GineersNow

WORLD’S FIRST ENGINEERING NEWS FOR YOUNG BADASS ENGINEERS

APRIL 2016 ISSUE NO. 002

Social Change Engineering Manoj Bhargava pledged $4billion to help mankind through engineering projects

Social Impact Engineering for Kids Exclusive Interview with Play Well #SocEnt Engineers

Social Enterprise in the Engineering Field

Engineers Give Back

Engineering & Tech Firms, Big in CSR

HR Tips for Engineers Recruitment Agencies for Engineers,

Job Interviews, Engineering Leadership

SocialTech Innovation Engineering & Gadgets that will Save Humanity ISSUE NO.002 SOCIAL CHANGE ENGINEERING

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GINEERSNOW TEAM Ems Bagatsing

Dion Greg Reyes

Robert Bagatsing

Cielo Panda

Sales & Marketing Director Ems@LincolnMartin.com Editor-In-Chief editor@GineersNow.com

Alice Hernandez Senior Editor-At-Large

John Vauden Senior Editor Asia-Pacific

Hina Sapra Senior Editor South Asia

Therese Matheren Senior Editor North America

Charity Bagatsing Senior Editor North America

Junior Editor Creative & Layout Junior Editor

Farrel Pinto Junior Editor

Raymond Gerard del Valle Junior Editor

Abhishek Tarafder Matrix Media Information Technology

Francis Santelices

Graphic Artist

Jaycee Urriquia Video Editor

Droid Rahl CRM Jedi

Loudette Fabian Contributor

GineersNow is a subsidiary of Lincoln Martin Strategic Marketing Level 14, Boulevard Plaza Tower 1 MBR Boulevard, Emaar Square, Downtown Dubai, UAE P.O. Box 334036, Dubai, U.A.E. Mob: +971 50 4289684 www.LincolnMartin.com Disclaimer: The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers' particular circumstances.

The Copyright Law of the United States of America, Chapter 1, Subject 107, called the “Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use” states that, “Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include— (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.”

Editor's

Note

It’s been almost three months and we still cannot believe the overwhelming success and challenges GineersNow has received as it starts to grow as a start-up company. We launched with just a few thousand likes on our page and now, we’re getting a lot of love and positive feedbacks from our readers from Asia to Europe. Truth be told, our journey has been exciting and even though a lot of challenges are ahead of us, we will always stick to what we do best: delivering you the most kickass and inspiring engineering stories around the world.

On our search for stories that will make young engineers like you feel motivated to change the world, we found different people who would play as the big bosses in the field of Social Change Engineering. Is there even a term like that on paper? Well, here in GineersNow, we believe that an engineer is capable to make a huge impact on different nations so we are promoting Social Change Engineering as a special kind of engineering field.

With millions of engineers around the world, we want all of you to change society for good.

This month’s issue focuses on Social Change Engineering stories. Our cover story features the founder of 5-Hour Energy drink. Manoj Bhargava made it big selling these energy drinks and is now a multi-billion dollar empire. Last year, he pledged to donate 99% of his earnings to making this world a better place and started a social enterprise called Stage 2. Hired an army of innovators and engineers to tackle the world’s environmental and social challenges. Now that’s the kind of person we want you to look up to so go ahead, learn more about his story and take inspiration from his selfless act.

Other stories include engineers and engineering companies giving back to the public, innovative products saving humanity from a life of despair and discomfort and social enterprise in the engineering field. We also have a special story on Play Well and how it’s bringing engineering to kids in the coolest way ever. Lastly, we have prepared stories that could guide you on how to make your engineering career a blissful and fulfilling one – that’s how we’ll play our part in our Social Change Engineering campaign. We hope you’ll enjoy this month’s issue!

Alice Hernandez

Senior Editor-At-Large

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CONTENTS PAGE

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Engineers and Technology as Catalysts in Social Change How Engineers Cope with Jerk Bosses Play-Well TEKnologies: Teaching Kids Engineering COVER STORY

A Harbinger of Social Change Find Another Passion Other than Engineering Tech and Engineering Billionaires who Give Back

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Spherical Maglev Tires for Self-Driving Cars from Goodyear A Renewable Energy Revolution 15-year old Filipino Genius invents Biodegradable Plastic Bags Tissue Engineering Scaling Up at Harvard What to Wear to a Job Interview Celebrating Awesome Female Engineers on International Women’s Day

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Engineers and Technology as Catalysts in Social Change

by Dion Greg Reyes Photo by Airbnb

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Tech Talk at the OpenAir 2015 Conference tells that engineers and the technology we make have that shared potential as catalysts in social change.

There is a whole lot more that the world can get from engineers other than just making technologies that will meet the direct needs of the world. Engineers and our technologies can also create positive social change, driven by an innate purpose to make that difference in the community.

At the OpenAir 2015 conference, the panel discussion “How Tech Can Reach Underserved Communities” focused on just that. Among the panellists are Airbnb engineer Alanna Scott, Watsi co-founder Grace Garey, and Google.org software engineer Raquel Romano. They are moderated by Mario Lugay, who is an impact advisor of Kapor Center for Social Impact.

Highlights of the conference include projects to reach underserved communities, how technology can make a difference, and how engineers can contribute to social change.

Project to reach underserved communities

How engineers contribute to social change

Google.org has its share in helping the underserved communities through crisis response and reaching people before, during, and after a natural disaster. Romano had established ties with them in developing data feeds that would provide warnings about impending local floods or hurricanes in relevant search results for Google users.

Airbnb, as Scott said, had helped too by having a Disaster Response Tool three years ago as a reaction in the Hurricane Sandy. “We were inspired by a host (in the area where the storm hit) who started opening up her home to people who had been displaced. We wanted to build something to support what she was doing and enable the rest of our host community to participate as well,” Scott shared.

The tool was built as a side project, but now Airbnb can activate the tool within minutes for a specific location hit by a natural disaster. Hosts can list their space for free with all fees waved and create a way for displaced people in that area to find a place to stay.

Watsi, on the other hand, is a social impact organization that focuses in healthcare. Garey said, “We let people directly fund healthcare for people all around the world, and 100 percent of donations go to the patient. Technology seemed to be the answer we needed to focus on. We saw people using technology like Airbnb to bust open narrow channels to allow person-to-person interaction and create new ways to solve a problem. So we decided to do the same thing to tackle healthcare in a new way.”

Anyone could have their own contribution to social change, but engineers have it a lot more with the technical knowledge and skills inside of us. All it needs is to spark some fire inside and be that catalyst of social change through engineering.

This is what the panellists also believe.

Scott shared that they have Airbnb users who are willing to donate their earnings to projects and local organizations. Her advice is to look at how users are already helping other people with the product, then figure out how to scale it and open it up to the whole community.

Romano, on the other hand, emphasized on partnering up passion for technology with social issues you care about as that makes “an amazing combination.” She said that the combination is a lot stronger when the passions are shared. “Talk to people about what they’re working on and tell them what you’re interested in,” she underscored.

“It’s really hard when you’re trying to prioritize and focus to create space and resources to work on [social impact projects]. What works is when people just start doing things [for social impact] without asking for permission. You get other passionate people together and come up with a proof of concept and you can start seeing how it could be better if you had a product manager, user experience person, and multiple engineers working on it,” Roman added.

Garey highlighted how engineers can contribute to social change by having that perspective of doing two or more things at once.

“So don’t feel like you have to make a choice between working at a company with a product that’s creating value and making a lot of money versus doing something that’s good for the world. You can do well and do good at the same time,” Garey added.

How technology can make a difference

Aside from the projects that have been and are being developed by engineers from around the globe, an initiative at Google.org, according to Romano, is underway to help people with disabilities to live more on their own. Areas in recognizing and translating sign language, analyzing content in video and providing natural language description of it, and communicating with the world by typing with the eyes are now being studied to aid the differently-abled.

Meanwhile, Airbnb is now opening its doors to venture in the SMS messaging when natural disasters inhibit the people for a reliable Internet access and phone battery. Romano shared in the conference that such technical limitations will opt people to use the conventional technology of SMS messaging instead of using the latest tech of Airbnb in booking or accepting reservations.

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Code.org: Giving an Hour of Code to Teach Computer Programming A non-profit organization to teach computer programming to the young and also the underrepresented color.

by Farrel Pinto

W

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As it tries to change the world, it hasn’t forgotten to lend a hand to different worthy nonprofits.

Google will always be one of those companies we often brand as unconventional. With its plans to produce self-driving cars and give us faster and more reliable connections, this company is always pushing the edge to create breakthroughs for all of humanity. So, it’s no longer a surprise if it also helps out on companies with little monetary funding that aim to raise awareness, bring relief to disaster-stricken areas, and protect the environment.

In case you didn’t know, Google cares!

Google loves helping non-profit organizations. With its program, Google for Nonprofits, it provides free access to the company’s services such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Ad Grants and more. With lack (or little) monetary funding, Google knows that nonprofit organizations have the best intentions but needs support from external sources to survive – then eventually thrive. So, as soon as the company approves a nonprofit’s application, Google can provide it with so many useful services such as the following.

Free Google Apps services

Photo by Hour of Code

ith the fast-paced society today, we have to keep up with the advancements and knowledge of our technology. One essential way is through education and educating the young minds of a nation or a region creates a strong foundation of continuous progress. This means to keep on learning and passing it through the next generation for sustainability.

Founded in 2013 by Hadi Partovi, Code.org is a non-profit organization who shares the same vision in reaching out students to learn computer programming. They are dedicated to expand access to computer learning through programs, workshops and projects that support and inspire young minds.

They also include diversity in learning computer programming such that a share of their supported students were women and underrepresented students of color.

Code.org started with a video promoting computer science that attracted volunteers to expand as a worldwide event. They have done work in

Google Grants Nonprofits’ Wishes

designing their own courses to train teachers, partner with schools and help change policies to break stereotypes.

They have gained international partnerships and have been also helping other countries with their projects.

With the Hour of Code project, young minds are taught to program using JAVA or Python courses that they have also partnered to other IT entities and schools. It can be a week long tutorial and can still do year-long computer science learning. So far, they have served 223, 808, 890 students comprising 49% female and also African American or Hispanic races. Policy changes were also achieved in 17 states of America partnering with 100 school district adding computer science in the curriculum. They are also supported

by President Obama, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, other corporations, celebrities and philanthropists believing that every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science.

All Code.org courses are now available in 45+ languages that are used in all 180 countries. For more information on their projects visit. www.code. org.

which reduces a company’s IT costs and more efficient work for everyone inside the company

USD$10,000-worth of Google Ad Grant support

which gives nonprofits a wider reach and help them engage with their audiences through online advertising

YouTube Nonprofit program

which gives nonprofits the chance to let their audiences know their story easily

Google Analytics

which gives nonprofits to analyze how their audiences can connect to them on their website

Google+

which allows you to connect with thousands of other nonprofit communities and volunteers and share your story as well

While some may think that these products aren’t really big deals, think again! We all know that social media already plays a critical role in getting the word out and reaching people who could help out. Through these features, as simple as they sound to be, they can widen the network of each nonprofit organization and find people who can help each of them achieve its visions.

See? Not all international companies are evil. Not only is Google giving us the answers to our homework, providing us creative ideas for our projects, it’s also making a difference in nonprofits. So, if you’re part of one, how about joining the program now?

Photos by Google

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How Engineers cope with Jerk Bosses

by Cielo Panda

“Stay away from negative people”— an advice given to people, with peerstress problems. But what if you CAN’T stay away from them? What if you have to force yourself to be around them for 8 hours a day—or more? Yep, you probably know who I’m talking about—Your Boss.

Everybody wants to feel respected, valued and trusted when doing their jobs, and when we don’t get these, we won’t be able to give our best and perform well.

If you’re dealing with a difficult manager/boss right now.

I know how you feel—believe me.

Working as an engineer, I’ve had my share of ‘horrible bosses’ in my past manufacturing engineering related jobs. However, according to author and Forbes columnist Margie Warrel, the secret is to “manage up” without your bosses ever realizing it.

Imagine them as a difficult client instead of a difficult boss. According to her there are 5 ways to overcome an unfair boss.

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Get to know your boss.

Know their motivations

Speak up and give your boss a chance to respond.

Try to put yourself in your boss’ shoes and see how he/she sees things. Try to understand what he does, and more importantly ‘why’ he does what he does. Once you’ve understood this, you can be able to approach him in a tone you know he will ‘understand’.

What does he care about?

What keeps him up at night? What would he love more of and what would he love less of on a daily basis? What frightens him? How much importance does he place on impressing others? How does he measure success and what does he think about failure?

Support their success and Work around their weaknesses

Nothing right is going to happen if you go around talking bad about your boss. Instead, support them in their successes. Take note of the reasons behind the success, which you can later on point out to your boss if ever you would have a similar project.

Also, working around their weaknesses is a good strategy as well. For example, your boss is the ‘disorganized’ kind.

Then, be the person who helps him/her organize.

Take the high road

Don’t let your boss’ bad behavior be an excuse for your own. By experience, I have a lot of colleagues who stopped performing well, slacking off, taking longer breaks, and losing interest because of bad management. Don’t be like those people, continue working at your best, doing your best. You can rant all you want when you get home or get out with friends, but always remain professional in the workplace.

It’s true, sometimes when your boss is a bit TOO much, one can lose motivation at work. But don’t succumb to the temptation of being a whiner or slacker just because of this. If your boss yells at you, don’t yell back. No matter how tempting it is.

Be the awesome man/ woman that you are and don’t stoop down to their level.

It was my second job as an engineer in a company, and I resigned because I felt overworked and undervalued no matter how much I worked hard. Upon my exit interview, the HR asked me my reasons for leaving. I explained to them how poorly managed my team was. I told them everything and explained everything, doing my best to be as impartial as I can. They called my manager, and we had a long talk. It so happened that, we had a lot of misunderstandings and he never thought I felt that way.

It was too late for me to back-out from resigning, I already had a lot of plans. I learned a valuable lesson. That sometimes it’s important to speak up and explain your side of the story to your boss. If luck is on your side, then your boss will understand and hopefully compromise. If not, then… let’s go to the next strategy.

Be Proactive

The best way to manage a difficult boss is to not have on in the first place. So whenever you have plans to move into a new position or role in the same company or probably move to another company, do some research on the culture, the leadership and management practices in the company. If your moving within your company, it may be a good time to do some research on the management that’s going to handle you.

All photos in this article are grabbed from the film “Office Space.”

Some days, you just want to punch your boss on THE face for being such a jerk. Don’t.

You will regret it.

