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Articles by Mike Krapfl
Renewable materials build low-cost batteries to store wind energy
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Soy-based pavement technology replaces, renews roadways
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New 'gene gun' design boosts efficiency of plant genetic modification
Plant scientists have used a standard "gene gun" since 1988 to genetically modify crops for better yield, nutrition, pest resistance and other valuable traits. That technology, which loads genetic materials on tiny particles and uses high pressure to shoot them into plant cells, has presented challenges to plant scientists, including inefficiency, inconsistency and even tissue damage caused by high-velocity particles.
Science association honors nine Iowa State innovators for 'scientific excellence'
Nine Iowa State researchers working in agriculture, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, psychology, and statistics are part of the latest class of AAAS Fellows. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the world's largest scientific societies and publisher of the journal Science, announced its class of 2024 fellows today. The recognition is considered "a distinguished lifetime honor within the scientific community," according to the association.
Quad Cities Manufacturing Institute partners with Iowa State to serve defense, manufacturing sectors
Mike Krapfl August 30, 2024 at 7:04 AM·3 min read The Quad Cities Manufacturing Institute (QCMI) launched Aug. 23 as a catalyst for the defense and manufacturing sectors across the Midwest. QCMI is a partnership between Western Illinois University, the University of Illinois System and Iowa State University that will focus on research and development, and workforce development in advanced manufacturing and materials.
Total external funding increases to a record $544.6 million
Iowa State researchers attracted a record $346.2 million in external funding for the fiscal year that ended June 30. That's the third straight year of record research funding and the second straight of more than $300 million. Overall, Iowa State's total external funding for fiscal year 2024 increased to $544.6 million, rising $14.1 million and 2.7% over the prior fiscal year's total of $530.5 million.
How Iowa State University hopes to keep renewable energy secure from cyberattacks
Iowa State University's Manimaran Govindarasu believes bringing renewable energy to the power grid raises all kinds of “internet-of-things” issues. That’s because “everything is connected,” said the Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering. Solar inverters and wind farm controllers are connected to the Internet.
Student engineers solve industry problems and deliver economic value
Editor's note: This feature is the second in news service's 2024 Innovation at Work series of stories, photos and videos that highlight economic development and the impact of Iowa State's contributions across the state. A new entry will post every Tuesday through April 23. To get a vintage trolley to stop, an operator grabs the handle of part SA-26, an independent brake valve, and pushes to the right.
2024 Innovation at Work: Student-engineers solve industry problems and deliver value
By Mike Krapfl, News Service AMES, Iowa – To get a vintage trolley to stop, an operator grabs the handle of part SA-26, an independent brake valve, and pushes to the right. Compressed air runs through the system and forces brake shoes against the wheels to slow and stop the trolley. To get going again, the operator, no doubt dressed in throwback hat and uniform, releases the brakes with a pull to the left and a rush of vented air.
Symposium celebrates 15 years of greening campus
Merry Rankin, working away at her desk last week, was surrounded by a "Clothes Donations Here" box, another box for "Green Promises" postcards, bags of clothing to swap, posters to hang and much more for the 2024 Symposium on Sustainability and its affiliated Sustainapalooza. This year's symposium -- starting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb.
Exploring microstructures for high-performance materials
In just the first few months of 2024, the journal Nature has published two scientific papers co-authored by Kun Luo, an Iowa State University postdoctoral research associate in materials science and engineering.
Brown elected to National Academy of Inventors
Robert C. Brown, an Iowa State engineer who has 26 U.S. patents, has been elected a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Robert C. Brown Many of Brown's inventions involve the thermochemical conversion of biomass such as corn stalks or wood chips into a liquid bio-oil for energy and a biochar for fertilizer. One such invention changed how a technology called fast pyrolysis provides energy to the process of breaking down biomass.
Centennial commemoration of Jack Trice closes with ceremony, posthumous degree
Iowa State's yearlong commemoration of Jack Trice on the 100th anniversary of his death will close on Sunday, Oct. 8, with a central campus ceremony, including the awarding of a posthumous degree to family members. The closing ceremony begins at noon northwest of the campanile. (In case of inclement weather, the event will move to the Durham Great Hall of the Memorial Union.) The event is free and open to the public.
Centennial commemoration of Jack Trice closes with ceremony, posthumous degree
Iowa State University’s year-long commemoration of Jack Trice on the 100th anniversary of his death will close on Sunday, Oct. 8, with a central campus ceremony, including the awarding of a posthumous degree to family members. The closing ceremony begins at noon near the Campanile. (In case of inclement weather, the event will move to the Durham Great Hall of the Memorial Union.) The event is free and open to the public.
