In this episode, we discuss research coming out of George Mason University which could provide an affordable and accessible way to get clean water using spent coffee grounds as a filter!

Podcast: Don't Throw Away Coffee Grounds; They Could Solve The World's Water Crisis!

As recently as&nbsp;2010, class-leading activity trackers generally recorded three parameters - how much you moved, and approximately how much sleep you got and how many calories you burned. Movement was measured by an embedded accelerometer, alongside a 25 MHz processor, 8 kB RAM and 128 kB Flash memory. Add in a rechargeable battery and that was about all the tech you needed to power a wearable in the early 2000s.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the intervening years&nbsp;as the technology has advanced,&nbsp;fitness trackers have not only become vastly more sophisticated in terms of what&nbsp;data they are able to&nbsp;record, the&nbsp;line between fitness, health and medical monitoring has become&nbsp;increasingly blurred.&nbsp;Today’s&nbsp;high-end&nbsp;wearables can support an impressive array of sensors&nbsp;to record, for example, the wearer’s V02&nbsp;max, blood oxygen saturation (Sp02), temperature, heart rate,&nbsp;and&nbsp;heart rate variability&nbsp;(HRV), as well&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;sleep and activity data&nbsp;their&nbsp;early predecessors pioneered.&nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Wearables&nbsp;crossover from fitness to health</h2>The heart monitoring capability&nbsp;of today’s wrist-worn devices has&nbsp;transformed the wearable from a&nbsp;fitness tracker to a powerful tool for managing an individual’s&nbsp;cardiovascular health.&nbsp;Heart rate and&nbsp;HRV, alongside skin temperature measurements,&nbsp;have also been shown to&nbsp;be valuable in predicting and detecting&nbsp;hypoglycemia[1], enabling&nbsp;next generation wearables to also provide insight on an individual’s&nbsp;blood glucose history and associated&nbsp;diabetic&nbsp;risk.&nbsp;Further,&nbsp;data from these same sensors can provide stress and heart rate data, that&nbsp;combined with&nbsp;sleep quality information, can&nbsp;provide&nbsp;valuable insight into&nbsp;an individual’s mental&nbsp;health,&nbsp;and&nbsp;assist&nbsp;in better managing stress and&nbsp;anxiety[2].&nbsp;<h2>Next gen SoCs optimized for sensor fusion and ML</h2>Demand for ever more sophisticated wearables is placing increasing demand on the wireless SoCs that power the devices. Supporting wireless connectivity and supervising a host of sensors that can generate millions of data points is one thing. But making sense of all that data in context and quickly enough to enable rapid and effective clinical intervention demands an SoC with serious processing heft, and the ability to perform machine learning (ML) and sensor fusion at the edge.&nbsp;ML algorithms bring the ability to deal with a large volume of data and extract clinically relevant information from large datasets. This makes ML useful, for example, in healthcare wearables designed for human activity recognition (HAR). HAR enables a wearable to determine both specific ambulation activities (whether the wearer walking or jogging, for example) and functional activities (have they brushed their teeth, washed their hands, prepared food?). Assessing such activities and making inferences can help discern an individual’s health and wellness[3].&nbsp;To get that complete picture requires combining different data streams from multiple sensors, and that requires an SoC capable of sensor fusion so it can filter information and determine which data points from all the different sensors correspond to the same activity or health concern, and which do not.&nbsp;<h2>Nordic nRF54 Series&nbsp;future ready&nbsp;for advanced wearables&nbsp;</h2>Nordic Semiconductor has always taken the “if you build it the developer will find innovative ways to use it” approach to SoC development. In other words, the applications that require the processing power or memory allocation its cutting-edge technology provides may not have been dreamed up yet - but put the chips in the hands of clever engineers and they soon will be.&nbsp;This has never been more true than with the launch of the company’s revolutionary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF54H20" target="_blank">nRF54H20</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF54L15" target="_blank">nRF54L15</a>&nbsp;multiprotocol SoCs. While their immediate predecessor the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF5340" target="_blank">nRF5340</a>&nbsp;was the world’s first wireless SoC to feature two Arm Cortex-M33 processors, the nRF54H20 now boasts multiple Arm Cortex-M33 processors and multiple RISC-V coprocessors. The processors are clocked at up to 320 MHz and are supported by 2 MB non-volatile memory and 1 MB of RAM. This processing power and amount of memory make the SoC perfect for running ML models and sensor fusion at the edge.&nbsp;<h2>State-of-the-art&nbsp;security to protect sensitive data&nbsp;</h2>The nRF54H20 is also one of the most secure low power, multiprotocol SoCs on the market, essential for healthcare applications that demand security of potentially sensitive personal data. Its state-of-the-art security is designed for Platform Security Architecture (PSA) Certified Level 3 IoT security standard. The SoC also supports security services such as Secure Boot, Secure Firmware Update, and Secure Storage, and has cryptographic accelerators that are hardened against side-channel attacks and tamper sensors that detect an attack in progress and take appropriate action.&nbsp;&nbsp;By replacing multiple components with a highly integrated SoC, and prolonging battery life with an ultra-low power radio and minimal sleep currents, tomorrow’s healthcare wearables powered by the nRF54H20 will continue to get smaller and become more efficient and functional, and in so doing will be able to capture various health metrics that are not possible to capture today. The rest will be down to the imagination of the developers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<hr><h3 id="isPasted">References</h3>1. The Potential of Current Noninvasive Wearable Technology for the Monitoring of Physiological Signals in the Management of Type 1 Diabetes: Literature Survey. National Institutes of Health, 2022. &nbsp;2. A Survey on Wearable Sensors for Mental Health Monitoring. National Institutes of Health, 2023.3. Wearable multi-sensor data fusion approach for human activity recognition using machine learning algorithms. B Vidya, Sasikumar P, 2022&nbsp;

