what he and others are doing to fend off impending cyberattacks. Shakarian is director of the Cyber-Socio Intelligent Systems Laboratory at ASU.

  • Arizona to create self-driving car research institute with Intel

    Arizona to create self-driving car research institute with Intel

    A venture to put Arizona at the forefront of research and development of self-driving automobiles was announced by the state’s governor, Doug Ducey. Much of the research for new Institute for Automated Mobility, formed in partnership with Intel Corp., will be conducted at Arizona’s state universities. Fulton Schools Professor Sethuraman Panchanathan was named the institute’s senior science adviser. Panchanathan, ASU’s executive vice president of Knowledge Enterprise Development and chief research and innovation officer, said the institute will become the central repository of knowledge to help industry provide reliable autonomous vehicles.

    Read more news coverage:  East Valley Tribune, KTAR News, ABC15Venture BeatCNETArizona Daily StarAutomotive NewsArizona Capitol TimesAz Big MediaHavasu NewsYuma SunPinal CentralRose Law Group Reporter

     

  • Going to waste: Virologists say sewage systems are flush with opportunity

    Going to waste: Virologists say sewage systems are flush with opportunity

    Climate change and globalization are two factors leading to disease-carrying viruses finding their way to more places around the world. Scientists say more intensive environmental surveillance could help halt the spread of viruses. One way Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden wants to do that is through a global wastewater-monitoring initiative he has launched. He hopes to see more work related to the research he is leading in ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Halden and his team are developing new and improved methods of monitoring and analyzing wastewater to reveal information about public health conditions. Such efforts could help pinpoint where viruses are moving.

  • Arizona university researchers collaborate to forecast, track flooded infrastructure

    Arizona university researchers collaborate to forecast, track flooded infrastructure

    The National Science Foundation is funding a project to develop a forecast, risk assessment and communications network to help Arizona communities protect themselves from the dangers of extreme flooding. The project involving infrastructure and sustainability researchers at each of Arizona’s three public universities will be led by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester. The network he envisions will employ smart phones, webcams, data streams, crowdsourcing and social media to track the buildup of floods in real time.

    See Also: What data teaches about flood forecasting: NAU researcher co-leading crowdsourced app to gauge flood water, NAU News, October 3

    Crowdsourced app gauges flood waters, Michigan Tech News, October 3

    Scientists aim to use crowdsourced data to improve flood predictions, University at Buffalo News Center, October 8

  • Aging infrastructure/Building with better concrete/ Wearable Monitor

    Aging infrastructure/Building with better concrete/ Wearable Monitor

    Mikhail Chester, Fulton Schools assistant professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, wants to help the Phoenix metro area avoid some of the infrastructure problems being faced by major urban regions such as the Los Angeles area. Narayanan Neithalath, also an assistant professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, is trying to find cost-effective ways of providing new materials to enable reduced use of conventional cement and its problematic environmental consequences. Jeffrey La Belle, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is leading research to produce wearable monitors that provide people vital — and possibly life-saving — real-time information about their physical conditions.

  • ASU brings home 2 Emmys

    ASU brings home 2 Emmys

    A commercial entitled “Ocean” featuring ASU graduate student Charles Rolsky and Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden has won a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award. The awards are bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence in television. The commercial focuses on Rolsky’s efforts to help find ways to protect oceans from environmental degradation. He conducts research in ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, which Halden directs. Rolsky likes that the commercial makes science “look really cool.”

  • The inconvenient consequences of a culture of convenience

    The inconvenient consequences of a culture of convenience

    The “afterlife” of plastics is much longer than this ubiquitous material’s useful lifespan, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden. And the longevity of plastics that don’t degrade poses growing problems for the health of the planet’s environment, wildlife and humans. Those problems can potentially have negative consequences for decades, centuries and millennia, says Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. He and other researchers — along with some businesses, citizens’ groups and recycling programs — are searching for solutions.

  • Arizona State University’s New Engineering School Is a Case Study For Sustainable Desert Architecture

    Arizona State University’s New Engineering School Is a Case Study For Sustainable Desert Architecture

    The Fulton Schools’ new student residential complex on ASU’s Tempe campus is described as a shining example of eco-friendly architecture. Its features include a wind-capture system for natural ventilation and permeable surfaces the allow storm water filtration, along with perforated aluminum louvers that are part of a larger shading systems — all of which helps to reduce heat gain the desert environment. And then there are the exposed “guts” of the building that give the resident engineering students a close look at the complex’s interior infrastructure and operating systems.

  • ASU researchers develop blood test that can help predict cancer prognosis

    ASU researchers develop blood test that can help predict cancer prognosis

    Working with the Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics, ASU researchers are trying to improve the survival rates of people with pancreatic cancer. A team led by Tony Wu, a Fulton Schools professor of biomedical engineering, is contributing to those efforts by developing new methods of detecting hypoxia in pancreatic cancer patients. Hypoxia is a condition that deprives tumor tissue of adequate oxygen. The higher the level of hypoxia, the more difficult it is to treat cancerous tumors.

September

2018
  • Connecting the Dots at ASU

    Connecting the Dots at ASU

    A bit over a year ago, 1,500 ASU engineering students living in the Fulton Schools’ new Tooker House campus residential complex got Amazon Echo Dots, making them members of one of the first voice-technology-enabled learning-enhanced communities. Now the University Technology Office is helping other members of the ASU community learn about the benefits of the voice-controlled computing and information device. Engineering student Carter Kwon recently joined UTO leaders to provide some Echo Dot education and training to students, faculty and staff at ASU at Lake Havasu.

  • Fuel Efficiency And Smog In Arizona

    Fuel Efficiency And Smog In Arizona

    There is strong debate swirling around proposals to ease federal air-quality standards and other environmental regulations — including fuel efficiency requirements for automobiles. Arizona is among places where officials are raising concerns about the potential impacts of such changes. Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala says such regulations have actually sparked innovation by encouraging manufacturers to develop more fuel-efficient cars and less polluting technologies.

    See also, Proposed Trump Administration fuel efficiency standards causing concerns for public health, KJZZ news, September 26

  • Research Looks at Stress Corrosion Cracking

    Research Looks at Stress Corrosion Cracking

    A big step toward solutions to metals corrosion has been made by a research team led by Karl Sieradzki, a Fulton Schools professor of materials and science engineering. Catastrophic failures of metal structures such as large bridges have resulted from a phenomenon called stress corrosion cracking. It happens when corrosive environmental factors and tensile stress combine to damage metals. The work of Sieradzki’s team has pointed the way to formulating new designs for metal alloys that could help prevent stress corrosion-induced structural failures.

     

  • Left-over landfill: Peoria to remove 4,000 cubic yards of debris at $250,000 for road project

    Left-over landfill: Peoria to remove 4,000 cubic yards of debris at $250,000 for road project

    One of growing municipalities bordering Phoenix is embarking on a substantial environmental restoration project — removing a large amount of old landfill debris buried beneath ground surface running along and under a roadway. The cleanup effort is part of a larger street improvement project along a stretch of one of the city’s major thoroughfares. Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavazanjian, director of a National Science Foundation geotechnical engineering research center at ASU, explains how the debris problem likely developed and persisted, and how such land can be restored and made viable for urban redevelopment.  

  • What will humans look like in 100 years?

    What will humans look like in 100 years?

    Six scientists and engineers envision what coming waves of technological advancement might mean for the future of the human body. Among the speculations are bodies enhanced by mechanical exoskeletons, body shops that provide people regular physical and physiological upgrades and the possibility of transforming into cyborgs. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby, co-author of the book The Techno-Human Condition, sees an evolving fusion of humans and technology on the horizon that could alter basic human cognition and meld the natural world and the engineered world.

     

  • ASU partnership develops new method for diagnosing tuberculosis

    ASU partnership develops new method for diagnosing tuberculosis

    Researchers at ASU and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine are joining forces to ramp up the battle against tuberculosis. They’ll focus on development of new and more accurate and effective methods to diagnose the disease, which is a bacterial infection. It’s a challenging task, explains Jeffrey La Belle, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering. The problem is that tuberculosis patients can often contract co-infections that results in some symptoms of a disease masking the symptoms of other infectious diseases, making it difficult to correctly diagnose patients’ conditions and prescribe the best treatment, La Belle says.

  • New ocean conservation club makes a big splash at ASU

    New ocean conservation club makes a big splash at ASU

    Fulton Schools chemical engineering students Roberta Candela and Amanda Smith are among the leaders of the new ASU Ocean Conservation Club. The group is raising awareness about the importance of protecting fragile marine life ecosystems. The club’s work will include trips to participate in beach cleanup projects to reduce the amount of trash that could harm fish and other sea creatures. They’ll undertake other efforts to advocate for related environmental conservation education and practices.

  • ASU’s Tooker House Is Engineered for Its Students and Climate

    ASU’s Tooker House Is Engineered for Its Students and Climate

    An onsite classroom and a large maker space for studying and working on class projects and research experiments. Architectural, design, construction and infrastructure features that can serve as a teaching tool for engineering students. Amazon Echo voice-controlled smart speakers for residents. Gold certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the U.S. Green Building Council. Pedestrian-friendly surrounding environment. All these factors led the national MultiFamily Executive group to make the new Fulton Schools campus residential complex the winner of its 2018 MFE Award for student housing.

     

  • Third ASU Innovation Open offers student ventures chance to win $100k

    Third ASU Innovation Open offers student ventures chance to win $100k

    A business pitch competition for aspiring student entrepreneurs is among the ways ASU and the Fulton Schools supports the aspirations of students to put their education to use by developing market solutions for society’s technological challenges. ASU partners with the global electronics company Avnet to organize the Innovation Open. Fulton Schools Dean Kyle Squires is looking forward to seeing the event attract more student startup teams each year.

  • Arizona: Billion Dollar Boom

    Arizona: Billion Dollar Boom

    Business forecasters are saying tech industries — including aviation companies like Boeing — are poised to continue expanding throughout the greater Phoenix metropolitan area and other locales in central and southern Arizona. One reason: the region’s supply chain of well-educated prospective employees — particularly the 21,000 thousand students enrolled in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

  • SPARK App League gives young students chance to code, learn about college

    SPARK App League gives young students chance to code, learn about college

    The Smithsonian, Waymo self-driving cars, the town of Gilbert and the Fulton Schools teamed up to bring middle school and high school students to ASU’s Polytechnic campus for a two-day competition called the SPARK App League. The event was designed not only to teach young students some coding but to give them a taste of what high education can offer through science, technology and engineering studies.

  • The end of stitches?

    The end of stitches?

    Using tiny pieces of gold intertwined with silk and activating a bonding process by heat from a laser, Kaushal Rege and his research team have developed a way to heal wounds with a new kind of bandage, thus eliminating the need for stitches to repair body tissue. Rege, a Fulton Schools professor of chemical engineering, says such laser-activated nanosealants are more effective in healing wounds and minimizing infection.

    See also: Bandages laser-bonded to your skin may fix wounds better than stitches, New Scientist, September 13 (subscription required)

  • Gila River Indian Community members see traditional house designs come to life

    Gila River Indian Community members see traditional house designs come to life

    What transforms houses into family homes, and homes into communities? Key factors are domiciles and residential developments designed with climate and cultural traditions in mind. The ideas of “culturally relevant” housing and “design sovereignty” are guiding efforts by Wanda Dalla Costa and her students to help members of Arizona’s Native American Indian communities ensure their new housing projects will reflect those concepts and the traditional values of indigenous people. Dalla Costa is an Institute Professor of architecture in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment in the Fulton Schools and ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

  • Catalyst: Plastics and fertilizer in our oceans

    Catalyst: Plastics and fertilizer in our oceans

    It took Charlie Rolsky a while to get his academic pursuits on track toward a career, but the ASU doctoral student found motivation through his work in the university’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden. Halden says he foresees Rolsky making significant contributions to society through his studies — both in the research lab and in the field — of the growing threat of environmental contamination from the tons of plastic waste accumulating in the world’s oceans.

  • All bark, no byte: ASU students create robotic dog

    All bark, no byte: ASU students create robotic dog

    Designed to aid visually impaired humans, a dog-mimicking robot constructed by several Fulton Schools students for their capstone engineering design project uses artificial intelligence and a Go Pro camera to understand verbal commands, communicate directions and evaluate potential hazards for their users. The team’s mechanized canine earned a top prize at the Intel Cup Undergraduate Electronic Design Contest in Shanghai.

    See also: Robot dog leads the pack, Science Node, September 12

    Dorks Estate: ASU engineering team wins first place with robotic guide dog (podcast), The State Press, September 16

    Robotic guide dog leads Arizona State University team to 1st prize at Intel Cup, Association for Computing Machinery Tech News, August 21 

     

  • ASU research finds better predictors of metal structure failures

    ASU research finds better predictors of metal structure failures

    Research led by Karl Sieradzki, Fulton Schools professor of materials science and engineering, has shown how new metal alloys can be designed to avoid stress corrosion-induced failure that leads to damage to bridges, power plants, aircraft and other engineered structures. Fellow researchers from ASU and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory participated in the project supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

    See also: Decoupling stress and corrosion to predict metal failure, Science Daily, September 10

  • ASU’s Global Launch hosts international students for science and tech training

    ASU’s Global Launch hosts international students for science and tech training

    Students coming to ASU from around the world to earn degrees in science, engineering and technology are also getting opportunities to learn business and entrepreneurship skills. ASU’s Global Launch program hosts educational sessions led by experts such Steve Cho, a lecturer in the Fulton Schools technological and entrepreneurship management program. Cho brings almost three decades of experience in industry to his efforts to prepare students for the technology-related business world.

  • Pulling water from air using technology and traditional methods

    Pulling water from air using technology and traditional methods

    Zero Mass Water, a startup company founded by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science, has developed a system that use solar energy technology to produce drinking water from sunlight and air. It’s one of several similar systems being refined and applied to ventures to provide more water to the world’s growing population, as well as for agriculture and industrial operations.

    See also: How to drink from enormous lakes in the air, BBC, September 7

  • Where did the trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch come from? How do we stop it?

    Where did the trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch come from? How do we stop it?

    Every year, an estimated 8 million to 12 million metric tons of plastics enter the ocean on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons already in our marine environments, according to the Ocean Conservancy. Incredibly, trash has reached the stomachs of some of the deepest fish in the ocean, with researchers estimating 73 percent of deepwater fish in the North Atlantic Ocean had eaten particles of plastic, known as microplastics. And it’s not just fish or marine life that’s affected says Rolf Halden, a professor of environmental health engineering at Arizona State University. Every human being in the developed world has traces of plastic constituents in his or her blood.

    See also: Ocean Cleanup steams out to sea in test run to clean Great Pacific Garbage Patch, WHAS ABC News – San Francisco, September 7

  • NeoLight Wins AZBio Fast Lane Award

    NeoLight Wins AZBio Fast Lane Award

    The Arizona Bioindustry Association announced that NeoLight has won a 2018 AZBio Fast Lane Award in recognition of its success in moving from its initial development stage into commercialization. NeoLight is an Arizona-based medical device company that develops empathy-driven, best-in-class technologies for the newborn care market. The company began as an ASU spin-out with $7,000 in funding from the university after winning the Edson student entrepreneurship competition in 2014. The NeoLight team will be honored by Arizona’s bioscience and business communities at the 2018 AZBio Awards on October 3 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

August

2018

July

2018
  • Is this the end of household chores?

    Is this the end of household chores?

    Artificial intelligence technology has advanced to the point that smart robotic technologies able to perform conventional household tasks are conceivable — but still far from actually achievable. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Siddharth Srivastava explains the many challenging computational, robotics and AI advances that would be necessary to develop an efficient, fully functional and reliably capable home assistant.

  • ASU research demonstrates silicon-based tandem photovoltaic modules can compete in solar market

    ASU research demonstrates silicon-based tandem photovoltaic modules can compete in solar market

    The goal of making renewable solar energy economically competitive with conventional electric power sources is looking closer on the horizon with results being achieved by Fulton Schools researchers. Work by Assistant Research Professor Zengshan Yu, Assistant Professor Zachary Holman and Joe V. Carpenter, a graduate student research assistant, has led to technology combining silicon with another photovoltaic material — perovskite. That kind of tandem solar cell promises to exceed the efficiency of current cells in converting sunlight into energy while still being cost-competitive in the energy marketplace.

  • Arizona State University And Dash Publish New Research On Blockchain Scalability

    Arizona State University And Dash Publish New Research On Blockchain Scalability

    Fulton Schools researchers continue to explore the potential of emerging digital currency and e-commerce networks. Using the resources of the Blockchain Research Lab directed by Research Professor Dragan Boscovic and the Center for Assured and Scalable Data Engineering (CASCADE), researchers are mapping out the feasibility of operating those networks at larger scales. The work has produced a new research paper reporting on what simulations of various scaling scenarios are revealing about the outlook for significant expansion of the digital economy. Dash, a digital currency and e-commerce enterprise, is supporting the research. Dash Core will soon have “a credible path to scaling further in the future,” says CEO Ryan Taylor.

    See also: Arizona State University Blockchain Research Lab and DASH partner for scalability analysis effort, Bitcoin Exchange Guide, August 1

    Dash & ASU Blockchain Research Lab discuss new research on scaling solutions, Crowd Insider, July 31

    Arizona State University, Dash explore blockchain scalability issues in new research, EconoTimes, July 31

    ASU’s Blockchain Research Lab explains Dash to general public, Dash Force News. July 27

  • Amazing genes: Gene editing technology that could cure disease and turn the medical world on its ear

    Amazing genes: Gene editing technology that could cure disease and turn the medical world on its ear

    Samira Kiani, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of biomedical engineering, leads an eye-opening discussion on the groundbreaking medical advances that could be on the horizon with gene editing. Kiani has extensive experience working with CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology and in employing it to develop synthetic gene circuits used to reprogram the behavior and functions of mammalian cells. The technology could allow researchers to repair or disable genes and more closely approximate nature, making it possible to potentially provide the correct template to a cell to repair mutations that are causing a particular genetic disease.

     

  • Arizona’s construction industry aims to train more women

    Arizona’s construction industry aims to train more women

    The Arizona Department of Transportation and ASU are among those leading efforts to bring more women into the construction industry. Forty percent of the participants in the ADOT-sponsored Construction Academy classes are women. At ASU, about 40 construction management and construction engineering students are active in the Advancing Women in Construction organization, which offers a mentorship program aimed at helping women pursue careers in construction professions.

  • Beyond silicon: $1.5 billion U.S. program aims to spur new types of computer chips

    Beyond silicon: $1.5 billion U.S. program aims to spur new types of computer chips

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Daniel Bliss has a leading role in one of numerous new projects supported by the U.S. Department of Defense’s research agency to ignite progress toward the next generation of computer chips. The aim is to make computing more powerful and more energy efficient. New chips to speed up computer processing could spark a big wave of innovation in a wide range of technologies. Bliss will focus on advancing computer chip architecture, with an eye on improving the performance of communications technologies. Read more about his new research project, Designing the computational architecture of the future.

    See also:  DARPA chooses teams for $1.5 billion electronics initiative, National Defense magazine, July 24

    DARPA picks its first set of winners in Electronics Resurgence Initiative, IEEE Spectrum, July 24

    DARPA selects teams for $1.5 billion eletronics effort, Signal magazine, July 25

    DARPA selects teams to unleash power of specialized, reconfigurable computing hardware, Electronic Component News, July 25

    ASU, UA awarded grants to expand computing technology, KJZZ (NPR), July 25

    Chipmakers look past Moore’s law, and silicon, Science, July 27

  • Don’t Drink the Mummy Juice

    Don’t Drink the Mummy Juice

    News of the opening of a 2,000-year-old sarcophagus in Egypt sparked quick reactions on the internet, particularly a suggestion of a reason to imbibe the reddish liquid inside the container along with the human skeletal remains. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering, had his own strong recommendation in response: Don’t do it. But he did offer to have his lab analyze a sample to help clear up any mystery about the nature of the liquid.   

  • Phoenix tipping, pay app to offer cryptocurrency options; aims for global growth

    Phoenix tipping, pay app to offer cryptocurrency options; aims for global growth

    Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, director of the ASU Blockchain Research Lab, offers some clarity about the legal and financial implications for a new business venture based on a pay-or-tip app that is launching its own cryptocurrency as part of a global expansion effort.

     

  • Catalyst: smart, efficient trash cans

    Catalyst: smart, efficient trash cans

    A group of Arizona State University students have come up with an innovative way to make trash collection and disposal more efficient and economical. With their Hygiea sensing system, the amount of waste materials in a trash receptacle can be intensively monitored, providing information that enables users to practice effective small-scale waste management — saving time, money and resources. Surya Iyer, a graduate student in the Fulton Schools management of technology program, and Saiman Shetty, who earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering in the Fulton Schools, are involved in the Hygiea venture.

  • Local company, ASU students create cool solution for lake lovers

    Local company, ASU students create cool solution for lake lovers

    Through the Fulton Schools eProjects program that partners students with industry to work on real-world technology solutions, students at the Polytechnic School and a misting systems company found a way to keep boating enthusiasts comfortable during hot summers days. They developed a a solar energy-powered mechanism that draws water from lakes or other waterways, then purifies the water before spraying it in tiny droplets into the boat, keeping the occupants cool.

