Engineering Grand Challenges
On 12-13 March the IET hosts a major international summit in London organised by the national engineering academies of the UK, US and China to discuss progress on 14 'grand challenges' identified five years ago by America's National Academy of Engineering. We look at what they are and how close the world is to solving them.
Scientists may be able to improve treatments for neurodegenerative conditions, and even make faster computers, by figuring out how the human brain learns and remembers.
Few road networks conjure up the romance of those in the US, but what technology lies beneath the asphalt?
The future of the satellite launch is cubed: meet the Jack-in-the-box that can carry your experiment into orbit on a realistic budget
The Global Grand Challenges are the issues identified by engineers as the greatest problems for the century ahead. How can engineering help to solve them?
The E&T podcast: twitching technology
Analysis: safe-code revision grapples with automated checking 
The Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA), a group that developed one of the most widely-used coding standards for safe, reliable software, launched at Embedded World, Nuremberg this week, marking the first major update to the standard for almost a decade.
Analysis: EVs stall at Detroit Auto Show 2013
The acolytes of the electric vehicle (EV) were out in force manning the stands and strolling the halls at Detroit, but the feeling still remains that their rhetoric is growing strained. Despite substantial marketing and cash incentives their sales are still frankly discouraging and show little sign of matching the propaganda.
3D printing puts small-scale shoe-designers back into game
E&T interviews a trained architect who transitioned into the field of shoe design two years ago, who believes 3D printing will drive innovation in the industry by opening it up to small-scale designers.
If the price is right
Is it really possible that, as many people anticipate, solar energy could meet almost one-third of the world's energy demand by 2060? Well, if that's going to happen, it will have to become a lot more economical.
The rules of attraction
With China offering lucrative incentives to engineering graduates, what can the United States of America do to keep the world's top talent focused on Silicon Valley?
Piracy on the high-tech seas
Can piracy really have played a major role in defining business models that bring technology to the people? Nick Smith talks to an author whose new book claims that Jack Sparrow could teach us a thing or two about competitive strategy.
Sports technology - artificial grass
With the advent of artificial pitches in the 1980s grass seemed to have had its day, but new hybrid technology is giving it a new lease of life.
Conquering carbon
The growth in emissions of carbon dioxide, implicated as a prime contributor to global warming, is a problem that can no longer be swept under the rug, but perhaps it can be buried deep underground or beneath the ocean.
Interview with Professor Dame Ann Dowling
As the IET gets set to host the Global Grand Challenges Summit next month, Professor Dame Ann Dowling, who is chairing the steering committee, talks about the challenges in her life - engineering, scientific, educational and human.
War on water shortage
Water supplies are facing new threats, but affordable, advanced technologies could make a difference for millions of people.
Consumer cloud storage
The ubiquity of the Internet has enabled consumers to store data on cloud services - but what's the catch?
Public sector cloud: casting shadow over traditional IT skills?
Cloud computing models are changing the way governments procure – and at the same time look set to usher in a period of profound change for public-sector IT careers.
Crisis communication innovation
The resilience of communications is constantly tested during and after a major disaster. For this reason companies are creating innovative ways to ensure communication is maintained between the emergency services.
Futurescape
Advanced technology can improve our urban infrastructure, but the heart of any city still lies with its inhabitants.
A major disconnect exists between technology and sustainability that has to be bridged
Engineers have to start working closely with scientists and business, says Professor Andy Hopper
Hannover Messe 2013: industrial integration will prove key.
E&T magazine is again a preferred media partner for this year's Hannover Messe showcase of industrial and engineering technology innovation. This last of three previews surveys in brief the technology-specific trade shows that make-up Hannover Messe 2013 - and includes details of FREE ENTRY for IET members.
For and Against: Solar Energy
For
Solar energy already makes economic sense and its applications can be increased immediately
Profile: Gage Williams OBE
Gage Williams OBE is a former infantry brigadier and CEO of West Country Renewables. He is also a director at the Renewable Energy Office for Cornwall
Against
Solar energy may appear to have the potential to be economical but there are hidden costs
Profile: Ozzie Zehner
Ozzie Zehner is a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and the author of ‘Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism’.
Solar is the future for clean and cheap energy
At CES the WeMo socket, WeMo motion detector and WeMo baby monitor were joined by a light switch
Waterproof watch that wirelessly links to smartphones, with notifications on its face
Combining central processing blocks and plug-in sensors, EV3 includes Linux CPU with Wi-Fi and app control
Gaming-focused Windows 8 tablet with enough power to run high-end PC games
Hold to forehead to scan heartrate, temperature, pulse, electrical heart activity and blood oxygenation
The Xperia packs 4G, a 13MP camera, 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 2GB memory - plus it’s water resistant
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