Chemists build synthetic catalysts to break down biomass like super enzymes
Yan Zhao gestured toward the trees outside his campus window on a rainy afternoon. The professor of chemistry at Iowa State University is developing new synthetic catalysts to break down cellulose, the plant fibers that make those trees tall and strong. “Cellulose is built to last — a tree doesn’t just disappear after rain,” Zhao said.
‘Broadband Prairie’ rural wireless project moves to public phase of researching, testing
A wireless tower at Iowa State University’s Ag Engineering/Agronomy Farm west of Ames (IA) is loaded with hardware sending radio waves across the countryside, creating wireless internet connections for rural users. There are more poles, antennas, and cabinets full of electronics on the roof of the Economic Development Core Facility at the Iowa State University Research Park. There are also electronics and lower-to-the-ground antennas next to research fields and in a sheep barn.
NSF awards Iowa researchers $20 million to build advanced biomanufacturing capacity
Researchers across Iowa will work together to build the knowledge, infrastructure and capacity for the state to lead advanced biomanufacturing. The National Science Foundation (NSF) will support the work with a five-year, $20 million grant from its Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (known as EPSCoR). The program is designed to build research capabilities and expertise across the country.
Two faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences
Two faculty members -- Jonathan Wendel and Dan Shechtman -- are among the 143 scholars elected this year to the National Academy of Sciences, a prestigious honor that recognizes contributions to scientific research. "Iowa State University is extremely proud to have two faculty members elected to the National Academy of Sciences," said president Wendy Wintersteen. "Dr. Wendel and Dr. Shechtman have a long history of extraordinary achievement through their scientific research and scholarship.
Innovation at Work: Nearly four decades of study filling 46 lab notebooks - all for better batteries
By Mike Krapfl, News Service AMES, Iowa – Steve Martin has seven plaques hanging above his office windows, each commemorating an invention or co-invention, each showing off the front page of an official U.S. patent. As you’d expect, a patent is a technical document.
Machine vision, automation streamline logistics and warehousing operations
Machine vision insights Due to staffing shortages and major supply chain issues, manufacturers are willing to emphasize automation more to meet surging demand. Machine vision and sensing technologies are a major part of this trend. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) used machine vision and sensing technologies to move around freely and a key part around automation when it comes to logistics.
Innovation at Work: Growing the ‘Broadband Prairie’ for smart agriculture, connected rural communities
By Mike Krapfl, News Service AMES, Iowa – It’s a 40-minute road trip from Ames to Zearing, with a few right-angle turns to the north and east. This time of year, you’ll drive past fields that are black and damp, still stubbled with the remains of last year’s corn and soybean crops. You’ll also drive past rows of turbines spinning in the spring winds, harvesting a new cash crop.
Machine vibration analysis benefits for manufacturers
In the 1970s and 80s condition monitoring was largely restricted to audible monitoring with technology playing little part. You literally listened to the equipment. There is a lot to be said for this and an experienced pair of ears can pick up useful information. Similarly, a visual inspection can also provide some information such as discoloration on bearings’ raceways, cages and balls which can often be the result of increased vibration leading to wear.
Vision for ultra-precision ag: Machine learning, plant sensing, robots tending crops
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed small-scale robots that can fertilize, weed and cull single plants in a field. This photo shows testing in an Iowa State University soybean plot. Credit: Photo by Ashlyn Rairdin and courtesy of Soumik Sarkar/Iowa State University A gardener hoping for a crop of the juiciest summer tomatoes might tend to each and every plant in a plot. But a farmer working to feed the world? Researchers believe it's possible.
Deploying digital twins on a city scale
As part of the virtual ARC Industry Forum this year, we continued our executive interviews with leaders in the world of manufacturing, industry, and critical infrastructure. This year’s interviews were focused on different initiatives that accelerate digital transformation in a post-COVID world. Phil Christensen, vice president of Digital Cities Reality and Spatial Modeling at Bentley Systems, about how Bentley is helping cities in developing and deploying Digital Twins at City Scale.
How to tune servo systems: Force control, Part 4: Questions and answers
Learning Objectives How to tune servo systems: Force control, Part 4 webcast offers more answers to listener questions. Tuning answers cover servo stability, sensors, compensation. Temperature can affect precision motion control./li> Tuning the servo system to performance specifications can be among the most troubling tasks in machine building. It’s not always about what three numbers should go into the proportional-integrated-derivative (PID) controller.
Deep-learning models code more like humans
Whatever business a company may be in, software plays an increasingly vital role, from managing inventory to interfacing with customers. Software developers, as a result, are in greater demand than ever, and that’s driving the push to automate some of the easier tasks that take up their time. Productivity tools suggest snippets of code that developers can easily drop into their work as they write.