  • ASU, Embry-Riddle students build pod for Elon Musk’s SpaceX Hyperloop competition

    ASU, Embry-Riddle students build pod for Elon Musk’s SpaceX Hyperloop competition

    The hopes of more than 60 ASU and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students are riding on a 10-foot-long, self-propelled, high-speed transport pod they have designed and built for an international competition sponsored by tech guru Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. Graduate and undergraduate students majoring in engineering, business, graphic design and other disciplines combined their skills for the AZLoop project.

    See also: ASU to showcase Hyperloop pod at international SpaceX competition, 3TV/CBS 5 News, July 13

    Composites One helps Arizona State Hyperloop team prepare for SpaceX competition, Composites Manufacturing, July 9

  • Make the robot dance and the chips fly

    Make the robot dance and the chips fly

    Four recent Fulton Schools graduates impressed engineers at Raytheon, the major defense industry company, with their solution for repairing a massive robotic arm used in the company’s manufacturing operations. Recent graduates Rebecca Bell (robotics), Jesse Wittkowski (robotics and manufacturing), Aaron Dolgin (electrical engineering) and Riley Chicci (robotics) teamed up to fix the 13,000-pound robotic arm at the Innovation Hub on ASU’s Polytechnic campus.

  • Company making smart pool gate locks

    Company making smart pool gate locks

    The many children who are victims of drowning or near-drowning in home swimming pools each year motivated Fulton Schools software engineering student Kevin Hale and a business partner to develop the Halen Smart Lock. Their device designed to be placed on a pool gate contains a sensor that will send an alert to a phone when the gate has been opened or closed. The device enables users to deadbolt the gate so it cannot be opened. The venture has been supported by the Ashton Family Venture Challenge, which is part of ASU’s Startup Funding Network.

  • The right mix of gut microbes relieves autism symptoms in the long run

    The right mix of gut microbes relieves autism symptoms in the long run

    One way to improve the health of children with autism might be to alter the makeup of the mix of bacteria and other microbes that live in human intestines. Research by Fulton Schools Associate Professor Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and colleagues at the ASU Biodesign Institute’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology indicates that introducing a more diverse mix into what’s called the gut microbiome helps alleviate digestive issues and behavioral symptoms associated with autism. Krajmalnik-Brown reported on a two-year study on the treatment at a recent Beneficial Microbes Conference.

  • How has hacking evolved, and how much is consumer data worth?

    How has hacking evolved, and how much is consumer data worth?

    Computer system hacking has grown increasingly complex, making cybersecurity an ever-evolving challenge, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Adam Doupé, who is associate director of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics. With more and more valuable information online, Doupé warns that the financial incentives for cyber attacks are getting bigger and massive hacking can do more damage than ever.

    See also: Arizona professor explains how hacking evolved to data theft, Claims Journal, July 13

  • Solar technology seeking a balance

    Solar technology seeking a balance

    Work that is contributing to the evolutionary advance toward reliable and affordable solar energy systems and technologies is being led at ASU by Fulton Schools Professor Christiana Honsberg in the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies research center and by Fulton Schools Professor Vijay Vittal at the Power Systems Engineering Research Center and Assistant Professor Nathan Johnson at the Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions.  

  • AZLoop a high-speed gateway to space for ASU mechanical engineer

    AZLoop a high-speed gateway to space for ASU mechanical engineer

    Fulton Schools mechanical and electrical engineering students are among leaders of the AZLoop team competing in the international Hyperloop challenge to design and build a prototype high-speed transportation system. Started by prominent SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the competition is bringing 18 teams of college students to California this month to vie for a place in the Hyperloop’s final round.

    See also: Students from ASU, Embry-Riddle enter SpaceX competition, AZCentral.com, July 10

    ASU students unveil pod in second try at SpaceX Hyperloop challenge, Phoenix Business Journal, July 10

     

  • Here’s an Idea: Engineering Real-Life ‘Superpowers’

    Here’s an Idea: Engineering Real-Life ‘Superpowers’

    Technologies that enhance human physical capabilities are the focus of many new endeavors by engineers. Among the more notable of these ventures are the exoskeleton devices being designed, built and tested by Fulton Schools Professor Tom Sugar and some of his students. A podcast that explores several examples of technologies that can bestow “superpowers” on their users featured a wearable jetpack produced by Sugar and Jason Kerestes, who earned a master’s degree from the Fulton Schools, that enables users to easily and significantly increase their running speed.

  • Scottsdale tech firm pledges $1M to help 100 women pursue STEM careers

    Scottsdale tech firm pledges $1M to help 100 women pursue STEM careers

    Ashley Bruner, a recent graduate of Xavier College Preparatory high school in Phoenix, is the first recipient of vCore Technology Partners’ “Women in Technology” scholarship. She will use the scholarship to support studies in the Fulton Schools’ computer systems engineering program in the fall. Within that field, Bruner plans to focus on information assurance. See related information at vCORE Women in Technology Scholarship.

    See also: Ashley Bruner wins inaugural vCore scholarship for women in technology, Scottsdale Independent, July 11

  • Mesa teacher gets national award for STEM teaching

    Mesa teacher gets national award for STEM teaching

    Erik Von Burg, a teacher who for a decade has worked with the Arizona FIRST LEGO League — a robotics and STEM education program for young students managed by the Fulton Schools — was recently awarded the national Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The award is bestowed by the White House Office of Science and Technology and the National Science Foundation. Von Burg is a specialist for the Mesa Public Schools’ program for gifted students.

June

2018
  • Academia and Industry Partnerships Go Far Beyond Internships

    Academia and Industry Partnerships Go Far Beyond Internships

    The Fulton Schools are being recognized as an innovator in developing productive partnerships between industry and academia to more comprehensively educate the next generation of engineers. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers reports on the efforts being led by Fulton Schools Dean Kyle Squires to give students opportunities to engage with real-world engineering pursuits early in their college years. Career Center Director Robin Hammond says industry is in turn engaging with students in educational and research endeavors. Some of the most prominent high-tech companies now have collaborative arrangements with the Fulton Schools.

  • How do Arizonans’ online protections compare in wake of California privacy law?

    How do Arizonans’ online protections compare in wake of California privacy law?

    A new California law enables people to see how companies are using individuals’ personal data online. In addition, people can ask for such information to be deleted from online content. The regulatory action could start a trend that brings such privacy protection to Arizona, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Adam Doupé, who directs ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics. Still, he thinks it will be difficult to completely deter the misuse of personal information that has been online at any time in the past.

  • Students learning about engineering, transportation through ASU

    Students learning about engineering, transportation through ASU

    About 100 Arizona high school students are getting a first-hand look at how engineering impacts everyday life through ASU’s Transportation Engineering Experience summer sessions. There are important lessons to be learned simply by examining all the transportation planning, technology and traffic management it takes to move people from one place to another in a busy urban area, says Professor Tirupalavanam Ganesh, the assistant dean of engineering education for the Fulton Schools, who helps to lead the program. More information at TEE@ASU.

     

  • Extreme heat could mean danger when flying

    Extreme heat could mean danger when flying

    Heat can lead to air travel hazards, says Fulton Schools faculty associate Michael Hampshire. The aviation instructor explains what pilots can do to reduce the risks of problems that extreme temperatures can create for aircraft. Using a flight simulator, he demonstrates some of the measures that can be taken to avoid emergency situations.

  • Tempe company explores 3D printing for NASA spacecraft

    Tempe company explores 3D printing for NASA spacecraft

    Engineers have been looking at structures created by nature for ideas to improve the design and manufacture of new products and technologies. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Dhruv Bhate explores potential nature-inspired technical solutions at ASU’s Biomimicry Center. Now he is using his skills to help a local tech company see if 3D printing can mimic natural structures. If it works, the process could help improve NASA’s fleet by enabling the manufacture of devices and components for spacecraft that are stronger and lighter.

     

  • Lessons learned from U.S. Navy microgrids in Hawaii

    Lessons learned from U.S. Navy microgrids in Hawaii

    Energy industry representatives and military and government leaders who gathered at conference on the Hawaiian island of Oahu got sobering news about continuing challenges hindering efforts to establish more resilient sources of energy on the island. Better news came from Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Nathan Johnson, director of ASU’s Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions. Johnson described the Microgrid Boot Camp he helps to lead. The program is educating engineers, entrepreneurs and students — many of them military veterans — about working with new microgrid technologies and systems to provide communities with more reliable power.

     

  • A Conversation with Rao Kambhampati

    A Conversation with Rao Kambhampati

    “I wouldn’t be surprised if one day a computer writes a symphony that we enjoy,” says Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati in an extensive discussion about artificial intelligence and how it could shape the future. Kambhampati, whose expertise includes machine learning, says AI will definitely have bigger roles in more aspects of society, and human-machine interaction will become a more common part of our lives with advances in AI technology.

  • If you want to make more money in Arizona, major in engineering or computer science

    If you want to make more money in Arizona, major in engineering or computer science

    A report revealing the earning power of graduates from Arizona’s public universities, ranked by students’ major fields of study, finds that those in engineering and computer science are at the top. The study also found that all college graduates, regardless of their majors, are earning more money than people without college degrees, even when deducting payments for student loans. On average, engineering and computer science graduates are making almost twice as much as graduates in several nontechnical fields.

    See also: Which degrees will get you the most money in Arizona? Arizona Daily Star, June 19

  • How India is carving out a niche for itself in the field of Artificial Intelligence

    How India is carving out a niche for itself in the field of Artificial Intelligence

    High-tech experts, business analysts and government leaders see the potential for India to become a major force in expanding the use of artificial intelligence. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, computer scientist and president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, says that although other countries are leading in AI advances and applications, India has all the pieces in place to make significant progress in big data, machine learning, automation and other AI-related technologies.

    See also:

    Infra to collect data is the tough part (Professor Kambhampati talks about India’s AI infrastructure challenges), The Economic Times, June 16

     

  • The Alluring Dream of Carbon Capture

    The Alluring Dream of Carbon Capture

    Imagine a massive network of machines scrubbing the Earth’s atmosphere to remove carbon dioxide from the sky. Such a scenario is seen as a possible solution for taking the environmentally threatening greenhouse gas out of the air we breathe. But the idea has been dismissed by some because of the enormous cost of the technique. But Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, a leader in the new carbon-capture technologies, says the costs are coming down to a point where large-scale carbon dioxide removal can become a viable option.

  • Summer is no vacation for these faculty

    Summer is no vacation for these faculty

    Seven of 11 ASU researchers spending the summer in a Mayo Clinic and ASU Alliance for Health Care residency program are Fulton Schools faculty members. Through their expertise in computer science, electronics, artificial intelligence, medical diagnostic devices, bioengineering and biomarker technology, they’ll work to make progress on solving some of the biggest medical and health care challenges.

  • ASU team uses artificial intelligence to detect wildfires before they become catastrophic

    ASU team uses artificial intelligence to detect wildfires before they become catastrophic

    Fulbright Fellow David Azcona spent the past year working with Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Sharon Hsiao on research focused on educational data mining — delving into multimodal learning analytics in computer science education and the use of artificial intelligence in education. He also used his skills on a project with two ASU master’s degree students to develop computer software that analyzes data from a surveillance drone to detect wildfires. The project took fourth place at the recent U.S. Microsoft Imagine Cup, one of the leading student technology competitions, and will vie for an international grand prize in July.

     

     

  • Bitcoin goes to Wall Street: Cryptocurrency’s newest phase

    Bitcoin goes to Wall Street: Cryptocurrency’s newest phase

    A new online stock trading platform is under development that allows investors to buy and hold bitcoin. Along with the commodity exchanges that now offer investment in bitcoin futures, this signals that once highly mistrusted cryptocurrencies are edging closer to the mainstream in the financial industry. Dragan Boscovic, Fulton Schools research professor and Blockchain Research Lab director, talks about what this means for consumers, for Wall Street and for the economy’s evolution.

    See also:

    Cryptocurrencies to trade alongside precious metals in future, says director or Arizona’s blockchain lab, BTC Manager, June 16

    Bitcoin is a valued investment opportunity according to an Arizona State University professor, Crypto Coin News Journal, June 15

    ASU Blockchain Research Lab professor talks DLT & crypto to Wall Street, Bitcoin Exchange Guide, June 15

    Bitcoin a ‘valued investment opportunity’ says Arizona State University professor, Inside Bitcoins, June 14

  • You think it’s your friend calling, but it’s actually this growing phone scam

    You think it’s your friend calling, but it’s actually this growing phone scam

    A tactic called digital spoofing is making people more vulnerable to devious phone scams. It’s estimated that the overall costs of losses to victims of such scams is in the billions of dollars. Flaws in current telephone systems are enabling digital spoofing to proliferate, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Adam Doupe, the associate director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, whose expertise includes telephony security.

     

  • Should you use city water or bottled water?

    Should you use city water or bottled water?

    There are sound reasons to use tap water over bottled water, explains Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering and co-founder of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Water and Health. The reasons include not only economics but also sustainability, resource conservation and ecosystem protection.

     

  • The price of panic: ASU experts ground us in what AI really is and can be

    The price of panic: ASU experts ground us in what AI really is and can be

    In a commentary exploring directions in which artificial intelligence technology might be taken in the future, Subbarao Kambhampati contends speculation that AI presents a threat to human society is overinflated. The Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering, and president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, points out that it is humans who will control the behavioral responses AI will exhibit. So, the real issue is what decisions people will make in shaping AI.

     

  • At Arizona State University, pixelated aluminum louvers shade residence hall

    At Arizona State University, pixelated aluminum louvers shade residence hall

    The perforated aluminum louvered façade of the Fulton Schools’ new Tooker House student residential complex is lauded equally for its design, aesthetics and functionality. Combined with a sandstone panel façade, insulated metal panels and perforated aluminum screens, the structure achieves a significant reduction in solar heat gain while still providing residents natural daylighting indoors and expansive views of the outdoors. Plus, the design emulates the natural patterns and textures of the Southwest’s desert environment.

  • Computer Science Research Is Lacking In These Key Areas

    Computer Science Research Is Lacking In These Key Areas

    Even with the many tech innovations achieved in computer science in the past few decades, the field still needs to make some significant progress to fulfill growing needs. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Mohamed Sarwat points to the necessity for advances in computer hardware, new applications and the computing systems to handle them, personal data protection systems and data system support for the internet of things as big challenges computer scientists need to overcome.

  • This Gasoline Is Made of Carbon Sucked From the Air

    This Gasoline Is Made of Carbon Sucked From the Air

    The Canadian company Carbon Engineering is developing a liquid fuel that would be carbon-free — providing gasoline that could help reduce the detrimental impacts of climate change by not adding additional carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner has pioneered the concept of capturing carbon dioxide from the air, a process that would be employed by the company to make the new kind of fuel. Lackner says Carbon Engineering is proving the process can work and could also become cost-effective.

    See also:

    Sucking carbon dioxide from air is cheaper than scientists thought, Nature, June 7

    Carbon dioxide extraction moves toward commercialisation, Greener Ideal, June 10

    The potential pitfalls of sucking carbon from the atmosphere, Wired, June 13

  • ASU’s Tillman Scholars poised to tackle society’s toughest problems

    ASU’s Tillman Scholars poised to tackle society’s toughest problems

    Fulton Schools computer science doctoral student Vivin Paliath, an Arizona Army National Guard veteran, is one of two ASU graduate students to be named Tillman Scholars for the Class of 2018. He joins U.S. Air Force veteran Lindsay Lorson, a master’s student in ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, among only 60 recipients across the nation of this year’s Tillman scholarship awards. Pat Tillman was an ASU football star who later left the Arizona Cardinals NFL team to join the U.S. Army. He was killed while on duty in Afghanistan in 2004.

  • ASU to Study Water Savings at City of Phoenix Parks Thanks to Innovative Conservation Program Award

    ASU to Study Water Savings at City of Phoenix Parks Thanks to Innovative Conservation Program Award

    ASU Researchers will be looking at using composted “green waste” materials to replace traditional fertilizer for maintaining grass in public parks in Phoenix. An initial study indicates the compost could boost the water-retaining capacity of soils. If it works, the change could help conserve water, reduce parks maintenance costs and become an operational model program for other cities. Enrique Vivoni, a professor in the Fulton Schools and the School of Earth and Space Exploration, is leading the research team. Vivoni is a hydrologist whose work focuses on interactions between climate, ecosystems and landscapes.

  • 40 Under 40

    40 Under 40

    From more than 300 nominations, Phoenix Magazine selected 40 greater Phoenix area residents 40 years old or younger for demonstrating “brilliant or precocious accomplishment in their field.” Among them is Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Erin Walker. She is developing educational technology to customize instruction for students with different needs. Walker is also using robots to improve teaching of middle school math and boost students’ confidence in their math skills and she has helped to create an app to enhance students’ reading comprehension.

May

2018
  • Tempe uses wastewater to help fight drug abuse

    Tempe uses wastewater to help fight drug abuse

    Tempe is one of the first cities to employ advanced wastewater analysis to help combat drug abuse — particularly opioid abuse. The project uses resources in the Environmental Health Engineering Lab directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden. The lab can test wastewater samples to estimate the number people using drugs in a specific area, the quantities of drugs consumed and the potential number of overdose incidents. Halden’s lab team includes Postdoctoral Research Associate Adam Gushgari, a recent graduate of the Fulton Schools Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering doctoral program, and two current doctoral students in the program, Ana Barrios and Erin Driver. Gushgari explained the research to Channel 12 News. Barrios, Driver and Halden did the same for the other news reports listed below.

    See also:

    Buscan en drenajes solución al problema de opioides (They are looking in drains for a solution to the problem of opioids), TeleMundo Arizona, May 30

    ASU scientists turn to wastewater to determine drug presence in the city, The State Press, May 31

    Can sewage provide clues on how to combat opioid crisis? The Fix, June 5

    ASU, Tempe study wastewater for opioid content, Easy Valley Tribune, June 7

  • Triclosan, A Chemical Found In Hand Sanitizers And Cookware, Linked To Gut Problems In New Mouse Study

    Triclosan, A Chemical Found In Hand Sanitizers And Cookware, Linked To Gut Problems In New Mouse Study

    Because it kills bacteria, the chemical compound triclosan has been a popular additive for use in a large number of consumer products, including hand sanitizers, toothpastes, cookware, clothes and furniture. But studies found it can have adverse impacts on human health, particularly causing gut problems. Fulton Schools Professor and director of the Center for Environmental Health Engineering Rolf Halden, whose research helped to raise awareness of the risks related to triclosan, says further studies are strengthening the case for caution in the use of the potentially harmful antimicrobial.

  • Words on water: Dr. Bruce Rittmann on Microbial Communities

    Words on water: Dr. Bruce Rittmann on Microbial Communities

    In a podcast produced by the international Water Environment Federation, Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann talks about how he and his team at the Swette Center Environmental Biotechnology are using communities of microbes in processes that can convert water pollutants into valuable resources. Rittmann also describes work that is advancing an array of water treatment technologies and improving the engineering and management of water systems.

  • Tempe, ASU to work together in wastewater monitoring to improve public health

    Tempe, ASU to work together in wastewater monitoring to improve public health

    The Center for Environmental Health Engineering directed by Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden will work the city of Tempe to monitor the local wastewater system for the presence of health-threatening substances. Halden’s lab will analyze sewage samples to provide real-time data on the presence of opioids and other addictive substances. The partnership is aimed at providing the city information that can guide its efforts to mount resources to stem the tide of addictions. Tempe is now one of hundreds of cities using Halden’s wastewater monitoring system.

    See also: Sewage is helping cities flush out the opioid crisis, Scientific American, May 25

    Tempe partners with ASU to study city wastewater to monitor public health, ABC 15 News – Phoenix, May 25

    Tempe. ASU to study wastewater for clues about opiod abuse, Cronkite News, May 24, and the Arizona Republic, May 31

    Tempe partners with ASU to detect drugs in wastewater, KJZZ (NPR), May 23

    ASU, Tempe testing for opioids in city’s sewage system, KTAR News, May 29

  • Preliminary Report: Self-Driving Uber Car Didn’t Alert Driver Of Collision Possibility

    Preliminary Report: Self-Driving Uber Car Didn’t Alert Driver Of Collision Possibility

    The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on the self-driving Uber vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe. Lina Karam, a Fulton Schools professor of computer engineering, commented on what measures could be taken to help prevent such tragic mishaps. She recommended requiring stringent qualifications for operators to ensure their ability to safely control self-driving vehicles and incorporating into the vehicles a process that quickly alerts drivers to problems with autonomous systems.

     

  • Trashed cellphones sparking fires; ASU team working to make lithium batteries safer

    Trashed cellphones sparking fires; ASU team working to make lithium batteries safer

    Lithium-ion batteries commonly used in cell phones, laptop computers, cameras, power tools and electric cars are being linked to numerous fires breaking out in landfills where these electronic tools and devices are being dumped, as well as fires in garbage trucks. In a news report on the dangers of disposing of these electronics, Hanqing Jiang, a Fulton Schools professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, describes his research on using a layer of silicone inside lithium-ion and lithium-air batteries to reduce the threat of such fires.

