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CEE,Research NewsSeptember 14, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – The same properties of nanoparticles that make them so appealing to manufacturers may also have negative effects on the environment and human health.
However, little is known which particles may be harmful. Part of the problem is determining exactly what a nanoparticle is.
A new analysis by an international team of researchers from the Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT), based at Duke University, argues for a new look at the way ...
August 18, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – Naturally occurring organic matter in water and sediment appears to play a key role in helping microbes convert tiny particles of mercury in the environment into a form that is dangerous to most living creatures.
This finding is important, say Duke University environmental engineers, because it could change the way mercury in the environment is measured and therefore regulated. This particularly harmful form of the element, known as methylmercury, is a potent toxin ...
May 20, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – Without knowing how much of an industrial chemical is being produced, it is almost impossible for scientists to determine if it poses any threat to the environment or human health.
Civil engineers at Duke University believe they have come up with a novel way of estimating how much of one such material – titanium dioxide – is being generated, laying the groundwork for future studies to assess any possible risks.
This information is especially ...
March 24, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -– Half of all Americans expect another country to emerge this century as the world’s leader in addressing technological challenges that range from the economy to global warming, according to a survey of U.S. public opinion released March 3 by Duke University.
Although only 34 percent of Americans gave themselves a grade of A or B for understanding “the world of engineers and what they do,” 72 percent nonetheless expect the technological advancements of ...
March 5, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. – Microscopic particles of carbon known as buckyballs may be able to keep the nation’s water pipes clear in the same way clot-busting drugs prevent arteries from clogging up.
Engineers at Duke University have found that buckyballs hinder the ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to accumulate on the membranes used to filter water in treatment plants. This attribute leads the researchers to believe that coating pipes and membranes with these nanoparticles may prove ...
November 10, 2008
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering challenges college students in the U.S. to create a video and an essay in response to this question: Which of the 14 grand challenges identified by the National Academy of Engineering would you choose to address, and how would you do it?
The National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges (http://www.engineeringchallenges.org) has identified 14 critical barriers to a sustainable way of life. They represent problems that will require ...
September 17, 2008
DURHAM, NC--The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have awarded $14.4 million to create the Center for Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) to explore the potential ecological hazards of nanoparticles.
Nanoparticles are as much as a million times smaller than the head of a pin, and have unusual properties compared with larger objects made from the same material. These unusual properties make nanomaterials attractive for use in everything from computer hard-drives to ...
September 9, 2008
ZURICH, Switzerland – A team of materials scientists and toxicologists announced the formation of a new international research alliance to establish protocols for reproducible toxicological testing of nanomaterials in both cultured cells and animals.
Pratt’s Mark Wiesner, James L. Meriam Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering is part of this research effort.
The International Alliance for NanoEHS Harmonization (IANH) was unveiled Sept. 9 at Nanotox 2008, one of the world's largest biennial nanotoxicological research meetings.
“When this team ...
July 31, 2008
DURHAM, N.C. –- As microbes in the soil break down fallen plant matter, a diet “balanced” in nutrients appears to help control soil fertility and the normal release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
When plants drop their leaves, stems and twigs, this organic matter slowly becomes part of the soil as a result of decomposition, which is facilitated by bacteria and other microbes. This process adds plant nutrients to the soil and ...
June 26, 2008
Professor Tod Laursen has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Dean Robert Clark and Dean designee Tom Katsouleas announced on June 26. He succeeds professor Franklin H. Cocks, who served as interim chair during the 2007/2008 academic year.
“Tod is well known and respected for his scholarship, leadership, judgment and academic values. He has ambitious goals for MEMS and we expect him to be a transformative Chair,” said Katsouleas.
Laursen received ...
June 19, 2008
Residence hall/laboratory receives state's first platinum LEED rating
DURHAM, NC -- The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University, a 10-person student residence hall for green living and learning, has achieved a top-level platinum standard for its design from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. The building becomes the first in North Carolina to achieve that standard.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The 6,000-square foot-residence, designed by students and advisers, earned 59 ...
June 3, 2008
DURHAM, N.C. – A genetic tool used by medical researchers may also be used in a novel approach to remove harmful microbes and viruses from drinking water.In a series of proof-of-concept experiments, Duke University engineers demonstrated that short strands of genetic material could successfully target a matching portion of a gene in a common fungus found in water and make it stop working. If this new approach can be perfected, the researchers believe that it ...
April 21, 2008
Two years after receiving prestigious fellowships designed to support women scientists, three Pratt graduate students are well into their research with such diverse projects as brain-computer interfaces, nanoparticle exposures and a new method for breast cancer screening.
In 2006, Katie Hedlund, Christine Robichaud and Christina Shafer were named Clare Boothe Luce Fellows. The fellowship program is the largest such private program for women studying science, mathematics or engineering. More than 1,500 women scientists have received support ...
