In This Issue
Winter Bridge on Frontiers of Engineering
December 15, 2017 Volume 47 Issue 4
Articles In This Issue
  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorRonald M. Latanision and Cameron H. Fletcher

    New Bridge Policy

    We appreciate suggestions for and feedback on The Bridge. For the most part these are positive, but in the past few months concerns were raised by two of our members about inaccuracies published in a Bridge article. We take such concerns very seriously. Previously, we have ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017

    Effective with the spring 2018 issue, The Bridge will be delivered electronically to overseas recipients, or you may choose to download each issue in PDF format at www.nae.edu/Bridge.aspx. This will ensure timely receipt and reduce the number of undeliverable dispatches.

    Also beginning in 2018, ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorRobert D. Braun

     

    There’s no better collection of brainpower gathered in one place each year than the US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (US FOE). This year’s event was hosted September 25–27 by United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) in East Hartford, Connecticut. About 100 ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorJordan Boyd-Graber

    Machine learning is ubiquitous: it is involved in detecting spam emails, flagging fraudulent purchases, and providing the next movie in a Netflix binge. But few users at the mercy of machine learning outputs know what’s happening behind the curtain. My research goal is to demystify the black ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorTimothy D. Heidel and Craig Miller

    Agile and fractal power system design and control methods are needed to realize the benefits of distributed generation and storage technologies.

    The methods used to plan and operate the grid since the dawn of electrification have worked well. Indeed, the US grid has set the absolute standard for ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorKhurram Afridi

    Road transportation, which accounts for 23 percent of US total energy consumption, 59 percent of petroleum consumption, and 22 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (Davis et al. 2016), is undergoing a major transformation with the advent of ridesharing, autonomous driving, and vehicle ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorKonrad Paul Kording, Ari S. Benjamin, Roozbeh Farhoodi, and Joshua I. Glaser

    While the direct goal of biological modeling is to describe data, it ultimately aims to find ways of fixing systems and enhancing understanding of system objectives, algorithms, and mechanisms. Thanks to engineering applications, machine learning is making it possible to model data extremely well, ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorMahsa Shoaran, Benyamin A. Haghi, Masoud Farivar, and Azita Emami

    Brain disorders such as dementia, epilepsy, migraine, and autism remain largely undertreated, but neural devices are increasingly being used for their treatment. Such devices are designed to interface with the brain, monitor and detect neurological abnormalities, and trigger an appropriate type of ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorSamuel C. Florman

    One Sunday evening this past August I turned on the TV and idly flipped from one station to the next. I landed on the start of an old favorite, 60 Minutes, and decided to see what this CBS stalwart was up to. I knew from experience that in summer the program often revisits topics reviewed earlier ...

  • Friday, December 15, 2017
    AuthorHolly Morris

    An Interview with…

    Holly Morris, Television Reporter and News Anchor

     Holly Morris Photo

    RON LATANISION (RML): Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today.

    HOLLY MORRIS: My pleasure. Thank you for the interest.

    RML: We were absolutely delighted to learn we could ...