  • Determining the Optimal Biomarker Frequency for Biosensors

    Determining the Optimal Biomarker Frequency for Biosensors

    Chi-En Lin’s research and development of multi-biomarker technology to diagnose diseases earned him the highly sought-after Metrohm USA’s Young Chemist Award earlier this year. In an interview with a major international health and medical news outlet, the Fulton Schools biomedical engineering doctoral student talks in detail about advances in biosensors and biomarkers and their growing role in detecting and managing complex diseases and in the development of personalized medicine. Lin is conducting his research under the guidance of Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Jeffrey La Belle.

  • Fear and hope in the age of AI

    Fear and hope in the age of AI

    A far-ranging exploration of the challenges posed by a world that artificial intelligence technology is increasingly reshaping taps into the perspective of Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering, and president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. AI will definitely lead to “a reformulation of societies,” Kambhampati says, but much of what AI alters in our lives will amount to positive changes.

  • ASU students compete in urban search and rescue drone competition

    ASU students compete in urban search and rescue drone competition

    Six teams of Arizona State University students brought drones they had equipped with cameras and sensors to a campus gymnasium recently, where officials from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Administration watched as teams launched their aerial vehicles into a simulated disaster response scenario. Plans are to make the competition an annual event to showcase aerial vehicle innovation at ASU and to motivate students to help develop the next generation of life-saving search and rescue technology.

     

  • Smart dressers: Technology flourishes in wearable fashion designs

    Smart dressers: Technology flourishes in wearable fashion designs

    Arizona State University’s newly established fashion program is already breaking into the innovation mode through creative partnerships pairing students in various disciplines. One in particular involves a collaborative fashion technology class project that tapped the talents of Fulton Schools students. Class member Jenna Forrey, a human systems engineering student, and computer science student Abhik Chowdhury are among those who joined fashion program students in delving into designs for clothing featuring wearable technology inspired by science and engineering. Forrey’s and Chowdhury’s contributions are noted in an earlier article, Moving the needle on fashion education, ASU NOW, March 28.

  • ASU’s Greenes receives 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award

    ASU’s Greenes receives 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award

    Authorship of numerous books on mathematics. Decades of research and teaching in the field. Directing Arizona State University’s PRIME Center to increase interest in STEM subjects among students from preschool to college. Editing the Arizona Association of Teachers of Mathematics semiannual journal OnCore and the monthly “MATHgazine Senior” and “MATHgazine Junior” online publications. Those are among accomplishments that have earned the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Lifetime Achievement Award for Carole Greenes, a Fulton Schools professor of math education.

  • Hybridized Camaro speeds off to EcoCAR3 competition

    Hybridized Camaro speeds off to EcoCAR3 competition

    Arizona State University’s EcoCar3 team is one of the groups of students from 16 universities embarking on the first leg the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Vehicle Technology competition. Their challenge: Develop a car into an electric-gas fuel hybrid and put it to demanding road tests and a series of technical demonstrations and design reviews. Fulton Schools students make up most of ASU’s team. Abdel Ra’ouf Mayyas, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of automotive engineering is the team’s faculty adviser.

  • ASU’s Swimming Olympian to graduate

    ASU’s Swimming Olympian to graduate

    Ivana Ninkovic followed the achievement of becoming an Olympic athlete for her native Bosnia and Herzegovina by becoming the Fulton Schools Spring 2018 Outstanding Engineering Management Program Graduate. Ninkovic competed on the Arizona State University swim team throughout her undergraduate years. She says ASU and the Fulton Schools turned out to be the perfect choice to pursue both her academic and athletic goals.

  • Arizona is poised to capitalize on growing microelectronic industry

    Arizona is poised to capitalize on growing microelectronic industry

    Arizona — especially the Phoenix metro area — is expected to benefit significantly from a global upswing in the microelectronics industry. Companies already in the state are expanding operations while others are relocating to the region. Local business leaders say that is certain to send companies to Arizona State University and other Arizona colleges and universities looking for new engineering talent. Details are in a report by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

  • Textbooks reveal lack in science education

    Textbooks reveal lack in science education

    Teaming with former ASU graduate student Rachel Yoho, Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann discovered that many introductory science textbooks give scant attention to some of today’s major environmental topics, particularly climate change and renewable energy technologies. Their findings are detailed in a paper recently published in the research journal Environmental Communication.

    See also: Very few pages devoted to climate change in introductory science textbooks, Science Daily, April 30

  • Nanotechnology Fuels Safe Lithium Ion Batteries

    Nanotechnology Fuels Safe Lithium Ion Batteries

    What Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering Candace Chan describes as a “very beautiful” metal oxide nanowire material may help produce the next generation of advanced battery technologies. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers reports that Chan’s research group has developed a new technique for making the material that improves the safety of lithium-ion batteries. A paper published in the research journal Applied Energy Materials reveals the science and engineering involved in the novel process.

  • ASU researchers create hexacopter to help keep Arizona canals clean

    ASU researchers create hexacopter to help keep Arizona canals clean

    The Salt River Project utility will be monitoring the environmental health of its 180 miles of canals in the Phoenix metro area with special drones developed by Fulton Schools faculty members and students, including Assistant Professors Wenlong Zhang and Panagiotis Polygerinos and graduate student Shatadal Mishra. Hexacopter drones will collect water samples from the canals that will be examined for contaminants.

    See also: SRP teams with ASU to develop high-tech drones Fox 10 News Phoenix, May 1

  • Engineering graduate student powers through illness

    Engineering graduate student powers through illness

    A tumor seriously impaired Fulton School student Stefano Chang’s vision and threatened to end his quest for a master’s degree in software engineering. He found a way to keep from getting too far behind in his schoolwork while enduring long hours of medical treatment. During the same time, he did the groundwork for his own software consulting business. Chang will receive his degree at the end of the spring semester.

     

April

2018
  • Finding passion in research that makes an impact

    Finding passion in research that makes an impact

    Motivated by a desire to find solutions to the drug-abuse crises afflicting countries throughout the world, Fulton Schools civil environmental and sustainable engineering doctoral student Adam Gushgari plans to work on establishing an environmental monitoring startup company soon after receiving his degree this semester. The idea for the venture is rooted in the research he conducted under Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden in the area of wastewater epidemiology.

  • To monitor the health of cities’ residents, look no further than their sewers

    To monitor the health of cities’ residents, look no further than their sewers

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is among researchers expanding knowledge about human health through the emerging field of wastewater-based epidemiology. With their Human Health Observatory, a repository of samples from more than 300 water treatment plants around the world, Halden and his team at the Center for Environmental Health Engineering are compiling a large volume of valuable data that sheds light on the “metabolism” of large urban populations.

  • ASU entrepreneurs win more than $300,000 to nurture ventures

    ASU entrepreneurs win more than $300,000 to nurture ventures

    Several Fulton Schools students were among those to emerge from the ASU Venture Devils program’s competitive Demo Day event with funding for entrepreneurial efforts. Biomedical engineering doctoral student Nicholas Hool got support for earbud devices that help alleviate stress. Ann Grimes and Christian Coleman, who are receiving mechanical engineering degrees this spring, earned support for their flood irrigation control device. Chemical engineering student Alyssa Carlson and her Engineering Projects in Community Service team mates received funds to develop recreational and business opportunities in the small Shonto community in Navajo County, Arizona

  • Exploring — and learning — as an adventure

    Exploring — and learning — as an adventure

    With his degree from the Fulton Schools in information management technology — with a focus on entrepreneurship, Jay Patel plans to return to India and apply what he has learned in college to improving the quality of life in his homeland. Ventures to provide communities quality food at lower prices and a smart shopping app are on his agenda.

  • Students test their wits, showcase intelligence at the ASU Academic Bowl

    Students test their wits, showcase intelligence at the ASU Academic Bowl

    The winning team in the recent 2018 ASU Academic Bowl was captained by Fulton Schools aerospace engineering student Allan Garry. He helped lead his team to victory over another team of Fulton Schools students in the academic trivia competition’s championship round. Team members split more than $20,000 in scholarship money.

  • Could hydropanels creating water out of air be a solution to shortages?

    Could hydropanels creating water out of air be a solution to shortages?

    Zero Mass Water, an energy tech startup founded by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering, has developed technology that produces water by capturing moisture out of the air. Using a special system of hydropanels similar to panels used in solar energy systems, the technology can produce about 20 16-ounce bottled of water per day. The systems have already been used to help provide water in some of the places around the world suffering the most severe shortages.

  • Catalyst: The swarm intelligence behind self-driving cars

    Catalyst: The swarm intelligence behind self-driving cars

    Under the direction of Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Spring Berman, engineering students in ASU’s Autonomous Collective Systems Laboratory are looking at how “swarm intelligence” found in nature (think of how individual ants coordinate their labors within their colonies) can be mimicked to design and program robots in ways that could be applied to making advances in self-driving vehicle technologies.

     

  • US Pakistan Centers For Advanced Studies In Energy Organizes Research Expo

    US Pakistan Centers For Advanced Studies In Energy Organizes Research Expo

    Efforts by ASU and the Fulton Schools to support endeavors to bring clean, renewable and sustainable sources of energy to countries around the world is exemplified by USPCAS-E, the U.S-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Studies in Energy.  A recent exhibition at ASU showcased more than 40 research projects by USPCAS-E partners focusing on renewable energy, thermal energy, electrical energy, and energy policy. Fulton Schools Professor Sayfe Kiaei is the director of the USPCAS-E project.

  • Here’s why Phoenix is a great place to build a tech company

    Here’s why Phoenix is a great place to build a tech company

    With the deep pool of talent offered by its 20,000 students, ASU’s Fulton Schools are a major factor that is making the Phoenix metro area a more attractive environment for entrepreneurs, investors and existing businesses that want to establish new tech companies. Since 2010, more than 68 percent of ASU graduates have been staying in the area to find employment.

  • Will a robot take your job? At least one-third of Phoenix-area positions are vulnerable, study says

    Will a robot take your job? At least one-third of Phoenix-area positions are vulnerable, study says

    Robots are certain to have a growing impact on employment in the U.S. in the near future. Robotics technologies still have a long way to go to effectively perform many human skills, but more and more robots have the ability to work compatibly with humans in a variety of work environments, says Heni Ben Amor, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of computer science and robotics.

  • EPICS High School gives AZ students tools to change the world

    EPICS High School gives AZ students tools to change the world

    ASU’s service learning program Engineering Projects in Community Service, for middle schools and high schools — supported by the Fulton Schools — is giving young students experience in technical problem-solving, research, design and community involvement. Recent award-winning EPICS projects include a system that helps teachers locate students in an emergency, a redesign of an Audubon Society gift shop, a portable workplace that attaches to a wheelchair, and a monument and sign for a facility serving families in transition.

     

  • ASU engineering the future in wearable robotics

    ASU engineering the future in wearable robotics

    Fulton Schools faculty members Thomas Sugar, Panagiotis Polygerinos and Panagiotis Artemiadis are among researchers contributing to technological advances in wearable robotic devices. Among their projects are robotic exoskeletons designed to aid military and industrial operations, robotic systems to help stroke victims regain mobility, a “jetpack” to help people run faster and a robotic prosthetic ankle for amputees.

     

  • Student pilots prepare for emergencies at ASU in Mesa

    Student pilots prepare for emergencies at ASU in Mesa

    Ryan Nolan and Mitch McCoy, seniors in the Fulton Schools Aeronautical Management Technology program, were featured in a simulation of how pilots are trained to respond to emergencies during flight. The report also features Fulton Schools flight instructor and airline pilot Mike Edmonds, a graduate of the program. The simulation was based on a recent incident in which a major airline’s passenger jet had to make a dramatic emergency landing.

  • Sanitary District tapped for ASU wastewater project

    Sanitary District tapped for ASU wastewater project

    A team of Fulton Schools civil and environmental engineering students took on a challenge to purify wastewater to make it safe for human consumption. The project — conducted at a water treatment plant in the town of Fountain Hills, near Scottsdale — was part of the American Society of Civil Engineers Pacific Southwest Conference annual student competitions, which were held this year at Arizona State University. The water treatment competition required students to sufficiently remove contaminants so that the water met drinking standards.

     

  • ASU Students Propose Plans To Help Tempe Renewable Energy Initiative

    ASU Students Propose Plans To Help Tempe Renewable Energy Initiative

    The city of Tempe is being aided in its quest to convert to renewable energy sources by students in the Fulton Schools Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization master’s degree program directed by Professor Ron Roedel. Those students worked with others from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business to develop strategies for transitioning to renewables that Roedel presented to city leaders.

  • Pakistan-US Center For Advanced Studies’ First Graduation Ceremony Held At University Of Sciences And Technology

    Pakistan-US Center For Advanced Studies’ First Graduation Ceremony Held At University Of Sciences And Technology

    Close to 100 students are the first to receive Master of Science degrees in energy engineering through U.S.-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Studies in Energy, known as USPCAS-E. The USPCAS-E program is a partnership between Arizona State University, Oregon State University, the National University of Science and Technology in Pakistan and the University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar. Fulton Schools Professor Sayfe Kiaei is the director of the USPCAS-E project. Each semester a cohort of students and faculty from the two universities in Pakistan come to ASU to work with several Fulton Schools faculty in their labs.

    Read also: Energy technology grads national asset, says minister, The Express Tribune (Pakistan), April 19

  • Float or sink? Students test concrete canoes at Tempe Town Lake

    Float or sink? Students test concrete canoes at Tempe Town Lake

    The annual American Society of Civil Engineers Pacific Southwest Conference student competitions recently came to Arizona State University for the first time in almost two decades. ASU and Northern Arizona University co-hosted about 1,500 students from 18 universities in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona for the event. Teams of Fulton Schools students and their peers at the other schools squared off in about a dozen different contests, including the popular concrete canoe competition held at Tempe Town Lake.

     

  • EcoCAR 3 development races toward the finish line

    EcoCAR 3 development races toward the finish line

    Fulton Schools students are among members of an Arizona State University team preparing for a national competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors to convert a standard gasoline-fueled car into a gas-electric hybrid vehicle. The final phases of the competition begin May 10 and involve seeing how the automobile performs on a drive from Yuma, Arizona to Fontana California.

     

  • Lifeblood Of The Desert: Salt River Project Teams Turn To ASU Robots To Maintain Canal System

    Lifeblood Of The Desert: Salt River Project Teams Turn To ASU Robots To Maintain Canal System

    Water quality in the greater Phoenix area depends heavily on the Salt River Project utility’s ability to maintain its 131 miles of canals. SRP is getting help with that chore from Fulton Schools researchers. Assistant Professors Wenlong Zhang, Panagiotis Polygerinos and Dan Aukes, along with doctoral student Mohammad Sharifzedah, are employing various robotic technologies they’ve developed in their labs — including quadcopters and nature-mimicking robotic fish — to aid in keeping water in the canals clean.

  • ASU Air Devils build and pilot their award-winning planes from the ground up

    ASU Air Devils build and pilot their award-winning planes from the ground up

    Fulton Schools students in an aerospace engineering club are taking the reins in preparing an Arizona State University team for a major annual national competition sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. They’ve spent many months designing, building and testing the small remote-control airplanes the team will take to the event.

  • ASU’s Tooker House earns awards at Student Housing Conference

    ASU’s Tooker House earns awards at Student Housing Conference

    The newest Fulton Schools campus student residential complex, the Tooker House, won multiple awards at a recent national student housing industry conference. The awards included Best Architecture and Design, Best Use of Green & Sustainable Construction or Development and Best Public-Private Partnership Development. The Tooker House also features high-tech amenities and work spaces where student can collaborate on projects and use tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters.

  • Should Autonomous Car Makers Slow Down Testing?

    Should Autonomous Car Makers Slow Down Testing?

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Aviral Shrivastava’s expertise is in embedded computers, one of the technologies that make self-driving cars possible. He agrees that it’s prudent for the autonomous vehicle industry to cut back its testing of the cars on public streets until flaws that are raising concerns are remedied.

  • Tempe hoping tiny homes help solve city’s affordable housing issue

    Tempe hoping tiny homes help solve city’s affordable housing issue

    The Humble Homes project developed by Arizona State University engineering students may help the city of Tempe remedy its shortage of affordable housing. The students have mapped out the landscape for an urban “micro home” community. Some of them may get a chance to be involved in actually building the cluster of 600-square-foot domiciles.

    Read also: Tiny homes aim to help tackle Tempe’s not-so-tiny housing problem, The State Press, April 10

     

  • Making Thunderbirds cooler than ever

    Making Thunderbirds cooler than ever

    Air Force veteran Christopher Ames considers the classic Ford Thunderbird “an icon of American automotive engineering.” But he discovered the one he acquired at an auto auction was plagued by a common problem of old Thunderbirds: rapid engine overheating. He went on a mission to solve the problem that led him to a Fulton Schools thermal and fluids engineering course taught by mechanical engineering instructor Mark Miner. The result: There is now a new redesigned auto part that corrects coolant flow problems in Thunderbirds being reviewed by the U.S. Patent Office.   

  • Is the Military Really Going to Start Drafting 40-Year-Old Hackers?

    Is the Military Really Going to Start Drafting 40-Year-Old Hackers?

    It may be time for an extensive re-engineering of U.S. national defense, writes Brad Allenby, an Arizona State University President’s Professor in the Fulton Schools. He proposes as the cornerstone of the project a universal national service requirement that would involve adults of all ages in protecting the country. Offering his views through the Future Tense partnership, Allenby says this approach could help the military and the country benefit from a broad range of skills — and may even foster a more cohesive American democracy.

  • ASU Professor Receives Stockholm Water Prize

    ASU Professor Receives Stockholm Water Prize

    Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittman is interviewed about the advances in environmental biotechnology that recently earned him the Stockholm Water Prize from the Stockholm International Water Institute. His lab uses the natural functions performed by microorganisms to remove pollutants from water. He is also exploring ways to put those contaminants to work for positive purposes.

  • Helping smart cities use big data, connected technology for good

    Helping smart cities use big data, connected technology for good

    Arizona State University’s new Center for Smart Cities and Regions is focusing on helping communities employ the internet of things and other new technologies to enhance their economic, social and cultural health. Among the center’s projects is building a “smart campus” that “makes the ASU community experience better.” That may involve using more of the voice-activated Amazon Echo devices that the Fulton Schools has already supplied to students in the new Tooker House campus residence complex.

     

  • Shaking up proteins with engineering

    Shaking up proteins with engineering

    Combining his expertise in chemical engineering and structural biology, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Brent Nannenga is expanding what we know about the structures of proteins. With that knowledge he will use proteins to make inorganic nanomaterials that could be used to develop new pharmaceutical drugs to treat a variety of ailments from hypertension and asthma to acid reflux and allergies. The work will involve a novel electron crystallography technique that Nannega developed.

  • Tech behind cryptocurrency craze could disrupt medicine, housing and ID security

    Tech behind cryptocurrency craze could disrupt medicine, housing and ID security

    Virtual money systems known as cryptocurrency function through a vast network of databases called blockchain. As the technology evolves, cryptocurrencies will be used by growing numbers of businesses, industries and governments, say experts such as Fulton Schools Associate Research Professor Dragan Boscovic. He is the technical director for Arizona State University’s Center for Assured and Scalable Data Engineering, known as CASCADE, where researchers are working with the cryptocurrency company Dash to make blockchain more secure and more energy efficient in its use of the computing power it requires. Such progress will help make use of blockchain more mainstream, Boscovic says.

  • Taking the “waste” out of “wastewater”

    Taking the “waste” out of “wastewater”

    Development of advanced microbiology processes that could enable the conversion of pollutants and contaminants in wastewater into valuable resources helped win the prestigious international Stockholm Water Prize for Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann and Professor Mark van Loosdrecht at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. In an interview about their work, they explain how a new generation of water treatments could capture useful chemical and nutrients from wastewater. See page 18 of the digital magazine.

March

2018
  • Flying cars are coming, and they’ll be autonomous

    Flying cars are coming, and they’ll be autonomous

    Advances appear to be on the horizon for what is being called urban aerial mobility technology — what some might also call flying cars and taxis. Fulton Schools Associate Professor Daniel Bliss is working on designs for navigation and positioning systems for these self-driving automobiles/aircraft. Bliss says the success of such vehicles will require a fusion of multiple technologies, including sensors, scanning lasers, and sophisticated ground-positioning systems and antennae systems.

    See also: ASU professor develops technology for self-flying quadcopter, 3TV/CBS 5 News (Phoenix)

  • Mind-Controlled Robotics

    Mind-Controlled Robotics

    Robots that can be controlled by signals from the human brain have the potential to become an effective physical therapy tool, says Panagiotis Artemiadis, a Fulton Schools associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. His research includes using mind-controlled robotic systems to aid people in recovering mobility after suffering a stroke.

