A Bunsen burner is a type of gas burner commonly used as a heat source in laboratory experiments. The burner consists of a flat base with a straight tube extending vertically, known as the barrel or chimney. Natural gas (predominantly methane) or a liquified petroleum gas such as propane or butane is supplied at the…
RETRO Rx from Los Alamos is the focus of Episode 2 of R&D 100 – The Podcast
Following up on the popular inaugural episode of R&D 100 – The Podcast, today, Episode 2 was released. In this episode, co-hosts Paul J. Heney and Aimee Kalnoskas, editors with R&D World, talk a little about the first year of the publication’s revamped website and what the top article has been. Then, they delve into…
R&D 100 Award winners announced in Process/Prototyping and Software/Services categories
Winners for the 2020 R&D 100 Awards in the Mechanical/Materials category have been announced by R&D World magazine. This renowned worldwide competition, now in its 58th year, received entries from 19 countries/regions. This year, the judging panel grew to include nearly 50 well-respected industry professionals across the globe, including new judges in places such as…
What are neural networks?
Neural networks are a way of processing information that is used in both biological nervous systems and in artificial intelligence, or machine learning. Digital computers follow a von Neumann model, moving data from memory, performing clearly defined calculations on it, and then storing the resulting transformed data back in the memory. Neural networks on the…
R&D 100 Award winners announced in Mechanical/Materials category
Winners for the 2020 R&D 100 Awards in the Mechanical/Materials category have been announced by R&D World magazine. This renowned worldwide competition, now in its 58th year, received entries from 19 countries/regions. This year, the judging panel grew to include nearly 50 well-respected industry professionals across the globe, including new judges in places such as…
R&D 100 Award winners announced in Analytical/Test and IT/Electrical categories
Winners for the 2020 R&D 100 Awards in the first two categories have been announced by R&D World magazine. This renowned worldwide competition, now in its 58th year, received entries from 19 countries/regions. This year, the judging panel grew to include nearly 50 well-respected industry professionals across the globe, including new judges in places such…
R&D 100 Special Recognition winners announced
Winners for the 2020 R&D 100 Awards in the four Special Recognition categories have been announced by R&D World magazine. This renowned worldwide competition, now in its 58th year, received entries from 19 countries/regions. This year, the judging panel grew to include nearly 50 well-respected industry professionals across the globe, including new judges in places…
What are spectrometers?
A spectrometer is an instrument which identifies the underlying frequencies in a spectrum. This is a very broad technique that can be applied to different form of energy spectrum in order to measure different types of physical properties in matter. Most commonly, a spectrometer refers to an optical spectrometer. Spectra and Resonance Resonance, and how…
Finalists for 2020 R&D 100 Awards are unveiled
Finalists for the 2020 R&D 100 Awards have been announced by R&D World magazine. This renowned worldwide competition, now in its 58th year, received entries from 19 countries/regions. This year, the judging panel grew to include nearly 50 well-respected industry professionals across the globe, including new judges in places such as Australia, Nigeria, and the…
Global R&D Funding Forecast update: China and Asian R&D
China and Asian R&D During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, China’s massive demand for goods and materials supported global economic growth, especially in areas like Brazil, Germany and Australia, which avoided recessions because of Chinese trade. That type of response for the COVID-19 pandemic is not likely this year. China’s economy was affected more in 2020…
What is a DNA sequencer?
A DNA sequencer is a machine which automatically determines the sequence of nucleotides in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the fundamental code which stores genetic information. DNA is a complex molecule made up of two long polynucleotide chains, known as strands, coiled around each other to form a double helix. Each strand is built up from a…
Global R&D Funding Forecast update: European Union/U.K. R&D
European Union/U.K. R&D Like most other regions of the world, the European Union (EU) and the U.K. have been caught in the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and economic consequences. In April, the U.K., the world’s sixth largest economy, saw its output drop 20% from March and 25% from April 2019. The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics…
Global R&D Funding Forecast update: Energy R&D
Energy R&D With the COVID-19 recession, restricted travel and dramatically reduced aerospace demand, demand and production of oil and gas declined more than 20% in the spring. Global oil prices crashed in April. The West Texas and Eastern New Mexico Permian Basin, with its fracking technologies, helped lead the U.S. into global oil leadership just…
Global R&D Funding Forecast update: Aerospace and defense R&D
Aerospace and defense R&D The commercial airline industry — both suppliers and operators — has been one of the hardest hit industries by the COVID-19 pandemic and is likely to be one of the longest affected industries as well. Boeing, Airbus and General Electric have seen their business models go from years-long production backlogs to…
What is a burette?
