Tag Archives: delaware

Best Paper

IEEE recognizes doctoral student’s robotics work with ‘Best Paper’ award

Ying Mao, a doctoral student studying mechanical engineering at the University of Delaware, earned the “Best Student Paper” award at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

IEEE is the “world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology.”

The paper, titled “Transition from Mechanical Arm to Human Arm with CAREX: a Cable Driven ARm EXoskeleton (CAREX) for Neural Rehabilitation,” was selected from among nearly 800 papers accepted to the conference. (more…)

Read More

A Country of Two Tales

Confucius Institute director addresses global impact of China’s economy

China’s economy has undergone astounding growth during the past 60 years, with its gross domestic product (GDP) climbing from just under $18 billion in 1949 to almost $6 trillion in 2011. Most of that growth has occurred since 1980, when the country’s economic reform began.

The result? China has emerged from being known as “the world’s most populous country” to the “growth engine for the world’s economy.”

But the double-digit growth that China witnessed every year from 2003 to 2011 has slowed, leading to much debate about the seriousness of the downturn and how it will reverberate across the globe. (more…)

Read More

Making Farm Fresh Affordable

New Food Bank program makes local produce accessible to low-income community

“We want to make sure you have access to the best produce,” says University of Delaware anthropology senior Dan Reyes. “To locally-, naturally- and organically-grown fruits and vegetables. Pesticide-free. Herbicide-free. The kinds of food normally too expensive to buy in grocery stores.”

The kinds of food that low-income households can now — thanks to the Food Bank of Delaware’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, developed by two UD students — purchase using their federal food benefits. (more…)

Read More

Sandy’s Underwater Sandscapes

UD researchers studying ‘fingerprint’ left on seafloor by Hurricane Sandy

Beneath the 20-foot waves that crested off Delaware’s coast during Hurricane Sandy, thrashing waters reshaped the floor of the ocean, churning up fine sand and digging deep ripples into the seabed. Fish, crustaceans and other marine life were blasted with sand as the storm sculpted new surfaces underwater.

UD scientists cued up their instruments to document the offshore conditions before, during and after Sandy’s arrival to scrutinize the differences and better predict the environmental impact of future storms. (more…)

Read More

Technology in the Classroom

Teaching future educators how to read and write in a new way

Rachel Karchmer-Klein, an associate professor in the University of Delaware’s School of Education, is teaching future educators to read and write multimodal texts, which includes everything from literature on a Kindle or iPad to information on a website.

“With traditional texts we teach students to read left to right, top to bottom, but electronic text is different because it contains multiple modes,” Karchmer-Klein explained. (more…)

Read More

Leader in Study Abroad

UD ranks third among U.S. public doctoral institutions in study abroad participation

The University of Delaware ranks third in study abroad participation among U.S. public doctoral institutions, according to the 2012 Open Doors report released Nov. 13 by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

During the 2010–11 academic year, more than one out of every three UD students (34.7 percent) studied abroad. Most pursued “short term” programs of eight weeks or less. (more…)

Read More

Improving Batteries

UD doctoral student studies ways to improve lithium battery performance

Lithium batteries are used in many devices such as cell phones, computers and cameras, among others.

University of Delaware doctoral student Wei-Fan Kuan is investigating ways to improve membranes used in lithium batteries by capitalizing on the innate properties of block copolymers.

It is work that he believes will become increasingly important as the components in electronic devices continue to get smaller. (more…)

Read More

Exploring Energy Poverty

Doctoral student studies energy poverty in Ghana, Africa

In the United States, electricity is a creature comfort many citizens take for granted. Yet for more than a billion people across the globe, particularly in developing regions, electrification is the exception, not the norm.

Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is the least electrified region in the world. It has the lowest generation capacity behind eastern South Asia and few programs that provide access to modern forms of energy. (more…)

Read More