  • Full STEAM ahead: ASU faculty work to integrate arts into STEM

    Full STEAM ahead: ASU faculty work to integrate arts into STEM

    Professors are integrating aspects of arts studies into their teaching of science, technology, engineering and math. Associate Research Professor Tirupalavanam Ganesh, the assistant dean of engineering education for Fulton Schools, says engineering is a creative profession. So he focuses on teaching his students habits and methods for unlocking their imaginations and bringing an artful perspective to their engineering endeavors.

  • Some experts doubt new metal tariffs will boost national security

    Some experts doubt new metal tariffs will boost national security

    New tariffs that increase the costs for some countries of importing steel and metals into the United States could have ramifications for the U.S. military and defense industries. Some national leaders say the tariffs will help strengthen national security. Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby is among experts who say that is a disputable claim and that the tariffs might have negative impacts on the overall economy.

     

  • The data defenders

    The data defenders

    Many faculty members and their students in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering in the Fulton Schools are involved in research aimed at helping to protect the personal information stored on the electronic technologies we use every day. They’re applying expertise in computer science, cybersecurity, data mining, digital forensics and biosecurity to help prevent our “digital footprints” from making us vulnerable. The article also appears in the spring 2018 issue of ASU Thrive magazine.

  • Autonomous vehicles traveling the wrong road to safety, engineer says

    Autonomous vehicles traveling the wrong road to safety, engineer says

    Self-driving cars are mimicking the unsafe driving habits of humans, says Aviral Shrivastava, a Fulton Schools associate professor of computer science. He teaches embedded computing courses that challenge students to engineer self-navigating toy cars with sensing tools to enable the vehicles to avoid driving into obstacles around them. The priority for autonomous cars should be safety, he says, not designing them to provide a human-like driving experience. His research is looking at how to build a self-driving car that can apply its brakes within a millisecond of detecting obstacles.

    Read also: Should autonomous car makers slow down testing, KJZZ (NPR), April 10

  • 5 GROWTH AREAS FOR PHOENIX AND THE ENGINEERS WHO ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN

    5 GROWTH AREAS FOR PHOENIX AND THE ENGINEERS WHO ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN

    Tech industries in particular benefit from university researchers who have the freedom and the skills to explore big ideas and big questions and experiment with potential applications and solutions. Progress in five major areas of technological innovation contributing to economic growth in Greater Phoenix is a reflection of the wide range of engineering research strengths found among the Fulton Schools faculty.

     

  • Biotech pioneers Bruce Rittmann and Mark van Loosdrecht win 2018 Stockholm Water Prize

    Biotech pioneers Bruce Rittmann and Mark van Loosdrecht win 2018 Stockholm Water Prize

    “Traditionally, we have just thought of pollutants as something to get rid of, but now we’re beginning to see them as potential resources that are just in the wrong place.” That statement by Arizona State University Regents’ Professor Bruce Rittmann reflects the kinds of creative problem-solving approaches that have earned the Fulton Schools environmental engineer one of the most prestigious international awards in his field. Rittmann and a fellow environmental biotechnology researcher have been awarded the Stockholm Water Prize for the global impacts of their innovations in water treatment processes that are energy-efficient, cost-saving and exceedingly effective in removing contaminants and recycling valuable chemicals and nutrients.

  • ASU using sewage to measure opioid use, abuse

    ASU using sewage to measure opioid use, abuse

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and his research team at Arizona State University’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering are at the forefront of advancing techniques for analyzing the contents of wastewater to assess public health risks. A new project focuses on detecting the presence of opioids in sewage. The real-time data such analyses can provide could help communities respond more effectively to rising use of the dangerous drug.

     

  • What Uber’s fatal accident could mean for the autonomous-car industry

    What Uber’s fatal accident could mean for the autonomous-car industry

    The first pedestrian fatality involving a self-driving car raises concerns that the industry is deploying the technology too fast, without first building all possible safety features into autonomous vehicles. Artificial intelligence expert Subbarao Kambhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science, says the accident also raises questions about the capability of safety drivers to effectively monitor self-driving care systems.

    Kambhampati is also quoted in Uber Self-Driving Car Fatality Reveals the Technology’s Blind Spots” Scientific American March 21

  • ASU students help shoe designer step into innovation

    ASU students help shoe designer step into innovation

    Fulton Schools students applied their problem-solving talents in joining a local business owner to meld technological know-how and fashion sense in producing a stylish yet practical and comfortable new shoe. The student team used mechanical, electrical and manufacturing engineering skills in the project done in a capstone engineering design class taught by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Micah Lande.

  • Local expert and national reports indicate Arizona bridges are generally safe

    Local expert and national reports indicate Arizona bridges are generally safe

    Fatalities and serious injuries resulting from the recent collapse of a newly constructed pedestrian bridge in Florida has sparked concerns about the safety of bridges in many other states. Pingbo Tang, an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools’ Del E. Web School of Construction, says Arizona’s more than 8,000 bridges are generally safe, but the state’s heavy summer monsoon rains can erode soil around the foundations of bridges. That raises safety concerns, Tang says. He adds that the Arizona Department of Transportation also monitors bridges for potential damage from earthquakes, geological conditions and related factors, and that highway load limits are posted on structurally deficient bridges as a safety warning. See related coverage KTAR News (Phoenix)

  • Bitcoin classes proving popular in Illinois Colleges

    Bitcoin classes proving popular in Illinois Colleges

    Courses on blockchain technology, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are seeing a surge of students eager to learn about the digital currency wave sweeping across the financial landscape. At Arizona State University, the Fulton Schools’ Blockchain Research Lab gives students access to blockchain technology and opportunities to be part of the cryptocurrency design process, says Fulton Schools’ Dean Kyle Squires.

  • Scientists at ASU work with microgrids to power and empower impoverished communities

    Scientists at ASU work with microgrids to power and empower impoverished communities

    Systems engineering doctoral student Samantha Janko and senior electrical systems engineering student Alexander Mobley are helping to develop microgrid technologies as part of a larger endeavor to provide underserved communities access to reliable sources of energy and other vital resources, such as water. They’re part of the research team at the Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions directed by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Nathan Johnson.

  • Arizona becomes additive manufacturing (3-D printing) leader

    Arizona becomes additive manufacturing (3-D printing) leader

    The head of the Arizona Technology Council says it’s looking like the state could become a leader in the emerging high-tech field of additive manufacturing. That optimism is driven in part to advances being achieved by researchers at Arizona’s state universities. Dhruv Bhate, a Fulton Schools associate professor, is doing research to improve 3D metal printing. Some of his work is aimed at making an array of metal components that are lighter but still strong enough to be used in aerospace and defense industry applications.

     

  • Klaus Lackner didn’t set out to save the world, but he thinks his machine could help

    Klaus Lackner didn’t set out to save the world, but he thinks his machine could help

    The carbon-capture technology being built and tested by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his team at the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions could help reduce the impacts of climate change by pulling threatening concentrations of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. But even if the machinery is capable of making a big impact, there are economic and political hurdles to clear to put to the technology to work on a global scale.

  • CAN HUMANS SURVIVE ON WATER VAPOR ALONE?

    CAN HUMANS SURVIVE ON WATER VAPOR ALONE?

    A desert road trip provides a test site for a hydropanel designed to capture moisture from the atmosphere to produce water. The hydropanel is the technology developed by the Zero Mass Water company founded by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools Associate Professor of materials science and engineering. The nocturnal product testing out in the open Arizona desert was successful.

  • Lithium-related discovery could extend battery life, improve safety

    Lithium-related discovery could extend battery life, improve safety

    Electric-powered vehicles and many digital electronic devices could benefit from development of new mechanical engineering techniques that boost the energy storage capacity, life span and safety of lithium batteries. Fulton Schools Professor Hanqing Jiang and his research team have discovered methods for preventing uncontrolled lithium dendrite growth, which inhibits battery performance. Read more in Electronics 360, DesignNews, Mining.com, ChemEurope.com, V3. OilPrice.com

  • Coursera teams with 5 universities to expand its full masters and bachelors degree programs

    Coursera teams with 5 universities to expand its full masters and bachelors degree programs

    Arizona State University has joined four other leading universities in offering courses and degree programs through the online education platform Coursera. Studies in the Fulton Schools’ Master of Computer Science program will soon be available to online students — the first time ASU has hosted a degree program on a fully open scale platform. The online program aligns with ASU’s and Coursera’s efforts to make higher education more globally accessible. Read the Fulton Schools announcement.

  • The pros and cons of AI

    The pros and cons of AI

    Both threatening and hopeful depictions of advances in artificial intelligence technology continue to proliferate. AI is either a potential threat to society or a groundbreaking tool that will significantly improve our lives — depending on who’s making the predictions. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati joins a fellow Arizona State University AI expert to provide perspectives on the debate.  

  • Groundbreaking indigenous architect signs on to ASU faculty

    Groundbreaking indigenous architect signs on to ASU faculty

    Wanda Dalla Costa will bring her perspectives on the construction of built environments that nurture our cultural connections to Arizona State University students as she teaches indigenous architecture as a newly named ASU Institute Professor. She has a cross-appointment in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the School of Sustainable and the Built Environment in the Fulton Schools. Her expertise spans culturally responsive design, sustainable-affordable housing, climatic resiliency in architecture and using built environments as a teaching tool. 

     

February

2018
  • ASU, Maricopa IDA partner to develop MedTech workforce

    ASU, Maricopa IDA partner to develop MedTech workforce

    Will a $2 million grant from the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority, the Fulton Schools will lead a new workforce development project designed to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in the region. The effort will focus on preparing people to work in electronic technology in the medical field and in additive

  • Is Bitcoin the Future of State Income Tax Payments?

    Is Bitcoin the Future of State Income Tax Payments?

    Some states are considering allowing use of digital currency for payment of income taxes. Some critics contend it would bring risks and burdens to states’ tax-collection operations. But Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, director of ASU’s Blockchain Research Lab, which focuses on the digital ledger system behind bitcoin, says the move could put states at the forefront of financial technology.

     

  • Designing a structure for the future, guided by the past

    Designing a structure for the future, guided by the past

    Hanging Jiang drew inspiration from the centuries-old art of paper folding — origami — to design a new mechanical structure that can unfold and lock to support large, heavy loads. The Fulton Schools professor says the new structure could be used to achieve more mechanical versatility in robotics, spacecraft and implantable medical devices, among many other potential applications. Jiang previously used the origami technique to develop stretchable batteries.

  • 5 Terracon women engineers diversifying the industry

    5 Terracon women engineers diversifying the industry

    Three Fulton Schools alumni are among five women with the engineering consulting firm Terracon who are profiled in a feature story published in conjunction with National Engineers Week. Brittany Dalton, Kendra Clouse and Marissa Raleigh play key roles in providing the company’s environmental, geotechnical, facilities and materials services, and also contribute to the workforce diversity that employers say maximizes innovation, creativity and competitiveness.

  • Marines acquire hundreds of quadcopter drones for infantry squads

    Marines acquire hundreds of quadcopter drones for infantry squads

    Remote-controlled drones, robotics and artificial intelligence are some of the advanced technologies being deployed on the battlefield and in other military operations. The trend is creating “techno-human” squads of soldiers working side-by-side with networked machines to carry out their missions, says Fulton School Professor Brad Allenby.

  • Should AI bots lie? Hard truths about artificial intelligence

    Should AI bots lie? Hard truths about artificial intelligence

    Fulton Schools computer scientists Tathagata Chakraborti and Subbarao Kambhampati discuss effective collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence technologies in a recent paper, Algorithms for the Greater Good!. They point out that it’s not enough to make AI smart. AI developers must make sure the AI bot works well with human intelligence, in all its wild variety, including different cultural norms, if we are to avoid serious problems.

  • China’s massive investment in artificial intelligence has an insidious downside

    China’s massive investment in artificial intelligence has an insidious downside

    China is on the cusp of pursuing big advances in artificial intelligence technologies and capabilities. Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, is among AI experts who say that raises expectations for breakthroughs in the field but also stokes worries about how the country may use AI systems to increase public surveillance and censorship,  and boost its military power.

  • Trump’s solar tariff and proposed energy cut troubles ASU professors

    Trump’s solar tariff and proposed energy cut troubles ASU professors

    Proposed budget cuts to the Department of Energy and a trade tariff on the photovoltaic panels that produce solar energy could burden the solar power industry and reduce energy research funding. A funding rollback could impact graduate students involved in research projects to earn their degrees, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Zachary Holman. The tariff may mean some tough times for solar technology installers but the movement toward renewable energy sources will continue growing, says Ron Roedel, director of the Fulton Schools’ Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization master’s degree program.

  • ASU’s new Dash partnership fosters blockchain research and learning

    ASU’s new Dash partnership fosters blockchain research and learning

    A partnership with the cryptocurrency enterprise Dash will enable ASU’s Blockchain Research Lab, directed by Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, to expand research into digital currency, establish a graduate course on blockchain technology and fund scholarships for students.

     

  • ‘Jackpotting’ reaches US shores, drain millions from ATM

    ‘Jackpotting’ reaches US shores, drain millions from ATM

    It’s a cyberspace form of bank robbery. Called “jackpotting,” it’s perpetrated by computer system hackers who find ways to get bank ATM machines to dispense large sums of money. Paulo Shakarian, a Fulton Schools Entrepreneurial Professor and director of Cyber-Socio Intelligent Systems Laboratory, says combating the crime will require close surveillance of the “dark web” to uncover the schemes of potential jackpotting hackers.

  • We Can Pull CO2 from Air, But It’s No Silver Bullet for Climate Change, Scientists Warn

    We Can Pull CO2 from Air, But It’s No Silver Bullet for Climate Change, Scientists Warn

    Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner, director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, says merely reducing emissions of carbon dioxide won’t be nearly enough to reduce the rising environmental threat from the buildup of greenhouses gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s critical to also further develop and employ new carbon-capture technologies to remove significant amounts of the CO2 that’s already there.

     

  • Hoolest wins top prize at ASU Innovation Open

    Hoolest wins top prize at ASU Innovation Open

    Three Fulton Schools students won the grand prize of a $100,000 investment in their business venture idea at the ASU Innovation Open entrepreneurship competition. Nicholas Hool, Sami Mian and John Patterson make up the team behind Hoolest Performance Technologies. Their stress-relief product consists of earbuds that emit an electrical stimulation that activates the body’s relaxation response.

    Read also:

    Phoenix Business Journal: Meet the student startup that won$100,000in ASU/Avnet competition

    AZBIO:  Hoolest wins top prize at ASU Open

    KTAR Radio News: ASU student-led business wins $100K at Innovation Open

  • Freshman team outranks upperclassmen in national ‘Domesday’ competition

    Freshman team outranks upperclassmen in  national ‘Domesday’ competition

    Fulton Schools materials science and engineering students Joshua Burchard, Bryan Ugaz and Sayquon Washington went up against 10 teams of more experienced undergraduate and graduate students in a national geodesic dome design competition. Their medal dome project, featuring an intricate 3-D printed design that incorporated 31 polygons, earned the three freshmen the top prize.

  • ASU international students overcome challenges to succeed as Sun Devils

    ASU international students overcome challenges to succeed as Sun Devils

    Fulton Schools electrical engineering graduate student Anik Jha, a native of India, is among international students at ASU who say that while they face challenges going to school in the United States, but that the university works to help them acclimate to the social environment and to succeed in their academic endeavors.

  • The possibility of AI going rogue is more than just science fiction

    The possibility of AI going rogue is more than just science fiction

    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic talks about the need for engineers and scientists developing artificial intelligence technologies to be more aware of the potential for unintended consequences in employing AI systems in ways that might have harmful impacts.  Computer science major Matthew Acosta says students should get more training on the ethical issues revolving around the uses of AI.

January

2018
  • Astronauts Vs. Robots: The Case Against Sending Human Crews Beyond Low-Earth Orbit

    Astronauts Vs. Robots: The Case Against Sending Human Crews Beyond Low-Earth Orbit

    Robots are our best option for less risky and more effective space exploration, says Fulton Schools Associate Professor Panagiotis Artemiades, director of the Human-Oriented Robotics and Control Lab. Making robots our astronauts could free up time and funding for humans to focus on solving other technological challenges, as well as answering some big cosmological and philosophical questions about our world and the universe, says Forbes magazine’s technology, aerospace and astronomy writer.

  • Hackers bring “jackpotting” to the U.S.

    Hackers bring “jackpotting” to the U.S.

    A recent outbreak of cyberattacks targeting ATM machines has led to the theft of more than $1 million from banks in the United States. Fulton Schools Entrepreneurial Professor Paulo Shakarian, the CEO of a cybersecurity intelligence startup, said the company was able to track an uptick of communications on the dark web about new hacking hardware that’s been used in the ATM thefts, as well as the sale of a guidebook on such “jackpotting” schemes

  • Q&A: How can research support the new dod national defense strategy?

    Q&A: How can research support the new dod national defense strategy?

    The U.S. Department of Defense has developed a comprehensive new National Defense Strategy in response to the varied and complex technological challenges to ensuring the country’s security. Fulton Schools Professor of Practice Nadya Bliss, director of Arizona State University’s Global Security Initiative, talks about what university researchers are capable of doing to support the defense department’s goals.

  • New solar tariffs create uncertainty for Arizona renewables industry

    New solar tariffs create uncertainty for Arizona renewables industry

    Photovoltaic solar energy panels are among imports on which the United States recently placed significantly high trade tariffs. The action could have negative impacts on U.S. solar energy system installers, says Ron Roedel, a Fulton Schools professor emeritus who directs the Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization graduate program.

  • Robots taking over the world? It’s a good thing, researchers say

    Robots taking over the world? It’s a good thing, researchers say

    The Southwest Robotics Symposium hosted by Arizona State University looked at how Artificial Intelligence technology applied to robotics systems can make the world a better place. Fulton Schools faculty members Panagiotis Artemiades, Thomas Sugar, Hamid Marvi and Heni Ben Amor describe AI as the mechanism that will enable robots to help humans in homes, work places, hospitals and almost everywhere else.

  • Trashing the old way of doing things

    Trashing the old way of doing things

    Fulton Schools student Surya Iyer’s idea to boost the efficiency of waste management won a spot in the finals of the ASU Innovation Open competition for a $100,000 grand prize. His prototype for a “smart” garbage container uses a sensor to detect how much trash is in a trash can and makes the information accessible remotely through internet-connected devices.

  • ASU student payloads selected to fly on blue origin space vehicle

    ASU student payloads selected to fly on blue origin space vehicle

    Ten Fulton Schools students make up two of the teams that earned a place in a technology competition involving the New Shepherd spacecraft and the rocket company Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. One team’s project will focus on measuring and collecting data on how space affects human sight, smell, taste tough and hearing. The other project will study how pollinating bees might react in space and what that would mean for efforts to establish agriculture away from Earth.

    See also: Parabolic Arc

  • New global futures initiative asks how humankind can extend earth’s habitability

    New global futures initiative asks how humankind can extend earth’s habitability

    Arizona State University is expanding its role in sustainability education and research with the establishment of the New Global Futures Initiative. Its directive is to “take a broad look at the trajectory of our planet” and to help figure out ways that we can manage the world “in ways that achieve sustainable habitability.” At the helm of the new initiative is Peter Schlosser, who now has a joint appointment in the Fulton Schools of Engineering.

  • Arizona State University Partners with DASH to fund research, scholarships

    Arizona State University Partners with DASH to fund research, scholarships

    Work led by Fulton Schools Research Professor Dragan Boscovic, director of ASU’s Blockchain Research Lab, has spurred formation of a partnership between the university and Dash, a leading blockchain-powered digital currency. In addition to research funding, the partnership will enable development of an online graduate Blockchain technology and application course and scholarships for undergraduate and graduate student research fellowships.

    See more news coverage: CoinJournalASU NowBitcoinistAZ Big MediaBlockTribuneDash Force NewsPhoenix Business Journal

     

  • Bashas’ installs revolutionary sub-zero industrial freezer

    Bashas’ installs revolutionary sub-zero industrial freezer

    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Kristen Parrish and sustainable engineering doctoral student Neda Askari are helping the Basha’s grocery chain improve the energy efficiency and cost savings of its industrial-scale food freezer storage. Working with the Salt River Project power utility and the Viking Cold Solutions company, they will be assessing whether the thermal energy storage system model they’ve developed can be adapted for other industrial facilities.

  • Valle Luna “Making a Difference”- ASU’s Kyle Williams

    Valle Luna “Making a Difference”- ASU’s Kyle Williams

    Kyle Williams, wide receiver for the Arizona State University Sun Devils football team and Fulton Schools biomedical engineering student, has his sights sets on becoming an orthopedic surgeon. Professor Marco Santello, director of the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, explains how Williams and other students in the same degree program are preparing for medical school by learning about the latest in neuroscience, tissue engineering, synthetic biology, neurorehabilitation and related biomedical areas.

  • ASU developing biodegradable plastics made from bacteria

    ASU developing biodegradable plastics made from bacteria

    Billions of metric tons of discarded plastics are posing an environmental hazard around the world. Research by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Taylor Weiss could help to diminish that threat. He’s designing a “symbiotic partnership” between two forms of bacteria to make bioplastics that would harmlessly biodegrade at a relatively rapid pace.

  • Questioning AI: What are the key research challenges?

    Questioning AI: What are the key research challenges?

    Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati is featured in the debut episode of the science and technology podcast miniseries “Questioning Artificial Intelligence.” He joins another leading AI research in exploring issues arising from the proliferation of AI technologies and their widely varying applications. Kambhampati is the president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

December

2017
  • Unfiltered Fervor: The Rush to Get Off the Water Grid

    Unfiltered Fervor: The Rush to Get Off the Water Grid

    Zero Mass Water, a startup company that grew out of research led by Cody Friesen, a Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science, is among purveyors of what is being called “live water,” “raw water” or “real water.” They’re part of the “water consciousness movement” that is sparking debates about the pros and cons of water treatment infrastructure and water purification processes, and the resulting health benefits or drawbacks of both treated and untreated water.

  • Gallium nitride processor: Next-generation technology for space exploration

    Gallium nitride processor: Next-generation technology for space exploration

    Gallium nitride is a promising new semiconductor material with properties that enable it to operate at higher voltages, frequencies and temperatures at higher efficiencies than silicon. With support from NASA, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Yuji Zhao and his research team are working on ways to use the material to develop a high-temperature microprocessor for space mission applications. The article was also published by  Tech News n’ GadgetsPhys.org, and ECN (Electronics Component News) magazine.  Read more about Zhao’s gallium nitride research.

  • Can We Suck Enough CO2 From The Air to Save The Climate?

    Can We Suck Enough CO2 From The Air to Save The Climate?

    As much as alternative energy sources such and solar and wind power might help reduce the detrimental impacts of climate change, what would really help is technology that removes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Fulton Schools professor Klaus Lackner, a pioneer of carbon-capture technology, thinks that cost-efficient systems to remove carbon dioxide are a surmountable challenge.

  • ASU Explores Groundbreaking Collaboration With Vietnam

    ASU Explores Groundbreaking Collaboration With Vietnam

    Ongoing global outreach efforts led by the Fulton Schools to help modernize higher education in Vietnam are bringing benefits to both research and education at Arizona State University. The signing of a new collaboration agreement between ASU and one of Vietnam’s leading universities will enable more long-term joint ventures, including student and faculty exchange programs and new research projects, as well as economic development and entrepreneurship opportunities. Read more.

  • AI in 2017 can’t nearly match the smarts of ‘Star Wars’ Droids

    AI in 2017 can’t nearly match the smarts of ‘Star Wars’ Droids

    Artificial intelligence technology that thinks, understands humans and acts accordingly? For now, you will see it only in fiction like the “Star Wars” movies, says computer scientist, robotics and AI expert Subbarao Kambhampati. Progress is being made in developing AI that can assist people, says the Fulton Schools professor, but we are still far, far away from seeing something with the intellectual capabilities and emotional intuition of the “Star Wars” droids R2-D2 and BB-8.

  • One Step At A Time

    One Step At A Time

    A soft robotic exosuit developed in a project led by Fulton Schools Assistant Professors Panagiotis Polygerinos and Wenlong Zhang is being tested by the Barrow Neurological Institute therapists for use in helping stroke victims regain mobility. Systems engineering doctoral students Saivimal Sridar and Zhi (George) Qiao are also involved in the research on the exosuit being conducted in Zhang’s Robotics and Intelligent Systems Lab and the Bio-inspired Mechatronics Lab directed by Polygerinos.

November

2017
  • Sandstone and metal louvres wrap massive student housing complex in Arizona

    Sandstone and metal louvres wrap massive student housing complex in Arizona

    The popular international architecture and design website gave a big photo spread to the Fulton Schools’ new student residence complex, the Tooker House. The architects are lauded for a design theme that mimics the colors and textures of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert environment.

  • Robotic fish could help solve problem in Arizona canals

    Robotic fish could help solve problem in Arizona canals

    A team of engineering doctoral students led by Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Daniel Aukes is developing robotic fish as a potential tool for the Salt River Project power and water utility. The robo-fish could help reduce the overgrowth of pondweed and other underwater vegetation that is hindering water flow in SRP’s canal system in the Phoenix metro area.

  • Real ‘Mission Impossible’: Thwarting hackers with individuals’ biosignals

    Real ‘Mission Impossible’: Thwarting hackers with individuals’ biosignals

    The next big thing in technology designed to defend against hackers could come from Jae-sun Seo, a Fulton Schools professor of electrical engineering, and his research collaborators. They are developing security authentication based on the electrical activity of an individuals’ heartbeats. It may offer advantages over even the fingerprint, retinal-scan and facial-recognition technologies being used to protect systems and devices from getting hacked.

  • Can Carbon-Dioxide Removal Save the World?

    Can Carbon-Dioxide Removal Save the World?

    We should look at carbon dioxide in our atmosphere like we look at garbage and sewage: as a waste product to be disposed of to protect our human and environmental health, says Fulton Schools professor Klaus Lackner. Research directed by Lackner at the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions focuses on developing carbon-capture technology to help reduce the potentially dangerous buildup of carbon dioxide around the world.

  • I’m a pacifist, so why don’t I support the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots?

    I’m a pacifist, so why don’t I support the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots?

    Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati responds to a call for a ban on autonomous robotic weapons with a warning about what negative unintended consequences might arise from such a drastic restriction. Kambhampati is president of the international Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

  • Meet Zero Mass Water, Whose Solar Panels Pull Drinking Water From The Air

    Meet Zero Mass Water, Whose Solar Panels Pull Drinking Water From The Air

    Fulton Schools associate professor of materials science and engineering Cody Freisen used nanomaterials, physics and solar energy to create his startup venture, Zero Mass Water. The technology, which produces drinkable water by capturing moisture from the air, could help water-deprived regions throughout the world.

  • Endovantage gains US FDA 510(k) clearance for Surgicalpreview

    Endovantage gains US FDA 510(k) clearance for Surgicalpreview

    David Frakes, a Fulton Schools associate professor of biomedical engineering, is one of the founders of the Endovantage venture. The company has gotten approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new tool for preoperative planning. Called Surgical Preview, it is designed to enable physicians to use 3D modeling and visualization of surgical placement of endovascular devices in patients. The goal is to reduce the risks to patients and improve outcomes.

  • POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS TRY ROBOTS ON REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS

    POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS TRY ROBOTS ON REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS

    In the IDEAlab and the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Laboratory on ASU Polytechnic campus, students work under the guidance of Fulton Schools assistant professors Daniel Aukes and Wenlong Zhang on applying robotics engineering to solve real challenges. Like using autonomous robotic fish to help a utility company control growth of vegetation in canals so that it doesn’t hinder water transport.  

October

2017
  • ASU STUDENTS ARE USING ROBOTS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS FROM HEALTH TO PUBLIC SAFETY

    ASU STUDENTS ARE USING ROBOTS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS FROM HEALTH TO PUBLIC SAFETY

    Fulton Schools assistant professors Dan Aukes, Wenlong Zhang and Panagiotis Polygerinos talk about how their students are helping to overcome technological challenges “one robot at a time.” Working in the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Laboratory and the IDEAlab, students are using robotics to pursue solutions in a wide range of fields, including transportation, national defense, energy systems, environmental health, communications and earth and space exploration.

  • VOICING A TECH REVOLUTION AT ARIZONA STATE

    VOICING A TECH REVOLUTION AT ARIZONA STATE

    Amazon’s Alexa-enabled Echo Dot voice technology available to Arizona State University engineering students living in the spacious new Tooker House campus residential complex reflects the Fulton Schools mission to “merge the living environment with the learning environment,” says Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools. The idea is to help students to experience the emerging revolution in information technology science and engineering.

  • MIND-CONTROLLED DRONE SWARMS COULD SOON PUT MORE EYES IN THE SKY

    MIND-CONTROLLED DRONE SWARMS COULD SOON PUT MORE EYES IN THE SKY

    The collective behavior of birds and fish are among things that have guided Fulton Schools Associate Professor Panagiotis Artemiadis in developing “swarm paradigms” for drones that can be directed through brain-technology interface systems. He sees these systems being used to aid search-and-rescue missions, exploration, security, fighting of wildfires and even farming.

    See Also:

    MIND-CONTROLLED DRONE FLEETS ARE COMING, RESEARCHER SAYS, THE DRIVE, OCTOBER 20

  • AUTISM IS NOT MY IDENTITY: HOW A CAVE CREEK TEEN LOST HIS DIAGNOSIS

    AUTISM IS NOT MY IDENTITY: HOW A CAVE CREEK TEEN LOST HIS DIAGNOSIS

    Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student Mark Macluskie’s path to college was opened at an early age when home-schooling and behavioral therapies implemented by his mother helped him overcome the challenges of a diagnosis of autism as an infant. Years later his academic performance has helped him win a coveted Flinn Scholarship to support his undergraduate studies in engineering and mathematics at Arizona State University.

  • ASU ENGINEERS DEVELOPING EDIBLE MEDICAL DEVICES

    ASU ENGINEERS DEVELOPING EDIBLE MEDICAL DEVICES

    Research into the use of food as an electrical component is bringing Professor Hanqing Jiang and his lab team closer to developing food-based electronic materials as ingestible biomedical devices. For now, the work is focusing on their use as a non-invasive diagnostic and treatment tool for gastro-intestinal disorders.

  • RUBBERIZED HIGHWAYS, ROOFING COOL URBAN HEAT ISLANDS IN ARIZONA

    RUBBERIZED HIGHWAYS, ROOFING COOL URBAN HEAT ISLANDS IN ARIZONA

    Fulton Schools Professor Kamil Kaloush’s work on “smart” materials helped lead to development of the rubberized pavements and coatings that continue to be among the most effective materials for lessening the unwanted impacts of our expanding urban heat islands.

  • REBUILDING AFTER DISASTERS: 5 ESSENTIAL READS

    REBUILDING AFTER DISASTERS: 5 ESSENTIAL READS

    The technologies and climate conditions of the 20th century aren’t reliable guides on which to base designs for new infrastructure, which will need to be more resilient to handle the impacts of climate change we’ll see in coming decades, say Fulton Schools Associate Professor Mikhail Chester and School for the Future of Innovation in Society Assistant Professor Thaddeus Miller.

  • USING OUTER SPACE TO HELP COOL BUILDINGS ON EARTH

    USING OUTER SPACE TO HELP COOL BUILDINGS ON EARTH

    Researchers are using a natural phenomenon called radiative sky cooling to develop roof panels that could reduce the energy needed to cool homes and other buildings. The technique might influence how buildings are constructed or retrofitted to be more energy efficient. It may also significantly help to advance a growing “zero-energy design” movement, says Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Nathan Johnson, who directs the Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions.

September

2017
  • PHOENIX IS TRANSFORMING FROM A CALL CENTER HUB TO A TECH HOTBED

    PHOENIX IS TRANSFORMING FROM A CALL CENTER HUB TO A TECH HOTBED

    The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering is cited as one of the main sources of a “deep pool” of talent that is moving the Phoenix area toward becoming one of the next big growth centers for technology industries. Tech startups, small businesses and corporations are finding prospective employees and partners among graduates of the Fulton Schools and other schools in the region.

  • SLEEK, NEW AND JUST FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

    SLEEK, NEW AND JUST FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

    The Tooker House, the Fulton Schools’ new student residential complex, made especially for engineering students, continues to draw interest from those who follow trends and innovations in campus living. Equipped with features such as Bluetooth-enabled laundry rooms, work spaces with 3D printers, laser cutters and other tools, and Amazon’s Echo Dot voice-recognition technology, the project is seen as a leading example of how to design buildings to function as “learning communities.”   

    Read More

    NEW ASU DORM FEATURES TECH TO CREATE ‘ENGINEERING MINDSET,’ CRONKITE NEWS

  • EVAPORATING LAKES COULD HELP POWER THE COUNTRY

    EVAPORATING LAKES COULD HELP POWER THE COUNTRY

    Artificial trees developed by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner can capture and remove carbon dioxide from the air, in part by harnessing the power of evaporation. That same principle is the basis for a method being proposed by other engineers and scientists for generating a renewable source of energy from the natural evaporation from lakes and reservoirs.

    Read More

    Energy Harvested from Evaporation Could Power Much of U.S., Laboratory Equipment

    Evaporation Technology Could Effectively Harness Energy from Renewable Sources, AZO Clean Tech

  • CIRCLING BACK TO IMPROVED SAFETY WITH ROUNDABOUTS IN SCOTTSDALE

    CIRCLING BACK TO IMPROVED SAFETY WITH ROUNDABOUTS IN SCOTTSDALE

    Recent research by Fulton Schools Professor Michael Mamlouk is cited in an article looking at the evidence on the impact of roadway roundabouts (also called traffic circles) on traffic flow and safety. The report — like Mamlouk’s research results — points out that despite some resistance to roundabouts, in most cases they have a positive effect not only on safety but on traffic efficiency, the environment and wear and tear on vehicles.

  • ASU PROJECT PUTS EDUCATIONAL LEARNING LIBRARIES IN COUNTRIES WHERE INTERNET IS SCARCE

    ASU PROJECT PUTS EDUCATIONAL LEARNING LIBRARIES IN COUNTRIES WHERE INTERNET IS SCARCE

    A solar-powered digital device developed by Assistant Professor Laura Hosman is the core technology driving a project that has won support through an international education innovation award. Hosman’s team is partnering with the U.S. Peace Corps to bring access to a digital library through the device called SolarSPELL to remote communities where educational resources are scarce. Hosman has a joint appointment in the Fulton Schools of Engineering and ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society.

     

  • HOW WORRIED SHOULD WE BE ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

    HOW WORRIED SHOULD WE BE ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

    AI is both terrifying and exciting. There is no doubt that as AI continues to improve it will radically change the way we live. That can provide improvements, like self-driving cars, and doing many jobs that could in principle release humans to pursue more fulfilling activities. Or it could produce massive unemployment, and provide new vulnerabilities to hacking. Sophisticated cyber-hacking could undermine the reliability of information we receive everyday on the internet, and weaken national and international infrastructures.

    Nevertheless, fortune favors the prepared mind, so it is important to explore all the possibilities, both good and bad, now, to help us be better prepared for a future that will arrive whether we like it or not. — Lawrence Krauss, director, Origins Project and Fulton Engineering professor, ASU

  • DECODING THE BRAIN TO CONTROL A SWARM OF DRONES

    DECODING THE BRAIN TO CONTROL A SWARM OF DRONES

    One of major sources of news in the unmanned aerial vehicle field talked to Fulton Schools Associate Professor Panagiotis Artemiadis about the potential for advances in UAV technology to transform entire industries. Brain-machine interface and human systems integration are two of the areas that will be big game changers.

  • HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ROBOTICS COULD TRANSFORM JOBS IN 10 YEARS

    HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ROBOTICS COULD TRANSFORM JOBS IN 10 YEARS

    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor talks about how developing robots and artificial intelligence systems that can collaborate with humans on a variety of tasks may eliminate some jobs but also create new ones. Jobs involving application of knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math should be among those that will benefit from the human-technology interaction trend.

  • FDA ANTIMICROBIAL BAN LEAVES MANY PRODUCTS UNCHANGED

    FDA ANTIMICROBIAL BAN LEAVES MANY PRODUCTS UNCHANGED

    Recent restrictions imposed on the use of two chemicals that have been used for decades in antibacterial soaps and cosmetics still fail to stop their use in other products. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, who led research that led to the restrictions, reveals where consumers will still face exposure to the troublesome chemicals.

August

2017

July

2017
  • U.S. Department Of Defense Brain Study Seeks To Boost Learning In Soldiers

    U.S. Department Of Defense Brain Study Seeks To Boost Learning In Soldiers

    Advances in neuroengineering are creating possibilities for enhancing human learning abilities and cognitive performance. Fulton Schools Associate Professors Stephen Helms Tillery and Chris Buneo explain the “targeted” neuroplasticity research they are conducting with other ASU faculty members to help the U.S. Department of Defense provide more effective training for the nation’s soldiers.

  • 4 SCIENCE-BACKED HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING ORGANIC

    4 SCIENCE-BACKED HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING ORGANIC

    With the organic food market booming, consumers should be equipped with the facts about what organic actually means and doesn’t mean, and what benefits or risks may be involved in producing and consuming organic products. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of the Center for Environmental Security, says even people adhering to strict organic food diets need broader knowledge about nutrition and health to make wiser food choices.

  • WHAT ARE URBAN HEAT ISLANDS?

    WHAT ARE URBAN HEAT ISLANDS?

    Growing cities must become more aware of the factors that create “urban heat islands” and causes them to intensify. Kamil Kaloush, Fulton Schools associate professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, and director of the National Center of Excellence for SMART Innovations, says making smarter choices about what materials to use in the construction of buildings, roads, parking lots and other civic infrastructure is critical in preventing a rise in ambient heat that makes urban environments not only less comfortable but also less sustainable.

  • BUILDING PROS SHARE JOB SKILLS WITH GILA RIVER STUDENTS

    BUILDING PROS SHARE JOB SKILLS WITH GILA RIVER STUDENTS

    The School of Sustainable Engineering the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools, teamed up with a major Southwest construction contracting company to give young students from the Gila River Indian Community hands-on lessons in construction and engineering skills, and critical thinking.

  • WHERE THERE’S A WILL, IS THERE A WALL? BUILDING TRUMP’S BORDER WALL WON’T BE CHEAP

    WHERE THERE’S A WILL, IS THERE A WALL? BUILDING TRUMP’S BORDER WALL WON’T BE CHEAP

    The massive wall that President Donald Trump proposes to build along the United State-Mexico border would entail more than a significant cost, but also big energy use, environmental safety and construction logistics challenges. Barzin Mobasher, Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, points to some of the difficulties that could be encountered in developing the infrastructure and obtaining the resources to support the project.

    Also See:

    Mobasher is quoted in a July 21 Cronkite News report ‘Structurally deficient’ bridge over I-17 repaired using new technology

  • TO AVOID CLIMATE CATASTROPHE, WE’LL NEED TO REMOVE CO2 FROM THE AIR. HERE’S HOW

    TO AVOID CLIMATE CATASTROPHE, WE’LL NEED TO REMOVE CO2 FROM THE AIR. HERE’S HOW

    One of the more promising systems to stem the negative impacts of climate change by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is being developed by the research team of physicist Klaus Lackner, Fulton Schools professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering and director of ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. Lacker tells Ensia, a magazine focusing on solutions to environmental challenges, that such a system theoretically could remove CO2 from the air many times more efficiently than plants.

  • SUN DEVILS AND SOLAR ENERGY: ASU RESEARCHERS AWARDED MORE THAN $4 MILLION TO DEVELOP SOLAR ENERGY SOLUTIONS

    SUN DEVILS AND SOLAR ENERGY: ASU RESEARCHERS AWARDED MORE THAN $4 MILLION TO DEVELOP SOLAR ENERGY SOLUTIONS

    Fulton Schools faculty members Mariana Bertoni, Stuart Bowden, Owen Hildreth, Govindasamy Tamizhmani  and Meng Tao are among researchers whose projects to develop innovative and affordable solar power technologies won support from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative program — giving ASU more of these research awards than any other university.

  • A.I. SCIENTISTS TO ELON MUSK: STOP SAYING ROBOTS WILL KILL US ALL

    A.I. SCIENTISTS TO ELON MUSK: STOP SAYING ROBOTS WILL KILL US ALL

    Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, joined other experts in the field who say prominent inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk is spreading an overly alarmist message about supposed threats that could someday be posed by advanced AI technology.

    Also See:

    AI Researchers Disagree With Elon Musk’s Warnings About Artificial Intelligence, Futurism, July 19

    Artificial Intelligence Experts Rebut Elon Musk’s Warning and Call for Regulation, The Christian Post, July 20

    Elon Musk SLAMMED by top researchers for scaremongering over dangers of AI, Express (United Kingdom), July 20

  • SCIENTISTS ARE SCRUTINIZING CITY SEWAGE TO STUDY OUR HEALTH

    SCIENTISTS ARE SCRUTINIZING CITY SEWAGE TO STUDY OUR HEALTH

    What’s flowing into wastewater treatments plants can reveal a treasure trove of information about our health and the health of our environment, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden. Those findings could help us prevent diseases, pinpoint environmental hazards and track our exposure to chemicals that might be harmful.

    Also See:

    Studying Wastewater Could Be Messy, But it May Improve Public Health, KJZZ (NPR), July 19

June

2017

May

2017
  • REPAIRING INFRASTRUCTURE FROM THE GROUND UP

    REPAIRING INFRASTRUCTURE FROM THE GROUND UP

    Fulton Schools Professor Samuel Ariaratnam was interviewed on a popular weekly podcast that probes into the intertwined subjects of emerging technologies, the Internet of Things and other facets of “the digital life.” Ariaratnam, chair of the construction engineering program, talked about what today’s “smart” cities must do to get even smarter about the use of advanced technologies for rehabilitating their urban infrastructures.

  • ROBOTIC TURTLES CAN BE USED TO DETECT LANDMINES IN THE DESERT

    ROBOTIC TURTLES CAN BE USED TO DETECT LANDMINES IN THE DESERT

    One of the latest and most inventive efforts springing for Heni Ben Amor’s expertise in robot-learning algorithms are small machines whose design is based on sea turtle anatomy and mobility style. The Fulton Schools assistant professor’s “turtle bots,” made from motors, computer chips and cardboard folded in origami style, are being tested on Arizona’s desert terrain to see how they would perform as battlefield landmine detectors.