March 19, 2008
DURHAM, N.C. -– A new type of membrane based on tiny iron particles appears to address one of the major limitations exhibited by current power-generating fuel cell technology.
While there are many types of fuel cells, in general they generate electricity as the result of chemical reactions between an external fuel -- most commonly hydrogen -- and an agent that reacts with it. The membrane that separates the two parts of the cell and facilitates the ...
March 17, 2008
by Ana P. Barros is a professor of environmental engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering who studies the water cycle and how land, air and water interact.
It's complicated: Rainfall is affected by global patterns, and landforms.
Does being east of the mountains make the drought worse in North Carolina? Would we get more rain if they weren’t in the way?
Locations downslope and downwind of mountains with regard to regionally predominant storm tracks tend to ...
January 22, 2008
Liza Crabtree, a Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellow and civil and environmental engineering major, is working to understand the flaws that can develop in so-called stimulus-responsive hydrogels. These ‘smart gels,’ which look essentially like Jello, can be made to undergo dramatic transformation in response to changes in their surroundings, including pH and temperature. Thanks to those unique abilities, hydrogels are now poised to become integral mechanical components and sensors in the increasingly tiny devices of the ...
November 21, 2007
DURHAM, NC -- Taken for granted by some, stolen by others, water is one of the world's most valuable commodities. In some places, a gallon of water is worth more than a gallon of petroleum, according to Miguel Medina, a specialist in hydrology and water resources at Duke's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
"More than 2.4 billion people in the world do not have access to sanitation, more than 1.2 billion don't have access to ...
November 9, 2007
A gift of $7.85 million by a Duke alumnus and his wife will create a center to educate students to meet the world’s energy needs while also improving its environment, university President Richard H. Brodhead announced Nov. 9.
The Gendell Center for Engineering, Energy and the Environment is being established by Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering in collaboration with the university’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.
The center is being named for Jeffrey and ...
September 12, 2007
Summer 2007 -- After taking CEE Professor Ana Barros’ Focus program course in his freshman year, William Patrick took the initiative to ask if Barros might have anything he could do for the summer. He soon found himself as one of the only undergraduates participating in a massive, multi-aircraft mission aimed at decoding the climate.
“It was interesting to see research actually taking place and to be a part of a team,” Patrick said. “It helped ...
August 15, 2007
Aerosol particles in the air originating from a number of sources, including motor vehicles, industrial processes and forest fires, reduce air quality and can lead to asthma and cardiovascular problems, among other illnesses. The standard method for keeping tabs on the air-polluting particles relies on pumping air through filters, which are then submitted for costly and time-consuming chemical extraction and analysis.
Did you know?
As the No.1 source of air pollution in the U.S., transportation yields ...
August 15, 2007
Even though humans are using more water than ever, continental water runoff steadily increased in the 20th Century. Competing scientific explanations abound. Some argue that global warming is causing more rainfall than the soil can absorb. Others contend runoff is a result of less overall transpiration by plants due to global change.
Environmental engineering Associate Professor Amilcare Porporato, a specialist in ecohydrology, wants to determine whether evapotranspiration has decreased and why. Using the Southeastern region of ...
August 15, 2007
Human encroachment, agriculture, livestock grazing and climate changes have dramatically increased the conversion of fragile grasslands to deserts worldwide. A major impact of desertification is loss of biodiversity and decreased capacity to produce crops. Ironically, droughts are common in these arid and semi arid lands and well-managed lands can recover if damage during droughts can be minimized.
Did you know?
Desertification has its greatest impact in Africa where two thirds of the continent is desert or ...
August 15, 2007
Almost 25 percent of the world’s population lives in mountainous regions, and over 60 percent relies on mountains for freshwater needs ranging from drinking water to food production, ecosystem services, and industrial use. Most of the world’s fertile agricultural lands lie at the foothills and in the interior valleys of mountain ranges.
Did you know?
The watersheds of the Southern Appalachian Mountains provide drinking water for 10 million people. The highest precipitation amounts registered anywhere in ...
August 15, 2007
The amount and type of vegetation found at the Earth's surface--be it forests or agricultural fields--has a significant impact on the interaction between the land and atmosphere, including the absorption of solar energy and the evaporation of water. That interaction influences cloud cover and the exchange of carbon dioxide, among other factors, ultimately driving the climate system. Yet, climate models used to forecast global climate and local weather patterns contain little detail about land cover.
...
May 29, 2007
Once considered something of a laboratory novelty, ‘smart’ gels—synthesized from polymers that can undergo dramatic transformations in response to changes in their surroundings—are now poised to become integral mechanical components and sensors in the increasingly tiny devices of the future. Through a combination of computational and experimental efforts, a team of researchers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering aims to make the process of smart gel engineering even smarter.
