Engineering Articles

While technologies such as computer-aided design (CAD) benefit considerably from modern enhancements to software and engineering, the history of these developments spans more than 60 years. In 1957, Dr. Patrick Hanratty created the first numerical control system that would eventually become CAD software. Both CAD and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) have… Read more >

When a drill on the Mars Curiosity rover broke, it was up to mechanical engineer Megan Richardson and her team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to fix it from 33.9 million miles away. It can take nearly an hour for the rover to receive Richardson’s commands and respond back, so… Read more >

As roads and highways fall into disrepair, the widespread need for major infrastructure investments has become central to policy debates across the United States. There are urgent questions about how to rebuild our transportation systems so they are safe, durable and environmentally sustainable. Civil engineers who specialize in pavement design,… Read more >

The transportation sector has undergone a sea change over the past few years, as more cities pilot smart city initiatives with intelligent transportation systems (ITS). With ITS technologies, cities can gather and analyze data to design safer roads, cleaner vehicles, and more efficient travel. New York City, for example, has… Read more >

Advances in autonomous vehicles are unlocking possibilities that would have seemed incredible just a few years earlier. Residents and visitors in Arlington, Texas can book a self-driving hybrid Lexus RX to travel around downtown. Companies like Waymo — the autonomous-driving subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet — have tested vehicles… Read more >

On April 10, 2019, astronomers published a photograph of a black hole, giving humans their first ever peek at one of the universe’s most mysterious and fascinating phenomena. A worldwide team of researchers was involved in the project, but one important contributor was a postdoctoral fellow named Katie Bouman. Drawing… Read more >

The future of transportation promises amazing possibilities, like highways equipped with integrated systems that warn connected and autonomous vehicles about hazardous conditions in real time. But realizing those possibilities as well as ensuring safer, more efficient and more sustainable transportation requires the contributions of experts in infrastructure design and development…. Read more >

Electrical engineering and computer engineering are two of the most wide-ranging career fields of the digital era, with job opportunities in a number of industries. Finance, health care and energy are just a few of the large-scale industries that hire engineers regularly. Even socially oriented fields like politics and education… Read more >

Engineers have a particular set of skills that often put them in the lead of new technology initiatives and discoveries. For example, M.Emin Kutay, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University is researching ways to enhance pavement technology to improve Michigan’s roads…. Read more >

The renewable energy industry has seen impressive, global growth over the last decade, and mechanical engineers have played a key role in enabling the world’s transition to clean energy and more sustainable practices. In 2018, for example, mechanical engineers looked at ways of improving the design of wind turbines, and… Read more >