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Play-Well TEKnologies:

Teaching Kids Engineering Empowering Girl-Powered Engineering and the Importance of STEM

by Czarina Cielo Santos Play-Well TEKnologies is a company that has revolutionized the way kids are taught engineering. With the use of LEGO and creative programs that are custom-designed by the instructors, they are able to explain different engineering concepts to children in a fun, fresh way. They have been teaching over 100,000 students each year in approximately 23 states, including France.

Maddy Gabor, Midwest and Northeast District Manager for Play-Well TEKnologies, gave us a glimpse on how she came to be a part of Play-Well and explained the importance of STEM and women-inclusion in engineering.

Being Part of the Play-Well Team

Maddy has been working at Play-Well for just over two years, but she has been working with kids for as long as she can remember.

“I first became interested in play as a learning tool when I was in school at Northeastern University in Boston and a part of an organization called Peace through Play,” Maddy told GineersNow.

“That was the first time I realized that play is an amazing medium for learning. When we give kids a chance to find joy in what they are studying, what we're actually doing is creating lifelong learners,” she added.

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STEM and its Importance

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math which has become popular in the early 2000s. Although it partly began as a call-to-action trying to address the US's falling test scores in Math and Science, it is also a statement on early interdisciplinary learning, as these fields are deeply intertwined in both how students learn and how they apply these learnings in real world applications.

“There are very few fields in our society that don’t involve at least some Science, Technology, Engineering or Math,” Maddy explained.

Girls in Engineering

Seeing an unsettling trend in their company’s classrooms, where there were almost no girls, Play-Well started their Girl-Powered Engineering Programs. When they did more research, they found that this issue was not only found in their company but in other parts of the US as well.

Only 18-20% of engineering students are female, and once they graduate, American women working in engineering are 45% more likely than their male peers to leave the industry within the year.

“These numbers are staggering when you put it in the context of a nation that is over 50% female.

That being said, this isn’t just diversity for diversity’s sake. Recent studies indicate that the presence of females in problem solving groups are more strongly correlative to the success of that group than either the average or maximum individual intelligence of group members. In a world that faces climate change, droughts, and global food shortages, we need many diverse minds working to solve these problems, not just some,” Maddy said.

Play-Well’s president, Tim Bowen, has been heavily promoting Girl-Powered Programs and they plan to increase female participation in their programs by 20% over a span of 5-10 years. Their strategy is to conduct Girl-Powered classes, which apparently have the same curriculum as their core engineering courses, the same projects and the same pieces.

The only difference is that there are only girls in the classes and the instructors are women.

“Our belief is that girls will find confidence, allies and role models

in our classes and that they will carry that with them throughout their education. Everyone! It’s not just about the impact in that individual girl’s life, it’s about the potential impact of a group of students that don’t feel limited by prejudices or stereotypes. We want STEM to be accessible and empowering to all who pursue it.”

Being able to teach engineering and STEM subjects is one thing, but being able to bring out the inner engineer in a child through fun and creativeness is an awesomely different story. Through instilling fun and creativeness in teaching engineering concepts, children will definitely be able to understand these concepts by heart and bring out their engineering prowess in the future.

All photos are supplied by Play-Well TEKnologies

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Six Engineers and Scientists set to live the Martian Life The crew of 6 people is the fourth batch to participate in a NASA-funded research project called HI-SEAS at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

Photo by University of Hawaii News

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While the scientists at NASA are busy experimenting some new creative ideas to develop a new product, a team of six engineers and scientists have decided to go on a mission test drive, a drone to Mars.

The crew that includes a medical doctor, a soil scientist, a flight engineer, a physicist, an astrobiologist and an architect is the fourth crew to participate in a NASA-funded research project called HI-SEAS (short for Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

The scientists have locked themselves for the next year away from the rest of humanity. The crew will try to survive living on Mars. It’s like living on the side of a Hawaiian volcano! The goals behind this idea are to figure out what technologies work best and under what conditions and to study what happens when people are forced to live in close quarters with little interaction outside world.

There are NASA’s rovers already on Mars and are sending back amazing images. The team, led by Engineer Andrzej Stewart, has sent

a battery-powered DJI Phantom 2 drone on a mini-mission for the first time but is too slow. The new team truly crawls at a speed that they only have limited time to explore Mars to the ground level.

It has been quite some time that one of the many Martian crews has flown a drone. The idea was inspired by Stewart’s wife, who is also an aspiring astronaut, but she chose not to go in the dome with him.

The idea is a high-tech charade, but the science involved is real. The astrobiologist in the crew is trying to figure out how to make food and oxygen on Mars so we could live off the land there. The crew members, in the age group of 25 to 36, can interact with their families only through email. However, there’s a 20-minute delay in both directions.

Blogs and social media are their only gateways to the world outside their dome home.

Presently, NASA’s most important work towards Mars is being executed here on Earth. The crew of “Martians” would return to Earth in August 20.

A 100 Times Faster Internet with Light Fidelity

How it works

Yup, you read that right. There is a new technology that will definitely replace Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) that we have now. With speed a hundred times faster than WiFI, this new technology called Light Fidelity (LiFi) is the future of internet connection across the globe.

So what exactly is LiFi?

In a nutshell, Light Fidelity is a technology that uses light-emitting diodes (LED) to transmit data wirelessly. In other words, LiFi is connecting via illumination, which is pretty much like an optical version of WiFi.

Scientists who have tested this technology in the laboratory have achieved a speed of up to 224 GB per second, that is equivalent to downloading 18 movies in just a blink of an eye. Moreover, being tested in the real world like in Tallin, Estonia, it only got 1GB per second, still an overreaching speed as compared to our traditional WiFi.

Top photo by Actinnovation Bottom photo by IBSEN Telecom

Like radio waves from that of WiFi, visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. But they differ in quantity: viable light has a spectrum 10,000 times larger than radio waves. This makes a LiFi faster with the potential for enormous capacity – LiFi can transmit information using thousands of data streams simultaneously.

It works by flashing LED light on and off at incredibly fast speeds, almost never visible to the naked eye. That system sends data to the receiver in binary code. It’s pretty much like turning your flashlight on and off to create morse code at the most inhuman speed possible.

The trick relies on combining this system with a microchip that has wireless data transmission. This means that we can do this with the LED bulbs that we already have, with only just a few tweaks and a microchip – voila, we have LiFi.

In the macro, LiFI is a reliable, affordable, and more secure solution. With the increasing congestion and demand for wireless connections, this is the answer to our connectivity problems.

LiFi also gives opportunity to places where WiFi is banned – some hospitals and nuclear plants – as it has zero electromagnetic interference. It wouldn’t disturb any equipment that transmits electromagnetic waves.

Moreover, this is also a lot more secure as light waves cannot pass through the walls, making it impossible to hack any internal systems in high-security buildings. You only have connection where it hits the light.

Professor Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh in the UK is considered to have given birth to this incredible idea. He is the Chair of Mobile Communication at the said university and co-founder of pureLifi.

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COVER STORY

A Harbinger of Social Change There’s a steady drumbeat for providing the world’s poorest people with better access to energy to lift them out of poverty.

Curiously, it’s coming not from industrial and political behemoths, but from a nondescript cluster of brick buildings in suburban Detroit.

he first Industrial Revolution was a pivotal point in the modern history of humanity. Spurred by the ability to harness energy and to channel it to enhance production and manufacturing, the Industrial Revolution accelerated global industrial, economic and social progress.

Those that had the opportunity to capitalize on energy as the new factor of production were able to take off and accumulate wealth, while those that were not as fortunate were left behind. As succeeding economic and Industrial Revolutions transpired, the fortune of the wealthy snowballed, while the condition of the poor remained stagnant.

The economic discrepancy among the world’s population can largely be ascribed to the disparity of access to energy, among other basic needs. As the Industrial Revolution has proven, energy is a significant enabler, and with access to cleaner, more dependable and sustainable energy, the poor will have better opportunities for health, education and livelihood, raising their standards of living and gradually lifting them out of poverty.

T

All photos used in this article are supplied by Manoj Bhargava and company.

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A culture of simplicity and altruism

Manoj Bhargava, the multi-billion Dollar entrepreneur known for “energizing” the world with his 5-hour Energy drinks, staunchly believes that providing the poor with better access to useful energy will make a positive impact on their lives. In this light, in 2011, he founded Stage 2 Innovations, a $100 million private equity fund dedicated to advances in water and energy technology.

Stage 2 puts premium in making its products as useful and as simple as possible, to be more accessible to a wider base of users that largely consists of the poor. Its vision is a world in which everyone has access to clean energy, pure water and adequate healthcare. Its mission is to develop and distribute technologies that are viable solutions to the energy, water and healthcare concerns of the ‘unlucky half of the world’.

Stage 2 does not let itself be distracted by the glare of profit. “I’m not thinking about competitors,” says Bhargava, “because this is not a business that intends to make a profit. Its purpose is to benefit humanity.” Though Stage 2 operates as a for-profit, Bhargava says that it does not make money. “For these projects that we’re working in to improve humanity, our business model is neither non-profit nor for-profit. Our model is zero-profit.

We run the business like a for-profit, but we won’t make any money.”

Stage 2, however, led an odyssey before assuming its avowed role. “I’ve had umpteen failures,” says Bhargava, “I can’t tell you how many times something has looked great and then totally disintegrates.

I’ve had a practice at failure. I’ve probably had 30-40 failures.” Bhargava recounts that from his past failures, he has learned to immediately move on and shake off the dust. In one instance, Bhargava recounts, a project in which he invested millions of Dollars failed. His team wanted to redress the errors, fix them and salvage the project in some way, but he vehemently refused.

He wanted to dump everything related to that project and immediately move on to another that they can do next.

Bhargava believes that anyone dreaming of making great things must be prepared to face spectacular failures. “When years of your work explodes in front of your face, you just can’t take it personally.

Immediately you have to get up and say ‘Okay, what’s next?’”

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The Dawn of Change

Billions in Change, a global impact movement that addresses vital issues related to energy, water and health, is guided by a simple principle: bridge the basic needs of those who don’t have them, so they can provide for themselves, their families and their communities. Its focus is on employing solutions that create a positive social, environmental impact on the lives of billions of people around the world. With Bhargava at the helm, Billions in Change serves as the vehicle of implementation and distribution of products and technologies developed at Stage 2 Innovations.

Its primary concern is to serve what Bhargava calls the “unlucky half of the world” – those that, by no fault of their own, are born into poverty and circumstances that leave them with little opportunity to have sufficient livelihoods and a decent quality of life. Bhargava firmly believes in the vital role that sustainable energy plays in improving their living conditions. “Sustainable sources of energy,” says Bhargava, “are of huge importance to society, and will become increasingly important as global demands for energy increase.” He says that a progressive shift to renewable energy can avert serious health, economic and environmental issues, related to chronic air pollution and increased atmospheric CO2.

Against this backdrop, Stage 2 has been working on small- and large-scale renewable energy technologies that find a wide range of applications. “To meet the energy needs of rural households,” says Bhargava, “we sought to create a product that would allow people to generate their own electricity, free of pollution, free of fuel costs, free of utility bill and free of reliance

on weather.” The product, aptly called Free Electric, is a stationary bicycle that charges a 12V battery as the user pedals (for more information, see side-bar ‘Free Electricity Cometh’). “When you bring light to people living mostly in darkness, when you remove dirty fuel oils that cause indoor air pollution, and when you eliminate the need to be connected to the grid when you can’t afford a utility bill, you open all kinds of doors of opportunity for health, livelihoods, education and entrepreneurship.”

Commenting on where they plan to distribute Free Electric, Bhargava says that his team will start in India and then move to other parts of Asia, Africa and beyond, depending on interest levels and whether they can find the right onthe-ground partners for distribution.

On a larger scale, Stage 2 is developing graphene cables that can conduct heat from the Earth’s core to the surface of the Earth to run turbines and generate electricity.

Billions in Change has been gaining ground, with its movie trailer having reached 177 million people, and website having attracted 65,000 people in 175 countries to sign up as volunteers.

Even more people have signed up to receive its newsletter. “We hear daily from people across the globe saying they want Free Electric in their home or village,” says Bhargava, adding that, just this month, they have sent out the first shipment of the bikes, which will be piloted with a couple dozen households, schools and small businesses in rural India. “After a couple of months of testing, we’ll make any necessary improvements, and then will begin mass production and distribution in India this summer.”

Opportunity for all

The Industrial Revolution has shown that energy is a great enabler. It caused the exponential growth of the world’s wealth, and has made possible almost everything that we enjoy in our time.

While energy is the enabler, opportunity is the equalizer. The poor will remain poor, says Bhargava, until they’re given the opportunity to experience even the most elemental benefits of the Industrial Revolution. He believes that he who has the wealth has

the duty to help those who don’t. Stage 2 and Billions in Change, together with their employees and volunteers, do not endeavor to undo what has unraveled in hundreds of years of history, but rather spark social change. By creating and implementing solutions to the most basic global problems – and making them available and accessible to as many people as possible – Stage 2 and Billion in Change hopes to raise billions of people out of poverty and improve the lives of everyone, rich or poor.

Engineers, make something useful but simple

Manoj Bhargava believes that engineers should be driven by the passion to invent useful but simple things. “When I hire new engineers, I don’t care about how many degrees they have or where they went to school. I ask them what’s in their garage. If they say ‘my car’, then I won’t hire them. Their garages should be filled with so many projects and things they’re inventing that there shouldn’t be room for a car.”

Utility is Bhargava’s primary criteria in considering an engineering idea. “If someone in my company comes to me with an idea, the first question I ask them is ‘Is it useful?’ And if so, ‘How is it useful?’” In case the idea fails at being useful, it better be entertaining. “If it’s not useful and it’s not entertaining, then there’s only one other option: it’s useless,” frankly says Bhargava.

“My advice [to engineers] is to not make something cool; instead make something useful,” says Bhargava. “Stay away from complexity; keep it as simple as possible. If your grandmother can’t operate it, you’re not there yet.”

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Free Electricity Cometh Free Electric is a stationary bicycle that, when pedaled, charges a battery. An hour of pedaling produces enough energy to meet a rural household’s electricity needs for 24 hours. Being made from regular bicycle parts, Free Electric can be serviced by any bike mechanic should anything go wrong. It’s easy to operate, doesn’t require costly fuel inputs, doesn’t produce pollution, and doesn’t rely on whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.

Clean Water On Demand Have you heard of a small machine that uses a distillation process to convert any type of polluted water into clean water suitable for drinking, agriculture, and industrial uses at a rate of 1,000 gallons per hour? Presenting, Rain Maker. It does not use membranes, so it won’t have problems with clogging. A single unit is small enough to fit in the back of a pick-up truck and could be used for small-scale water needs—like for a village or in emergency-response situations. To provide water to businesses, hotels, or municipalities, hundreds or thousands of units could run simultaneously.

