I’ve been asked by some of you, by my kids, and by my students: What skills or talents does a good designer possess. I wish I had all the answers- but I have amassed a few findings over the years. I call these observations the four I’s- inquire, involve, interconnect, and intrust.
Continue reading Four Eyes? Or Four I’s?
I had the honor of knowing Bill Dobelle for more than 25 years. With his ever-present bowtie, he was enamored with bringing sight to the blind (which number about 15 million people around the world). I am sure if he hadn’t died prematurely at 64, he would have succeeded completely. As it was, he managed to enable those who had lost their sight to recognize shapes, patterns, and colors, using a series of implanted electrodes.
Continue reading Letting the blind see
The first time- and almost every time- you see someone have a seizure, you are frightened. Especially if it’s your child. You want someone to DO SOMETHING. But, some seizures are best left to their own courses, and some need intervention. Physicians will tell you they determine the severity of a seizure by how long it lasts- but that’s not a clinically responsible answer. Seizures are more severe when brainwaves are suppressed- but that requires EEG measurements, which require tons of sensors about the scalp and head. And, these are virtually impossible to wear all the time and typically would not survive a seizure, anyway.
Continue reading When is a Seizure an Emergency?
I don’t use aliases. Never let me kids use them, either. My eMail name has been RAAckerman@something.com forever- whether it was the predecessor to AOL, Hotmail, Microsoft Network, whatever. I need to stand behind what I say. But, that does not mean that I agree to be tracked everywhere I go.
Continue reading Big Brother IS Watching
When I first heard about this development, I thought they were working on something similar to what Bob Langer, a fellow ChemE grad student from MIT, was working on years ago. Normally, all bandaging does is to contain a wound, preventing infection from setting in. That’s why Bob Langer developed his artificial skin to treat burn patients more effectively, because the “new skin” effectively replaced the burned skin and precluded infection in the patient. This new device was being touted as a “smart bandage”. But, that’s not really what Dr. H. Kong (Chemical and Biomolecular engineering, University of Illinois-Urbana), along with Drs. Jeong, Chan, Cha, Zorlutuna, Dyck, Hsia, and Bashir are developing.
Continue reading Smart Bandage?
Creativity is at least half due to an inherited trait. Given that fact, you want to hire creative folks, since that gives you better odds to having creative new ideas within your organization. But, being creative does not mean the creative one can convert those ideas into a useful product or service. So, is there really an advantage in hiring those creative types? After all, it’s not like you can call me up tomorrow and say “Can you have that creative new invention for me by 12 noon? I need it for my press conference.”
Continue reading Got a better idea?
We’ve seen 3-D printers for rapid prototyping for a while now. And, the prices for these printers have been dropping to ‘home-affordable’ over the past few years (e.g., last May’s Cerebrations). Given these facts, Dr. Lee Cronin (University of Glasgow) heading a research group at the University of Glasgow (with Drs. Symes, Kitson, Yan, Richmond, Cooper, Bowman, and Vilbrandt of Uformia in Norway) developed yet another use for 3D printers- producing chemicals. They presented their findings in Nature.
Continue reading Drugs on demand?
The next wars will be about water and not oil. Because potable water is becoming as short in supply as any of our precious metals. It’s an issue in the Middle East. It’s an issue in Africa. It’s an issue in Asia. It’s an issue in the Western portion of the United States. It’s even an issue in Virginia and Florida.
Continue reading You’ll never think of humidity the same way again
I haven’t kept you up to date on the new things going on with 3D printing- you know, where you can “print” a real object. Sometimes called rapid prototyping, sometimes called additive layer manufacturing, these “printers” can use cells (as in living things), plastics, or other materials to construct the desired shapes or objects. The objects are “built up” by printing very thin layers repetitively- of the same material or different materials (to yield flexibility, strength, implantation, etc.) until the desired thickness is achieved.
Continue reading From flight to flights of fancy…
Imagine this scenario. It’s almost Christmas. And, you’re in a Hilton hotel bar- teeming with people celebrating, virtually wall to wall. And, you hear a voice. And, recognize it as that of a friend from decades past. “Jeffrey Fried, where are you?”, I call out. Seconds later… “Roy?”. I hadn’t seen Jeff in 21 years. But, I recognized his voice. (Which restarted our friendship for another decade, until I got married and moved away. Jeffrey Fried- where are you?)
Continue reading Can you hear me?