Engineering News

During the December 1^st episode of “60 Minutes”, Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, revealed the online store is currently developing a drone-based delivery service called Prime Air. Customers would be able to have their products delivered only 30 minutes after they click the “buy” button.

In 2009, Inez M. Tenenbaum took over the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an agency in turmoil and uncertain of its mission to ensure that tens of thousands of products did not present a danger to buyers. Ending her four year term on November 30^th, she has led a significant increase in the agency’s powers.

With an official license plate from the Japanese government, Nissan Motor Company has conducted the first public road test of its “Autonomous Drive” with a special version of its Leaf electric vehicle. The test was performed on the Sagami Expressway.

The Countering WEEE Illegal Trade (CWIT) project was launched by the international policing organization to focus on illegal waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) trade and the increasing threat to global environmental health and security.

New data released by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) found that efforts to encourage students to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) degrees may be starting to work. The research center found that over the last 5 years, bachelor’s degree awarded in science and engineering disciplines grew nearly twice as fast as others.

The plan to propose to end the ban on phone calls during commercial flights was announced on November 21^st by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. After the proposed plan was released, Wheeler issued a statement that “I feel that way myself” after provoking complaints from flight attendants, fliers and lawmakers.

A video ad for GoldieBlox, a start-up toy company that sells games and books to encourage girls to become engineers, has gone viral with more than 6.4 million views in less than a week.

Cleveland State University is moving forward on its mission to create one of the strongest engineering programs in the country being the recipient of a $10 million gift.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved 1901.2 standard to support low-frequency, narrowband power-line communications and smart-grid applications.