Today’s high-end wearables can support an impressive array of sensors to record, for example, the wearer’s V02 max, blood oxygen saturation (Sp02), temperature, heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV), as well as the sleep and activity data their early predecessors pioneered.

Sky's the limit for wearables thanks to next gen wireless SoCs

As resources become more visible — their value increases, which results in a crucial step towards achieving environmental, climatic, and financial benefits.Studies show that people manage their spending more carefully when they pay by cash rather than card. Cash is visible and tangible, and wasting it feels harder to do.Based on industrial sustainability work with countless manufacturers over many years, Professor Steve Evans in the<a href="https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/industrial-sustainability/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">&nbsp;IfM’s Centre for Industrial Sustainability (CIS)</a> has concluded that this principle applies to other resources too. He regularly observes that electricity, compressed air, water and surplus materials hide in plain sight in factories — in cables, tanks, pipes and skips — and are consequently wasted. However, when these resources are made more visible, their perceived value increases, resulting in more careful management. This is a positive development for the environment, the climate and the financial bottom line.In the 1980s some researchers believed that we had two centuries to tackle the issue of climate change, but not everyone agreed with this prediction. Over the following decades, the tireless efforts of those who dissented against this view helped to shift perceptions. Unfortunately, climate change continued to worsen during this time due to a lack of consensus and inadequate action. We now face a crisis that we are not prepared for, which demands a large-scale transformation of our industrial systems. In 2011 Professor Steve Evans established the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/industrial-sustainability/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">CIS at the IfM</a> to facilitate this change, and he has since observed some promising developments.“In even the very best companies, what was considered normal 20 years ago is now seen as absurd,” says Steve. “For example, factories would leave machines on overnight or over the weekend just to ensure the next job would be high quality. The best companies don’t do that anymore. At Toyota, an employee comes in a few hours early to ensure that the machines are operational for the shift. This practice saves them a lot of energy and money,” he continues.Examples like Toyota highlight that there is a growing focus on sustainability in industry, but many manufacturers still need convincing to change their practices, especially when they cannot see their waste.<h2>The case for industrial frugality</h2>Energy waste is a type of waste that often goes unnoticed, so it is an important area of focus for Steve and his CIS colleagues in their work with industry. With renewable energy powering more than half of the electricity sold in the UK, it is not self-evidently a sound priority, as Steve explains: “If a manufacturer exclusively relies on renewable energy, one might assume that there is little incentive for them to conserve energy, other than to save money. However, this is not entirely true. Paradoxically, reducing energy consumption can be an effective strategy to reduce real CO2 emissions. When a manufacturer uses less energy, the overall energy demand in the industrial system decreases. In the UK, renewable energy has become cheaper to produce than fossil fuels, so it is more likely that fossil fuel providers will be impacted by lower demand than renewable energy providers will. Reducing the proportion of fossil fuels in the energy mix therefore makes sense from an economic perspective.”With a view of the whole resource system, a frugal mindset is the only sensible option, according to Steve. Even on the materials side, there is work to be done to make that change: “Material waste should not be the biggest challenge for manufacturers because it is in their bins. You can physically see material waste if you bother, but most people don’t bother. Even in our homes, waste tends to become psychologically invisible once the bin lid goes down, so we need to be told to look for it,” he observes.