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Manoj Bhargava: The Unconventional Billionaire Manoj Bhargava was born in Lucknow, India and at 14 moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his father attended the Wharton School of Business to pursue a doctoral degree. He is the founder and CEO of Living Essentials (known for its 5-hour Energy product) and the founder of Stage 2 Innovations, which was created as an invention shop to develop and distribute products that could meet some of the most pressing needs facing humanity today in the areas of energy, water, and healthcare. With an estimated net worth of $4 Billion, Bhargava, in 2012, pledged to give more than 90% of his wealth to philanthropic causes.

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Find Another Passion Other than Engineering Do something else that you can tell to your grandchildren later on.

Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer, was also devoted to birds.

by Dion Greg Reyes

Photo by Istoric Auto

John Monash, a civil engineer and an Australian commander of the First World War had an odd collection of autographs of prominent names in modern history.

Photo by National Anzac Centre

Wilbur, one-half of the Wright brothers who revolutionized aviation, was an editor in a West Dayton weekly newspaper with his brother Orville as the publisher.

Nikola Tesla had great fascination with pigeons.

Art by Cathy Savage

Photo by Getty Images

It can be odd enough to say that one must find another passion other than engineering as if we have the luxury of time to do such. The time we have in and for engineering is not even fairly enough; why not settle with engineering alone?

While most think like that, engineers, I believe, need to be multi-faceted to be able to actually live. To engage yourself in engineering from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep is quite a toxic way of life. No one thinks about engineering 100% of the time, even the engineers that changed the world.

Engineers can explore fields that are entirely different from what the

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profession offers. One can be an engineer with a keen eye in photography, with an exceptional skill in football, with a promising gift in writing, with a soaring creativity of a painter, with brilliant wit in debates, or with extraordinary talent and interest in music. The list is endless. All you have to do is make available of the resources you have, extract something out of it, and voila. Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat.

Getting interested in things other than engineering doesn’t only give you something to do with your leisure time (yup, engineers actually have leisure time), it also provides you a fresh perspective that you can use when it’s time to do your tasks as an engineer.

Being in a technical job, engineers deal with problems that can be applied in real life – we need all sorts of perspectives to get the job done.

Some would say that finding another passion would mean losing interest in engineering. That isn’t always true, as people can have two sides of them and still be good at both. As long as you have engineering at the core of your heart, you can do a million other things and still be an engineer.

Engaging in non-engineering activities does us more good than harm.

It just comes to our subconscious that affects us a whole, and we rarely notice it. So get out there and find another passion other than engineering. It’s free!

What to Do When You Don’t Get that Dream Engineering Job

Photo by Stellar Leader

by Dion Greg Reyes Most people have target companies or jobs to work with and they do whatever it takes just to land that job. But some just have no luck. There can only be four core reasons why you are not hired despite working hard for it: you are not qualified, you may not be good enough, you simply cannot control some things, or you have great competition out there.

You are deemed to be not qualified when there are some qualifications or requirements you failed to meet. In this case, you really need to comply them if you really have the desire for the job.

You may not be good enough, maybe with your skills or abilities, but most likely with your resume or your interview. You must have done something during the admission process that dissatisfied the company. You can work on that to improve yourself later on.

You simply cannot control some things like the distance of that dream company while in the hiring process. It hurts that what seems a petty thing will hinder from getting your dream job. Make the necessary adjustments when you can.

You have great competition out there. Everything seems to be perfect but someone else is preferred to do the job.

Either of the three, you still end up not getting job. And that hurts. What exactly should you do?

Ask for feedback.

Especially when you didn’t know where you got wrong, give it a shot for an e-mail asking the result of the admission, or which areas you need to improve on.

There is a chance that they won’t give feedback, but it would be beneficial for you if they do. As much as possible, do not do this via phone call. It is a hassle to the company you are applying for.

Ask yourself what happened.

Best thing to do with this failure is get something out of it by learning your lesson. Reflect. Which areas do you need to work on? Personality? Interview? Resume? Analyze the critical mistakes.

Let it go.

Move on. Like everyone else that isn’t a good fit, you have to focus on what’s next for you. Find another company that can appreciate you instead. Do not dwell on that company and keep being disappointed every time you apply.

Step up your game.

This is the best exhibition to signify that you have gotten over the job you want but didn’t get. Show to the company that lost you, although not explicitly to them, what they missed out on. Later on when you are successful enough in your field, they will found out that you applied to their company but they didn’t let you in. It will be your sweet revenge.

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Tech and Engineering Billionaires who Give Back They have all the money in the world and what do they do with it? Give it back to the community.

When you have all the money in the world, you can buy whatever your heart desires. You can buy the biggest yachts, easily rent out the whole floor of the country’s most exclusive buildings and pay the biggest and most popular celebrities to perform at any family occasions.

Hey, you can even throw out money just because.

Or you can use all the money you’re earned to give back to the community – something these billionaires from the tech, industrial and engineering fields have done in the past.

When they have the money that can support their expensive lifestyles and feed the whole world, they might as well put their Benjamins to good use.

These are some of the biggest philanthropists who have given billions to different communities in their attempt to make this world a better place for them and for us:

While most of the billionaires included in this list are not engineers, they have made an impact in the technology and engineering communities.

Gates photo by Business Insider; Koch photo by Z Facts; Bechtel photo by Getty; Allen photo by Bloomberg; Hopp photo

by Getty; Bloomgberg photo by UPenn; Moore photo by Intel; Zuckerberg photo

by AFP; Dell photo by Silicon Angle; Ma photo by Bloomberg

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Bill Gates

David Koch

Michael Bloomberg

Gordon Moore

Together with his wife, Melinda, they have given 41% of their net worth ($31.5 Billion) to help fight different community problems like polio, battling infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Bloomberg has graduated with an engineering degree and ever since, he has made billions and constantly made it to the top of the billionaires’ list. Throughout his life, he has donated $3.7 Billion in an effort to boost fish populations and deal with tobacco use, drowning deaths and urban innovation.

After battling prostate cancer, Koch, an engineering graduate, has pledged to support the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has donated 3% of his net worth to $1.2 Billion to his philanthropic causes.

Gordon Moore, together with her wife Betty, founded Intel and gave out millions to their foundation to help build the most powerful telescope in the world, the Thirty Meter Telescope. So far, they have donated 45% of their net worth ($2.8 Billion) to their philanthropic causes.

Stephen Bechtel, Jr.

With his family’s wealth coming from engineering and construction, Bechtel focuses his philanthropic causes to support young students to pursue science, technology, math and engineering.

He has donated 24% of net worth which is around $688 Million.

Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg is synonymous to Facebook already and together with his wife, they have donated 4% of their net worth ($1.6 Billion) to different causes. He also donated $25 Million to the CDC Foundation to find solutions to Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

They also support hospitals and schools in the San Francisco area.

Paul Allen

Dietmar Hopp

Michael Dell

Jack Ma

Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft together with Bill Gates and donated 9% of his net worth ($1.6 Billion) to different philanthropic causes. One example is his Allen Institute for Brain Science. This institute focuses on studying brain and neurological diseases. He donated millions to fight Ebola in West Africa as well.

With over $1.1 Billion worth of donations through the years, Michael Dell has focused his philanthropic attention to providing resources and mentoring to help low-income students finish college. His Dell Scholars Program has already given more than $60 Million worth of scholarships and services since 2004.

Together with colleagues from IBM, Dietmar Hopp co-founded SAP, the giant German software company and created Dietmar Hopp Foundation. His foundation focuses on youth sports, cancer research and healing diseases. His total donations are over $1.25 Billion.

With no records on how much Jack Ma has donated to the public, Ma has involved his company in promoting teaching people how to make ‘sustainable’ money so that they would be able to cope with future economic downturns.

He has also raised an interest in environmentalism in China when he banned the sale of shark fins on his company’s platforms. As of 2010, he has announced that 0.3% of the company’s annual revenue will be designated to environmental protection.

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United Airlines Makes History with Sustainable Biofuel United to integrate sustainable aviation biofuels into its ongoing operations at LAX hub Graphic by Bidness ETC

United Airlines made history today by becoming the first U.S. airline to begin use of commercial-scale volumes of sustainable aviation biofuel for regularly scheduled flights with the departure of United Flight 708 from Los Angeles International Airport. The launch marks a significant milestone in the commercial aviation industry by moving beyond demonstration flights and test programs to the use of advanced biofuels for United’s ongoing operations.

United has agreed to purchase up to 15 million gallons of sustainable biofuel from AltAir Paramount over a three-year period. The airline has begun using the biofuel in its daily operations at LAX, storing and delivering it in the same way as traditional

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fuel. To highlight this achievement, United will operate flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco with the dedicated use of AltAir Paramount renewable fuel for two weeks, while also integrating this fuel into its regular operations at the airport.

“Today’s historic launch of regularly scheduled service utilizing advanced biofuels represents a major next step in our ongoing commitment to operate sustainably and responsibly,” said Angela Foster-Rice, United’s managing director of environmental affairs and sustainability. “United is a leader in the advancement of alternative fuels, and, along with our partners at AltAir Paramount, we are tak-

ing action every day to minimize our impact on the environment and explore new ways to improve efficiency.”

“Los Angeles is a global leader in sustainability, so it’s no wonder that the first U.S. flights to use commercial-scale, renewable jet fuel are taking off from our airport,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “LAX and United Airlines have broken new ground with fuel that reduces carbon emissions by as much as 60 percent when compared to standard jet fuel.

Today, we set a new standard for sustainability in aviation — an example I hope the rest of the industry will follow in the coming years.”

AltAir Paramount’s Renewable Fuel Technology

United has collaborated with AltAir since 2009 with a common goal of bringing an ongoing source of sustainable aviation biofuels to an airport. AltAir retrofitted portions of the Paramount Petroleum Corporation – a subsidiary of AlonUSA Energy – refinery in Paramount, California, to create a 35 million gallon per year advanced renewable fuel unit, bringing new clean energy jobs to the Los Angeles area.

The facility converts sustainably sourced non-edible, natural oils and agricultural wastes into jet fuel and is expected to provide a greater than 60 percent reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions when compared to fuel produced from traditional petroleum. AltAir’s fuel meets the same standard as traditional jet fuel, ASTM D1655. In addition, AltAir is pursuing certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) - a global sustainability standard and certification system that recognizes biomass and biofuel producers that adhere to stringent social responsibility and environmental criteria.

“AltAir Paramount and United are working together to lead the industry in the use of sustainable and homegrown biofuel,” said Bryan Sherbacow, AltAir’s president and chief operating officer.

“Today’s launch demonstrates our commitment to helping United reduce its operational impact on the environment and advance the use of alternative fuels.”

United and Sustainable Aviation Biofuels

In 2009, United became the first U.S. carrier to perform a biofuel demonstration flight. In 2011, United became the first U.S. carrier to operate a commercial advanced biofuel flight. Last year, United announced an historic $30 millionequity investment in U.S.-based alternative fuels developer Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc., a pioneer in the development and commercialization of converting municipal solid waste into low-cost sustainable aviation biofuel. The Fulcrum investment represents the single largest investment by a U.S. airline in alternative fuels and sets United apart in the aviation industry in the advancement of aviation biofuels.

United also recently received the World Bio Markets (WBM) Award for Excellence in Advanced Biofuels.

Gravity-Powered

AIRCRAFTS Can you imagine an aircraft flying without fuel? Yup, you read it just right.

Aircrafts can now be powered by gravity and fly even without fuel. It does seem like a dream for the aviation industry and environmentalists alike but it’s a dream turned into reality.

To the doubters, this new concept may be unbelievable but it is actually happening. It can even carry heavy loads cargoes and passengers just like fuel-powered aircrafts can.

We know that the sun donates ample amount of energy to the earth. This excessive amount of energy saturates the earth in the form of gravity. The difficult part here is capturing the solar energy so that it can be used for some purposes. So, an aviation company based in Nevada is finding out ways to use up the gravity as a source of power. To do these they had to amalgamate new powers with the old ones.

The idea emerged from the brain of Robert D. Hunt, a theoretical physicist and an inventor who developed the Hunt Aviation Corp who will pioneer in this gravity-powered aircraft.

So, one may ask: how does

the concept of these aircrafts operate? The concept actually operates on the basic principles of buoyancy, lift, aerodynamics, and gravity. The aircraft makes use of the ascending and descending to manage and keep up with the lift and the speed of moving forward and then mimics the behavior of the bodies of the cold and the warm air that constitute the weather.

To make the aircraft to rise above the ground, it has gas bags inside a pair of tough, structures that are like zeppelin filled with helium from the storage tanks, which are inside the vehicle. On the sides of the aircraft are compressed air-jets that propel the aircraft forward and reduce the total weight of the aircraft because it releases the stored air that performs as ballast.

It is the gravity that brings the craft towards the ground.

By October 2003, Hunt Aviation Corp already began the first phase of prototype construction, assembling a consortium of aviation manufacturers and suppliers that wish to support revolutionary aircraft technology.

What a promising future for aviation and energy conservation.

Photo by Spy Drones

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The Engineer’s Guide to Avoiding these Social Media Mistakes

by Alice Hernandez

Photo by iStock

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Social media has played a crucial role in our lives today. With platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we can easily express ourselves to everyone else.

Sometimes, when you have plenty of followers, you can even make a career out of being “famous”. So it’s understandable that companies will look into your social media profiles and judge you based on your posts.

A lot of employers would check someone’s social media profiles to see if the person would fit into the company’s brand and if they can hire that person to work with them. So if you’re the type of person who likes to post meaningless

rants and a habit of breaking the law, chances are employers wouldn’t consider you for the job.

If they see that you’re fit to work for them, they’d hire you. But that doesn’t mean you can start posting whatever you feel like posting. It means you have to be more careful with what you post since you are now representing a company or a brand.

The best advice to young professionals out there is to use your social media accounts to your advantage. Social media plays an important role to our careers. It makes or breaks one. To use it to your advantage, avoid these mistakes.

Think before you click.

Save your careers.

Photo by Wikipedia Commons

Making fun of your company and clients.

Showing poor communication skills.

Posting discriminatory comments towards anyone or anything.

That’s just really wrong. Proper job etiquette requires you to talk about your company and your clients respectfully and with dignity. So we advice you to keep your rants and embarrassing stories about them to yourself and just keep quiet on social media. It would definitely save you from getting fired.

Nobody really wants to work with someone who can’t construct a proper sentence. If you’re working for somebody or for a company, you’re automatically representing the brand, the person and the company. It would be embarrassing for them to see you talk to potential clients if you can’t deliver the message properly.

Posting photos that go against company’s policies.

Complaining about your boss or even your job.

Nobody wants to deal with the backlash that comes after seeing someone you work with post a very discriminatory comment towards a certain group, product or advocacy.

Remember that time Manny Pacquiao made that comment against the LGBT community?