    Also See:

    ASU Robotics turns to nature for inspiration, CBS 5 News Phoenix, June 5

    An Army of these odd-looking robotics ‘turtles’ might help rid the world of landmines, Digital Trends, May 27

    These flat-pack turtlebots will crawl across minefields for safety’s sake, TechCrunch, May 25

    These robotic turtles could save your life, New York Post, May 25

  • ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, ADOT TEAM UP TO CREATE NEW TYPE OF CATTLE GUARD

    ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, ADOT TEAM UP TO CREATE NEW TYPE OF CATTLE GUARD

    A senior-year engineering capstone design project led four recent Fulton Schools graduates to a collaboration with the Arizona Department of Transportation Research Center. The result is a prototype for a new kind of cattle guard using ultrasonic sensors and decoy predator sounds to prevent the grazing animals from stepping into the path of vehicles. Project team members Kevin Davidson and Marissa Rubio recently received degrees in mechanical engineering systems. Hanqing Chen graduated with an electrical systems engineering degree. Zhemin Ne earned a degree in auto systems engineering.

    Also See:
    ADOT enlists ASU engineering majors to help create new cattle guard concept, ADOT Blog, May 11

  • ARIZONA TEAM ONE OF TWO DOZEN WORKING TO MAKE HYPERLOOP TRAVEL POSSIBLE

    ARIZONA TEAM ONE OF TWO DOZEN WORKING TO MAKE HYPERLOOP TRAVEL POSSIBLE

    A multi-university team led by Fulton Schools students is preparing to move from the design stage to prototype testing this summer as it develops a high-speed terrestrial transport pod for the international SpaceX Hyperloop challenge. The team is one of 24 that has made it to the final round of the competition. Mechanical engineering grad student Lynne Nethken (pictured) was interviewed about the AZLoop project.

  • ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS FINISH $80,000 MOBILE DENTAL CLINIC FOR CHARITY

    ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS FINISH $80,000 MOBILE DENTAL CLINIC FOR CHARITY

    Engineering Smiles, a student endeavor that began several years ago in a Fulton Schools Engineering Projects in Community Service course, is realizing its goal of providing a mobile dental clinic to underserved communities. Among the project’s leaders (pictured at right) are Sara Mantlik , who just received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and Nick Kemme, who is pursuing a similar degree.

  • HOW RUSSIA’S HACKING AND INFLUENCE OPS HELP PUTIN

    HOW RUSSIA’S HACKING AND INFLUENCE OPS HELP PUTIN

    Fulton Schools Professor Brad Allenby comments about the hacking attack on one of the candidates in the French presidential election, speculating on the identity of the perpetrators of the hacking and their political motives. Allenby co-directs ASU’s Weaponized Narrative Initiative, which focuses on examining the uses of technology in misinformation campaigns calculated to influence public perception. Public Radio International’s “The World” is broadcast on more than 300 stations across North America. Read more about the study of weaponized narrative.

April

2017
  • HOW TO KEEP CLOTHES FROM SMELLING BAD

    HOW TO KEEP CLOTHES FROM SMELLING BAD

    When people exercise, their bodies sweat and their clothes get wet. And that means their clothes, like their bodies, can smell.

    Paul Westerhoff is a professor of Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University. He researched the effectiveness of silver in clothes to kill bacteria and how it impacts the environment. The study was published in Environmental Science & Technology last year.

  • ROBOTS TAUGHT TO WORK ALONGSIDE HUMANS BY GIVING HIGH FIVES

    ROBOTS TAUGHT TO WORK ALONGSIDE HUMANS BY GIVING HIGH FIVES

    Heni Ben Amor, an assistance professor who specializes in advanced robotics and artificial intelligence at ASU, says that having robots learn from watching humans interact won’t just make them better collaborators, it will help humans feel more at ease around robots too. “There’s a high demand for robots that are socially aware,” he says.

    If robots can learn the basics of social interaction, like knowing how fast to move their arms or how close to stand to a person without making them feel uncomfortable, then humans are much more likely to accept robots in their home or workplace, he says.

  • VALLEY METRO CEO: FEDERAL CUTS THREATEN LIGHT RAIL, TROLLEY PROJECTS

    VALLEY METRO CEO: FEDERAL CUTS THREATEN LIGHT RAIL, TROLLEY PROJECTS

    Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala, whose expertise is in transportation systems engineering and planning, comments on the potential benefits of public transportation systems and on the costs-versus-benefits aspect of the debate over government funding of mass transit projects.

  • DARPA TO USE ELECTRICAL STIMULATION TO ENHANCE MILITARY TRAINING

    DARPA TO USE ELECTRICAL STIMULATION TO ENHANCE MILITARY TRAINING

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor Stephen Helms Tillery is leading a research group that has a key role in a Department of Defense agency’s project to expand human learning capability. His team will develop techniques to stimulate specific nerve complexes in the brain with the goal of enhancing its neuroplasticity to improve mental abilities. Read more about the overall project on the Gizmodo technology and science news site.

    Also See:

  • SILICON VALLEY HIRES THE MOST ALUMNI OF THESE 10 UNIVERSITIES, AND NONE OF THEM ARE IN THE IVY LEAGUE

    SILICON VALLEY HIRES THE MOST ALUMNI OF THESE 10 UNIVERSITIES, AND NONE OF THEM ARE IN THE IVY LEAGUE

    The most coveted jobs are in Silicon Valley, and most selective US universities are members of the Ivy League. So it stands to reason that tech giants like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook would scoop up best and brightest from those bastions of power and privilege.

    Arizona State University ranks among the top 10 schools with the most undergraduate and graduate alumni hired by the 25 biggest Silicon Valley employers in the last year, ranking ahead of Cornell, Purdue and MIT.

  • MAKING THE RIGHT PICK: HOW ARIZONA COLLEGES ARE STEPPING IN TO TEACH GRADS THE SKILLS COMPANIES NEED IN NEW HIRES

    MAKING THE RIGHT PICK: HOW ARIZONA COLLEGES ARE STEPPING IN TO TEACH GRADS THE SKILLS COMPANIES NEED IN NEW HIRES

    Starbucks’ relationship with Arizona State University, where Starbucks’ employees can earn their bachelor’s degree through ASU’s online program, is an example of bringing students to the curriculum rather than the campus.

    Last year, Ford Motor Co. designated ASU as a premier school and a top-tier Ford recruiting and hiring institution, which means Ford considers ASU a go-to place to recruit graduates.

    “Ford is a perfect example of a greater relationship that we have with a lot of organizations,” said Cindy Parnell, executive director at ASU’s Career and Professional Development Services.

    Another program is the Startup Center in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, which offers classes, workshops, mentoring, investment and extracurricular activities that expose students to the concepts of entrepreneurship and technology innovation.

  • ROBOTIC SUIT SPEEDS UP WALKING SPEED

    ROBOTIC SUIT SPEEDS UP WALKING SPEED

    ASU Engineering Professor Tom Sugar has developed a robotic suit meant to help people walk faster and avoid workplace injuries.  The suit propels users forward 10 to 15 percent faster than normal, supporting legs to move faster and more smoothly.

    The exoskeleton was one of the many devices demonstrate during WeRACon 17 in Phoenix last month. 

  • PROFESSOR, COMPANY WORKING ON TECH FOR RETINA TO HELP BLIND

    PROFESSOR, COMPANY WORKING ON TECH FOR RETINA TO HELP BLIND

    According to the World Health Organization, 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired. Thirty-nine million are blind, while 246 million have low vision. 

    Bradley Greger, an associate professor at ASU, is partnering with a California-based company called Second Sight on technology that can be placed on the retina to provide a limited amount of vision to blind people. He’s also working on a brain implant that will provide some vision for the blind. He’s with me to talk about it.

  • RESEARCHERS TREAT AMPUTEES BY STIMULATING NERVES IN FDA TRIAL

    RESEARCHERS TREAT AMPUTEES BY STIMULATING NERVES IN FDA TRIAL

    Fulton Schools Associate Professor James Abbas is collaborating with researchers at Florida International University to make advances in bioelectronics medicine and prosthetics technologies that could restore a sense of touch for amputees.

  • ASU LAB HOME TO LARGEST WASTE REPOSITORY IN U.S.

    ASU LAB HOME TO LARGEST WASTE REPOSITORY IN U.S.

    Many valuable questions about public health can be answered by analyzing samples from sewage sludge, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of the Center for Environmental Security. His lab stores a large collection of the revealing material.

March

2017
  • ASU STUDENT MAY KNOW HOW TO CREATE LIFE ON THE MOON

    ASU STUDENT MAY KNOW HOW TO CREATE LIFE ON THE MOON

    Fulton Schools computer systems engineering student Autumn Conner has an idea for sending a small capsule containing a kind of bacteria to the moon, where it could create photosynthesis. A startup venture based in India has selected her idea for funding.

  • STRIPPING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE

    STRIPPING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE

    Researchers in the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions led by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner are developing technologies that promise to enable removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In an interview on Australian national radio, Lackner said carbon-capture systems may be the most effective option for keeping the buildup of this greenhouse gas from rising to levels at which it would pose a critical threat to the health of Earth’s environment.  

  • 3D PRINTING PROSTHETICS PART 1: WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

    3D PRINTING PROSTHETICS PART 1: WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

    A group of ASU materials science engineers, Jason Enriquez, Tayler Fulton, Nicholas Lauer and Brian Zucker, dedicated its Capstone project to improving existing 3D printing open source designs. By connecting through their professors with local companies in the additive manufacturing field, the students are identifying better materials and how to 3D print with them for this purpose. The end goal is to improve on current open-source transhumeral (upper arm) prostheses; additional guidance is being offered by Justin Ryan, the lead research scientist at the Cardiac 3D Print Lab, Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

  • ARIZONA STUDENTS’ TEAM TO COMPETE IN SPACEX HYPERLOOP COMPETITION

    ARIZONA STUDENTS’ TEAM TO COMPETE IN SPACEX HYPERLOOP COMPETITION

    Arizona’s Hyperloop team, led by ASU engineering master’s student Lynne Nethken and senior Josh Kosar, say the Space X competition is just a first step to bringing high speed, mass transportation to Arizona and beyond.

    If chosen to continue in the competition, the team will get to launch its prototype pod in the one-mile test track this summer in Hawthorne, California.

    The Hyperloop is a proposed form of high-speed mass transportation that can achieve speeds of up to 750 miles per hour.

  • IT’S TIME FOR US GEEKS TO STAND UP AND BE HEARD

    IT’S TIME FOR US GEEKS TO STAND UP AND BE HEARD

    Computer scientists are often left out of public debate on issues that involve computer science, and that’s a potentially serious mistake when the goal is to improve cybersecurity, says Fulton Schools Professor of Practice Nayda Bliss, director of Arizona State University’s Global Security Initiative. For the sake of making cyberspace safer for all of us, computer geeks must no longer let themselves be ignored, she says.

  • PUBLIC-PRIVATE ’MARRIAGE’ TO DRIVE STEM GROWTH

    PUBLIC-PRIVATE ’MARRIAGE’ TO DRIVE STEM GROWTH

    “University and industry are like darlings, always praising each other, but we need to ‘get married’ already, and be fully committed to helping each other, compensating for each other’s weaknesses,” said Nguyen Thanh Nam, former CEO of FPT and founder of online university FUNIX, at a conference on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and in the workforce.

    The conference, held this year in Hanoi, was organized by the ASU’s Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP).

  • SPECTACULAR ENGINEERING FILM INSPIRES KIDS TO DREAM BIG

    SPECTACULAR ENGINEERING FILM INSPIRES KIDS TO DREAM BIG

    Angelica Hernandez, 2011 ASU Distinguished Grad in Mechanical Engineering, is featured in “Dream Big: Our Engineering World,” a documentary created to promote education in STEM. Hernandez, who went on to earn her master’s at Stanford, was a member of the Phoenix high school team that beat 2004 MIT in 2004.

    The documentary is airing at the Arizona Science Center’s Irene P. Flinn Theater as follows:

    March 3-12

    • 9:30 a.m.
    • 10:30 a.m. (except Saturday, March 11)
    • 12:30 p.m.
    • 2:30 p.m.
    • 4:30pm (except March 3-9)

    March 13-31:

    • 9:30 a.m.
    • 4:30 p.m. 
  • OUR BOTS, OURSELVES

    OUR BOTS, OURSELVES

    The future may be a world in which we live with artificial intelligence “agents” that speak to us in human voices and understand our thoughts and feelings on a deep level. Futurists foresee people partnering with lifelong “digital assistants” or “virtual companions” that guide us through life, and which might eventually take the form of brain implants. Experts such as Fulton Schools Professor Subbarao Kambhampati, president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, comment on some of the benefits and possible risks of such potential developments.

February

2017
  • ASU GRAD, MIAO HE, HONORED FOR WIND TURBINE RESEARCH

    ASU GRAD, MIAO HE, HONORED FOR WIND TURBINE RESEARCH

    Miao He’s work with enhancing the efficiency of wind turbine farms in the face of disruptive weather has earned him a prestigious grant from the National Science Foundation that recognizes the work of up-and-coming faculty.  

    He, an assistant professor in the Texas Tech University Whitacre College of Engineering, has been selected to receive an award from the Faculty Early Career Development Program.  He received his MS in Physics in 2010 and his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering in 2013, both from ASU.

  • COMPUTER HACKS OF THE FUTURE, AND HOW TO PREVENT THEM

    COMPUTER HACKS OF THE FUTURE, AND HOW TO PREVENT THEM

    The wave of artificial intelligence technology coming at us carries with it the upside of enhancing our lives with things like self-driving cars, as well as the potential downside of threats posed by malicious hacking of the computerized devices and systems we rely on. The situation is discussed by three AI experts, including Subbarao Kamhampati, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering and president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Each of them participated in a three-day Challenges of Artificial Intelligence Workshop at Arizona State University. Illustration: Shutterstock

  • ENGINEERS DEVELOP DNA LIGHT SWITCH

    ENGINEERS DEVELOP DNA LIGHT SWITCH

    DNA, the stuff of life, may very well also pack quite the jolt for engineers trying to advance the development of tiny, low-cost electronic devices.

    Much like flipping a light switch at home—only on a scale 1,000 times smaller than a human hair—a team of researchers has now developed the first controllable DNA switch to regulate the flow of electricity within a single, atomic-sized molecule. The new study, led by  Fulton Schools ECEE professor and director of the Biodesign Institute’s Bioelectronics and Biosensors Nongjian Tao, is published in the online journal Nature Communications.

  • ASU MAKING STRIDES ON EARLY TEST FOR PANCREATIC CANCER

    ASU MAKING STRIDES ON EARLY TEST FOR PANCREATIC CANCER

    Fulton School of Biological Health Systems Engineering Assistant Professor Tony Hu and rand his team at the Biodesign Institute are working on a new test to catch pancreatic cancer in its earliest stages.

    If caught early enough, pancreatic cancer can be controlled, but the sneaky disease develops aggressively and doesn’t usually show any obvious signs in the early stages.

    Because pancreatic cancer is usually caught in the late stages, an estimated 80 percent die within a year of diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society.

    But Hu’s team has discovered a new method to identify pancreatic cancer in its early development.

  • THIS SIX-LEGGED ROBOT WALKS MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN AN INSECT

    THIS SIX-LEGGED ROBOT WALKS MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN AN INSECT

    Engineers and scientists have long been mimicking nature to find solutions, but some are now making technological advances by improving on nature. Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic, whose work combines engineering with knowledge of insect behavior, comments on news of the recent achievement of scientists who made a robot that improves on an insect mobility method.

  • COULD PRESIDENT TRUMP TAKE US BACK TO THE MOON?

    COULD PRESIDENT TRUMP TAKE US BACK TO THE MOON?

    President Trump has said he wants to “unlock the mysteries of space” and “focus on stretching the envelope of space exploration.”

    Dr. Scott Parazynski, a retired astronaut and a professor of practice at both ASU’s Schools of Biological Health and Systems Engineering and Earth and Space Exploration called the crewed mission idea an “audacious challenge.”

    “If you have a crew on board, the complexity of the mission increases substantially,” he told NBC News. “You are committing to making it a perfect round trip. You need to have the life support systems, the launch abort system and the recovery systems built into the vehicle the first time around.”

  • ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY INCORPORATES BUSINESS START-UP SKILLS INTO ENGINEERING SCHOOLS

    ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY INCORPORATES BUSINESS START-UP SKILLS INTO ENGINEERING SCHOOLS

    Arizona State University has designed its engineering schools to not only teach engineering, but also to develop entrepreneurs. In addition to the traditional classroom education, students are given the space and the skills to invent, design, produce, and market what their minds conceive. 

    “The entrepreneurial mindset has become more prevalent in today’s students than ever before,” says Richard Martorano, director of facilities and space renovations for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU. “They see the engineers and inventors who have become household names and want to emulate them.”

  • ELON MUSK SAYS HUMANS MUST BECOME CYBORGS TO STAY RELEVANT. IS HE RIGHT?

    ELON MUSK SAYS HUMANS MUST BECOME CYBORGS TO STAY RELEVANT. IS HE RIGHT?

    ASU’s Panagiotis Artemiadis says “no.”

    Artemiadis has been trying to get more bandwidth using a 128-electrode EEG cap to allow a human to control a swarm of flying robots with their brain. “We can already decode basic concepts like closing a hand or moving an elbow, but we can’t decode more complex behaviors,” he said.

    He has created a system that allows for a single person to control the collaborative movement of multiple drones, for example making the flock move closer together so that it can fit through a narrow pass.

    He is skeptical that the rise of AI will render humans irrelevant.

    “We are building these machines to serve humans,” he said.

  • TEAM OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WORK TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO CLEAN DRINKING WATER IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES

    TEAM OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WORK TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO CLEAN DRINKING WATER IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES

    A project supported by students at Arizona State University is working in underdeveloped countries to improve their access to clean drinking water.

    Five ASU students — Pankti Shah, Paul Strong, Varendra Silva, Mark Huerta and Connor Wiegand — have joined the project, 33 Buckets, in the hopes of making a positive impact and addressing water crises around the globe.

  • MY TURN: ARTS EDUCATION PAVED THE WAY FOR GIRLS’ ROBOTICS WIN

    MY TURN: ARTS EDUCATION PAVED THE WAY FOR GIRLS’ ROBOTICS WIN

    It should be no surprise that a team of girls from an arts schools earned top awards at the recent Arizona FIRST LEGO League championship tournament, says the head of the Arizona School for the Arts. The competition managed by Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering focuses on robotics and research. The school’s CEO says the team’s success goes to show how arts education fosters creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that translate into talent in taking on the challenges of engineering and science.

January

2017
  • ASA ALL-GIRLS ROBOTICS TEAM WINS STATEWIDE COMPETITION

    ASA ALL-GIRLS ROBOTICS TEAM WINS STATEWIDE COMPETITION

    A team of seven Fifth through Eighth grade robotics students was recently named one of two winning teams selected to head to the FIRST LEGO League World Festival in Houston, Texas on April 19.

    The all-girls team of arts students from downtown Phoenix charter school Arizona School for the Arts (ASA) competed against 96 teams in the Arizona State FIRST LEGO League Challenge hosted by the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering on Jan. 14-15. The competition encourages youth to think like scientists and engineers through problem-solving and teamwork.

  • SEE INSIDE THE SOUTHWEST’S LARGEST 3D PRINTING RESEARCH FACILITY AT ASU

    SEE INSIDE THE SOUTHWEST’S LARGEST 3D PRINTING RESEARCH FACILITY AT ASU

    The Southwest’s largest 3D printing research facility has opened at the Polytechnic School at Arizona State University’s Additive Manufacturing Research Center in Mesa.

    The 15,000-square-foot addition, holding $2.5 million of plastic, polymer and 3D metal printing equipment, will be used for a variety of research and development activities with students.

    Also see:  Arizona State University, businesses team up for Manufacturing Research and Innovation Hub, Arizona Business Daily, Jan. 30

  • CLEANING THE AIR WITH PLASTIC [EXCERPT]

    CLEANING THE AIR WITH PLASTIC [EXCERPT]

    Scientists and engineers are trying inventions such as artificial trees to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere

    An excerpt from David Biello’s book, The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth’s Newest Age, features the work of Klaus Lackner and his team at Arizona State University’s Fulton Schools of Engineering. 

    An artificial tree on the Tempe campus — thin strips of beige, wavy plastic stacked one atop another in a clear box hidden from the desert sun by a piece of plywood covered in a black cloth — can suck CO2 out of the air.

  • NEW AUTISM TREATMENT COULD COME FROM ALTERING GUT MICROBIOTA

    NEW AUTISM TREATMENT COULD COME FROM ALTERING GUT MICROBIOTA

    Getting to the guts of the matter for autism is exactly what a group of investigators, led by scientists at Arizona State University (ASU), hopes to accomplish with its novel approach to effective autism treatments by focusing on improving the gut microbiome through fecal microbial transplants. While initial results from a small human study are promising, additional testing will be necessary before an FDA-approved therapy would be available or recommended to the public. The research team was led by ASU’s James Adams, a professor of materials science and engineering. The study results were published in the journal Microbiome.