<h2>A material world</h2>Manufacturing serves the purpose of producing material goods for consumers, and industry has the capacity to do so on a large scale. The sector’s history of pollution and industry’s connection to consumerism, however, may lead to the belief that manufacturing is incompatible with sustainability. This belief is incorrect and fails to recognise that food, clothing, medicines, building materials and other essential items are all manufactured goods that we rely on. A sustainable industrial system is necessary to provide these goods to a global population of over 8 billion people. Achieving sustainability cannot be delivered by closing down industry, which is good news, but we absolutely must increase our innovative thinking and implement solutions.“It is hard to come up with general sustainability recommendations for manufacturers because they are so very different. We can’t say ‘Do this to this type of machine, do that to your schedule, do this to compressed air.’ But there is hope, because what we find works consistently is to show people that waste is happening. Each factory has its own toolkit for dealing with waste; we just need to show them that the waste is there. We find that we don’t have to teach them how to identify changes that will improve the situation. They’re already good at that, and that is really quite important. We must teach them how to see the waste so that they can tackle it,” says Steve.Waste is just one part of the sustainability picture in industry, but, because there is so much of it, it is a very important part. As Steve notes, it is also an easy place to start when a company wants to improve its environmental impact, and making sustainability easy is crucial. With good and accessible data, it is even easier.<h2>Drawing with data</h2>Dr Duanyang Geng recently completed his PhD at the IfM, under Steve’s supervision. Duanyang has been working for years to understand how industry uses data to conceptualise energy waste — one of manufacturing’s most elusive and widespread forms of waste. For his thesis, he interviewed 30 manufacturers about their energy use, trying to establish what they perceive energy waste to be and what they do to avoid it.“There is no such thing as energy waste in nature,” says Duanyang. “Energy waste is intimately linked to human industrial practices, so it is up to us to define what separates energy waste from energy use. My many interviews informed my working definition of energy waste as whatever energy is used on top of what is strictly necessary to produce something. The invisibility of energy adds complexity here — manufacturers can’t physically see the energy they use, so they don’t automatically know where their benchmarks are. With digital tracking software, the kilowatt-hours, £/$ and CO2 equivalents can be made visible and translatable.”As Duanyang observes, digital tracking software has real potential to help manufacturers, but it remains an underused resource, especially in small and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers. Tracking tools can provide figures on energy use, temperature, downtime and more, which can be useful in themselves and also in creative translations.“Remember the hype around Google Glasses a few years ago?” Steve muses. “Imagine putting on a pair in a factory and getting visual access to the energy use of machines in real time, say, as a symbol that changes in size according to energy spend. Such instant visualisation of invisible waste could be a very powerful tool.”<h2>Manufacturing a sustainable world</h2>Industrial sustainability at the IfM goes beyond the work of the eponymous CIS. From using machine learning to tackle problems of wasted space on lorries to making sophisticated use of additive manufacturing (3D printing), and helping SMEs to benefit from digital tracking tools, different groups are investing time working to manufacture a more sustainable world. In various ways, they are bringing to light what industry and consumers overlook or ignore, providing simple solutions for improvement.“Not long ago, I had a lovely email from someone who works for a company that made some significant CO2 and financial savings thanks to watching videos on our research. We have not worked with this company, but they were able to make big changes based on the higher-level principles we have observed, which say that there is probably more waste energy, water and materials in your factory than you think. Go looking. This company went looking, they found areas for improvement, and they improved,” says Steve. “It can be that easy, but it still needs to be done.”<h2>IfM Engage</h2>IfM Engage is the the knowledge-transfer arm of the IfM, and offers membership of the Sustainability Association — a place where manufacturing leaders work with world-leading researchers to tackle sustainability challenges in their operations.<hr><h2 id="isPasted">IfM Insights on Medium</h2>This article was originally published on <a href="https://medium.com/ifm-insights/sustainability-making-the-invisible-visible-86b9794aeda9" target="_blank">IfM Insights on Medium</a>