Well, Nike had to “break-up” with him because it didn’t want to associate itself to people like him. This could happen to you if you’re not careful with your comments.

If you work for a beverage company, it would be really wrong to praise the rival company’s products. That’s just common sense. That’s how Britney Spears lost her contract with Pepsi. She was seen drinking coke – not exactly related to social media but you get our point.

If you have common sense, you know that it’s never right to complain about your boss and your job on social media.

If you see something wrong about your boss and your job, complain about it to the right people in the company. Never let the whole world know about your company’s internal problems.

Plagiarizing.

Getting sued because of stealing intellectual property is an employer’s nightmare so if you want to keep your job, be careful what you post online. Cite the right references, give credit always and never ever steal somebody’s ideas.

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10 Qualities Companies Look For In An Engineer

01

You know your strengths and weaknesses.

Employers usually ask you what your strengths and weaknesses are. So our advice is to be honest and tell them what you’re really good at.

Then, you can explain what your weaknesses are in a way that you can use it to your advantage.

It’s pretty tricky but give this a lot of thought before you head to the interview.

02

You know your success stories.

They would ask you for a success story.

Usually, employers would want to know what problems you’ve faced in the past and how you were able to overcome it. That’s how they’ll judge you on your ability to handle stress.

Don’t give a dramatic effect to it. Keep it professional and don’t shed a tear.

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No one is perfect – that is a universal fact. We can never recruit that one person who fits all of the qualities an employer looks for without a flaw or two.

However, it still helps that we know what kind of qualities we need to land the job of our dreams and boost our careers.

No, you don’t have to pretend to have these. You don’t have to fake anything because employers know how to detect someone who really has the qualities they are looking for from someone who just likes to pretend in a desperate attempt to get the job.

So if you want to land the job of your dreams and start paving your way to a successful career life, here are the top qualities your future employer may need from you:

You know what kind of path you want to take in your career.

If you want to work for big engineering companies, recruiters would ask you what kind of path you want to take once you get the job. Would you like to eventually be promoted to a managerial position? They would surely ask you that. They’d want to know if you’re the type who wants to stay in the company for a long time.

Companies want loyalty from the people they hire.

03

04

You can work under light supervision.

No one needs a burden so they need to hire someone who

can easily understand the job description and knows how to do it.

Your supervisors would hate it if you keep bugging them if you’re doing the job right or not. So as much as possible, avoid annoying them.

05

You can work well with your colleagues.

When they check your

You like to solve problems.

When they ask you about a challenging situation where your problem-solving skills are tested, they’d want to see how you handle those tasks and if you can fix the problem. We all know that our jobs require us to solve problems all the time, so expect that you’ll be asked these kinds of questions all the time.

Hey, engineering school trained us very well for this so this shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

You are active in your work.

As soon as you get the task done for the

day, your employers would appreciate it if you offer to help with other tasks. If you end up as the perky employee who’s always game to get a lot of job done, you’d be one of the most favorite people in the company.

Don’t be too perky though. Some employers might think you’re a goody two shoes.

06

09

You are responsible.

Anybody wants to hang out with the

responsible ones inside the company so if you’re that type, there’s a higher chance that your employers would hire you for the job.

So if you’ve had experiences when you’ve proven yourself responsible, go ahead and tell everyone about it. But don’t sound arrogant though.

resume, they would ask you what kind of organizations you worked with during college. They’d assess how well you perform in group activities. That would play a crucial part on how your boss would assess you.

So if you’re the type who can easily work well with other people, this is no problem for you.

07

08

You are always open to learn new things.

If you’re the type who hates change, then

that would be a disadvantage for you. Being part of a company really requires you to learn new things to improve your skills. Your future boss would appreciate you even more if you show enthusiasm in learning new things.

Share to these people that you like to read a lot of things to widen your knowledge on a certain topic. You can also tell them you’re very willing to learn something new for the job.

You have an ambition.

Employers look for someone

who has the drive and determination to succeed with their job. In short, they want someone with ambition.

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Keeping Romantic Relationships in the Engineering Workplace

by Dion Greg Reyes

M

ore often than not, relationships that rooted, sprouted, and grew in the workplace reaches to a point where “it’s complicated.” While 37 percent of workers have dated a colleague and 33 percent of those office romances have led to marriage, having a hook-up or romantic relationship at work can impose more problems than fun if you let the urge out of control.

It is somehow a trap for some engineers not to develop feelings with workmates considering the regular interaction that the work requires. Some even do it as a secret while some are open about it, depending on company policies. But either way, you and your partner need to realize to keep it cool and be professional at work. A little thrill, like romance in the office pantry, is too risky that you can both lose your jobs. Disagreements within the relationship should never involve your co-workers as well.

Those temporary flings and hookup episodes, the ones that are “no strings attached,” that’s the kind of relationship that can harm work. It may soon create an awkward environment if you stop, and thus impede

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work. Much worse can happen if the relationship didn’t work and you had an office breakup. That’s not what you and the company want.

If you can’t fight the urge, at least keep the relationship at work to be professional.

Of course the success rate of these relationships cannot be discounted, as some find their true love, although statistically low, in the workplace. That may be true for them as they have dealt with the office relationship with utmost precaution. The relationship may have even helped them forward their career with the inspiration. You should do so, too.

Nonetheless, keeping a romantic relationship at work is up to you and never up to Cupid.

Just stay away from getting issues at work out of that forbidden or even approved relationship. Engineers are known to be one of the best lovers there are, and two engineers going at it is not so bad at all. Keep that integrity and not mess it up.

Top photo by DC Clubbing Bottom photo by Nirapad News

‘2045 Initiative’: The Technology to Gain Eternal Life

D

Itskov photo by Bath Bulletin Cyborg photo by Pinterest

mitry Itskov, a Russian media mogul and multi-millionaire, has one goal: to be able to use technology to live forever.

To be able to do this, he is currently heading a science-based project called the ‘2045 initiative’ which aims to “upload” human consciousness into an online avatar that can live forever.

Itskov has given millions of dollars into pioneering the research since the initiative was launched. His team of scientists, believe that the human brain is very similar to a computer and will eventually be able to be transferred to upgradable “bodies”.

Itskov claims that he has upped the urgency of his research. “If there is no immortality technology, I’ll be dead in the next 35 years,” he says in an upcoming documentary, The Immortalist.

“The ultimate goal of my plan is to transfer someone’s personality into the new artificial carrier. Different scientists call it uploading or they call it mind transfer. I prefer to call it personality transfer.”

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Photo by Bigstock

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The First Global Robotic Surgery Done in UAE Doctors at a Government Hospital at Sharjah performed a complex cardiac surgery on a patient with his heart, and other organs at the right side of his body.

Life-Saving Surgery Done Live via Webcast For 4000 Physicians Teaching how to do surgery no longer requires being physically present in the operating room.

Doctors at a Government Hospital at Sharjah performed a complex cardiac surgery on a patient with his heart, and other organs at the right side of his body. This surgery is considered to be the world’s first Robotic Surgery performed on a heart found on the right side of a body.

The surgery was performed at the Al Qassimi Hospital, and was broadcasted live via webcast to the 6th annual India Live Cardiology Conference in New Delhi. This interactive live surgery was

done to be able to train and educate new physicians from around the globe.

Approximately, 4,000 surgeons around the world intensely and carefully watched the procedures and gave their comments on each of the steps. According to Dr Arif Al Nooryani, executive director and consultant cardiologist, the procedure was succesful and the fact that the heart of the patient as well as his other organs were on the right side was a challenge for them.

The surgery usually costs Dh20,000 but it was conducted free for the patient.

In this age, one doesn’t have to be “physically” present in the operating room to learn how to do a complex surgery to save lives. At the Al Qasimi hospital, an interactive live surgery was done via webcast to educate future surgeons how to do it right. This live surgery was done on a patient whose heart and other vital organs were on the right side of the body. The operation proved to be a great success.

The hospital’s executive director and consultant cardiologist performed in front of 4,000 surgeons around the world at the Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah.

While performing the operation, his audience was able to give feedback for each step of the procedure.

In an interview, Dr. Al Nooryani said:

to have this technology available at Al Qasimi Hospital to aid us in training and to take part in global conferences. The conference organisers came to us because they trust our work and have seen the results.

Medicine is constantly evolving. We have new equipment, new materials, new procedures that we as cardiologists need to learn.

Through this live transmission, I was given the opportunity to teach these cardiologists how to do this by showing them that it can easily be done and giving them encouragement.”

The successful operation included a process where a pump must be implanted by robotic surgery. The whole procedure lasted for 40 minutes and costs usually Dh 20,000. Luckily for the patient, it was conducted for free. It is considered as the first ever robotic surgery for a heart located on the right side in the world. Just goes to prove that doctors in the Middle East aren’t far behind in the progress of modern medicine.

“The aim of the surgery is to allow us to provide invaluable training to new physicians and other health-care professionals from around the globe, We are very pleased

First Uterus Transplant in the U.S. Gives Hope to Pregnancy The first uterus transplant in Cleveland Clinic will surely boost pregnancy confidence in women.

Last Wednesday, the first uterus transplant was performed in Cleveland Clinic, U.S. After succeeding to attach the uterus in a 26-year-old recipient, the operation was announced the following day where in the patient was said to be in stable condition already.

The operation aims to enable women without uterus or who had theirs removed to become pregnant and give birth like any normal women. The patient undergoing the transplant however must wait for a year to heal and adjust with the medications prescribed by the doctors before getting pregnant.

After which, in vitro fertilization is needed to become pregnant. Before the transplant, eggs from the woman and sperm from his husband are to be removed and frozen to fertilize. After which the embryo will be also transferred into her uterus.

The gist here is that the transplanted uterus will be removed after giving birth in order to stop taking anti-rejection drugs.

Cleveland Hospital was said to be permitted to perform 10 procedures as an experiment. After which, officials are to decide whether to continue it as a standard procedure. The lead of the surgical team is Dr. Andreas G. Tzakis, who perform thousands of organ transplants in the US and has worked in Sweden. Nine women in Sweden already had the operation and at least four had babies.

According to his interview, women without uterus can either adopt or hire surrogates but many find these unacceptable due to cultural and personal reasons. This could be the solution for it that could also let these women experience the normal pregnancy.

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Reasons Why You Need that Engineering Internship

by Dion Greg Reyes

Photo by Flickr

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everal companies nowadays are impressed with more than just your engineering degrees.

They like employees with a solid background in internships or on-the-job trainings while being an undergraduate. They are attracted to potential employees who have applied their engineering knowledge in the field even before graduation.

The main purpose of internships is to translate the abstract engineering theories and learned examples inside the classroom to apply them in real life. It also serves a preparation towards working with real co-workers later on – that only means that you will be facing a slice of what the real world of engineering is, including the harsh realities it will offer.

When you do get an opportunity to an internship, make the most out of it.

An internship without learning anything from the experience is as good as having no internship at all. Expose yourself in trainings and mingle with co-workers and managers. Whatever you do, the endpoint is to have accomplishments. Some companies absorb their interns right after they grad-

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uate, so do the best you can to show the company that you are worthy of the regular employee status later on.

There is no limit to how many internships you should engage with. The more internships you can get, the better. The value of these internships will be seen by employers and managers as commitment to your field of study. But do not expect to get paid every time, because some internships aren’t paid at all. You will give free service to a company that will give you relevant experience.

It’s a win-win, so don’t look at unpaid internships as a burden but an opportunity.

While some engineering curriculums require internships, others do not. For those students who are not compelled to do these internships, you must be willing to step up your game by voluntarily signing up for them. It will give you leverage to those who choose not to. You have something to add on in that bland resume which may propel you to your dream job.

Think of an internship as an investment that will help you with your dream engineering job later on. If you really want to compete with thousands of engineers out there, internships are what will make the difference.

ENGINEERS, ARE YOU WORKING BUSILY OR PRODUCTIVELY?

Most people interchange these things when it comes to their work. Yes, we all admit having a fair share of our busy days. But is this good? Remember, you can be very busy without accomplishing anything productive at the end of the day. See the difference?

To be clearer, here are things that distinguish being productive from being busy. Truth be told, there’s really a big difference between these two and don’t let your potential and efforts go to waste.

A busy person has many goals.

A productive person sets priorities.

There is a difference between just listing down all your tasks and focusing which has to be done first. Having too many goals may end you up multitasking that may compromise the quality of your work and accomplishments at the end of the day. Shorten your to-do list with 3-5 vital tasks of the day. Start with doing the important and larger tasks to accomplish more work.

A busy person quickly gives an answer.

A productive person does careful thinking.

Busy persons tend to give quick answers because they are “too busy” to think about it. Well, let’s just say that if you carefully think of a decision there is a bigger chance that a task would be accomplished. Hasty decisions may result to mistakes, meaning, more work. And that will make you “busier”.

A busy person complains being busy.

A productive person lets results speak for himself.

Work can be a mind game too. If you think you’re busy, then you will be “busy”.

Minding your work and focusing on accomplishing things will negate all the busy vibes.

A busy person has no time. A productive person dedicates time to important things.

Organized and productive people are productive because they carefully allot time to each task they have to do whereas people with poor time management ends up wasting a lot of time and efforts.

A busy person works for a boss.

A productive person works for their clients.

This is where you ask who you are working for. The clients pay your wages not your employers. Also, people who works only for their boss misses out doing additional work and other opportunities. Remember that satisfying your clients first with your output will amaze your boss and that’s how you work productively. Hit two birds with one stone.

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BE LIKE GOOD GUY BILL

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ogether with his wife, he proves to everyone that some billionaires aren’t really after the money.

We all know that Bill Gates is the richest man on Earth. While a lot of people like to hate on guys like him, we can’t help but admire him for his efforts to make the world a better place. Hey, if he has all the money in the world, he had the option to just enjoy life with his family and live a life on the beach. Lucky for us, he has the passion to help people and pursue his advocacies to change the world.

With more than $70 billion in his bank account from his company, Microsoft, good guy Bill focuses on global health, education and development issues together with his wife, Melinda. After stepping down from being the boss in his company back in 2006, he decided to put “fulltime philanthropist” in his resume next. With Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, they tackle on different issues affecting everybody in the world (especially those living in the third world).

In a letter they addressed to the public in the website, they wrote: For each issue we work on, we fund innovative ideas that could help

Source: BBC

Photo by Stephen Voss

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remove these barriers: new techniques to help farmers in developing countries grow more food and earn more money; new tools to prevent and treat deadly diseases; new methods to help students and teachers in the classroom. Some of the projects we fund will fail. We not only accept that, we expect it—because we think an essential role of philanthropy is to make bets on promising solutions that governments and businesses can’t afford to make. As we learn which bets pay off, we have to adjust our strategies and share the results so everyone can benefit.

