News - Part 18

Features

When Disaster Strikes

BY MARY LORD PHOTOGRAPHS BY LEE CELANO Recovering from Katrina’s damage, two New Orleans engineering schools make emergency preparation a priority. For Nicholas Altiero, dean of Tulane University’s College of…

Teaching

Some Disassembly Required

BY CORINNA WU Reverse engineering – taking products apart to learn how they work – can be a valuable design training exercise.   When Apple’s iPhone first came out in…

Cover Story

Life Support Systems

BY THOMAS K. GROSE ILLUSTRATION BY LARRY JOST Engineers offer ways to get American healthcare off the ‘critical’ list.   As a nurse, I’m a menace. One of my patients…

Features

Premium Prices

A growing number of colleges charge students higher tuition for engineering. What does this mean for low-income students and the future of U.S. technology?   Engineering students stand out from…

Up Close

Goal Oriented

BY DAVID ZAX Robo-soccer coach, teacher and fundraiser, this Spelman College computer science professor aims high. Can he inspire a black, female Bill Gates?   ATLANTA — Like many engineering educators,…

Teaching

Getting To The Core

BY MARY LORD ILLUSTRATION BY LUNG-I LO  Engineering educators team up with social scientists to find what matters most in teaching.   Engineers are practical, hands-on problem-solvers for whom nothing…

Cover Story Features

Greener & Safer

BY MEGAN SCULLY ILLUSTRATION BY STUART BRIERS Researchers devise new technologies to protect troops, including a trash-to-energy refinery. But a solution to roadside bombs remains elusive.   When garbage piles…

Features

LAST WORD: Bury the Cold War Curriculum

BY DAVID E. GOLDBERG U.S. educators should instead stress qualitative thinking skills. The engineering curriculum is broken, and despite action by the National Academy of Engineering and National Science Foundation,…