Engineering & Technology Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Zhang Yi, the lead scientist, and his team of researchers from Canada, Singapore, the UK, have successfully completed a study, comparing the efficiency of various bioreactors in producing Raspberry Ketone through Submerged Fermentation. This research marks the first time such a study has been conducted.

An international team of researchers from India and Singapore, led by Associate Professor Kheng Lim Goh from Newcastle University in Singpaore, has examined the impact of plastic waste management on creating a new type of clean-energy device, Tribo-electric nanogenerator. It compares recycling practices in Singapore and India, highlighting the importance of waste policies and infrastructure for successful recycling of plastics for making the clean-energy device. Challenges include contamination and decreased material quality with recycling.

An international team of researchers revisited the fundamentals of Negative Poisson's ratio structure (NPRS) and investigated its creation using laminated carbon fiber reinforced plastics, a strong and lightweight material. Their objective was to gain a deeper understanding of the process and explore potential applications, aiming to unlock new possibilities and advancements in the field of materials science for sustainability.

A team of researchers from universities in Thailand and Malaysia have collaborated to develop a unique kind of bioplastic sheet that is good for the environment and can decompose naturally. They made this bioplastic sheet using a byproduct of the bromelain industry which used the leftover pineapple stems from agricultural waste. This new type of bioplastic sheet has the potential to be used as single-use packaging material, as an alternative to the use of harmful plastic sheet, contributing to a more sustainable way of doing business and promoting a circular economy.

Scientists from Thailand, France and Singapore have conducted groundbreaking research using both tiny cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and long pineapple leaf fibers (PALF) to create stronger materials. They added varying amounts of CNF to epoxy and found that 1% CNF greatly increased impact strength. PALF-epoxy composites showed significant flexibility and strength improvements. Combining CNF and PALF resulted in a remarkable increase in impact strength. The findings could revolutionize stronger material development.

Scientists have shown that swarming molecular robots can deliver cargo five times more efficiently than a robot working on its own.

Shaking the compact, lightweight device generates enough electricity to power 100 LEDs.

A new apparatus uses electromagnets to remotely control guidewires through tiny, tortuous blood vessels for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

A research team at Osaka Metropolitan University has developed a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, which is only about 2 cm in diameter with a U-shaped metal vibration amplification component. The device allows for an increase of approximately 90 times in the power generation performance from impulsive vibration. Since the power generation performance can be improved without increasing the device size, the technology is expected to generate power to drive small wearable devices from non-steady vibrations, such as walking motion.

Researchers led by the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo develop a novel method for measuring seafloor movement

Osaka University researchers simplified the process of producing soft microrobots powered by biomolecular motor muscles by 3D-printing the constituent modules, including actuators and grabbers, in situ. This work may lead to significant advances in scalable production and microsurgery.

Osaka University researcher devises a scale for quantifying of the ability of android to produce artificial facial expressions. By measuring the range of motion compared with humans, this work may lead to more expressive robot helpers.

An international team of researchers, led by Changfang Zhao, from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, has developed a novel lightweight, high toughness auxetic structure made from plastic composite laminates. The auxetic structure may be used for constructing primary structures in the transport industry, such as electric vehicles, to maximize fuel efficiency.

Metals usually soften when they expand under heating, but a research team led by a City University of Hong Kong (CityU) scholar and other researchers have discovered a first-of-its-kind super-elastic alloy that can retain its stiffness even after being heated to 1,000K (about 727℃) or above, with nearly zero energy dissipation. The team believes that the alloy can be applied in manufacturing high-precision devices for space missions. The research team was led by Professor Yang Yong from CityU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering (MNE), together with his collaborators. The findings were published in the prestigious science journal Nature under the titled “A Highly Distorted Ultraelastic Chemically Complex Elinvar Alloy”.

The joint research team of Prof. Hongsoo Choi(DGIST) & Prof. Sung Won Kim(Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital), developed an hNTSC-based microrobot for minimally invasive delivery into the brain tissue via the intranasal pathway

Dr. Hyunki Lee's team selected for developing a system that precisely measures human movements

The Targeted Neuronal Network Regeneration research group from the Department of Robotics Engineering at DGIST was selected

A reimagined robot hand combines strength with resilience, sidestepping the problems that accompany existing designs.

A research team from the Faculty of Engineering of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has recently developed a water-tube-based triboelectric nanogenerator that can efficiently convert various irregular and low-frequency mechanical energies, including ocean wave energy, into electricity, providing a new avenue for the development of “blue energy”.

Research at Kanazawa University as reported in Scientific Reports demonstrates atomic force microscopy imaging that gets around the challenges of exciting very small cantilevers at their high megahertz resonance frequencies. The approach accomadates wide frequency bandwiths, and is applicable for photosensitive materials in a wide range of liquids.

A unique artificial intelligence approach is sifting through samples to find undiscovered fundamental particles that might clarify unexplainable physical phenomena.

Acute kidney injuries can sometimes trigger the deterioration of small blood vessels and capillaries, leading to chronic kidney disease. But, this process is not completely understood. Now, for the first time, researchers from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, in collaboration with teams from the University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA, have successfully used ultrasound super-resolution (USR) imaging to observe this process in live mice, revealing the promise of USR as a powerful diagnostic and research tool, and enhancing understanding of the disease.

Scientists are finding safer ways to keep drug-loaded microrobots attached to cancer tissue.

Two Kavli IPMU string theorists and a condensed-matter theorist have found a quantum mechanical anomaly in the duality between the electric field and the magnetic field, which could play a role in removing an inconsistency in string theory.

By combining a compressive sensing algorithm with a digital holographic microscope, Prof. Shih-Chi CHEN of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and his research team have developed a high-speed imaging method. The new approach is able to produce two-photon microscopy images of a 3D sample in one second, which is at a speed three to five times that of the conventional point-scanning method. The research result has been published in the journal Optics Letters recently.

Nanogenerator is a type of new technology that converts thermal and mechanical energy as produced by small-scale physical change into electricity. Its presence secures a stable and sustainable source of electricity that powers a wide range of small electronic devices equipped with a variety of features. A research team led by Prof. ZI Yunlong, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has recently developed a universal standardized method for evaluating the output capacity of nanogenerators. Compared with the conventional one, the new method can reflect the practical output capacity of the nanogenerator more accurately. This research will set an important foundation for the practical application and commercialisation of nanogenerators as an emerging energy harvesting technology. This research was published recently in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12465-2).

A research team, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has presented a system that can quantitatively complement the diagnosis of knee arthritis, which was performed only by x-ray and doctor’s judgment.

DGIST Professor Hongsoo Choi’s team developed a biodegradable micro-robot that performs both drug release and hyperthermia treatment into a desired area. Improved drug treatment and opened a new path of future anti-cancer treatment.

The School of Design and Human Engineering at South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has been selected to lead the exterior styling of Hyundai Motor’s autonomous vehicles.

A recent study, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has reported a highly flexible Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) with the NPR property.