Developing a SCADA master plan framework
Learning Objectives Learn what a SCADA master plan is, and review a SCADA master plan framework. Understand who needs SCADA master planning. Identify the different approaches to SCADA master planning. The significant role that technology plays in today’s water and wastewater industry is widely known. The proper choices and implementation of the supervisory control and data acquisition system’s components to ensure the continuity of the facilities operation and success is essential.
Low-level risk assessment for cybersecurity
The low-level risk assessment is a detailed analysis typically performed after a high-level risk assessment or, sometimes, conducted on specific plants in order to deeply assess the precise risk estimate of a cyber attack. In general, the low-level risk assessment focuses on the most sensitive equipment reported from the high-level risk assessment, and in relation to the potential most critical consequences of a cyber attack.
Graphene-based biosensors used to develop mass COVID-19 tests Original
Iowa State University engineers are using graphene-based biosensors to develop better, cheaper, quicker, more accessible testing for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The studies are part of two federal programs looking for better ways to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 infections, and, potentially, any future viral outbreaks.
How remote working helps people share knowledge, experiences
As we continue to battle the pandemic, every organization across the world has been affected in some form. We have learned to adapt and change the way we have typically gone about our business, pushing us to get more creative. From home work stations to changing the way we regularly conduct meetings, we have found solutions to problems and ways to implement new best practices in our firm moving forward.
Field study shows icing can cost wind turbines up to 80% of power production
This drone photo from a field study of icing on wind turbines shows how ice accumulated at the tip of a turbine blade during a winter storm. Credit: Hui Hu/Iowa State University Wind turbine blades spinning through cold, wet conditions can collect ice nearly a foot thick on the yard-wide tips of their blades. That disrupts blade aerodynamics. That disrupts the balance of the entire turbine.
Metal whispering: Finding a better way to recover precious metals from electronic waste
New technology developed by Iowa State engineers uses heat and oxidation to recover pure and precious metals from electronic waste. It works in two ways—it can bring the most reactive components to the surface, forming stalagmite-like spikes (left); and it can leave the least reactive components in the core surrounded by metal-oxide spikes, creating a "ship-in-a-bottle" structure (right). Credit: Martin Thuo.
Slotless versus slotted brushless DC motors
The last decade has seen a growing acceptance of brushless DC motors as an alternative to brushed dc motors for applications requiring combinations of high speed (above 12,000 rpm) and long operating life. There are trade-offs, of course: Coreless brush commutated motors offer simple control and free from cogging, while the complexity of construction of brushless dc motors mean the cost is higher.
Manufacturers’ response to COVID-19 uncoordinated, unprepared Original
Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have examined how manufacturers are — or aren’t — pivoting successfully in response to major manufacturing disruptions as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Your questions answered: Improve industrial facility energy management: a process-based approach
With new standards and aggressive initiatives for continuous energy management and sustainability reporting, industrial facilities are seeking ways to gain improved energy use. Isolating areas of energy waste and improving energy management capabilities enables facilities to achieve efficiency, cost savings, improved operations and sustainability.
How to Drive Supply Chain Efficiency and Resilience with Additive Manufacturing
Attendees qualify for a Certificate of Completion. We live in a dynamic world where conventional supply chains can put pressure on your bottom line. Rapidly changing preferences, volatile labor conditions and costly outsourcing make it slow and expensive to source unique parts and maintain stability in your business.
Your questions answered: Improve industrial facility energy management: a process-based approach
With new standards and aggressive initiatives for continuous energy management and sustainability reporting, industrial facilities are seeking ways to gain improved energy use. Isolating areas of energy waste and improving energy management capabilities enables facilities to achieve efficiency, cost savings, improved operations and sustainability.
Integrated advanced analytics program improves pumping systems
By Dr. Marc Heggemann and Seth Tate October 20, 2020 Pumping systems, especially those classified as ‘high-energy’, deliver raw materials, such as oil, gas and water, to processing plants before they are transformed into products that are used in everyday life. Analyzing asset health to optimize operation and maintenance actions provides the competitive advantage in production and transportation and thus the motivation for introducing machine learning.
Manufacturing biobased electronics for sensors, batteries Original
Iowa State's Jonathan Claussen is studying how plant-based inks can be used to print low-cost, biodegradable and recyclable sensors that can, for example, detect nitrate and ammonium. Larger illustration. Courtesy: Jonathan Claussen, Iowa State University Researchers will use an advanced manufacturing grant to develop technologies that use plant-based inks to print low-cost, biodegradable and recyclable electronics for sensors and batteries.