“These materials exhibit dramatic volume changes in ...
May 10, 2007
Slowing tropical deforestation is an essential and cost-effective way to avert severe climate change, according to a new study published in the May 10 Science Express, an advanced online publication of the journal Science.
An international team of 11 top forest and climate researchers, including civil and environmental engineer Roni Avissar of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, found that cutting deforestation rates in half by mid-century would amount to 12 percent of the emissions reductions needed ...
May 9, 2007
Before the missions began, Pratt writer Kendall Morgan sat down with civil and environmental engineer Roni Avissar to find out what operating the Duke Helicopter Observation Platform is really like.
Helicopters are strictly limited in the amount and balance of weight they can carry. In order to help pack more in, Avissar says he's on a diet. Listen.Although incredibly demanding, Avissar says he enjoys the helicopter missions so much he considers them almost like a vacation. ...
May 1, 2007
Roni Avissar with the Duke research helicopter
The Duke University research helicopter bedecked with an atmosphere-sensing nose will participate in two missions this spring and summer designed to fill in the blanks in understanding of the dynamic lower atmosphere and its intimate connection to seasonal changes in land cover, according to environmental scientists at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering. By providing a vast amount of climate observation data, the researchers say that the missions will ...
April 6, 2007
Antioxidant chemicals, including one produced by aquatic life during times of stress, may have a hand in the fate of mercury in watersheds, potentially influencing the toxic metal's entry into the food chain, according to a report by a researcher at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.
The researcher reports in the April 1 Environmental Science & Technology that mercury and other trace metals react with a common antioxidant defense molecule to form stable complexes that ...
April 1, 2007
Mark Wiesner, professor of civil and environmental engineering
Mark Wiesner, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering and an expert on the transport and fate of nanomaterials in the environment, was an invited speaker at BioVision 2007: The World Life Sciences Forum taking place in Lyon, France, from March 11-14.
According to the BioVision web site, the forum addresses global issues in the life sciences in an effort to “mobilize foremost specialists ...
October 26, 2006
By Rachel Adelson
Durham, NC -- Mark Wiesner wants to save the planet, one molecule at a time. A nanotechnology expert who joined Duke this semester as a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering, Wiesner is committed to managing the environmental risks of a growing industrial revolution before any damage is done.
Wiesner was among the first people to call attention to the way that production and use of new nanomaterials ...
June 1, 2006
Professor Heileen Hsu-Kim in her new lab space.
Research and teaching labs in the department of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) are getting a makeover. A portion of the basement of Hudson Hall is currently in the second of three phases of renovation designed to meet the growing needs of the group’s researchers and students.
“The new facilities provided by the renovation will help to make us more competitive with other institutions,” said professor David Schaad, assistant ...
May 1, 2006
An interdisciplinary group of Duke experts has set out to advance ethics education for researchers working on problems at the nano-scale—on the order of billionths of a meter, or 80,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Scientific breakthroughs in nanotechnology are expected to increase the speed and efficiency of computers, advance medicine through tissue engineering and lead to the emergence of materials with entirely new physical and chemical properties. However, such advances may ...
April 1, 2006
Fred Boadu (far right) collects water from a borehole in Nsawam, Ghana.
In the tropical West African nation of Ghana, intense farming practices combined with characteristics of the local geology are making for a dangerous mix, reports Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Fred Boadu. Fertilizers and pesticides used to boost the yield of pineapples grown in the country’s thin soils are trickling down through fractured bedrock directly into the water supply below.
The new findings ...
December 22, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. -- Growing tree plantations to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to mitigate global warming -- so called "carbon sequestration" -- could trigger environmental changes that outweigh some of the benefits, a multi-institutional team led by Duke University suggested in a new report. Those effects include water and nutrient depletion and increased soil salinity and acidity, said the researchers.
The findings demonstrate the utility of regional climate models for forecasting the broader environmental implications ...
November 2, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have developed a new way to measure microbes' exposure to ultraviolet light. The tool could bolster efforts to use UV light to improve the quality and safety of tap water in the U.S.
The novel "microsphere dosimeter" technique is the first direct test of how much UV light microorganisms in fluids have been exposed to, said the researchers -- a critical step in validating the use ...
September 14, 2005
by Mike Bettwy, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Today, scientists estimate that between one-third and one-half of our planet's land surfaces have been transformed by human development.
Now, a new study is offering insight into the long-term impacts of these changes, particularly the effects of large-scale deforestation in tropical regions on the global climate. Researchers from Duke University, Durham, N.C., analyzed multiple years of data using the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies General Circulation Computer Model ...
September 13, 2005
The pumping of New Orleans floodwaters into Lake Pontchartrain will create "long-term, harmful implications for the lake ecosystem and future human use of the area," warns Duke University environmental engineer Karl Linden.
