Engineering News

A pressure sensor used in football helmets designed by student engineers at the Western Michigan University has the capability of monitoring the severity and location of hits to a player’s head.

Police in Connecticut and Rhode Island are using trained dogs to sniff out computer memory devices when searching for child pornography. The dogs are trained to detect the scent of flash and hard drives that can store illegal images and devices.

The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, has introduced a bill to expand the authority of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall unsafe vehicles and increase automotive safety funding. The bill S.2559 was proposed due to the number of recent recalls and vehicle safety concerns.

NAV CANADA has finalized the implementation of the Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) program. The program allows air traffic controllers and pilots to communicate via data link or text-based messages instead of by voice when flying aircraft above 29,000 feet.

The United States Joint Strike Fighter Program Office has requested the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) to study the effect of electromagnetic compatibility and interference on a full-scale model of an F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

HMI Industries Inc. of Strongsville, OH, has agreed to a $725,000 civil penalty for failure to report a defect involving their Majestic 360 floor cleaners and for underreporting the number of incidents and injuries. Federal law requires a company to report defective products immediately to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The Eurotunnel train was forced to stop below the English Channel on July 7^th due to a power fault issue in the tunnel’s overhead power lines.

Two research groups are pushing for the federal government to develop new power grid security processes after recent security exercises and an attack on a Californian utility in 2013 have shown vulnerability.