SWE - Winter 2008 - (Page 68)

ENGINEERING WORLD autism cope with anxiety and other stress-related conditions by safely applying soothing lateral body pressure under the user’s own control. The team’s goal was to redesign a costly and commercially available device into an affordable system that could be built by parents, schools, and clinics with autistic children or adults, using readily available parts. With the supervision of biomedical engineering professors James Antaki, Ph.D., and Mark B. Friedman, Ph.D., Colbaugh’s team — which included biomedical engineering department seniors Daron Colflesh, Sabrina Dhanani, Stephen Lin, and Neil Stegall — designed and tested a prototype that can literally squeeze tension right out of a stressed-out patient. INTERNATIONAL Redefining the Beer in Your Pint and the Tock on Your Clock If you go by kilograms to measure the beer in a pint at a British pub or the time between a tick and a tock, you might have to change how you measure them. Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom have released new research results that could affect how we measure a kilogram, which is the last SI unit based on a manufactured object. The General Conference on Weights and Measures defines SI units. The meeting of the conference in November 2007 considered a range of issues related to the maintenance of the SI, including an initial proposal to prepare for the redefinition of several of the base units. This could include redefining mass relying on a physical constant — a physical quantity that is universal in nature and constant in time — rather than the less accurate current means, a man-made object. For 30 years, scientists across the world have measured the value of a physical constant as accurately as possible using the existing human-made unit for a kilogram. Once they achieve this, the fixed value of one of these constants can be incorporated into a new definition of the kilogram. ENGINEERING: RESERVOIR/PETROLEUM WELL PRODUCTION PROCESS ASSET MAINTENANCE PROJECT/FACILITIES DISCIPLINE GEOLOGY/GEOPHYSICS PETROPHYSICS PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT/PROCESS RESEARCH At Shell, you won’t have to wait for opportunities to come along. You’ll be out there pursuing your career in a fast-moving business. We’ll give you the support and training you need to drive ahead. It’s all about creating a win-win partnership: you maximize your personal development, we enjoy the benefit of your talent. As a graduate coming on board, you’ll be contributing from day one. Real projects, real responsibility and a real chance to prove yourself. So if you want to achieve more in your career, get together with Shell. You can make your online application right now – just visit our careers website and reference GTE148J. Shell is an Equal Opportunity Employer www.shell.com/careers Cornell and Ethiopian Bahir Dar University Create a Model Cornell University and Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia have signed an agreement that could create a new model for how U.S. colleges and universities can export their expertise to poor nations where it is needed most. In November 2007, Cornell professors traveled to Bahir Dar to help establish a graduate program in international agriculture and rural development at Bahir Dar University. Upon graduation, students will receive a master’s degree in professional studies from Cornell without ever spending any time on the campus in Ithaca, N.Y. The ultimate goal is to build up the program so that it can be turned over completely to Bahir Dar University in a few years. The program, which will specialize in watershed management, is in an ideal location. Bahir Dar is situated on Lake Tana, which is the source of the Blue Nile, one of Africa’s most important sources of drinking water. I Pursue it A more exciting career experience 68 SWE WINTER 2008 http://www.shell.com/careers http://www.shell.com/careers

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Winter 2008

SWE - Winter 2008 Heritage Club President’s Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Readers’ Forum EWeek 2008 New Faces of Engineering The Leaky Science and Engineering Pipeline Why Do Women Leave the Engineering Work Force? A Greener America = New Growth Fields for Engineers The Off-On Ramp Revolution Recognizing the Historic Contributions of African-Americans Membership Information & Calendar A&B Women in Tune with Technology: SWE 2007 Conference Overview Keynote Address Achievement Award Region, Section, and Collegiate Awards SME Bowl and SWE Anniversaries Engineering World: Point of View: Why I Blog Career Toolbox Book Review SWE Smiles Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook

SWE - Winter 2008

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