Technology innovation is one of the Biden administration’s most powerful tools for accelerating progress on climate change. Recent successes in renewable energy and batteries show how this can work.
Maker spaces give engineers and designers the tools to build low-cost medical equipment using locally available materials.
Brandon Martin, Rice University
Engineering students in Malawi and Tanzania have used the materials and tools available to them to build ventilators, personal protective equipment and UV disinfection systems.
Attorneys for Apple heading to court during the so-called smartphone patent wars.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
The recent arrest of a Chinese-born scientist at MIT raises questions about the value of international science collaboration and its impact on the American innovation system.
A worker pours dry ice into boxes containing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Morry Gash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
From designing vaccine supply chains to improving PPE to rebuilding trust, systematically bringing engineering knowhow to public health problems could make a huge difference.
The average price for an orphan drug is more than $150,000 per year.
GP Kidd/Cultura/Getty Images
AI algorithms can solve hard problems and learn incredible tasks, but they can’t explain how they do these things. If researchers can build explainable AI, it could lead to a flood of new knowledge.
Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of the Black Panther was an inspiration to people of color in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP
By missing out on chance encounters and observations that jolt ‘a-ha’ moments, new ideas, big and small, go undiscovered.
Many Black and Hispanic STEM students leave the science field because of the ‘racial fatigue’ of having to deal with stereotypes.
Jcomp via iStock/Getty Images Plus
Coping with racial stereotypes that permeate STEM culture is like having another full-time job, argues a researcher who studies racism in these fields.
Workers need a map to lead them through the crisis.
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Although the end of the pandemic may be in sight, the costs of working remotely are growing. It’s time companies had a plan – even if they aren’t returning to the office any time soon.
Thomas Edison remains the poster child of American invention 89 years after his death.
Underwood & Underwood via the Library of Congress
The story of invention in America typically features larger-than-life caricatures of white men like Thomas Edison while largely ignoring the contributions of women and people of color.
Distributed power generation, such as this fuel cell installation, requires new ventures to work with energy regulators.
Business Wire
A study points to one way to speed up adoption of innovations in clean energy technology – more flexibility among state regulators.
Researchers take a closer look at how activities that engage the whole family can help young distance learners build STEM skills.
MoMo Productions/Getty Images
Amber M. Simpson, Binghamton University, State University of New York e Peter N. Knox, Binghamton University, State University of New York
A new hands-on learning program helps families with young children build their engineering skills.
Sometimes promising innovations, such as this glass that can harness solar energy, developed by scientist Lance Wheeler, take a long time to reach consumers.
Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Luciano Kay, University of California, Santa Barbara
Society has never faced more pressing challenges. Researchers are investigating how monetary prizes can help focus innovators’ attention, creativity and investment on finding solutions.
How many vaccines will be needed to vaccinate the world against COVID-19?
Tetra Images/Getty Images
Many great innovators have personality traits in common. Comfort with uncertainty is critical, but passion, curiosity and a number of other learnable skills can prime you for an innovate idea.
Bernard Tobey, a double amputee, and his son, wearing Union sailor uniforms, standing beside a small wagon displaying Secretary of War Edwin Stanton’s dispatch on the fall of Fort Fisher.
Fetter's New Photograph Gallery/Library of Congress
Lessons from history make clear that the federal government can spur medical innovation in a crisis, including this pandemic. Providing certainty and clarity is critical.