    Also see:  

  • ASU SPINOUT GETS NATIONAL FUNDING FOR TISSUE CHIP

    ASU SPINOUT GETS NATIONAL FUNDING FOR TISSUE CHIP

    Mechanical engineering grad David Richardson has received funding for ASU spinout company bioSyntagma, developed while he was a research engineer at the Biodesign Institute. The company’s Light Stream FloCell™ allows researchers to understand how disease-causing cells interact with each other and may be able to answer questions relating to why cancers metastasize, which drugs are most effective for a patient at a given point in time, and what disease mechanisms are active in arthritis, diabetes, and dementia.

  • NEW ASU CENTER TO RESEARCH FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION

    NEW ASU CENTER TO RESEARCH FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION

    Arizona State University has been named the lead institution for a new U.S. Department of Transportation Tier 1 University Transportation Center and will work with the U.S. Department of Transportation on improving regional and local transportation systems. The Center for Teaching Old Models New Tricks, or TOMNET, will work to improve data models and analytical tools used to plan transportation infrastructure, said SEBE Professor Ram Pendyala, the center’s director.

    “If we can find ways to successfully integrate these kinds of behavioral variables into our analytics, then I think we can make a quantum leap in our ability to predict future travel needs and desires,” Pendyala said

  • SOUTHWEST’S LARGEST ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING HUB FORMED AT ASU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HONEYWELL AEROSPACE, PADT, CONCEPT LASER

    SOUTHWEST’S LARGEST ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING HUB FORMED AT ASU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HONEYWELL AEROSPACE, PADT, CONCEPT LASER

    One of the ‘outstanding’ facilities is the Manufacturing Research and Innovation Hub, a 15,000-square-foot center containing a lab with over $2 million worth of polymer and plastic materials and 3D metal printing equipment. The university recently formed a partnership with Honeywell Aerospace, Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies, Inc. (PADT), and Concept Laser to help build and make the new facility a reality.

    “If you go to school in Arizona and hope to pursue a manufacturing engineering undergraduate degree, the only place you can get one is ASU’s Polytechnic School.”

  • ZYGOTE JOURNAL INTERVIEW: KONRAD RYKACZEWSKI

    ZYGOTE JOURNAL INTERVIEW: KONRAD RYKACZEWSKI

    A recent special issue of the Zygote Journal, which focuses on biologically inspired science and design, features interviews with speakers at the first Biomimicry Summit and Education Forum for Aerospace. Among the them is Konrad Rykaczewski, Fulton Schools assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering.

    In his interview, he talks about how the abilities of a poisonous dart frog led him to an idea for a de-icing method that could make flight safer, and how mimicking the natural mechanisms involved in the way water interacts with prickly pear cactus could provide a basis for some useful technological developments. He also has found a particularly effective way to wash pesky insects off of vegetables.

    Rykaczewski’s interview begins on page 96 of the digital magazine.You can download the issue, or enlarge it on your computer screen. Read more about Rykaczewski’s recent research at: http://intheloop.engineering.asu.edu/2017/01/30/turning-to-nano-engineering-to-fight-off-troublesome-frost-and-ice/

December

2016
  • DOES INTEL SERVE AS A MAGNET TO ATTRACT HI-TECH FIES?

    DOES INTEL SERVE AS A MAGNET TO ATTRACT HI-TECH FIES?

    Intel Products Vietnam plans to expand its factory in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017.

    According to Sherry Boger, CEO of IPV, the expanded factory will prepare large area for cleanrooms class 10. Intel has joined forces with VNPT Technology to set up a lab reserved for IoT research. 

    The Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program, a project initiated by Intel and supported by ASU and USAID, has trained over 5,000 lecturers and high-ranking managers for eight schools throughout the country in accordance with ABET standards. HEEAP will be a source of supply for the workforce at Intel and the IoT market as a whole.

  • DOES INTEL SERVE AS A MAGNET TO ATTRACT HI-TECH FIES?

    DOES INTEL SERVE AS A MAGNET TO ATTRACT HI-TECH FIES?

    Intel Products Vietnam plans to expand its factory in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017.

    According to Sherry Boger, CEO of IPV, the expanded factory will prepare large area for cleanrooms class 10. Intel has joined forces with VNPT Technology to set up a lab reserved for IoT research. 

    The Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program, a project initiated by Intel and supported by ASU and USAID, has trained over 5,000 lecturers and high-ranking managers for eight schools throughout the country in accordance with ABET standards. HEEAP will be a source of supply for the workforce at Intel and the IoT market as a whole.

  • THE SEARCH IS ON FOR PULLING CARBON FROM THE AIR

    THE SEARCH IS ON FOR PULLING CARBON FROM THE AIR

    Scientists are investigating a range of technologies they hope can capture lots of carbon without a lot of cost, but ASU’s Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, doubts one of the technologies can be sustained due to scale.

  • RESEARCHERS WORK ON DEVELOPMENT OF GAME-CHANGING NANOWIRE METAMATERIALS

    RESEARCHERS WORK ON DEVELOPMENT OF GAME-CHANGING NANOWIRE METAMATERIALS

    Mechanical engineer Liping Wang, an assistant professor at Arizona State University, imagines an energy sector enhanced by greater control over thermal radiation. To work toward this objective, he is designing and constructing a host of custom electromagnetic materials. Wang’s endeavor is supported by a Young Investigator Program research grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, totaling $360,000 over three years. The program received more than 230 proposals, awarding grants to only 25 percent of applicants.

  • ASU TEAM DEVELOPING PARKINSON’S DEVICE WITH HELP FROM HIGH SCHOOLER

    ASU TEAM DEVELOPING PARKINSON’S DEVICE WITH HELP FROM HIGH SCHOOLER

    Among the researchers at ASU’s Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing — or CUbiC — is one who doesn’t have a high school diploma. Yet.

    Shreya Venkatesh, a high school senior at BASIS Scottsdale, is helping program the device’s vibration patterns. That “vibrotactile feedback,” as CUbiC calls it, is designed to alert Parkinson’s patients that a freezing episode may be ahead and help them avoid it.    

  • SYNTHESIS OF PSEUDO-1D SEMICONDUCTOR PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO ANISOTROPIC 2D MATERIALS

    SYNTHESIS OF PSEUDO-1D SEMICONDUCTOR PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO ANISOTROPIC 2D MATERIALS

    For the first time, researchers have synthesized semiconducting gallium telluride (GaTe) in the monoclinic phase as a pseudo-one-dimensional (pseudo-1D) material. This new class of materials is characterized by quasi-1D chains of atoms running in a particular direction along a 2D surface. 

    The researchers, led by Sefaattin Tongay, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University, have published a paper on the first synthesis of the pseudo-1D GaTe material in a recent issue of Advanced Materials.

  • VETERANS STARTING BUSINESSES IN PHOENIX GET A HELPING HAND

    VETERANS STARTING BUSINESSES IN PHOENIX GET A HELPING HAND

    Paulo Shakarian, a 2016 Fulton Entrepreneurial Professor and director of the Cyber-Socio Intelligent Systems Lab, has taken on the role of team leader for area veterans through the Armory Incubator. Shakarian, a West Point grad who served as a military intelligence officer, launched Cyr3con last year. The company focuses on cyber reconnaissance.

  • ISIGN INTERNATIONAL IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT DOCTOR ZIMING ZHAO HAS BEEN ACCEPTED TO BECOME A MEMBER OF ITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

    ISIGN INTERNATIONAL IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT DOCTOR ZIMING ZHAO HAS BEEN ACCEPTED TO BECOME A MEMBER OF ITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

    Ziming Zhao, an assistant research professor in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, has been named a member of the iSign International Advisory Committee. Zhao’s focus is on security and privacy related problems in computer and communications systems.

    Commenting on the news, Gerard E. Munera , the Chairman of iSign, said, “Dr Zhao’s background, experience and intellectual capacities represent, without any doubt, a huge asset for our company.” Zhao joins ASU’s Gail-Joon Ahn on the iSign team.

  • HOW DO YOU EASE TRAFFIC IN LOS ANGELES? MAKE IT HARD TO PARK

    HOW DO YOU EASE TRAFFIC IN LOS ANGELES? MAKE IT HARD TO PARK

    A paradigm shift in our car-centric approach to urban development is what it will take to keep traffic congestion from clogging the roadways in our growing metropolitan areas. In this Op-Ed article, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Mikhail Chester and civil engineering postdoctoral research associate Andrew Fraser help to propose ways to make that shift. They and Fulton Schools Professor Ram Pendyala are also among co-authors of articles on the same topic in ACCESS magazine and the Journal of the American Planning Association.

  • VERITAS GENETICS ADDS THREE SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS TO ACCELERATE PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY IN CONSUMER GENETICS

    VERITAS GENETICS ADDS THREE SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS TO ACCELERATE PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY IN CONSUMER GENETICS

    Scott Parazynski, M.D., former NASA Astronaut and Physiologist with expertise in human adaptation to extreme environments, CEO of Fluidity Technologies and prolific product developer, joins VeritasGenetics as a scientific advisory board member.

    Parazynski, an SBHSE professor, is one of three new advisory board members chosen for their complementary perspectives and expertise in the fields of biomedical informatics, physiology and molecular genetics.

  • WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE EPA STOPPED WORKING ALTOGETHER?

    WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE EPA STOPPED WORKING ALTOGETHER?

    Vice Staff Writer Mike Pearl had a conversation about what would happen if the EPA were disbanded with Brad Allenby, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Arizona State University and former senior environmental attorney for AT&T. Allenby said environmental protection is a whole lot more than just regulating of CO2 emissions, and that even hardcore capitalists can love some of what it does.

  • HOW TO MAKE SOLAR WORK

    HOW TO MAKE SOLAR WORK

    Fulton Schools Professor Meng Tao is working on ways to help society switch to more sustainable sources of energy through his research aimed at producing advances in solar energy technologies. He’s focusing on moving toward large-scale implementation of solar technology that could shift our energy dependence away from fossil fuels.

  • ASU PROF HELPS KIDS ENGINEER A PATH TO CAREERS OF THE FUTURE

    ASU PROF HELPS KIDS ENGINEER A PATH TO CAREERS OF THE FUTURE

    The Fulton Schools Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program is being adapted by Tirupalavanam Ganesh and Jennifer Velez to introduce middle school students to engineering careers. Ganesh is the Fulton Schools assistant dean of engineering education and an associate research professor. Velez is a senior coordinator for K-12 engineering education outreach.

November

2016
  • 2016’S STATES MOST VULNERABLE TO IDENTITY THEFT & FRAUD

    2016’S STATES MOST VULNERABLE TO IDENTITY THEFT & FRAUD

    According to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s most recent Data Breach Report, Arizona ranks 20th overall in terms of susceptibility to crimes ranging from “identity-theft complaints per capita” to “average loss amount due to fraud.” Gail-Joon Ahn, director of ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, answers some questions about how to guard against identity theft.

  • GO BY YOUR EXPERIENCE

    GO BY YOUR EXPERIENCE

    In his latest article for a leading construction management and engineering industry magazine, retired Fulton Schools research professor Thomas C. Schleifer provides building contractors with a formula for assessing the potential financial risks and rewards of taking on projects outside of their specific areas of expertise and experience.

  • I GOT DUNKED ON BY A BASKETBALL-PLAYING ROBOT

    I GOT DUNKED ON BY A BASKETBALL-PLAYING ROBOT

    Motherboard’s Daniel Oberhaus loses 3-1 in a game of hoops against SunDevil RX, the self-learning, basketball shooting robot from Assistant Professor Heni Ben Amor’s Interactive Robotics Lab at ASU. Ben Amor reinforcement learning algorithm, called sparse latent space policy search, allows it to “learn by doing” and accurately shoot a basketball into a hoop. The machine learning algorithms developed for SunDevil RX will have value in manufacturing environments where speedy recalibration of tasks is required.

  • ASU SHOWCASES SUSTAINABLE PAVEMENT METHODS

    ASU SHOWCASES SUSTAINABLE PAVEMENT METHODS

    The 13th Annual Arizona Pavements/Materials Conference began Tuesday on Arizona State University’s Campus with demonstrations of six different types of sustainable pavement.

    The demonstrations took place on Orange Street and McAllister Avenue where folks from ASU, the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration showcased the sustainable pavement types.  The conference, which has more than 400 attendees, continues through Thursday, Nov. 17 and includes exhibitors from the construction and supply industries.

  • HOW POKÉMON GO CAN SAVE LIVES IN A HURRICANE

    HOW POKÉMON GO CAN SAVE LIVES IN A HURRICANE

    “What if, in response to crises, augmented and alternate reality games like Pokémon Go Switch into a mode that rewarded players for donating blood? Delivering water bottles? Filling sandbags? Offering temporary housing? Or evacuating areas threatened by storm, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, or other hazards?”

    The future of civic disaster response using gamification is the subject of an article by Thomas P. Seager, associate professor and Susan Spierre Clark, research assistant professor, both from the Fulton School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, originally written for Zocalo Public Square.

  • LOW-COST, MINIMALLY INVASIVE PIEZOELECTRIC MEMS SENSOR MONITORS CRITICAL BRAIN PRESSURE

    LOW-COST, MINIMALLY INVASIVE PIEZOELECTRIC MEMS SENSOR MONITORS CRITICAL BRAIN PRESSURE

    Elevated pressure inside the skull can be deadly if it is not identified and relieved quickly, leading to a shortage of oxygen and glucose to the rest of the body. Most solutions for monitoring are invasive and inaccurate.

    A collaborative team from ASU’s School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering and the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, led by ECEE’s Jennifer Blain Christen, is working on a low-cost sensor that could be easily and cost-effectively used to help scientists and doctors understand epilepsy and detect seizure zones in the brain area that might lead to surgical treatment of the disease.

  • BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM IN GRAPHIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT ASU EARNS NATIONAL ACCGC ACCREDITATION

    BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM IN GRAPHIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT ASU EARNS NATIONAL ACCGC ACCREDITATION

    After completing an extensive self-study and hosting a site visit by a three-member team of industry and education experts, the Graphic Information Technology program at Arizona State University was awarded national accreditation beginning September 1, 2016.  

    The Arizona State University program is among 13, associate and baccalaureate level, graphic communications related programs nationwide currently holding this distinction.

  • HOW EASY IS IT TO EDIT DNA?

    HOW EASY IS IT TO EDIT DNA?

    In an interview on the nationally broadcast “Science Friday” radio program, Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Karmella Haynes talks about what her lab team discovered that could have a big impact on use of the new CRISPR cell-engineering technology. 

     

  • ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION: CITIZENS SCIENTISTS

    ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION: CITIZENS SCIENTISTS

    In an interview of the PBS-affiliate TV station Channel 8 in Phoenix, Micah Lande, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of manufacturing engineering, talks about what he and other ASU faculty members are doing to bring more people into Citizen Scientist endeavors.

  • ASU’S 3D PRINTED HEART MODELS FEATURED IN CBS’S NEW MEDICAL DRAMA ‘PURE GENIUS’

    ASU’S 3D PRINTED HEART MODELS FEATURED IN CBS’S NEW MEDICAL DRAMA ‘PURE GENIUS’

    While the new CBS drama featured a 3D printed heart as cutting edge technology, the  Cardiac 3D Print Lab at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, a collaboration with Arizona State University, can be traced to 2010 when art majors undergrad Justin Ryan was recruited for the team at the Image Processing Applications Lab. Ryan earned his doctorate in the biomedical engineering graduate program, and now runs the PCH lab.

  • EMCC STUDENT, FACULTY COLLABORATE TO BUILD PROSTHETIC HAND FOR CHILD

    EMCC STUDENT, FACULTY COLLABORATE TO BUILD PROSTHETIC HAND FOR CHILD

    John Hughes, a Fulton Schools mechanical engineering student who transferred from Estrella Mountain Community College, used 3D printing to create a series of prosthetic hands for a growing eight-year-old Noah Muns as a project in his Physics II class. Hughes finished his coursework at EMCC in the spring, but even after classes ended for the summer he was still hard at work perfecting Noah’s prosthetic. He continues to mentor current EMCC engineering students so they can build new prosthetics as Noah grows. 

October

2016
  • NEW SOURCE SOLAR PANELS PULL CLEAN DRINKING WATER FROM THE AIR

    NEW SOURCE SOLAR PANELS PULL CLEAN DRINKING WATER FROM THE AIR

    A new kind of solar panel is being tested in water-scarce regions of Ecuador, Jordan, and Mexico where the device, called Source, pulls moisture from the atmosphere to provide clean drinking water. Developed by ASU Associate Professor Cody Friesen’s Arizona-based startup Zero Mass Water, the setup uses solar energy to produce potable water for a family of four or an entire hospital, depending on how many panels are in use. Last year, the company raised $7 million to back a series of pilot programs to prove how simple and cost-effective access to clean water can be.

  • SCIENTISTS WARN NEGATIVE EMISSIONS ARE A ‘MORAL HAZARD’

    SCIENTISTS WARN NEGATIVE EMISSIONS ARE A ‘MORAL HAZARD’

    Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner weighs in on debate about the potential impacts of using emerging carbon-capture technologies to keep the harmful effects of climate change in check. Lacker directs the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions.

  • ASU ENGINEERING PROFESSOR ON HER FIFTY-YEAR FIGHT FOR EQUALITY IN EDUCATION

    ASU ENGINEERING PROFESSOR ON HER FIFTY-YEAR FIGHT FOR EQUALITY IN EDUCATION

    Over the past 50 years, Fulton Schools Professor of Engineering Emerita Mary Anderson-Rowland has led efforts to boost diversity among Arizona State University engineering students. Even in retirement she continues to aid the cause of bringing women, underrepresented minorities and transfer students into ASU’s engineering programs.

September

2016
  • WHAT’S WHITE, SHAGGY AND COULD HELP REDUCE CARBON DIOXIDE BY 80%?

    WHAT’S WHITE, SHAGGY AND COULD HELP REDUCE CARBON DIOXIDE BY 80%?

    A “synthetic tree” created by Fulton Schools Professor Klaus Lackner and his team at the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions is capable of absorbing carbon dioxide. The technology could help reduce the accumulation of this troublesome greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere.

  • TECH GIANTS TEAM UP TO TACKLE THE ETHICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

    TECH GIANTS TEAM UP TO TACKLE THE ETHICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

    Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, IBM and other major players in the realm of artificial intelligence technologies are teaming up to address ethical issues arising with the rapid proliferation of AI devices — and to address misperceptions about them. Subbarao Kambhampati, Fulton Schools professor of computer science and the president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, offers some perspective on the many issues revolving around the uses of AI.

  • AVNET INNOVATION LAB IN TEMPE SEEKS NEW TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURS

    AVNET INNOVATION LAB IN TEMPE SEEKS NEW TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURS

    Phoenix-based technology distributor Avnet Inc. and the Arizona State University Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering have teamed up to accept applications for the next class of entrepreneurs for the Avnet Innovation Lab. Through the lab, entrepreneurs have access to the expertise of one of the largest technology distributors in the world – Avnet –  and Arizona State University.

  • MEXICAN ENERGY REFORM HOLDS PROMISE OF GREATER NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION

    MEXICAN ENERGY REFORM HOLDS PROMISE OF GREATER NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION

    ASU’s President Michael Crow and Leonardo Beltrán Rodriguez, deputy secretary for energy planning and transition for Mexico’s Ministry of Energy, authored an opinion piece for the Dallas Morning News.  The article references Fulton Engineering’s collaboration with the Binational Laboratory on Smart Sustainable Energy Management and Technology Training at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City.

  • SUPERSOLDIER PROGRAMS FOR COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT AND RUNNING SPEED

    SUPERSOLDIER PROGRAMS FOR COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT AND RUNNING SPEED

    Air Legs, an exoskeleton that enables soldiers to run a four-minute mile, was developed in ASU Engineering Professor Tom Sugar’s Human Machine Integration Lab on the Polytechnic Campus, was featured in an article about new technologies that help make U.S. troops faster, smarter and more resilient. 

  • LEARNING LESSONS FROM OUR SEWAGE SLUDGE

    LEARNING LESSONS FROM OUR SEWAGE SLUDGE

    Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden explains how his research center’s work to analyze sewage sludge collected at wastewater treatments plants is providing information that could guide us in efforts to protect human health. Listen to the audio of his interview that accompanies the text of the report.

  • ASU LAB WORKING TO PREDICT CYBER ATTACKS

    ASU LAB WORKING TO PREDICT CYBER ATTACKS

    Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Paulo Shakarian talks about the work being done in his Cyber-Socio Intelligent Systems Lab to find ways to defend against cyber attacks.

  • CHROMIUM-6 IN PHOENIX WATER

    CHROMIUM-6 IN PHOENIX WATER

    Channel 8’s “Horizon” program turned to Fulton Schools Professor Paul Westerhoff, an environmental engineer, to discuss health concerns sparked by a form of the metal chromium that has shown up in some Arizona water-supply systems.