But what exactly made Bill Gates the way he is now? What made him want to be a philanthropist? With so many things to do and so much money to spend, why did he decide to donate around USD$28 billion of his money to different causes he believes in?

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Bill and Melinda Gates, each shared a defining moment that made him realize that he needed to try to save the world: Bill: Well, the idea that a computer was relevant to the problems they were dealing with, where getting enough food, having decent health, getting any electricity, a reasonable place to live, it was pretty clear to me

that, hey, I love this computer, and I thought it was neat and kids should have access, but they had to rig up a special generator so I could do this one demo. And they borrowed this generator. It wasn’t going to be there when I left. So the idea that there was a hierarchy of needs ... While still believing in digital empowerment, that was not at the top of the list. That was pretty eye opening for me.

Melinda: We often call each other when we are the road. Almost every day. But it was a different call. Bill was really quite choked up on the phone ... Because he’d seen firsthand in a TB clinic hospital how awful it is to have that disease ... He literally said to me, ‘It’s a death sentence. To go into that hospital is a death sentence.

Whichever story is the real cause, we are thankful that billionaires like him have hearts and isn’t on it for power and greed. So to the next billionaires reading this, may you find it in your hearts to use your money to raise awareness on certain issues affecting a lot of people.

Or you could join him and Warren Buffet in their campaign, Giving Pledge, which encourages filthy rich people to donate their money to philanthropic causes!

Photo sources from topmost to bottommost: Speed Change; Stoogles; MSN; Ventures Africa

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Things that Engineers Should Never Say at Work

by Dion Greg Reyes

All photos in this spread are grabbed from the film “Office Space.�

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Some feelings are better left unsaid. This is what you need to remember while in the engineering workplace because that may bring out problems with your workmates and even cost you your job. Be careful

in uttering words that will scar your reputation in the office or in the field.

Here are those potentially damaging phrases and sentences you should watch your mouth for.

My workmate is an idiot.

I will submit this later before I leave the office (but actually will not).

Be careful what you say about your workmates as that will backfire to you later on. This may become your boss someday and you wouldn’t mess with that co-worker. The moral construct is to be generally polite and never air out statements, may it be in front of them or behind their back, that will degrade your co-workers no matter how true those statements are.

They will no longer have that same trust once you’re too expressive.

I have a lot of work already.

I can’t do that anymore.

I AM BORED.

When you’ve been given a ton of workload to do already and you’re being given more, at least be polite about it. Managers like engineers who are open to accepting workload to their capacity and those who know how to say no in the most appropriate manner. You can never show to you’re full by running your fingers through your hair of letting a big sigh in front of your co-workers.

Better quit the job. You get the job many others want and yet you remain unproductive. If someone from the other desk who always takes the overtime hears this, he might strangle you. Or maybe even your boss will start wondering why you still get paid for a service that is centered on boredom. You can’t be bored at work as something is always could be done with your time at work. Take the initiative to find something to work on to ease the life of everyone else in your workplace. Stop being a slack and stand up there.

In engineering where one work has a domino effect to the other, it is important to get the job done with a time constraint.

You can never make impossible promises when it comes to deadline as that will affect the work others with their expectations.

When you fail to deliver with the supposed deadline, be frank about it and say you can’t make it on time.

But say it with a valid reason. Do not comfort them with the lie that you can submit on time. It also ruins your credibility.

THAT’S NOT FAIR! You just heard the news?

Life is never fair. You may see your workmate who entered the same day as you did being promoted and you are stuck with that entry-level position. You may have known your workmate to get a raise and you didn’t.

It is only unfair because it becomes better to the other person in the workplace and not for you. Be happy for them instead and work your way to get that same benefit.

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FILIPINO SCIENTIST INVENTS

MECHANICAL BUG REMOVER FOR CROPS To address the concern of almost 50% harvest loss to these pests, the woman entomologist has come up with a novel solution.

Photo by Philippine Star

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For most Southeast Asian Countries like the Philippines, agriculture is one of the major sources of their staple food and income from exports. However, farming needs large investments and capital to fund the seeds, fertilizer, insecticides and other equipment used in the fields.

A young entrepreneur from the University of the Philippines – Los Baùos, Josine Macaspac, 27, also an entomologist, develops an affordable mechanical pest remover she called Mechanical Postharvest Pest Removal System (MPreS). She claims that it is more practical than the currently used techniques.

For Filipino Farmers, almost 50 percent of their harvest are lost to these bugs and other pests.

The industrial standard control used is a two-pronged method. First is

cooling with dry ice to lessen infestation and then fumigation to eventually kill these bugs. And these are expensive means.

But with the MPreS, farmers will be able to prevent infestation at an affordable cost.

This is a manually-operated mechanical device to efficiently remove them from post-harvest and storage. Farmers only have to load the feed and as the machine is operated through pedal power, the compartment with the feed vibrates which effectively dislodge pests.

The collections will be immediately stocked in the tray below. It can hold up 50 kg of produce at a time or a total of 600 kg of rice in 12 sacks. It works well with grains, rice, wheat, millet and sorghum.

MIT Launches 10 Contests On Climate Change MIT’s Climate CoLab opens contests addressing climate change issues and solving them.

Photo by MIT

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he Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched its set of contests through the Climate CoLab in order to tackle and solve major issues on climate change.

The contests mainly seek for high-impact proposals on how to solve climate change challenges.

Entries can win various prizes including a $10,000 cash award and a chance to present in MIT. Climate CoLab is also said to feed larger climate action plans where the community will build a platform this year.

“The mission of the Climate CoLab is to test how crowds and experts can work together to solve large, complex problems like climate change”, says Professor Thomas Malone, MIT Sloan School of Man-

agement and director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and founder of the Climate CoLab.

The plan has two stages where the first involves submitting proposals while the second stage will ask the participating proposals to form national and global climate strategies to estimate GHG reductions that would result from the plans.

The 10 contests focus on decarbonizing energy supply, shifting public attitudes and behavior, adapting to climate change, buildings, transportation, industry, waste management, land use, materials, and information communication technology and cities.

The deadline of proposals is on May 23, 2016 at 8:00 PM EST

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New Driverless Platform

may be better Drivers than Humans Google’s chipmakers NVIDIA is up for a promising new driverless platform technology.

Top photo by Maximum PC Bottom photo by NVIDIA

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ontrary to what the layman thinks, driverless cars aren’t a hundred per cent Google. Behind the smart cars is chipmaker NVIDIA, which Tegra processors help power some of Google’s driverless car tech in recent years.

And now, NVIDIA is up for a better driverless platform technology

Smart cars will soon house NVIDIA’s new Drive PX 2, the world’s first in-car artificial intelligence computer. It has a promise of being a better driver than humans with its capacity to process 24 trillion deep learning operations in just a second.

It combines the functions of sensors, cameras, lidar, and radar that gives the autonomous vehicles that power to think in situations that even humans take for granted. This is how this new technology may become better drivers than humans.

Come to think of it, Drive PX 2 can even be a superhuman with its own capacity to think on road situations. And considering it is just software.

The future is indeed bright for autonomous driverless cars.

Wireless Charging Electric Buses

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e have moved from using landlines to carrying mobile phones, from writing letters to sending emails and from riding bicycles to mounting motor vehicles. That said, these electric devices aren’t perfect. They run on electricity and some of them have batteries that require charging almost every day of the week.

This proves to be a very tedious task as you first need to find a charging point, plug in the charger, then wait for some time to get it charged.

However, things are very different with the latest electric buses. They are amongst the very first vehicles to use a revolutionary inductive charging

technology. With no need to plug-in to charge, the batteries of these buses charge wirelessly when the bus stops to pick up the passengers. The technology is definitely a breakthrough that should speed up the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV).

This technology is also currently available for mobile devices, and is the basis of this advanced effort. The wireless system works on the principle of electromagnetic induction. When a magnetic field is generated by an alternating current in a primary coil, it induces a current in a nearby secondary coil. The latest in the technology is that it allows for an energy-transfer efficiency of 90 percent or higher.

The wireless charging system is a big benefit for electric vehicles. It allows

drivers to charge their car’s batteries simply by parking in the right spot.

It also reduces the risk of roadblocks caused by empty fuel tanks. However, the technology is not so easily available in the market right now but it is hoped that the benefit of “park to charge” will surely attract the masses.

The future of hybrid cars would value this innovation very much. No more hassle of waiting in line to get gas, heck, no more need for gas money! You’ll not only save cash, you’ll also save the planet. Having such cars that run on electricity means no more smoke emissions from car mufflers, which will lead to cleaner air for everybody.

All photos by Plugless Power

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Spherical Maglev Tires for Self-Driving Cars from Goodyear

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elf-driving cars seem to be not enough for Goodyear with their new technology of revolutionizing car tires into four spheres that works and connects by magnetic levitation.

Called the Goodyear Eagle-360 concept tire, this will enable the autonomous cars to navigate in all directions. It could even stop then drive sideways into a parking lot; thus no room for excess tread wear. Sensors will continually rotate the tire’s orientation.

Moreover, the tires would not touch the car because of magnetic levitation. The car’s suspension, steering gear, and propulsion will depend on this maglev feature. This holds a promise of self-driving cars to be an electric vehicle instead of using carbon fuels.

The Eagle-360 tires also change the tread shape and act like a natural sponge – soft in wet conditions and dry when it’s not raining. The same behavior, called biomimicry, is present in brain corals.

Not only that, Goodyear also presents IntelliGrip to sense road and weather conditions. This feature can provide a map of roads through GPS and telematics which can help in repairing damaged roads the car has traversed.

Top photo by NDTV Right photos by Goodyear

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TRASHWALL A New Way to Use your Trash Efficiently

This wall, only costing a mere 10 cents per square foot, could be the cheap counterpart of those expensive energy efficient systems.

In a collaborative effort between the architecture and engineering students of Washington State University, the team has designed a wall that effectively sustains heat and is energy efficient at the same time. The team is guided by Taiji Miyasaka, professor of architecture in the School of Design and Construction, together with Bob Richards, professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

Richards said that energy efficient systems nowadays only prove useful to those who can afford it, but with this tech, people of a lower income range could have a system which wouldn’t hurt their budget. He even joked about a student who turned off her shower heater to reduce her bill, but that only led to her shower freezing.

This wall, only costing a mere 10 cents per square foot, could be the cheap counterpart of those expensive energy efficient systems.

Photos by Washington State University

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NYU Abu Dhabi Immersing Engineering Students To Social Works The U.A.E. based university promotes social awareness and through their Engineers For Social Impact program.

by Farrel Pinto Aside from science and technology pursuits of our dear engineers, benefiting the mankind is also a mandate of such important profession. The NYU Abu Dhabi implements the Engineers for Social Impact, a co-curricular program promoting and complementing the mission and goals of the Engineering Division through sustainable projects, field works and immersions.

It serves as a platform for exploring technology entrepreneurship models for the society giving economical sustainability. Through which is attain by immersing students in a culture that promotes innovation, entrepreneurship and experiential learning rooted in the global community. They have also created partnerships with corporations, non-governmental organizations and other agencies to give students the opportunity to experience future activities with social impact. The aim is also to develop and share knowledge in forming technological solutions in improving the lives of the end users in the bottom of the socio-economic groups pyramid. Students learn to appreciate the societal approach in solving engineering problems giving them a new meaning and a perspective in their profession as future engineers.

The Engineers for Social Impact has implemented several projects already immersing teams of students in less developed countries like Sri Lanka and Ethiopia in building community centers other amenities to help families from the villages. With these projects, it give the students the experience to apply their engineering knowledge and theory in practical aspects to provide sustainable and long-term solutions. It is indeed a life-changing opportunity learning and helping at the same time.

Photos by NYUAD

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Source: NYUAD

Internet.org: Alliance and Connectivity for Less Facebook and six other tech giants joined hands to help less developed countries gain access in the internet through this platform

by Farrel Pinto

As the world becomes more and more connected through the advancements of technology, not all parts of the globe have access to these, especially that of the internet. The technology for connectivity is not equally distributed and some parts of the world don’t even have internet access. And for the most part, everything comes at a cost that some less developed countries cannot afford.

To address the challenges and to reach out to other regions, Facebook and six other network service companies consisting Samsung,

Launched in 2013, Internet.org has reached a lot of regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America providing internet access and free services to millions of people. Here is a timeline of launches in different countries with participating mobile networks.

16 December 2015 Iraq with Korek Telecom

18 October 2015 Egypt with Etisalat

1 July 2015

South Africa with Cell C

19 June 2015

Bolivia with VIVA

5 June 2015

Senegal with Tigo

28 May 2015

Pakistan with Telenor Pakistan

10 May 2015 Bangladesh with Robi

13 May 2015

Malawi with TNM and Airtel

20 April 2015

Indonesia with Indosat

31 March 2015 Guatemala with Tigo

Photo by David Paul Morris via Bloomberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized, “Connectivity is a human right.”

Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm, joined hands in creating an open platform that can provide free access to selected internet services to less developed countries.

Thus, introducing the Internet.org.

It provides a set of basic websites and services to introduce people to the value of the internet and how it can shape their lives. Providers can offer these for free in an economic and sustainable way and is available on Android app.

As of 2015, Facebook’s report, State of Connectivity 2015: A Report on Global Internet Access, showed that 3.2 billion people are connected online due to more affordable data. In September 2015, the Internet.org was renamed FreeBasics.com as its existing website and can be downloaded as Android app in smartphones. It has now become a big network of affordable internet services available to the people around the world.

Indeed, we are becoming a more connected world, thanks to these people.

10 February 2015

18 March 2015

Philippines with Smart Communications

India with Reliance Communications

January 2015

Ghana with Airtel

January 2015 Colombia

November 2014 Kenya

October 2014 Tanzania

July 2014 Zambia

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The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating.

The time for action is limited we are approaching a tipping point beyond which the opportunity to reverse the damage of CO2 emissions will disappear.

Tony Blair Background Photo by Breaking Energy

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Turning Waste Gas Emissions into Liquid Fuel MIT researchers have found a way to convert exhaust emissions to oil using bacteria.

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he feat of turning waste gas into liquid fuel has been successfully trialled in a test plant in China. It could open more opportunities in turning emissions of power stations, steel mills and garbage dumps into liquid fuels, all thanks to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers.

This innovation relies on bacteria that convert the waste gases into acetic acid, or popularly called as vinegar, then an

engineered yeast to produce an oil. A pilot test ran in Shanghai in September of 2015, with only 1 to 2 liters in the laboratory. It will be different story now if it is moved upscale to a thousand liters in the demonstration plant which is set to be constructed in Belgium and in China come 2017.

