Mechanical Engineering News
Duct Tape, Empathy, and Radical Collaboration: A Tool Kit for Changing the World
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
A class brings together students from across Stanford to create and build products for some of the world's poorest people.
Global solar photovoltaic industry is likely now a net energy producer, Stanford researchers find
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The construction of the photovoltaic power industry since 2000 has required an enormous amount of energy, mostly from fossil fuels. The good news is that the clean electricity from all the installed solar panels has likely just surpassed the energy going into the industry's continued growth, Stanford researchers find.
Battle of the 'bots – Stanford students' robots duel amid raucous cheers
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Best finals project ever? Students in the Introduction to Mechatronics course build robots to do battle, sumo wrestler-style, to display their mastery of combining mechanical, electrical and computer engineering skills.
Ken Goodson named new chair of Stanford mechanical engineering
Thursday, March 14, 2013
First new department chair in 10 years is an expert in heat transfer in electronic nanostructures.
Stanford's GCEP will award $6.6 million for novel energy research
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The Global Climate and Energy Project will award $6.6 million for research that leads to cleaner fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Big Challenges, Big Ideas: Stanford Engineering Year in Review
Monday, January 7, 2013
Letter from the Dean of Stanford Engineering.
Peel-and-stick solar panels
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Decal-like application process allows thin, flexible solar panels to be applied to virtually any surface from business cards to roofs to window panes.
Stanford innovation: Self-healing skin, easier drink pouring, and a new kind of jump rope
Monday, December 17, 2012
Stanford University partners with all sorts of industries to cook up new ideas. Many of those ideas come from students, past and present. [National Geographic Magazine]
Summer in Shanghai
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Michael Si spent a memorable summer in Shanghai with Stanford's China Internship Program developing new skills and making new friends.
Summer in Beijing
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Joel Aguero spent a summer working in Beijing, but the lessons and the memories will last lifetime.
Stanford is new home to archives of Road & Track magazine
Monday, December 10, 2012
An interdisciplinary team of Stanford researchers and librarians is exploring the place of the automobile in modern society has inherited the entire 65-year archives from Road & Track magazine, becoming stewards of the legendary auto enthusiast magazine’s legacy and a trove of detailed prose, notes, test data and photos for future research.
Shelley, Stanford's robotic racecar, hits the track
Monday, August 13, 2012
Stanford's self-driving Audi TTS, Shelley, hit 120 mph on a recent track test. Combined with new research on professional drivers' brain activity, the car's performance could get even better.
Design and mechanical engineering share a seat in Stanford's Product Realization Lab
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Design class students design and fabricate chairs informed by historical reference, anthropometrics, form studies, user testing and materials investigations.
Stanford faculty is embracing online teaching opportunities
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The team leading Stanford's online education initiative announces seed grants to faculty members across campus for course development. "It's been a grassroots phenomenon, which really reflects Stanford's tradition of innovation and creativity," said John Mitchell, professor of computer science and President John Hennessy's special assistant for educational technology.
Dancing to her own rhythm: Alyson Yamada choreographs an individualized degree
Monday, July 16, 2012
Alyson Yamada was a promising ballerina until injury changed her plans. Now she's turned her interest in dance -- and her injury -- into an individualized major in biomechanical design and engineering.
New class lets Stanford students restore a piece of Americana
Thursday, June 14, 2012
A new course in mechanical engineering explores product design and manufacturing through the restoration of an old Cadillac DeVille.
Cloak and swagger: Engineers use plasmonics to create an invisible photodetector
Sunday, May 20, 2012
A team of engineers at Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania has for the first time used “plasmonic cloaking” to create a device that can see without being seen – an invisible machine that detects light. It is the first example of what the researchers describe as a new class of devices that controls the flow of light at the nanoscale to produce both optical and electronic functions.
Bejeweled: Nanotech gets boost from nanowire decorations
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Engineers at Stanford have found a novel method for "decorating" nanowires with chains of tiny particles to increase their electrical and catalytic performance. The new technique is simpler, faster and provides greater control than earlier methods and could lead to better batteries, solar cells and catalysts.
Robots dazzle spectators at Stanford block party, job fair
Monday, April 16, 2012
Inventors, researchers and toymakers showed off a variety of robots that do everything from dance to the King of Pop to help doctors perform more precise surgical procedures.
Stanford student's robotic invention moves toward a business
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Engineering student Jeff Kessler learned his robotic chops in Stanford classes, and found financial support for his robotic puppet from strangers online.
Robotic presidential candidates vie for votes
Monday, March 12, 2012
Stanford Engineering students apply electronics smarts to mock election.
Elliott Levinthal, Stanford professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, dead at 89
Monday, January 23, 2012
In a career that ranged from radar to medicine to outer space, Elliott Levinthal played an instrumental role in the schools of Engineering and Medicine and in the rise of Silicon Valley.
Vintage race cars give engineers new insights into man and machine
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Stanford researchers are using modern sensors to discover the secrets of how antique sports cars handle, to help build the cars of the future.
Mechanical Engineering Professor Sheri Sheppard wins teaching honor
Sheppard recognized for contributions to engineering education.