  • LURKING IN THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEPNET

    LURKING IN THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEPNET

    Paulo Shakarian, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, talks with KJZZ’s Steve Goldstein about how his team’s ‘machine learning system’ is finding out what’s going on in the deep — especially if they’re possible starting points for cyber attacks.

  • MACHINE LEARNING IN ROBOTICS – 5 MODERN APPLICATIONS

    MACHINE LEARNING IN ROBOTICS – 5 MODERN APPLICATIONS

    The innovative work with imitation learning by Heni Ben Amor, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at ASU,  is featured in a round of some of the more significant advancements in machine learning.  

  • COLLECTIVE GENIUS — WORKING TOGETHER ENABLES TINY ANTS TO DO VERY CLEVER THINGS

    COLLECTIVE GENIUS — WORKING TOGETHER ENABLES TINY ANTS TO DO VERY CLEVER THINGS

    Researchers reveal how ants organize themselves into complex living structures to overcome obstacles — and how such acts can provide valuable insights for engineers and robot designers. Ted Pavlic, a Fulton Schools assistant professor whose expertise includes robotics and autonomous systems, helps explain what lessons ants’ collective intelligence can teach us.

  • F.D.A. BANS SALE OF MANY ANTIBACTERIAL SOAPS, SAYING RISKS OUTWEIGH BENEFIT

    F.D.A. BANS SALE OF MANY ANTIBACTERIAL SOAPS, SAYING RISKS OUTWEIGH BENEFIT

    Rolf Halden, a School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment professor and director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Security at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, has been tracking the detrimental effects of sanitizing soaps and wipes for years. The FDA agrees.

August

2016

July

2016
  • PAKISTAN’S ENERGY SECTOR FORGING ALLIANCES FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

    PAKISTAN’S ENERGY SECTOR FORGING ALLIANCES FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

     USPCAS-E to fulfill pressing national needs for exposure to new technology and collaboration with experts

    The launch of US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy at National University of Sciences and Technology (USPCAS-E) by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Arizona State University (ASU), is an effort to address the chronic energy shortage in Pakistan. This partnership builds on existing talent in Pakistan by providing university faculty with exposure to new technology and an opportunity to collaborate with other experts in their fields.

  • ARIZONA UNIVERSITIES DRAWING IN TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES

    ARIZONA UNIVERSITIES DRAWING IN TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES

    Arizona technology companies are finding ASU engineering graduates with the skills to strengthen their workforce. One reason: Courses focus on providing students experiences they need to prepare for meeting the engineering challenges industry will face in coming decades.

  • GIRL SCOUTS CREATE VIDEO GAMES AT NAU

    GIRL SCOUTS CREATE VIDEO GAMES AT NAU

    For the past year the Girl Scouts have partnered with ASU Assistant Professor Ashish Amresh to host multiple “Girls Design Video Games” workshops at the ASU Polytechnic campus. Amresh directs the ASU Interactive Lab and is an Assistant Professor in Software Engineering and is leading the Computer Gaming curriculum initiatives at Arizona State University, where he founded the Computer Gaming Certificate, Camp Game and UTBC summer programs. This was their first overnight camp, and first camp at NAU.

  • RESEARCHERS DEVELOP DISSOLVABLE METAL SUPPORTS

    RESEARCHERS DEVELOP DISSOLVABLE METAL SUPPORTS

    In a 3D printing breakthrough, Fulton Schools assistant professor Owen Hildreth and collaborators at Penn State have developed a technique to print dissolvable metal supports through a new process that can replace expensive machining operations with simple low-cost chemical baths. See also a report at the science and tech new website Phys.org and the research paper in the journal 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing.

  • HOW TO BATTLE A WICKED PROBLEM

    HOW TO BATTLE A WICKED PROBLEM

    Self-described geek, engineer and technologist Nadya Bliss, Professor of Practice in CIDSE and Director of the Global Security Initiative, weighs in on embracing “messy, interconnected” wicked problems. 

  • MEET THE MAN WHO CONTROLS DRONES WITH HIS MIND

    MEET THE MAN WHO CONTROLS DRONES WITH HIS MIND

    ASU mechanical engineer Panagiotis Artemiadis is using electrodes that detect brainwaves to expand the possibilities of controlling technology through our thoughts.

  • ASU, OTHERS AIM TO EDUCATE NEW ‘WHITE HAT HACKERS

    ASU, OTHERS AIM TO EDUCATE NEW ‘WHITE HAT HACKERS

    ASU’s Center for Global Security Initiative Director Nadya Bliss and Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics Director Gail-Jun Ahn are working with leading faculty in law, business, engineering, psychology, public service, social sciences and criminology — to define the frontiers of cyber defense technology and examine the impact of laws, policy and society.

June

2016
  • ‘SWEET TEAR SENSOR COULD EASE PAIN OF DIABETES

    ‘SWEET TEAR SENSOR COULD EASE PAIN OF DIABETES

    ASU Bioengineer Jeffrey La Belle and his team in the La Belle Lab have developed a sensor that measures the sugar in tears, paving the way for pain-free glucose testing.

  • ASU STUDENT JOHN HEFFERNAN IS ARCS SCHOLAR

    ASU STUDENT JOHN HEFFERNAN IS ARCS SCHOLAR

    The Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation is providing a scholarship for John Heffernan, an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists scholar, pursuing a PhD in bioengineering at Arizona State University. He plans to focus on glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer research.

  • ARIZONA BUSINESSES TREADING A NEW TRADE PATH TO ASIA

    ARIZONA BUSINESSES TREADING A NEW TRADE PATH TO ASIA

    Kathy Wigal, associate director of Curricular Innovation, GOEE, who will administer the BUILD-IT Program in Vietnam, served as a panelist at the Phoenix Business Journal Global Markets Asia Experience roundtable, which rolled out a road map from Phoenix to trade in 49 different Asian countries.

  • ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION: BETTER SOLAR PANELS

    ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION: BETTER SOLAR PANELS

    A creative “marriage of technologies” enabled Fulton Schools of Engineering research teams to develop a new kind a solar cell that promises to be more efficient at generating electrical energy from sunlight.

  • THE SELF-DRIVING CAR GENERATION GAP

    THE SELF-DRIVING CAR GENERATION GAP

    Fulton Schools of Engineering Professor Brad Allenby explains why millennials and senior citizens could be sold on the idea of driverless cars by different twists on the “technology of freedom” advertising pitch.

  • ALLSTATE PLEDGES $1.5MN FOR ARIZONA STATE’S CYBERSECURITY CENTER

    ALLSTATE PLEDGES $1.5MN FOR ARIZONA STATE’S CYBERSECURITY CENTER

    Allstate has pledged $1.5 M to ASU’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics over the next three years. “This partnership fits perfectly with the center’s mission, bringing together expertise from private industry and academia, and giving students an opportunity to get hands-on experience,” said CIDSE Professor of Practice Nadya Bliss, director of the Global Security Initiative, which houses CDF.

  • GIRLS IN STEM

    GIRLS IN STEM

    Fulton Schools’ Assist Dean of Engineering Education Tirupalavanum Ganesh and Gabriel Escontrias, Manager of ASU’s Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology, take part in a discussion about how and why to encourage girls’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

  • FINDING THE FORMULA

    FINDING THE FORMULA

    Professor Nancy Cooke, chair of the human systems engineering program, led a national committee that looked at ways to ensure success in team research endeavors. Cooke and Nadya Bliss, director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative, talk about what it takes to make collaborative science and engineering click. (See page 16 of the online issue of the magazine.)

  • FINDING THE FORMULA

    FINDING THE FORMULA

    Professor Nancy Cooke, chair of the human systems engineering program, led a national committee that looked at ways to ensure success in team research endeavors. Cooke and Nadya Bliss, director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative, talk about what it takes to make collaborative science and engineering click. (See page 16 of the online issue of the magazine.)

  • WATCH THESE SYNTHETIC LEAVES SUCK CO2 OUT OF THE SKY

    WATCH THESE SYNTHETIC LEAVES SUCK CO2 OUT OF THE SKY

    Carbon-capture technology developed by the Fulton Schools’ Center for Negative Carbon Emissions is seen as a potential tool for reducing the threatening buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

  • VALLEY FACES SECOND DAY OF POLLUTION ADVISORY

    VALLEY FACES SECOND DAY OF POLLUTION ADVISORY

    As the Phoenix Metro area was beset with its second day of high pollution advisory due to ozone levels, Albert Brown, a senior lecturer in the Polytechnic School weighs in on the different types of air pollution. 

  • PHOENIX MED-TECH STARTUP RAISES $1.4 MILLION IN SEED ROUND, PIVOTS FOCUS

    PHOENIX MED-TECH STARTUP RAISES $1.4 MILLION IN SEED ROUND, PIVOTS FOCUS

    NeoLight LLC, an ASU med-tech start-up that launched a device to treat newborn jaundice, has raised $1.4 million and expanded its product line. Working out of an office at ASU’s SkySong and the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation business incubator on the GateWay Community College Campus, NeoLight now employs 14 engineers. 

  • ASU TECHNOLOGY COULD LOWER COOLING BILLS

    ASU TECHNOLOGY COULD LOWER COOLING BILLS

    Doctoral student Peter Firth is featured speaking about the novel nanoparticle window coating technology developed in partnership with Assistant Professor Zachary Holman. It’s estimated the coating could save families up to $100 a year in energy costs.

May

2016
  • SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY INCLUDES ASU AMONG U.S. ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS HAVING AN IMPACT IN VIETNAM

    SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY INCLUDES ASU AMONG U.S. ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS HAVING AN IMPACT IN VIETNAM

    During a press briefing in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday, prior to the formal launch of Fulbright University Vietnam, Secretary of State John Kerry included Arizona State University among U.S. academic institutions having an impact in Vietnam’s academic arena.  

    “We’re also working together, excitingly, in the academic arena.  And I can’t emphasize how key that is in terms of transformational long-term impact of a relationship.  The Institute of International Education, Arizona State University, Harvard Medical School, the University of Hawaii all have partnerships with institutions in Vietnam, several involving participation by the private sector.  And tomorrow, I will have the privilege of launching the formal launch of Fulbright University Vietnam, which will be a full-fledged, non-profit and totally academically free institution.”

  • ALL-BEEF, NO BUTCHER: MEET THE MINDS BEHIND LAB-GROWN BURGERS

    ALL-BEEF, NO BUTCHER: MEET THE MINDS BEHIND LAB-GROWN BURGERS

    A study on in vitro biomass meat cultivation co-authored by SEMTE President’s Professor Braden Allenby was cited in an article about lab-grown meat as a mechanism to address the environmental and animal welfare ethics of traditional meat production.

  • PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA CITES ASU ENGINEERING PROGRAM IN VIETNAM DURING NEWS CONFERENCE WITH VIETNAMESE PRESIDENT TRAN DAI QUANG

    PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA CITES ASU ENGINEERING PROGRAM IN VIETNAM DURING NEWS CONFERENCE WITH VIETNAMESE PRESIDENT TRAN DAI QUANG

    “American academic and technological leaders, including Intel, Oracle, Arizona State University and others, will help Vietnamese universities boost training and science and technology, engineering and math.”

    ASU’s Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP) trains Vietnamese professors from eight universities on engineering topics.

  • WHY CO2 ‘AIR CAPTURE’ COULD BE KEY TO SLOWING GLOBAL WARMING

    WHY CO2 ‘AIR CAPTURE’ COULD BE KEY TO SLOWING GLOBAL WARMING

    Physicist Klaus Lackner has been pioneering technology to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to combat climate change. As CO2 emissions continue to soar, the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering professor says such “air capture” approaches may be our last best hope.

  • TEACHER SHOWS STUDENTS SUCCESS THROUGH TEAMWORK; INSPIRES COMMUNITY THROUGH ACHIEVEMENT

    TEACHER SHOWS STUDENTS SUCCESS THROUGH TEAMWORK; INSPIRES COMMUNITY THROUGH ACHIEVEMENT

    Mehulkumar Gandhi, a math teacher at San Luis Middle School in Yuma led his CISCO-Supported Arizona FIRST ® LEGO® League team, the Scorpiotics, to win the Champion’s Award. Arizona FIRST ® LEGO® League is an Ira A. Fulton Schools K-12 Engineering Education and Outreach program designed to ignite an enthusiasm for the basic principles of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in children ages nine to 14.

  • WHY WE NEED MORE WOMEN ENGINEERS

    WHY WE NEED MORE WOMEN ENGINEERS

    ASU President Michael Crow asserts we must do better when it comes to recruiting women engineering students.

  • CROW SAYS ‘THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE BLOWN UP’

    CROW SAYS ‘THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE BLOWN UP’

    ASU President Michael Crow participated in the Keynote Panel at the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference in Baltimore this week. Crow describes how ASU Engineering grew from 8,500 students with a 68 percent freshman retention rate in 2008 to 17,000 engineering students with a 90 percent freshman retention rate today. (President Crow joins the panel discussion at about the one-hour mark in the video.)

  • PROFESSORS FROM VIETNAM LEARN TEACHING METHODS FROM ASU

    PROFESSORS FROM VIETNAM LEARN TEACHING METHODS FROM ASU

    David Benson, the academic director of ASU’s Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP), works with visiting professors from Vietnamese universities to learn new ways to teach and explain material to their students.

  • FERNANDO TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREE FROM UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

    FERNANDO TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREE FROM UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

    Harindra Joseph Fernando, former Fulton Engineering professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and founding director of the Arizona Board of Regent’s Center for Environmental Fluid Dynamics. has been selected to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Dundee, a preeminent public research university in the United Kingdom.

  • EXCLUSIVE: AVNET AND ASU PARTNER ON NEW INNOVATION INCUBATOR TO FURTHER TECH STARTUPS

    EXCLUSIVE: AVNET AND ASU PARTNER ON NEW INNOVATION INCUBATOR TO FURTHER TECH STARTUPS

    Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc. and Arizona State have partnered to create a new innovation incubator for technology startups.

    The first four companies are: Pit Rho, which will design and test a smart retail bag that enhances the shopping experience; XL Hybrids Inc., which is building an auto and truck fleet electrification business; The Youngbull Lab at ASU is working to create an early-warning system that monitors for microbes and other biological agents, and Zero Mass Labs, which is removing volatile organic compounds from the polymers industry.

  • ANAYA ASSUMES POST AS INTERIM MAYOR OF SOMERTON

    ANAYA ASSUMES POST AS INTERIM MAYOR OF SOMERTON

    Lifelong Somerton resident Gerardo Anaya, an ASU Engineering alumni, is becoming an interim mayor of Somerton during a pivotal moment in the city’s development. Work has begun on the construction of a city hall. The hope is this will spur redevelopment downtown. Anaya will be overseeing these measures. 

  • ENGINEERING DEAN CANDIDATE EMPHASIZES COMMUNICATION

    ENGINEERING DEAN CANDIDATE EMPHASIZES COMMUNICATION

    Former Fulton School of Engineering Dean (1995-2006) Peter Crouch is a candidate for engineering dean at the University of Texas, Arlington. Crouch has shared a plan for the the future of the engineering school that stresses the need for student growth and research programs.

April

2016
  • CHILDREN LIVING IN LOWER-INCOME AREAS ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ASTHMA

    CHILDREN LIVING IN LOWER-INCOME AREAS ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ASTHMA

    James Anderson, professor emeritus at the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy at Arizona State University, who has studied air quality in Arizona extensively for years, is cited in an Arizona Republic article about children vulnerable to asthma.

  • CUBIC’S TECH INNOVATIONS HELPING PEOPLE OVERCOME DISABILITIES

    CUBIC’S TECH INNOVATIONS HELPING PEOPLE OVERCOME DISABILITIES

    Professor Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan was interviewed on the “Horizon” news and public affairs program about the Fulton Schools of Engineering’s Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC), where researchers are using machine learning, pattern recognition, haptics and human-computer interaction technologies to aid people living with physical disability challenges. Panchanathan founded and directs the center.

  • MEET ANAYA: AN ANALYTICAL AND CREATIVE 13 YEAR-OLD

    MEET ANAYA: AN ANALYTICAL AND CREATIVE 13 YEAR-OLD

    Anaya, a recent participant of our Wednesday’s Child and K-12 Outreach program, was part of a private session with one of Ira A. Fulton’s own Evelyn Holguin, a sophomore at Arizona State University. It was at this private session that Anaya realized that her passion for legos could segway into an engineering career. 

  • BUSINESS FOR BREAKFAST FEATURES ASU FULTON SUMMER CAMPS

    BUSINESS FOR BREAKFAST FEATURES ASU FULTON SUMMER CAMPS

    Assistant Professor Shane Underwood, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering School of Sustainability and the Built Environment and Shane Bycott, Coordinator Sr. K-12 Engineering Education and Outreach, were guests on the April 14 “Business for Breakfast” talk show on MoneyRadio1015.

    The “two Shanes,” as they were introduced by hosts  Ken Morgan and Mark Asher, outlined some of the many summer camp programs offered through Fulton Engineering this summer. You can listen to their interview at 27:15 mark in the program. 

  • ASU ESPORTS TEAM MAKES FINAL FOUR IN HEROES OF THE DORM TOURNAMENT

    ASU ESPORTS TEAM MAKES FINAL FOUR IN HEROES OF THE DORM TOURNAMENT

    After weeks of competition, a group of Arizona State University students, including two from Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, beat teams from across the country to secure a spot in the final four of a tournament called Heroes of the Dorm.

  • RESURRECTING ARIZONA’S GHOST TOWNS

    RESURRECTING ARIZONA’S GHOST TOWNS

    Brady Falk, biomedical engineering major, is one of 170 Barrett, the Honors College students presenting at the Celebrating Honors symposium on the Tempe campus. He has always been interested in healthy lifestyles and wearable technology. His project is a workout shirt with integrated sensors to predict fatigue in military personnel.

  • UNIVERSITIES BRING KNOWLEDGE, CURIOSITY TO HANOVER

    UNIVERSITIES BRING KNOWLEDGE, CURIOSITY TO HANOVER

    Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE) brought some of its startups to Germany’s Hannover Messe Technology and Trade show, including ASU’s very own Fluidic Energy, an ASU spin out that is partnering with Caterpillar Inc. and PLN, Indonesia’s state-owned electricity company. Together they will provide power to 500 remote villages and 1.7 million people. 

  • SRP/ASU TEAM UP IN RESEARCH AT POWER PLANT

    SRP/ASU TEAM UP IN RESEARCH AT POWER PLANT

    Researchers at Arizona State University and engineers at Salt River Project are conducting joint research studies to find new ways to use algae in the desert, specifically in the operation of power plants.

March

2016
  • 2016 HDD ACADEMY RESOUNDING SUCCESS

    2016 HDD ACADEMY RESOUNDING SUCCESS

    The 2016 Horizontal Directional Drilling Academy was hosted by the Arizona State University Del E. Webb School of Construction and Benjamin Media Inc., February 11-12. ASU Engineering Professor Samuel Ariaratnam and Academy sponsors worked to put on the second annual conference where more than 120 drillers from across North America gathered to discuss new HDD technologies.

  • BRAIN-ZAPPING GADGETS PROMISE TO MAKE YOU A BETTER YOU

    BRAIN-ZAPPING GADGETS PROMISE TO MAKE YOU A BETTER YOU

    William “Jamie” Tyler, ASU Assoc. Professor, SBHSE, co-founder of ASU spin-off Thync, addresses the wearable tech device and the future of stimulating key regions of the brain — with currents or magnetic fields — to affect emotions and physical well-being. 

  • WRONG PIPES INSTALLED AT BART BERRYESSA STATION

    WRONG PIPES INSTALLED AT BART BERRYESSA STATION

    When an NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit discovered that the BART extension from East Bay to San Jose had installed cast iron pipe instead of PCV pipe, ASU’s Professor Samuel Ariaratnam, chair of SSEBE’s construction engineering program, was consulted about the significance of the mistake. (Video no longer available.)

  • SHAWN GODDEYNE, P.E. NAMED YOUNG ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

    SHAWN GODDEYNE, P.E. NAMED YOUNG ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

    The Piedmont chapter of the South Carolina Society of Professional Engineers (SCSPE) has named Tindall’s Shawn Goddeyne, P.E. Young Engineer of the Year (YEOY). This award honors engineers who make outstanding contributions to the engineering profession and the community during the early years of their career. Goddeyne graduated from Arizona State University in 2006 with a Bachelors in Civil Engineering and again in 2008 with a Masters of Science in Structural Engineering.

February

2016
  • DAEDALUS ASTRONAUTICS ROCKET LAUNCH

    DAEDALUS ASTRONAUTICS ROCKET LAUNCH

    As a preview to Night of the Open Door events on the Tempe campus on Feb. 27, KPNX 12News featured the Daedalus Astronautics rocket awareness activities. Daedalus, a student-run organization dedicated to the design, manufacture, and launching of sounding rockets, sponsored hands-on water bottle and air compressor rocket launch activities. 

January

2016
Loading