DIY COVID-19 testing kit research receives NSF grant
This is an example of a paper, printed sensor under development by Nigel Reuel and his research group at Iowa State University. Courtesy: Nigel Reuel, Iowa State University There would be no tents set up in parking lots. No long lines of cars. No medical staff in full protective gear. No waiting for results. Instead, users would take their own COVID-19 diagnostic test at home with a $1 (or so) kit.
Cyber-physical system developed to improve agriculture production
This sensor can be buried to continuously measure water tension in soil, a reading that can be related to soil water content. It's part of a cyber-physical agriculture system being developed by researchers at Iowa State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Courtesy: Liang Dong, Iowa State University After decades of growing corn and soybean yields across the Midwest’s Corn Belt, per-acre yields are approaching their theoretical limits.
Engineer uses metal-oxide nanomaterials deposited on cloth to wipe out microbes
Here's a sample from Sonal Padalkar's lab: a carbon cloth coated with zinc oxide nanomaterials that are just billionths of a meter in size. Padalkar says the shape, size and density of the zinc oxide can be fine-tuned on the cloth. Credit: Sonal Padalkar In an effort to make highly sensitive sensors to measure sugar and other vital signs of human health, Iowa State University's Sonal Padalkar figured out how to deposit nanomaterials on cloth and paper.
Solving a 50-year-old puzzle in signal processing, part two
Here are three examples of 16-point chirp contours on the unit circle. The ICZT algorithm developed by Iowa State engineers can work with all three while the one previously used can work only with the last contour. Credit: Alexander Stoytchev. Iowa State University's Alexander Stoytchev says it's one of the "most popular and useful" algorithms around—even though most of us have never heard of it.
Chemists use mass spectrometry tools to determine age of fingerprints
Chemists Young-Jin Lee and Paige Hinners may have found a way to determine when a fingerprint was left behind. Credit: Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University Fingerprints are telling us more and more about the people that left them behind. Sure, we all know the unique whorls, loops and arches in a print can identify a person. But now researchers are studying how the natural and environmental compounds within them can also offer clues about a person's lifestyle, gender and ethnicity.
Astronomers reveal rare double nucleus in nearby 'Cocoon Galaxy'
Iowa State astronomers -- Left to right, Charles Kerton, Curtis Struck and Allen Lawrence -- have revealed a rare double-nucleus structure in a nearby and well-known galaxy. Credit: Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University Allen Lawrence, wrapping up a long career as an electrical engineer, was serious about moving his astronomy hobby beyond the 20-inch telescope he'd hauled to star parties under the dark skies of Texas and Arizona.
Engineers develop 'chameleon metals' that change surfaces in response to heat
This illustration shows how a particle of 'chameleon metal' reacts to higher and higher temperatures by sequentially changing its surface structure. Credit: Andrew Martin/Iowa State University Just like a chameleon changes its skin color in response to its environment, engineers have found a way for liquid metal—and potentially solid metal—to change its surface structure in response to heat.
Engineers solve 50-year-old puzzle in signal processing
Vladimir Sukhoy and Alexander Stoytchev, left to right, with the derivation for the ICZT algorithm in structured matrix notation -- the answer to a 50-year-old puzzle in signal processing. Credit: Paul Easker Something called the fast Fourier transform is running on your cell phone right now. The FFT, as it is known, is a signal-processing algorithm that you use more than you realize.
Machine learning looks for useful data in U.S. thunderstorm reports
A thunderstorm's shelf cloud approaches the Iowa State campus. Credit: Bill Gallus Bill Gallus has been known to chase a summer storm or two. But he didn't have to go after this one. On July 17, 2019, a thunderstorm approached the Iowa State University campus. Gallus, a professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, headed to the roof above his office in the Agronomy Building. And he didn't forget a camera. One of his photos shows a shelf cloud marking the edge of severe thunderstorm winds.
Physicists use light waves to accelerate supercurrents, enable ultrafast quantum computing
Researchers have demonstrated light-induced acceleration of supercurrents, which could enable practical applications of quantum mechanics such as computing, sensing and communicating. Credit: Jigang Wang/Iowa State University Jigang Wang patiently explained his latest discovery in quantum control that could lead to superfast computing based on quantum mechanics: He mentioned light-induced superconductivity without energy gap. He brought up forbidden supercurrent quantum beats.
Astronomers take first, high-resolution look at huge star-forming region of Milky Way
This image from a radio telescope shows a huge star-forming region of the outer Milky Way galaxy. The ovals identify the main subdivisions of the region's molecular cloud, including the smaller 1a, which is very efficient at producing stars. Credit: Charles Kerton/Iowa State University Astronomers from the United States and South Korea have made the first high-resolution, radio telescope observations of the molecular clouds within a massive star-forming region of the outer Milky Way.
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