By Decire Gonzalez KC'S BLOG • • • • • 0 Comments

What is Tissue Engineering?

According to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), “tissue engineering evolved from the field of biomaterials development and refers to the practice of combining scaffolds, cells, and biologically active molecules into functional tissues.” Bioengineer Yuan-Chen Fung was the first person who established the term ”tissue engineering” in 1985 while presenting a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF). Mr. Fung’s goal with the proposal was to win funding for the Center for the Engineering of Living Tissue at the University of California, San Diego.

Tissue engineering was created from the biomedical engineering discipline and is a method that has the ability to produce tissues that are used to restore and improve certain human body functions. Even though tissue engineering was only established as a term in the late 1980s, it has become an important technology in the medical field due to being created out of living tissues instead of man-made materials. Artificial bones, cartilage, and even skin are some examples of tissue engineering approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that are currently used in the medical field.

As technology advances, more research is conducted and experiments are developed to continue repairing and/or replacing certain human organs. The main goal of tissue engineering is to replace damaged tissues and organs with living and functioning artificial ones. Thanks to the advances in technology and tissue engineering, people with liver, kidney, and heart issues are able to have these organs repaired and/or replaced and continue living a normal life.

To learn more about tissue engineering, please visit: https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/tissue-engineering-and-regenerative-medicine

 

By Decire Gonzalez KC'S BLOG • • • • • • 0 Comments

National Static Electricity Day

National Static Electricity Day is celebrated every year on January 9th.

Static electricity is defined by Library of Congress as “an imbalance between negative and positive charges in objects.” This type of reaction can occur to any of us because we can see, feel, and hear its reaction. Static electricity is harmless and can occur in more than just one form of static shock, such as rubbing a balloon against your clothes and sticking it on the walls or even on your hair to make your hair raise.

The first person to speak about static electricity was Thales of Miletus, a Greek philosopher, when he noticed dust was sticking to his ambers after he rubbed them; but it wasn’t until many years later that the term “electricity” was established, and that’s when humankind started to understand and research more about the concept of static electricity. Now, National Static Electricity Day is celebrated because it has become an essential aspect of and shaped our everyday lives in many positive ways. For example, thanks to static electricity and electric engineering developments, factories’ air pollution can be managed.

Here are some fun facts about static electricity:

  • Lightning is known to be a form of static electricity due to electric charge exchange between clouds;
  • Static electricity could be the future source to solve our energy problems; and
  • Photocopy machines use static electricity to place ink on paper.

If you want to learn more about science and static electricity, please visit: https://www.sciencemadesimple.com/static.html

 

By Evan Thomas KC'S BLOG • 0 Comments

Engineering Ted Talks

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design and is a nonprofit organization that specializes in sharing knowledgeable ideas based on research. This organization was founded in New York City 37 years ago on February 23, 1984 by Harry Marks alongside co-founder Richard Saul Wurman.  The organization began covering only technology, entertainment, and design topics, but now it has spread into covering all different types of topics. The organization holds a yearly conference and is available in more than 100 languages. The goal of TED Talks is for speakers to reach their targeted audience globally and educate them about specific topics with their powerful talks.

TED Talks are great ways to stay up to date with the latest highlights of the engineering industry. Many innovators are using the TED Talk platform to educate engineers and others interested in the topic. Here are three educational TED Talks for engineers:

  1. Speaker Joachim Horn is a mechanical engineer and the co-founder of the Imperial College Design Collective. His TED Talk is called “A Solution for Building a Generation of Inventors” and it covers developing news ideas for the future of engineering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdLWAHFaPj8
  2. Speaker Doris Kim Sung is a former biology student who turned her interest to architecture. Her TED Talk is called “Metal That Breathes” and it covers the use of certain materials in modern construction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvIyVZf3qZU
  3. Speaker Francis de los Reyes is a professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering and Associate Faculty of Microbiology. His TED Talk is called “Sanitation is a Basic Human Right” and it covers important information about public infrastructure globally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdZJ0SMbh10

To learn more about all the types of engineering TED Talks, subscribe to TED YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug

 

By Decire Gonzalez KC'S BLOG • • • • • 0 Comments

National STEM Day

This Monday, November 8, is National STEM Day. The term STEM is a catch-all acronym for the following academic disciplines: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This holiday was created by a toy company named MGA Entertainment in 2015 to allow children to engage in these academic disciplines in fun and entertaining ways. This allows children to explore their interest in these academic disciplines and at the same time allows them to find their career passion at an early age.

In celebration of National STEM Day, here are some activities you can do with your children to help them develop and/or advance their STEM skills:

There are hundreds of other activities your children can do to stimulate their STEM skills. Even if they choose a career path outside of STEM, these activities can be useful in their everyday lives. For more information about STEM, go to: https://www.ed.gov/stem

 

By Decire Gonzalez KC'S BLOG • • • • 0 Comments

Halloween Projects for Little and Big Engineers

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Halloween is defined by Britannica as: “Contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, a holiday observed on October 31, the evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day”. Throughout the years, Halloween has become a popular holiday in the United States celebrated by children and adults. Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, eating candies, and so on play a major part of the new Halloween traditions and are how people who celebrate the holiday spend their October 31st.

Engineering skills can be very convenient for holidays like Halloween. Engineers are gifted with the quality and/or skills to design and build. Creating Halloween engineering projects is a great way to keep yourself and kids engaged with fun activities. So, if you are looking for some engineering related fun art activities to do, read on!

Here are five Halloween project ideas that you can create:
1. Pumpkin elevators can be made with pumpkins and a variety of recyclable materials;

2. Germinating pumpkins can be made with pumpkins, seeds, and soil;

3. Floating ghosts can be made out of plastic pipettes;

4. Spider webs can be made from yarn; and

5. Paper bats can be made from paper.

Creating these types of project ideas gives kids the opportunity to bring out their creative sides by allowing them to design, build, and even learn to grow food.