The possibility of even more serious harm may be avoided by extensive testing of waters in the industrial zone for toxic chemicals and developing a plan to treat those waters before disposal, he added. So far, there has been no sampling performed in any ...
September 10, 2005
Durham, N.C. -- Duke environmental experts and civil engineers have responded to Hurricane Katrina devastation with a broad range of insights. They are criticizing the failure to heed computer models that warned of disaster; pondering how to rebuild the city to avoid future catastrophe and examining the potential for ecological damage in the storm's aftermath.
Pratt School of Engineering urban hydrologist Miguel Medina Jr. criticized the failure to heed the long history of engineering predictions and ...
September 7, 2005
Note to editors: Henry Petroski can be reached for additional comment at (919) 660-5203 or petroski@duke.edu.
When civil engineers start planning for rebuilding New Orleans, there are few historical examples to guide them. Duke University engineering professor Henry Petroski says the closest example he can think of is the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane which, like Katrina, left a city partially underwater.
To protect Galveston from a recurrence, engineers found a bold and challenging solution that Petroski said ...
September 1, 2005
The Pratt School of Engineering has purchased a new Bell JetRanger helicopter to give the university and nation a new platform of research sensors to bridge a gap in airborne studies of natural and man-made environmental processes.
The turbine-powered Bell 206B-3, painted in Duke blue with black stripes, arrived June 18 at the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport, where it is housed with Duke Hospital’s two Life Flight helicopters. Its first mission in July was to gather important ...
June 24, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering has purchased a new Bell JetRanger helicopter to give the university and nation a new platform of research sensors to bridge a gap in airborne studies of natural and man-made environmental processes.
The turbine-powered Bell 206B-3, painted in Duke blue with black stripes, arrived June 18, 2005, at the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport, where it is hangared with Duke Hospital’s two Life Flight helicopters. The engineering school aircraft ...
February 1, 2005
Karl Linden
Researchers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have developed a new way to measure microbes' exposure to ultraviolet light. The tool could bolster efforts to use UV light to improve the quality and safety of tap water in the U.S.
The novel "microsphere dosimeter" technique is the first direct test of how much UV light microorganisms in fluids have been exposed to, said the researchers -- a critical step in validating the use of UV ...
December 1, 2004
Roni Avissar
Scientists estimate that between one-third and one-half of our planet's land surfaces have been transformed by human development. Now, a new study ifrom Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering is offering insight into the long-term impacts of these changes, particularly the effects of large-scale deforestation in tropical regions on the global climate.
The Duke researchers, led by Professor Roni Avissar, chair of civil and environmental engineering at Pratt, analyzed years of data using the NASA ...
February 25, 2004
Assistant professors Andrew Schuler and Adam P. Wax at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have received Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards from the National Science Foundation. Each award is expected to total $400,000 over five years.
“The CAREER award is NSF’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty members,” the federal research agency said. “The CAREER program recognizes and supports the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic ...
February 1, 2004
Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering has acquired a new turbine-powered helicopter that will give the university and nation a new platform of research sensors to bridge a gap in airborne studies of natural and man-made atmospheric processes. Visit URL: hop.pratt.duke.edu
Professor Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, accepted the Bell 206 Jet Ranger at the Bell Helicopter plant in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 24, and flew it to Heli-Dyne Systems Inc., ...
December 7, 2002
Besides saving money, users of these collectives of high end but off-the-shelf PCs -- often called "Beowulf clusters - can avoid the negative side of relying on supercomputing centers from Research Triangle Park to San Diego.
"In the past we used a supercomputer," said Roni Avissar, the chairman of the Pratt School of Engineering's civil and environmental engineering department. "The problem is you had to share the supercomputer with a lot of other people."
He now uses ...
October 25, 2002
DURHAM, N.C. -- New mathematical simulations of climate behavior by Duke University researchers indicate that deforestation in the Amazon can cause a reduction of rainfall in the Midwestern United States and the Dakotas in the summer, when precipitation is most needed for agriculture.
"What this suggests is that if you mess up the planet at one point, the impact could have far-reaching effects," said Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at ...
September 18, 2002
DURHAM, N.C. -- Frustrated by the limitations of present numerical models that simulate how Earth's climate will be altered by factors such as pollution and landscape modification, Duke University engineers are creating a new model incorporating previously-missing regional and local processes.
"The model we are developing is much more refined," said the project's leader, Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. Unlike previous designs now used ...
December 1, 2001
Frustrated by the limitations of present numerical models that simulate how Earth's climate will be altered by factors such as pollution and landscape modification, Duke University engineers are creating a new model incorporating previously-missing regional and local processes.
"The model we are developing is much more refined," said the project's leader, Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering.
Unlike previous designs now used by the world's climatologists, ...
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