New Breed Of Antennas

Researchers at NC State have developed shape-shifting antennas. These can overcome the limitations of traditional antennas by changing "... how far they can be bent – and how often – before they break completely."

From the article: "While the alloy makes an effective antenna that could be used in a variety of existing electronic devices, its durability and flexibility also open the door to a host of new applications. For example, an antenna in a flexible silicone shell could be used to monitor civil construction, such as bridges. As the bridge expands and contracts, it would stretch the antenna – changing the frequency of the antenna, and providing civil engineers information wirelessly about the condition of the bridge."

Click here to read more

Trump's tower (in Chicago) now 6th tallest building

From the Chicago Tribune:

"The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the global arbiter of height standards, has changed its criteria for measuring skyscrapers.

The old standard was that a skyscraper's height was determined by calculating the distance from the sidewalk outside the main entrance to the building's spire or structural top.

The new standard is that height is measured from "the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance" to the top.

For the Trump tower, this means an extra 27 feet in height. Its bottom is now considered to be the entrance to the still-unoccupied shops along the along the Chicago riverwalk, not the main entrance on Wabash Ave."

Click here for the full article.

Falling Smoke Stack

This is a slow-motion video of the demolition of a smoke stack (probably from a power plant) on the campus of Drexel University. At the 0:35 second mark, once the stack impacts the ground, you can see a shock wave travel through the glass cladding on the building in the center of the video.



(It helps to view the video in a full screen mode)

Ryugyong Hotel

Infamously ugly and unfinished, the shell of the Ryugyong Hotel dominates North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. But work on the skyscraper began again last summer after a 16-year hiatus and, as the company behind it tells the BBC's Matthew Davis, an end may finally be in sight.

Read more at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8306697.stm

Dynamic Soaring

From pbs.org:

...the concept of dynamic soaring dates back to the 1880s, when it was proposed by the physicist Lord Rayleigh. “He was watching the flight of birds and he figured out that birds could take advantage of gusts of wind,” explains Bowers. “He reasoned that as a stronger gust would hit a bird, the bird would see that as an increase in the amount of energy that it had and could convert that energy into an increase in altitude...”

Continue reading the article at pbs.org: Thermal vs. Dynamic Soaring

Changing Dynamics of Aerodynamics

The wind engineering community, like so many other science and engineering fields, are constantly exploring ways in which emerging and evolving technologies can be incorporated to enhance the current body of work.

This paper, entitled "The Changing Dynamics of Aerodynamics: New Frontiers," highlights some of the collaborative work being conducted between the NatHaz Lab and other partners. It will be presented at APCWE VII in Taipei, Taiwan.

Finding Order in Fluid Currents

"Over the past 10 years, scientists have made enormous strides in their ability to identify and make images of the underlying mechanics of flowing air and water, and to predict how objects move through these flows...."

... story continued at nytimes.com "Finding Order in the Apparent Chaos of Currents"

ICOSSAR 2009 Keynote

This video is of the first 10 minutes of Prof. Kareem's keynote address at ICOSSAR 2009.

Out of Step on the Bridge

(image from Wikipedia)

The Millennium Bridge in London, England, which opened in 2000, became famous for its "wobbly" motions after crowds of pedestrians moved across it. Different theories into the nature of the bridge motion were developed, one of which was highlighted in the May 2009 issue of ASCE's Civil Engineering Magazine in an article entitled "Bio-mechanics Research Yields Clues to Millennium Bridge Wobble." Dr. Kareem has provided some insightful follow-up comments to this article.

Making the most of storm damage

(image from Wikipedia)

In March of 2008, a tornado outbreak made its way through the city of Atlanta, GA. Roofs were damaged on low rise structures, trees were uprooted and glass damage was common to the high rise structures in the tornado's path. A year later, the city and building owners chose to make the best of the situation by rebuilding "Green".

Atlanta rebuilds "Green" after tornado. from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration may be required)