The idea sprouted from a post-doctoral project funded by the US Energy Department. This will forward lowcost gases, and more importantly, it came from emissions that are supposedly waste.Â

Carbon Dioxide to be used in High-Performance Batteries Carbon dioxide finds another important use other than for methanol.

A Photos by Technology Review

new process in making use of carbon dioxide from power plants has been discovered by researchers from George Washington University and Vanderbilt University: use carbon dioxide to boost batteries.

Carbon dioxide has been used to make liquid fuels like methanol, but that isn’t so maximized. However, if we put it in high-performance batteries, carbon dioxide can be six times more valuable than one that is converted into methanol, according to Stuart Licht, a professor of chemistry at George Washington. It will replace graphite anodes which are now in use, which will give a small boost to the capacity of small lithium-ion batteries and almost quadrupled capacity of sodium-ion batteries.

Also an attempt to save the earth from climate change, this initiative will bring great impact in improving the economic incentive in capturing dioxide or sucking it directly from the air. This new technology will forward the use of carbon dioxide now as a useful by-product rather then it being just an emission, and hopefully, the government will act upon it to elevate climate agreements.

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Hybrid Energy Takes Off in South East Asia Southeast Asia is getting electrified as it shifts towards hybrid energy, which is what some are calling the key to the future of renewable energy.

The problem with renewable energy sources like solar and wind is that when the sun stops shining and the winds die down, the flow of electricity grinds to a halt as well, especially if this is in tandem with outdated energy grids – as is the case in most Southeast Asian nations. This is one of the biggest drawbacks of current renewable energy solutions: if natural fluctuations can derail a renewable energy grid, how can it be sustainable?

That’s where hybrid energy systems come in. Think of it like an electric bicycle: your pedalling provides the power most of the time, but when you need that extra oomph, the motor kicks in to help keep you stable. Hybrid energy systems

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work on the same principle – two energy sources (like solar and diesel, for example) covering each other and funnelling electricity into a smart grid.

The Philippines is one of those leading the charge with a solardiesel hybrid power plant in Palawan. Singapore has been conducting R&D in the sector and has invested in installations in India and Indonesia. Local Indonesian mines are also looking for sustainable energy solutions, and are looking for partners from the renewable energy sector.

It may still be too early to tell, but this might just be the break that the sector needs to really push renewable energy solutions into the limelight.

Engineers unite for a renewable energy revolution It has been a major factor concerning us for quite some years now as it has a great impact on our lives, including the way we live, and how our future might come to be. We need to take imperative steps to prevent such disastrous climate change.

The goal might sound simple, but it actually is a big task that needs to be accomplished soon. Climate change is not a pollution issue that can be improved by simply setting random rules.

There needs to be a defined set of laws to govern the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to date. We also need transformation in the entire global energy system, as there is no benefit attached with the release of greenhouse gases.

Developed and developing nations alike will benefit in numerous ways from the transition to an energyefficient and renewable world.

The renewable energy technologies should be used to replace the thermal processes (such as fuel combustion or nuclear power), which in turn would result in a major reduction in the amount of primary energy required. There are numerous renewable technologies that are wellsuited for distributed uses, generating fuel, electricity, and generating heat. Thereby, reducing the transmission

and transportation losses so that less primary energy is required to provide the same energy services.

Through major improvements in energy efficiency, combined with a rapid scale-up in renewable energy that rely primarily on technologies that are already commercially available today, we could be halfway to an allrenewable world within the next two decades. Güssing in Austria, Rizhao in China, the Danish island of Samsø, and several other communities are already undergoing revolution to achieve energy transformation, using combinations of various innovations.

The world can easily undergo the solar energy transformation since technologies involving the use of solar energy are now available at reasonable prices.

Yes! These are possible, with the price of solar photovoltaic panels declining over 99 percent over the last four decades, and the wind energy generation capacity has grown for more than 20 percent over the past decade.

Thanks to the increasing prices of the fossil fuels and rapidly growing safety concerns, the day is not too far when the world will be a globally renewable energy user!

Photo by Wikimedia

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15-year old Filipino Genius invents Biodegradable Plastic BagS Amin Hataman, a 15-year old Filipino student has invented biodegradable plastic bags that may save our earth from pollution.

Photo by Mindanao Examiner

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lastic bags are known to be our environment’s worst enemy. They are known as the ‘silent killers’ that slowly poison our world today.

Studies show that 300 Million plastic bags end up in the Atlantic Ocean alone, endangering sea life! What makes things worse, plastic bags usually require hundreds of years before they break down. Because of this, many environmental advocates encourage people to use eco-friendly bags to at least minimize the pollution caused by plastic bags.

Meanwhile, a young 15-year old Filipino inventor successfully came up with a way to end this struggle forever. He invented biodegradable plastic bags.

Amin Hataman, a student at the Fountain International School, in Metro

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Manila. He was thinking of a science project, when he suddenly took notice of the environment where he grew up in—Mindanao.

“Growing up there, I developed this love for the environment,” Hataman said.

According to Hataman, as a child, he noticed people’s common practice of placing garbage inside that is not biodegradable.

“I did some research on how plastic was actually doing a lot of damage to the environment,” Hataman said.

So, he chose his science project to be related to biodegradable alternatives to plastic and learned about the cellulose properties of Nata de Coco.

“There was this suggestion of nata de coco, because it has cellulose properties, which means that it could

copy plastic that we use today, but it’s organic. Right now, I’m actually already trying to patent this. In the future, if I go into business, I might be able to implement this,” Hataman said.

His Science teacher saw the potential of his research and submitted it to various international contests. Now, Amin Hataman is a certified international award-winning inventor of biodegradable plastic bags.

He has various awards: A bronze medal in the 2015 International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project (I-SWEEP) Olympiad held in Houston, Texas. A Gold medal in the 2014 International Young Inventors Olympiad in Tbilisi, Georgia. He is also listed in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia.

Harnessing Energy from Poo Virginia Tech Researchers have discovered a way to maximize the amount of electricity that can be generated from wastewater we flush down the toilet.

Two Virgina Tech Researchers discovered a way to maximize the amount of energy that can be generated from the wastewater we flush down our toilets.

Xueyang Fend and Jason He were tracing bacteria when they suddenly discovered that the combined work between two specific substrates produced a lot more energy than either of them did separately.

With further development of their discovery, this could help the development of a new treatment system called a microbial fuel cell.

“Tracing the bacteria gave

us a major piece of the puzzle to start generating electricity in a sustainable way,” said Feng, an assistant professor of biological systems engineering.

“This is a step toward the growing trend to make wastewater treatment centers self-sustaining in the energy they use.”

This discovery is a ground-breaker since not all organics perform the same job in the same way.

Some only work because they are food for the electricity-generating bacteria, while the others are good at conducting energy.

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The Bus that Doesn’t Need Gas Money

The institute has launched On Line Electric Vehicle (OLEV) charging system that promises to charge cars and even city buses wirelessly through induction systems contained within roads.

The technology is closely similar to the charging mats that were launched for cell phones and relies on electromagnetic conduction. In OLEVs, the cables that lie beneath the roads create massive magnetic fields that a device placed on the underside of the bus then converts to electricity. The charge plates that are placed under the road generally acquire only between 5 and 15 percent of the total route and remain switched off until an induction-capable bus approaches.

The ‘charging en route’ can prove to be highly beneficial for the buses. The technology is a downsized battery pack that results in lower weight and saves you a lot of cost. It can operate well on regular bus routes. That’s not all! The opportunity charging allows the electric buses to run reliably for long hours, covering longer distances, without the need

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to stop for fuel. It provides the electric bus an invisible charge by a wireless inductive charging system in the span of a few minutes while at a bus stop. This also means charging in traffic, no more annoying roadblocks due to empty tanks.

The application of inductive charging on buses can work really well and is sensible as the buses travel the same routes on a regular basis. Moreover, it can be assured that the buses get a proper charge every trip without a need to stop and recharge. This would save us from using tons of oil for refilling these giant gas tanks. The technology is already in place and is powering buses in Utah, Germany, Italy and Netherlands.

This technology is definitely a solution to a number of issues that regular buses provide, from smoke pollution, to getting stranded as your driver forgot to fill up his tank. This can make electrical buses very appealing. Introducing the technology in your own country can reduce carbon dioxide emissions and smoke pollution caused by regular buses.

Photo by Arup

Green plants that can light-up the house will soon replace bulbs Glowing Plants is a biology start up that seems to have taken Kickstarter by storm, with pledges from 8433 backers blowing away the initial funding target of $64,000 and raising a shade under half a million.

What’s captured the Kickstarter community’s imagination? Well two things, first the company’s push for DIY Bio, a kit that allows you to genetically modify plants in your own home and turn them into glow in the dark plants!

Remember the forest scene in the movie Avatar where the forest glows at night? That’s the kind of vision the company’s CEO Antony Evans has for the future of this branch of biotech. Imagine a world where instead of street lighting we have trees lighting our streets? There are benefits not only in power consumption but also greenhouse gas emissions. The plan is to synthesize plant DNA with bioluminescent organisms that produce luciferin (the stuff that makes it glow). The goal is to

produce a plant that produces this chemical itself and they appear to be very close.

Updates on their Kickstarter site suggest they will be ready to ship seeds by Q4 2015. Though the first generation plants are fairly dim, the expectation is that their bioluminescence will grow with each successive generation.

The company is a staunch advocate of GMO’s, which over the last few years have had very bad press. The Europeans have pretty much banned them, and even in the USA government agencies have been pressured to slow the rate of development of some avenues of Bio tech. Many people will see this “Frankensteinesque”, but think about the possibilities of publicizing this kind of tech? Well, actually, when you think about this in the hands of amateurs it does get a little scary but at least the idea of glowing trees could be fun. But what happens in the autumn when they lose all their leaves I wonder?

Photo by Tech Crunch

What happens when you combine biology and electrical engineering?

Glowing Plants.

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Bionic Spinal Cord Makes the Paralyzed Walk

Australian researchers created the strentode, a man-made blood vessel that sits over the brain and gives hope to paralyzed people.

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Photo by Discovery

ustralian researchers give hope to paralyzed people by creating a “bionic spinal cord” that can make them walk again and to not resort to open brain surgery.

The matchstick-sized device was called the stentode to be implanted in a blood vessel next to the brain. It serves as an electrode that would record the brain activity for movement and translate commands to computer, wheelchairs, prosthetics and exoskeletons.

Dr. Thomas Oxley, a neurologist at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and research fellow at the Florey Institute of Neurosciences and the University of Melbourne, described the device as revolutionary as it is the world’s only minimally invasive device implanted in the blood vessel in the brain in a matter of one day.

He said it acts like the classical pacemaker but will enable movement connected to prosthetics or exoskeletons. The team, consisting 39 scientists, also aims to use it for treating epilepsy, depression and Parkinsons.

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Engineering Music to Sound Better with Cochlear Implants

Photo by BioTech in Asia

There are several stages to hearing loss that dictate what kind of technology is needed for the affected person to live a more or less normal life. Those with difficulty hearing may just need a hearing aid, which makes sounds louder and easier to hear.

Cochlear implants, on the other hand, are for those with physical damage to the inner workings of the ear – it bypasses these damaged portions and directly transmits sound to the auditory nerve.

But even with cutting-edge technology like this, people that are hearing-impaired still find it hard to appreciate music. Cochlear implants are designed for speech, which is much less complicated than music.

Listening to conventional music through a cochlear implant would be like trying to appreciate an extremely pixelated photograph.

However, members of the medical community are attempting to isolate which layers of conventional music are most enjoyable, which would guide how they can simplify music to be more enjoyable for those with cochlear implants. Dr. Anil Lalwani and members of the Columbia’s Cochlear Implant Music Engineering Group is predicting that in the future, not only can we re-engineer conventional music, but also create original pieces of music specifically designed for those with cochlear implants.

GROWING

BONES FOR SKELETAL RECONSTRUCTION

Start-ups aren’t all cheap and easy. Sometimes it’s the opposite.

On the radio show “Entrepreneurs are everywhere”, the host Steve Blank interviewed two guests to see what it’s like to get out of a research lab and build their own start-ups.

The two guests in the interview are Nina Tandon, CEO

and co-founder of EpiBone, the world’s first company growing bones for skeletal reconstruction; and Brandon McNaughton, co-founder and CEO of Akadeum Life Sciences cell sorting technology company. Here are some excerpts from the interview.

Nina shared her experience of what it was like to get out of the comfort zone—in the laboratory.

As a scientist you think that you’re confident about uncertainty because you’re operating in the uncertainty of knowledge, and yet you have the crutch of the scientific method constantly at your side saying, “Hypothesis, test, conclusion, reevaluate.”

Photo by Nina Tandon

But to take that to the jungle in the real world (outside the lab) is a totally different level of uncertainty. (And to add even more uncertainly) throw in having to make a payroll, wanting to make sure you take care of people, knowing that people’s lives and livelihoods depend on my ability to make sure there’s enough money in the bank.

Brandon, on the other hand explained what’s really important in a business.

I’ve learned that business is about relationships. Relationships with customers, it’s relationships with your employees, your investors, because when you buy something, there’s an expectation, there’s a back and forth.

Photo by INC

That’s something that I didn’t really appreciate until after my first startup. I thought it was all about the technology, “Oh, if I could just get this technology to work. If I could just get it to do this, then everything’s going to be OK,” and in some ways I now think technology doesn’t matter. ... what matters more is the ... the customer’s problem.

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Tissue Engineering Scaling Up at Harvard Bioprinting technique creates thick 3D tissues composed of human stem cells and embedded vasculature, with potential applications in drug testing and regenerative medicine

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team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Harvard John A. Paulson School for Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has invented a method for 3D bioprinting thick vascularized tissue constructs composed of human stem cells, extracellular matrix, and circulatory channels lined with endothelial blood vessel cells. The resulting network of vasculature contained within these deep tissues enables fluids, nutrients and cell growth factors to be controllably perfused uniformly throughout the tissue. The advance is reported March 7 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This latest work extends the capabilities of our multi-material bioprinting platform to thick human tissues, bringing us one step closer to creating architectures for tissue repair and regeneration,” says Wyss Core Faculty member Jennifer A. Lewis, Sc.D., senior author on the study, who is also the Hansörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at SEAS.

To date, scaling up human tissues built of a variety of cell types has been limited by a lack of robust methods for embedding life-sustaining vascular networks.

Building on their earlier work, Lewis and her team have now increased the tissue thickness threshold by nearly tenfold, setting the stage for future advances in tissue engineering and repair. The method combines vascular plumbing with living cells and an extracellular matrix, enabling the structures to function as living tissues. In the study, Lewis and her team showed that their 3D bioprinted tissues could sustain and function as living tissue architectures for upwards of six weeks.

