As host of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil has had to tap engineering expertise for everything from stadium construction to pollution control to security systems in order to receive an estimated 15,000 athletes and half a million foreign visitors. Despite the country’s economic woes, zika virus concerns, and construction delays, the games will go on… though probably not without some hitches.

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Filed under: Special Features | Comments Off on Brazil’s Olympic Designs

Tags: 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil, construction, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Guanabara Bay, Pollution, sailing, security, sensor, Simera, stadium

In this activity, students in grades 7 to 9 explore material properties as they relate to motion detection, and use that knowledge to make design decisions about what types of motion detectors to use in specific applications, such as conserving energy in commercial buildings.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12 | Comments Off on Beat the Motion Sensor

Tags: absorption, architectural engineering, building, Clarence L. Elder, Design, Doppler effect, Electrical Engineering, Energy, Energy and Environmental Technology, energy conservation, lighting, material properties, materials, motion, motion detectors, reflection, sensor, sound wave, visible light