A burette is used to dispense small volumes of liquid called aliquots, or sometimes gas, with high accuracy. It consists of a long glass tube with a valve at one end to control the flow of liquid. Burettes serve essentially the same purpose as a pipette. Volumetric burettes are manual instruments with graduations inscribed on…
Global R&D Funding Forecast update: Global pharmaceutical R&D
Global pharmaceutical R&D The global biopharmaceutical R&D community has been tasked with finding a cure for the COVID-19 virus. The global health-care industry, up until this pandemic, had been one of the best performing sectors for the investment community. But since the rapid global expansion of the COVID-19 virus in April 2020, it has been…
Global R&D Funding Forecast: Special mid-year update, Part 2
Putting COVID-19 in perspective The COVID-19 pandemic is not unique. There have been similar events throughout history, including the H1N1-based influenza pandemic (Spanish Flu), which started in 1918 and was estimated to result in 50 million deaths worldwide (and 675,000 in the U.S.). The H3N2-based Hong Kong flu pandemic in 1968 was estimated to be…
Judging panel announced for 2020 R&D 100 awards program
This year’s iteration of the esteemed R&D 100 awards features a judging panel comprised of nearly 50 professionals from across the globe, who boast an impressive collection of accomplishments and honors. Following are short bios of our 2020 judges, who have been working tirelessly to review and rate the substantial amount of entries received. …
Global R&D Funding Forecast: Special mid-year update, Part 1
By Tim Studt This special editorial section is an update to R&D World’s 2020 Global R&D Funding Forecast (GFF), which has been published annually since January 1959 (the first issue of R&D World’s predecessor, Industrial Research). The original 2020 GFF was created and published in the February 2020 issue of R&D World (and online at www.rdworldonline.com)…
R&D 100 – The Podcast is launched with inaugural episode
The R&D 100 Awards has been a critical part of the industry for more than half a century, honoring the best innovations around the world every year. The annual awards banquet is a must-attend event, and the associated Conference has become a great place for learning from the best of the best. But there are…
Addressing the fast-changing challenges of cybersecurity
What scientists and engineers need to know to help keep software, hardware and connected systems secure By Patricia Panchak, Contributing Writer In the cat-and-mouse struggle against bad actors in our inter-networked world, scientists and engineers are on the front lines. As developers of technology that can mean the difference between an adversarial breach and a…
What are fume hoods?
A fume hood is a workstation designed to limit exposure to hazardous fumes. Fume hoods are typically mounted over work surfaces. They partially enclose the work surface, leaving the front open that so the worker can reach inside. The interior volume is ventilated so that there is a constant flow of air into the open…
R&D 100 awards announcement and conference are moving virtual; deadline extended to July 24th
CLEVELAND — Due to heightened travel concerns with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the R&D World staff has decided to reformat the planned in-person R&D 100 Conference and Awards banquet into virtual events. Thanks to the increased flexibility in timing that this gives our team, we are also allowing a short extension for submissions to the…
Using metrics in R&D
By Anne Marie Knott To set the stage for a discussion of R&D metrics, let’s understand why companies do R&D in the first place. This takes us back to the beginning of the 20th Century. Companies formed labs to create new opportunities. In some cases, this was because existing business was disappearing and needed to…
Keeping an eye on China is more important than ever
By about 2025, China will likely surpass the U.S. for the first time ever in the amount of dollars spent on R&D. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to sit down with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a first-term congresswoman from southeastern Pennsylvania (and an industrial engineer), who sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’…