In the study, Lewis’ team demonstrated the 3D printing of one centimeter-thick tissue containing human bone marrow stem cells surrounded by connective tissue. By pumping bone growth factors through the supporting vasculature lined with the same endothelial cells found in our blood vessels, the team induced cell development toward bone cells over the course of one month.

“This research will help to establish the

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fundamental scientific understanding required for bioprinting of vascularized living tissues,” Zhijian Pei, National Science Foundation Program Director for the Directorate for Engineering Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation, which funded the project. “Research such as this enables broader use of 3-D human tissues for drug safety and toxicity screening and, ultimately, for tissue repair and regeneration.”

Lewis’ novel 3D bioprinting method uses a customizable, printed silicone mold to house and plumb the printed tissue structure. Inside this mold, a grid of vascular channels is printed first, over which ink containing living stem cells is then printed. The inks are self-supporting and strong enough to hold shape as the structure’s size increases with each layer of deposition. At intersections meeting within the foundational vascular grid, vertical vascular pillars are printed, which interconnect a pervasive network of microvessels throughout all dimensions of the stem cell-laden tissue. After printing, a liquid composed of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix fills in the open regions around the 3D printed tissue, cross linking the entire structure.

The resulting soft tissue structure is replete with blood vessels, and via a single inlet and outlet on opposite ends of the chip, can be immediately perfused with nutrients to ensure survival of the cells. The pervasive vasculature facilitates stem cell differentiation by enabling delivery of cell growth factors throughout all areas of the tissue.

To achieve a variety of tissue shapes, thicknesses, and compositions, the shape of the printed silicone chip can be customized and the cell inks can be tuned to include a wide variety of cell types.

“Having the vasculature pre-fabricated within the tissue allows enhanced cell functionality at the deep core of the tissue, and gives us the ability to modulate those cell functions through the use of perfusable substances such as growth factors,” said David Kolesky, a graduate researcher at the Wyss Institute and SEAS and one of the study’s first authors.

“Jennifer and her team are shifting the paradigm in the field of tissue en-

Photos by 3Ders

gineering based on their unique bioprinting approach,” said Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and the Vascular Biology program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS. “Their ability to build living 3D vascularized tissues from the bottom-up provides a potential way to form macroscale functional tissue replacements that can be surgically connected to the body’s own blood vessels to provide immediate perfusion of these artificial tissues, and thus, greatly increase their likelihood of survival. This would overcome many of the problems that held back tissue engineering from clinical success in the past.”

In addition to Lewis and Kolesky, other team members on the new study include co-first authors Kimberly Homan, Ph.D., Research Associate at the Wyss Institute, and Mark Skylar-Scott, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wyss Institute.

The work was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University uses Nature’s design principles to develop bioinspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world. Wyss researchers

are developing innovative new engineering solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing that are translated into commercial products and therapies through collaborations with clinical investigators, corporate alliances, and formation of new startups. The Wyss Institute creates transformative technological breakthroughs by engaging in high risk research, and crosses disciplinary and institutional barriers, working as an alliance that includes Harvard’s Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Arts & Sciences and Design, and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston University, Tufts University, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of Zurich and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences serves as the connector and integrator of Harvard’s teaching and research efforts in engineering, applied sciences, and technology. Through collaboration with researchers from all parts of Harvard, other universities, and corporate and foundational partners, we bring discovery and innovation directly to bear on improving human life and society.

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THE WORLD NEEDS MORE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS. CONVINCE MORE STUDENTS TO BE INVOLVED IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS. 62

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Google Invests on Students to Draw Interest in STEM fields

Google reportedly announced significant cash grants to help get more students in STEM careers. It also included three non-profit groups in partnership.

One of the group, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), began its robotic program into 150 schools across Australia.

It also included the Lithgow High School which was visited last week

by FIRST Robotics. They assisted the students with their robots in the competition called First Robotics Asia Pacific final in Sydey to be held on March 18 and 19. The activity involved brainstorming, designing and creating 2-meter tall robot prototypes.

The Lithgow students are expected to be part of the program and to work with knowledgeable mentors from

Macquarie University, Outback Robotics and NASA.

Engineering Community and Outreach Manager Sally-Ann Williams expressed her excitement to see the FIRST Robotics program grow, delivering mentoring and hands-on trainings to more student across the country.

Director of FIRST Australia Luan Heimlich shared the same excitement as she believes that through FIRST, students will be encouraged and engaged in school to show strong interest in science.

Google’s $330,000 grant allowed them to gather other schools, not reached before, in the robotics program.

Definitely, students will be more involved in STEM careers with this robotics program and competition.

Last year, Lithgow High School was benefited by Google’s investment on students to help get more young people in STEM careers Art by LinkedIn Group Photo by Lithgow Mercury

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Jump Start Your Engineering Career Change In A Different Way Feeling unhappy at work? Even if those career goals are not clear yet, you can still make a head start in changing your career with this cool method.

by Farrel Pinto Arrows photo by Brave Leaps

So you’re unhappy at work?

And you’re still not sure where to turn to? Although that’s daunting to think about, can I just say that you can still do it. Yes, even if the waters are not clear yet, you can move ahead.

We all know that getting starting on a career change may be hard and yeah, there will be no perfect method for everyone’s situation is different. But this may be the perfect exercise to propel and get that “direction”.

Just follow these steps.

Start with the opposite.

“What do I not want?” Start writing this question on a sheet of paper. (Surely, many can answer this question. Especially if you have working experiences before. )

Make a list of things you don’t want in your career.

So next thing is giving yourself 10-15 minutes to reflect and list down. Yes, internalize and write the things you don’t want in your career. It is self-knowledge where you can put what you don’t like to experience, what skills you don’t want to use and even the working environment that you find stressful. Relate what you experienced and what you don’t want to expect.

Shorten your list.

From the list you made, shorten it up to top five or six items that most resonate your thoughts about it.

Obtain the opposites and make the new list.

From the top items, find their opposites. And this will be your new list.

Such examples would be a person who chose to put “Customer Service” in the “don’t want” list. Maybe he previously had a job like that but finds it hard to handle. So the opposite would be taking less tasks on customer service or staff training.

Other outcome would be putting “Customer Service” on the list but finds that his company doesn’t value it as a priority. So the other opposite might be finding a company that values customer service.

To get the most out of the method, go beneath the surface. Another tip would be always asking yourself what you feel like doing. Explore the meaning behind your listed things and you can ask advice about it.

Yes, it may be hard at first to immediately know where to go in a career change but you need some action to get started. Reverse psychology, clarify what you don’t want to do to get what you really want. Clarity will help you change your career for the better and definitely, it has to start somewhere, within you.

Review and Reflect

Evaluate your new list and check what you want to add. Consider specifically what item means to your personality and goals in life.

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Engineering Tips:

What to Wear to

by Farrel Pinto

So you’re having an interview anytime soon? After learning things about the company, the nature of work and reviewing questions you expect them to ask you, the next thing would be your wardrobe. So what to wear then?

Dress to impress!

Well, note that your fashion statement may dictate first impressions in an interview as it shows how you present yourself. The impression happens in less than 30 seconds and it’s based entirely upon your attire according to Sherry Maysonave, head of Empowerment Enterprises, an image consulting firm in Texas. What to wear in an interview may be old news but style never goes out of fashion!

Interviews usually demands conservative and preppy attires. For men, wearing suits may never go out of style.

Adding a plain shirt or wearing sleeves along with pants or trousers is also fine.

Avoid garish patterns as it can distract the interviewer. Shoes should be either black or brown and not too shiny.

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sers or skirts. Your skirt must have a hemline no more than a biro length above the knee though. A plain blouse or with a simple stripe top is enough and avoid lacy and animal prints. As for the shoes, a closedtoe mid-heel is safe. You may opt to wear printed or pastel style to brighten up your outfit. Remember that their gaze will finish at your shoes.

It’s okay to wear accessories such as watch and earrings but don’t wear too shiny bling blings that maybe distracting.

Avoid danglings and do not overdecorate or overdress.

Colors

Blue or any shade of blue is the safest choice. It sends the impression that you’re credible and trustworthy. Studies show that blue is the best color for a suit as it inspires confidence according to AOL Jobs.

Black maybe boring and cliché but it is best for management positions. It conveys leadership and authority. Just don’t make it look overpowering though. Try to balance it with other colors.

Red also shows power but in a different way. It can come off as domineering and rebellious except for applying in sales and law fields where aggressiveness is a plus.

Gray is also a safe choice as it imposes your logical and analytical character. It works well in interviews in any field.

Brown is okay as it sends the vibes of being comforting and reliable though brown all over may convey old-fashioned and simplicity. Add other colored outfits or mix different shades so you may look modern and forward-thinking.

Orange and Yellow may be off to wear in interviews. You may look unprofessional or like a campaigning agent. Imagine a tangerine top? Save it for your summer get up or for the weekend though.

Good luck in your interview and put your best foot forward!

Top photo by Hallie Crawford Right photo by The Corvallis Advocate

a Job Interview

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How Engineers Should Respond to Interview Questions that Crossed the Line

by Dion Greg Reyes

Have you ever had that awkward experience during an interview wherein you were caught off guard with the questions of the interviewer? If you had, I’m sorry that this article has been a little late. But if you never had, read on to help you with future encounters.

What seem to be illegal questions in a job interview will slip through no matter how careful the interviewer is.

The interviewer will look at you straight in the eye and squeeze out an intriguing question and even questions that totally cross the line. In a way, he or she will overlook at that impressive resume and your excellent interview responses and judge you through questions with regard to sexual orientation, religion, nationality, or disabilities. Those issues may hinder you to get the job if you don’t respond appropriately.

Questions like, “In what country were you born?” “Are you gay?” “What is your religion?” “Do you have a neurological disease?” “How many years will it be before you qualify for social security?” may turn up and here’s how you should respond.

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Respond with a question of your own.

While challenging the interviewer may win you the point, you will most likely lose the job opportunity. Instead, respond with another question to clarify the interviewer’s purpose in asking. Ask if how it relates to your job or why did the interviewer ask. The interviewer may give you an answer or cave in to his or her intent of personal interest. Either way, you need to speak in a friendly gesture that will get you out of that question.

Answer the concern behind the question.

You need to guarantee the interviewer that despite that sexual orientation, religion, nationality or disabilities issue, it will not get in the way of doing the job. You need to take control of the situation by focusing on what you can do as an engineer to the company and not with the discrimination.

Present your accomplishments and how you represent a strong fit.

Evaluate the situation.

Think about what the intent of the question really was: it may be a product of real bias or just an accidental misstep on the part of an inexperienced interviewer.

If you think of the former, the company might not be the best for you as that bias will just surface once you work for them.

It’s time to move on and find a company that will appreciate you despite of your sexual orientation, religion, nationality or disabilities.

There are existing laws in the United States when it comes to employment discrimination based on age, disabilitiy, genetic information, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, race and religion. Check whether you country has one, education yourself with it and use it to your advantage. That part of your responsibility as a job hunter.

Photo by Devangst

“Pursue your Passions.”

A very powerful statement that may make or break you.

by Cielo Panda

Everyone loves reading inspirational stories of how a certain person was able to do the thing they loved and got successful with it. How fulfilled they felt when they were able to become successful in life by doing what they loved, and their best quote is “Do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” What makes it surprising is that most of them had to abruptly LEAVE their jobs just to follow their passions.

WAIT WHAT? Leave my job? I CAN’T DO THAT! Might be what you’re thinking right now, and you’re absolutely right. Reality check: Not everyone could just leave their jobs and follow their passions. Most people have mouths to feed, mortgages or debts to pay, tuition fees and school loans to end. Besides, following ones passion also needs money. It’s neither an easy thing to do, nor an easy decision to make. I am not against people who actually HAVE abruptly left their jobs completely, and gone on to follow their dreams. Some of these people, like I said earlier, are actually really successful. But for average people like us, especially those financially challenged—ABRUPTLY leaving a job is not an option.

So what should you do? Here are some slow but sure tips to pursue your passions realistically.

KNOW WHAT’S AHEAD

Stop daydreaming and do your research.

Check the unemployment rate of your Dream Job or Passion. Will it be able to pay the bills? If it’s an entrepreneurial job, who will be your target market? Will you be able to use your present skills? How large will be your capital? If your passions fail, do you have a plan B? Research everything—to the tiniest bit possible. Knowing more about what’s ahead will help you prepare for your contingency plan. You can do this after work, before you go to bed or when you’re bored at lunchtime.

SAVE UP

Yes, this too is important. If you want to follow a certain passion, there will always be finances involved. If YouTube is enough for training, that’s awesome. But if you need some formal training for certifications, then you might want to save up for that. You will also need to save up if your passion needs tools, like the necessary tools and safety protection equipment for woodcarving, or a set of paintbrushes and an isle for painting. Or if you’re passion needs big funding like a small business, then set aside a part of your salary.

It doesn’t matter how much you set aside, as long as you set aside some, it’ll bulk up eventually.

SPARE AN HOUR A DAY

This one hour will be set for your PASSION-TIME. During this time, you can focus on your passion, like music, painting, dancing, whatever your passion is. Make sure to commit to this, if one hour a day is still too much for you, then make it an hour every other day. Just make sure to make a regular schedule for it. Doing your passions will not only make you feel good, it will also help against depression and will make you more alert in doing your normal work.

Photo by Innovastrat

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Bored on Fridays?

Catch GN Bot on Facebook at these times: 01:00 PM Dubai 02:30 PM Delhi 05:00 PM Manila 06:00 PM Tokyo 08:00 PM Sydney

Join the meeting of the minds every Wednesday at the following times on our Facebook page: 08:00 AM Dubai 09:30 AM Delhi 12:00 PM Manila 01:00 PM Tokyo 03:00 PM Sydney

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ROBOTS TO REPLACE HUMAN EMPLOYMENT? Computer scientist Moshe Vardi predicts humans have to be concerned about the emergence of robots in the industry.

Photo by AI Research

Within 30 years, robots will flourish in industries replacing humans, according to Rice University computer scientist Moshe Vardi. He predicts that unemployment rates will soar greater than 50 percent, and humans will have to make more time to leisure then.

He introduced his fearless forecast at a presentation entitled “Smart Robots and Their Impact on Society,” which was presented in the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washigton, D.C.

If machines continue to outperform humans at almost any task, this will bring a great crisis to humankind.

But it is undeniable, however, that we take great benefit from these robots as they are

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technological advancements that ease our lives. We just can’t take away the fact that in the industrial age, a human employment crisis may arise.

We have already existing robots that may soon enough doom human employment.

Take for example Nadine, a Singaporean human-like robot who works as a receptionist at Nanyang Technological University. The robot was revealed in 2015. They also presented EDGAR, Nadine’s robot-in-arms, which is equipped with a rear-projection screen on its face and two arms.

How doomed are we exactly on this regard? Well, we have to wait.

