Flat Panel and LCD Screens: Part 1

2018-02-13T16:36:45+00:00

Liquid crystal display (LCD) screens are omnipresent in our technologically saturated lives.  Having largely displaced the older CRT screens, LCDs make up a large portion of the digital imaging we see all around us.  They are present in everything from our ubiquitous smartphones and computer screens to digital billboards, wristwatches and vehicle and aircraft instrumentation.  How do flat panel LCD screens work? One can often find videos and articles documenting eager teardowns of new devices, but few delve beyond the hardware and into the materials and design behind the screen itself.  For this series of blog posts, we will be review some aspects of display technology , why they work, and how they are assembled.  To illustrate my points, I’ve disassembled a legacy Sony Ericsson® S500i phone [...]

Flat Panel and LCD Screens: Part 1 2018-02-13T16:36:45+00:00

Italian Masters: Leonardo da Vinci – Artist, Engineer, Scientist

2018-02-20T13:14:29+00:00

Figure 1: Leonardo da Vinci, by Francesco Melzi Over the course of this blog series, I have written about a number of Italian Masters of science and engineering, from astronomers like Galileo and Cassini to physicists like Torricelli and Venturi.  I’ve saved the best for last, however: Leonardo da Vinci.  He is the quintessential renaissance man who fits both our running definition of “Italian Master” as well as being included in the standard list of Masters with Rafael, Donatello and Michelangelo  Leonardo’s incredibly broad array of talents and interests have long been the subjects of movies, books, TV shows, and, of late, video games.  Throughout his life, he had one hand in the arts, ranging from painting, sculpting, music, history, and literature, [...]

Italian Masters: Leonardo da Vinci – Artist, Engineer, Scientist 2018-02-20T13:14:29+00:00

Italian Masters: Volta Jump-Starts Electrical Engineering

2018-02-21T10:28:40+00:00

Italian Masters: Volta Jump-Starts Electrical EngineeringFigure 1: Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576) Welcome back to our series on Italian Masters of math and science.  Last week I wrote about Galileo’s extensive accomplishments both in the field of astronomy and beyond.  This week, I’ll take a look at another renaissance polymath who dabbled in astronomy, along with his work in mathematics, medicine, biology, chemistry, philosophy, and gambling (yes, seriously): Girolamo Cardano.  Cardano is a less well-known figure than Galileo or some of the other scientists I’ve written about who have famous equations or units of measurement named after them, like Volta or Torricelli.  He is regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of his age, however, and made a great many contributions to science, [...]

Italian Masters: Volta Jump-Starts Electrical Engineering 2018-02-21T10:28:40+00:00

Italian Masters: Volta Jump-Starts Electrical Engineering

2017-11-07T16:51:43+00:00

Figure 1: Allesandro Volta We’ve been taking a break from hard-hitting mechanical engineering and materials science blogs with some pieces on the Italian masters of science, mathematics and engineering in the 16-19th centuries.  I’ve previously explored the lives and contributions of Evangelista Torricelli, Giovanni Venturi and Giovanni Cassini.  For this blog, I’m focusing on Alessandro Volta, who helped revolutionize our understanding of electricity and electrochemstry it in the late 18th century.  […]

Italian Masters: Volta Jump-Starts Electrical Engineering 2017-11-07T16:51:43+00:00

12 Years a Martian: Engineering Challenges on the Red Planet

2018-04-11T14:21:57+00:00

Figure 1: Mars Exploration Rover By NASA/JPL/Cornell University, Maas Digital LLC [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Depending on which Facebook pages or Twitter feeds you follow, some of you may have caught wind that Opportunity (Mars Exploration Rover B, Figure 1) recently passed its twelfth anniversary of its landing on the red planet.  Opportunity’s ongoing trek across Mars represents a fantastic accomplishment in engineering.  At the time I’m writing this, the rover has been in continual operation for over 4,300 Earth days (that’s about 4,185 Sols, or Martian days).  Considering its original planned mission time of 92 Earth days, Opportunity has exceeded its design lifetime by 4,700%.  Imagine having a car that, instead of a [...]

12 Years a Martian: Engineering Challenges on the Red Planet 2018-04-11T14:21:57+00:00

High-Purity Gas Panels Part 10: Pressure Transducers in Semiconductor Equipment

2017-05-31T11:56:37+00:00

An article on pressure transducers used in semiconductor fabs and semiconductor equipment.

High-Purity Gas Panels Part 10: Pressure Transducers in Semiconductor Equipment 2017-05-31T11:56:37+00:00

Project Management Elements Part Two: The Engineering Specification

2018-02-28T14:30:49+00:00

Engineering project management and the importance of the Engineering Specification

Project Management Elements Part Two: The Engineering Specification 2018-02-28T14:30:49+00:00

Engineering Consulting Firms and Hollywood Share a Common Bond

2018-04-05T16:23:36+00:00

Consulting engineers and Hollywood share a common bond in breathing new life into projects.

Engineering Consulting Firms and Hollywood Share a Common Bond 2018-04-05T16:23:36+00:00

IEEE 2014 Medal of Honor Recipient Comes from the Field of Power Semiconductors

2018-03-02T10:29:41+00:00

2014 IEEE Medal of Honor recipient comes from the field of power semiconductors.

IEEE 2014 Medal of Honor Recipient Comes from the Field of Power Semiconductors 2018-03-02T10:29:41+00:00

Series on Semiconductor Processing and ICs, Part 14: Inventions that Lead to the Modern Integrated Circuit

2017-05-08T11:40:59+00:00

A brief review of crucial semiconductor industry inventions that lead to current integrated circuits.

Series on Semiconductor Processing and ICs, Part 14: Inventions that Lead to the Modern Integrated Circuit 2017-05-08T11:40:59+00:00

UC Riverside Engineering Team Uses Silly Putty to Improve Batteries

2017-05-08T11:49:44+00:00

UC Riverside engineering team uses silicon dioxide found in Silly Putty to improve lithium-ion batteries.

UC Riverside Engineering Team Uses Silly Putty to Improve Batteries 2017-05-08T11:49:44+00:00

Biomimicry Advances Create e-Whiskers that Allow Robots to Feel

2017-05-09T15:45:03+00:00

As nanotechnology, or the building of machines at the molecule scale, and biomimicry has progressed and advanced, electronic skin and even electronic

Biomimicry Advances Create e-Whiskers that Allow Robots to Feel 2017-05-09T15:45:03+00:00

Electrical Engineers Bring Christmas Lights to the Masses

2017-05-09T16:40:43+00:00

Electrical engineers, Thomas Edison and Edward Johnson, designed a string of electrical lights that developed into modern day Christmas lights.

Electrical Engineers Bring Christmas Lights to the Masses 2017-05-09T16:40:43+00:00