Research
Researcher uses microwave to ‘bake’ experiments
An electrical engineer at Missouri University of Science and Technology is using microwave energy to test concrete and rehabilitated aluminum, and in the future her work could lead to safer bridges and aircraft parts.
Dr. Kristen Donnell, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Missouri S&T, studies those materials using an active microwave thermograph (AMT) that highlights flaws that could compromise safety or effectiveness. It works by using microwave energy to heat a defined section of material, which is looked at using infrared thermography imaging. It’s a method of nondestructive testing (NDT) that is fairly undeveloped, Donnell said, but it’s being pioneered at Missouri S&T.
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New way to store solar energy could lead to more common solar cell usage
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a relatively inexpensive and simple way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through a new electrodeposition method. The method produces highly efficient solar cells that can gather solar energy for use as fuel.
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Visitors’ Night at the S&T Observatory to feature viewing of Cygnus
The public is invited to view a cluster of stars in the constellation Cygnus through Missouri University of Science and Technology’s 16-inch telescope on Monday, Sept. 21.
Read More »Bai partners with DOE on CO2 storage, oil recovery
A Missouri University of Science and Technology researcher is working on a method to increase oil production and store carbon dioxide into oil formations — at the same time.
Dr. Baojun Bai, the Lester Birbeck Endowed professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering at Missouri S&T, has received a U.S. Department of Energy grant to make the process of drawing oil from underground and storing CO2 more efficient using thermostable particle gels, which can resist the high temperature of formations.
Read More »Missouri S&T team connects the dots in power supply systems
A Missouri University of Science and Technology researcher is working to produce algorithms for cyber-physical systems (CPS) to help bridge the gap between computational and physical systems in an increasingly interconnected world.
A CPS is a system of collaborating computers that control physical entities, such as power systems. The National Science Foundation awarded a team led by Dr. Jonathan Kimball, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Missouri S&T, $333,298 for the project. Also working on the project are Dr. Bruce McMillan, associate dean for research and outreach in the College of Engineering and Computing and a professor of computer science at Missouri S&T; and Dr. Mo-Yuen Chow, professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University.
Read More »Missouri S&T scientists study volcanoes, earthquakes
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are working to make Americans safer by finding a way to predict natural phenomena that’s been 60 million years in the making. Two geophysics professors at Missouri S&T are studying the North American plate to lay the foundation for predicting earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
For the past 60 million years, the North American plate—basically the whole continent—has been moving southwest at a rate of about an inch a year, says Dr. Kelly Liu, professor of geophysics at Missouri S$&. The shift is a continuation of the breaking of the giant supercontinent Pangea 200 million years ago. As the plate moves, it creates earthquakes and volcanic hot spots, huge mountain chains and gigantic ocean basins.
Read More »Flood damage after Katrina could have been prevented, S&T expert says
A decade after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, experts say the flooding that caused over 1,800 deaths and billions of dollars in property damage could have been prevented had the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers retained an external review board to double-check its flood-wall designs.
Read More »Professor Michael Schulz featured in physics journal
Dr. Michael Schulz, Curators’ Professor of physics and director of Missouri S&T’s Laboratory for Atomic, Molecular and Optical Research, was recently featured on the Journal of Physics website for his JPhysB journal article Influence of the post-collision interaction on interference effects in ionization of H2 by proton impact. In this interview, republished here with permission from JPhysB, he answers our questions about his research, what […]
Read More »Campus flora fuels researcher’s imagination
To improve fuel cell efficiency, Dr. Umit Koylu looks to the trees outside his office.
Koylu, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, has received a six-month $50,000 Innovation Corps Teams (I Corps) Program grant from the National Science Foundation to accelerate tech-transfer and explore commercialization of a biology-inspired polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. And the campus flora is his inspiration.
Read More »App helps patients with depression
Individuals who are affected by depression now have a new tool to help them: a smartphone application that lets users log their moods and symptoms and share that data with their psychiatrists.
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