TECHNOLOGY SHOULD NOT REPLACE TEACHERS, BUT COMPLEMENT INSTEAD There’s something about teachers that technology could never emulate: the human touch. While technology makes it easier for students to understand the lessons through interactive learning, teachers must never be replaced with technology, but instead, they should complement them.

A conference participated by delegates from around the world in the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai agrees that technology will never come to a point that they are enable to educate and at the same time, inspire. But teachers recognize the need to cope up with the advent of better education tech-

nology by developing skills that will partner up to the technologies.

Students now have the perception of the 21st century while teachers lag behind with 20th century methods, much more with the 19th century classrooms. It is important that the gap be bridged as soon as possible before technology will become powerful enough to be omnipresent in schools instead of teachers.

Parents are encouraged to expect higher standards from teachers when it comes to their children’s education as a preparation for emergence of technologies in general education.

Illustration by Andrew Rae via Wired

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Celebrating Awesome Female Engineers on International Women’s Day

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) launched its 2016 Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards (YWE) and are calling on all successful young female engineers to enter.

Photo by Process Industry Forum

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The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) launched its 2016 Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards (YWE) and are calling on all successful young female engineers to enter. This awards will recognize their talent and professionalism showing to young women and girls across the UK that engineering is an exciting and diverse industries that offers creative and challenging careers.

Some of the former winners of the Awards are Orla Murphy, an audio engineer

at Jaguar Land Rover, Naomi Mitchison, a senior hardware engineer at Selex ES and Abbie Hutty, a spacecraft engineer currently working on Europe’s first Rover mission to Mars.

President of the IET, Naomi Climer, said: “Women are woefully underrepresented in engineering. In a profession with a serious skills shortage, this represents a problem for the economy as well as for diversity.

To coincide with International Women’s Day, we want to make it clear that engineering is a fantastic career for women.

ExxonMobil VP engages middle school girls into engineering

FEMALE ENGINEERS IN TANZANIA ARE OUT TO PROVE THEMSELVES There is no absolute acceptance about women yet in the world of engineering.

Men are still dominant and the perspective of women in engineer is yet to change.

ExxonMobil Vice President Lynne Lachenmyer started projects that would entice the future generation of women engineers.

And female engineers in Tanzania, like civil engineer Angela James, have to break that by working hard and proving that engineering is not exclusive to males alone.

James is a 25-year-old woman technician working in the construction of a five-storey building in the capital of Tanzania. She is working for the past two years towards her final professional qualification being a graduate engineer from the University of Dar es Salaam.

She wants to break the stereotype that women can’t work in the field.

She is proving that just fine by ensuring that all the technical standards are met in the field, upon participation in the women-only Structured Engineering Apprenticeship Programme. SEAP is composed of almost 300 female trainees.

SEAP has now managed to double the only four percent of all Tanzanian registered engineers in 2009, since it started in 2010. All thanks to this implementation by the Engineering Registration Board which is funded by the Norwegian government.

This is a definitely good start for Tanzanian female engineers for them to prove themselves. Soon, Tanzania and the rest of the world will no longer have that separation of male and female in engineering.

Photo by Kera News

The engineering world 35 years ago was just 6 percent women.

This 2016, that population has been said to have increased to 14 percent as per the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.

The amount of college women in engineering are just at 20 percent, which is not at all a big value. ExxonMobil Vice President Lynne Lachenmyer wants that all to change. She has started projects that would entice the future generation of women engineers.

The Irving Convention Center room has

been filled with dozens of aspiring middle school girls who were tasked to build a ramp that would make a marble fall the slowest. Their tools would only be some construction paper, scissors, and some tape.

This project is to set the girls on finding solutions using engineering.

“By giving them a hands-on opportunity the students seem to come alive and really understand what it means to be an engineer.” Lachenmyer added in conjuction to the project.

Photo by Norway

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JOB OR CAREER? I’m Cielo, and I currently work as a Junior Editor at GineersNow. Professionally, I am branded as an Electronics Engineer, but personally I brand myself as an artist, writer and musician.

Let me share with you my journey as a professional.

Directly after graduation, I was employed at and international mechatronics company as a Product Design Engineer. Everything was great! I could say I almost had it all in this job. I had good compensation, I had a good boss, great reputation, exciting trainings, and good benefits. But after some years, I was starting to lose interest in my JOB. Like something wasn’t right. There was something MISSING.

Don’t get me wrong here, I really appreciated everything the company was doing for me, but as I said, I felt something missing. I was so engrossed with connecting at work that I had forgotten to connect with MYSELF and what I love to do.

I know what you’re thinking.

“There’s what you call time management.

Duh?” Well, if you can balance your work-time and you-time, then awesome for you. But for a lot of average people like me, most of our time is consumed with 8-12hour jobs, the rest of the day is either chores, bath, eat and sleep. Bit by bit, we slowly die a bit inside.

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One morning, once I woke up, I printed the resignation letter I had made several months ago but never printed, shoved it in my bag, completed my 8hour shift +4hr Overtime and submitted it to my manager. It wasn’t an easy decision, I swear. I didn’t have any other plans after, no NEXT company to go to. I know it’s a rash decision but hear me out.

Bills came in, BIG bills—and I honestly didn’t know how to pay them.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. LIFE SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE. Then I tried to remember what I was taught as a child. “Do what you love, success will always follow”… I was like, WTF?!

Those things don’t work! But then again, it hit me… I had nothing to lose. I tried to search on the internet on ways I could make a living online. I was good at digital arts and writing, and so I joined a freelance site, and worked as a freelance graphic artist. At first I didn’t make much, but as time went by, people were recognizing me for my work. Having connections at the University I used to attend, I worked

as a thesis consultant to some graduating engineering students as well. At first I worked a lot of hours… almost the same as my previous work, but there was something different—I wasn’t that stressed. I found my CAREER. A time came, where I saw GineersNow was looking for Junior Editor Engineers. “Hey, I love writing” and “hey, I’m an engineer” crossed my mind while reading the ad.I immediately passed a resume, and here I am writing for you guys right now. It really has been a blessing to be able to work as an engineer and share my knowledge and learn new things at the same time.

If you really LOVE your JOB, then well and awesome for you, you got yourself a CAREER! But for other people it’s different. If you’re one of those others, DON’T GIVE UP! Some people built their businesses from NOTHING!—even while they were doing their 8-hour jobs. You don’t have to quit your job like I did. Some people had to compromise on a “job” just to make ends meet WHILE working their way up with their passions. There are countless people who built their dreams from nothing. Others even tried out startups that people didn’t think would be a success, but turned out to be one! Nothing is easy! So work on it! The possibilities are endless.

I still do graphic arts, but I don’t do consultations anymore, and I am having a blast at GineersNow.

Passion

is the difference between having a job or having a career.

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Robots to Boost Food Manufacturing The United Kindgom reportedly invested additional funds in robotics and automation to increase food production.

According to the research of Barclays, the UK economy will boost its food manufacture by investing in robotics and automation to over the next decade. The additional investment costs £1.2 Billion that can add as much as £60.5 Billion in the economy.

It is expected that 10% increase in output from the food and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries will be observed in between 2016 and 2020. It will grow to 25% in between 2020 and 2025 for both sectors. This is largely driven by the automation technology and will also increase competitiveness of the UK’s manufacturing sector according to Future-proofing UK manufacturing report.

More than half of British manufacturers are said to invest in automation where two-thirds say that they are more productive. Others asked for more flexible equipment that can do multiple tasks and access to external funding.

Photo Source: Food Manufacture

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Photo by Shutterstock

ROACH ROBOTS GROOMED TO SAVE MANKIND

In the future, when unfortunate events induce buildings to collapse, the search and rescue team will be accompanied by an intrusion of helpful new heroes—robotic cockroaches.

Photo by YouTube

In the future, when unfortunate events induce buildings to collapse, the search and rescue team will be accompanied by an intrusion of helpful new heroes—robotic cockroaches.

As gross as it may sound, roaches have the amazing ability to adapt their bodies to the size of their surroundings. They can squeeze their bodies down to a quarter of their original size, and are still capable of running at top roach speed. They can also withstand 900 times their body weight without being hurt.

These remarkable cockroach feats inspired scientists to create a robot that can have these feats of strength and agility.

The researchers plan to have swarms of these roach robots fitted in cameras, microphones, and other gadgets and can be easily accessed in times of earthquakes and other disasters to help search for victims. These roach robots also have the ability to let rescuers know if the fallen debris or rubble pile is stable enough to enter.

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Investor tries to Harness Energy from Ocean Waves Adam Norris is trying to solve one of the most difficult problems in renewable energy— harnessing power from ocean waves.

Norris Photo by Scottish Renewables Waves Illustration by Kopecky Design

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nventor and investor Adam Norris is looking to solve one of the most difficult problems in the field of renewable energy. He wants to harness power from ocean waves. Everyone knows the overpowering strength of the sea, but harnessing that energy is down-right difficult. No one in the world has been able to create a commercially viable wave-power business, and many of these companies have died trying.

Norris set up a company of his own, called

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Wavepower Ltd, and hired people to work for him. He says he’s in it for the long haul. When he was asked how much energy will we be producing from waves by 2020, he said “None. I don’t think by 2020 there’ll be anything meaningful out of the wave industry,”

But hopefully in a year or two after that, the sector will be reaching its tipping point. “I think in five to six years we could be producing electricity [that is] commercially meaningful.” He said.

Floating Bins that Collect Trash in the Ocean These trash bins could clean up the world’s oceans.

A new automated floating trash bin device is the hope of the planet’s seemingly worsening water pollution. All thanks to two Australian surfers who have risen up to the calling.

The device, called Seabin, pumps water into the container and takes the water back into the ocean, but collects the trash and other debris, including oil, on the water surface that flows into it. It collects all sorts of pollutants including plastics, which accounts to 4.4 million to 13.2 million tons that are washed ashore according to scientists.

The Seabin is composed of a cylindrical container lined with a natural fiber catch bag and a water pump system that can separate oil and water as an option.

They are made of polyethylene plastics that are gathered from the recycled ocean plastics. When it is in use, It is attached to a floating dock in a marina and connected to an onshore water pump.

This project is the brainchild of surfers Pete Ceglinski and Andrew Turton, who thought of the concept eight years ago.

Despite of existing ways to clean the debris in the ocean, they found it more practical for Seabin to clean up debris rather than trash boats which are expensive to operate and maintain.

But there’s a drawback to this device: it cannot cater to the big amount of pollution in the water; but this is indeed a great initiative for small-scale cleaning of our world’s oceans.

Top photo by Indigogo Bottom photo by Inhabitat

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Fund Clean Water just by being 5 Minutes Away from your Phone How is it possible to support a clean water project just by separating yourself from your phone for just 5 minutes? It’s quite a disconnected agreement, but this is what the UNICEF Tap Project is all about.

Giorgio Armani and S’well committed to provide the funding equivalent of one day of clean water for a child for the UNICEF Tap Project , if a user of a mobile phone visit the UNICEFTapProject.org site, click “Begin” and put the phone down for five minutes. That’s it. Although this is quite a hassle for those who live by their phones, this simple contribution will go a long way.

This month of March, this campaign can get up to $75,000 from Giorgio Armani Fragrances, while up to $100,000 from S’well, which depends on the participation of the users.

With an increasing threat in polluted water, millions of children still are deprived of safe, clean water to drink.

Approximately 663 million people do not have clean drinking water and 2.4 billion live without adequate sanitation facilities.

This is how we can take part for cleaner water in the world! Visit UNICEFTapProject.org now and leave your phone for just five minutes.

Photo by UNICEF USA

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UAE Funds Research Teams to Make it Rain in the Desert Photo by Impala Adventures

The United Arab Emirates is going to fund three research teams from around the world to study on how to make it rain over the Arabian Desert. The three teams are from Germany, Japan and the UAE, and they will be sharing 5 Million USD from the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science. The different teams will tackle a different aspects of cloud seeding—a technology wherein chemical is injected into the atmosphere from an aircraft to induce water condensation and cloud formation to make it rain.

“[The programme] will secure the UAE’s water supplies in the long run, and support innovation to reach future solutions that enhance water security in the region and the world,” says programme director Alya Al Mazroui.

A team from Germany will be trying to find the best spots for seeding by checking at how weather convergence zones interact with land cover. The Japanese team on the other hand will be developing algorithms to be able to identify the clouds most likely to be successfully seeded.

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Photo by Medical Daily

Directly Upload Skills to Your Brain?

If you were given the chance to upload a skill into your brain, would you take it?

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to randomly choose a skill from a catalogue and have it uploaded into your brain, just like downloading a software and installing it on the computer—and voila! You’ve got yourself a new skill ready to be used.

You could choose any skill, let’s say playing the piano, learning 21 languages, cooking like a chef and have it uploaded to your brain like how Neo from the matrix had his Kung Fu skills uploaded and became a Kung Fu master.

Would you want it?

OF COURSE, who doesn’t?

Recently, a lot of media channels have been reporting that a group of researchers from HRL Laboratories in California has found a way to “upload knowledge to your brain”, by developing a technology that could be used to feed any skill into the human brain, without the usual effort and shorter amount of time.

WHAT THE SCIENTISTS HAVE ACTUALLY DISCOVERED AND ACHIEVED

Recent research shows that it is possible to enhance a human’s existing ability to learn new skills, but directly uploading any skill in particular into a person through brain waves is outside the scope of their study.

The HRL Labs research team, which was headed by Matthew Phillips and conducts R&D for the Boeing Company and General Motors, made use of a neuro-stimulation technique which is called transcranial Direct Current Stim-

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ulation (tDCS)—a non-invasive, painless shock that uses a constant, small electric current to excite specific brain regions.

The research are able to excite certain areas in the human brain which are responsible for learning and skill retention, with the use of the tDCS technique.

“When you learn something, your brain physically changes,” Philips said. “Connections are made and strengthened in a process called neuroplasticity.

It turns out that certain functions of the brain, like speech and memory, are located in very specific regions of the brain, about the size of your pinky.”

During their research, brainwaves of six commercial as well as military pilots were monitored, and transmitted their patterns into 32 newbies who were training to pilot aeroplanes in a flit simulator. Findings show that the tDCS technique could help to enhance a person’s ability to learn, since the newbies who received tDCS brain stimulation had improved piloting abilities especially in landing skills.

This does not mean that researchers were able to “upload” or transmit any skill or type of data using their technique. It is better to say that they excited brain regions which are responsible for learning, so a person will be able to improve their learning ability

So, no. You can’t choose a skill set form a catalogue and instantly be a Kung Fu master like Neo. For now, efforts are still your best bet. But then again, technology is rather fast paced, and we don’t know what the future would bring. This technology could lead to interesting results in the future.

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