Members of the Institute for Manufacturing's (IfM) Centre for Industrial Sustainability, explore the crucial importance of making industrial resources more visible. 

Industrial sustainability: making the invisible visible

Sustainable Mobility can be defined in many ways. Is it a concept for transforming how we transport from an ecological standpoint? Is it taking into account the accessibility of travel with a particular focus on more vulnerable people within society? All are correct, and whilst some may debate the definition of the umbrella term, its growing influence is undeniable.The <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/the-future-of-mobility-mobility-evolves" target="_blank">McKinsey Center for Future Mobility</a> reports that almost one-third of people surveyed plan to increase their use of micromobility (e-bikes,e-scooters, etc) over the next decade and that nearly half of respondents are open to replacing their private vehicles with other modes of transport in the same period. In 2019, consumers generated <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/shared-mobility-sustainable-cities-shared-destinies" target="_blank">$130 billion in shared-mobility trips</a>, with predictions estimating that total revenues in this altruistic form of transportation could reach between $350 and $860 by 2030. Add in that EVs (electric vehicles) are expected to continue their emergence in 2024, with Global sales expected to <a href="https://www.canalys.com/newsroom/global-ev-market-2024" target="_blank">grow by 27%</a>, and you begin to see how much momentum is in sustainable mobility. &nbsp;With potential comes excitement, and with that comes pressure to deliver. In suitably utopian fashion, success will likely depend on multiple factors that combine to shape the infrastructure needed for sustainable mobility to flourish. Let's consider three key areas that are likely to play a crucial role. Electric and ConnectedFor several years, sustainable mobility was typecast as Electric Vehicles. More recently, that burden has been shared across multiple areas, and rightly so. But there’s no doubt that EVs are still the dominant force. Electric vehicle use is expected to continue growing. Advances in battery technology, longer vehicle range, and more places to charge will make electric cars more available and attractive to more people – Check out how Mahle is adapting components to <a href="https://www.protolabs.com/en-gb/resources/case-studies/mahle/?utm_source=wevolver&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=uk-sustainable-mobility-0324&utm_content=wevolver-critical-factors-sustainable-mobility-blog-0424" target="_blank" title="Mahle" rel="noopener noreferrer">facilitate fast-charging EVs</a>. While there may be challenges, electric vehicles will continue to progress and become more connected and autonomous as part of their progression.Newly-made vehicles are becoming increasingly connected, creating opportunities to collect data. Whilst this primarily presents an opportunity for companies that can process data and gain insights from it, such as integrated insurance technology and in-car payments, vehicle connectivity is also essential for developing self-driving cars. Autonomous Vehicles need to be connected to share information with other sources both inside and outside of the vehicle to be aware of surrounding traffic, to understand and improve traffic flow and to optimise the driving experience for the passenger. <img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1713277390171-1713277390171.png" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 342px;">Vacuum Casting component for an electric vehicle by MahleFuelling investment in infrastructureWhilst EVs will play a pivotal role, battery technology can not be the only fuel source for transportation if sustainable mobility is to succeed. According to <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Renewable_energy_statistics" target="_blank">Eurostat</a>, the EU’s share of energy from renewable sources used in transport reached 9.6 % in 2022, up from 9.1% in 2021. Whilst this improvement is positive, there is still work to be done to diversify the fuel sources, such as hydrogen or biofuels, to make renewable energy suitable for consumer requirements.According to BloombergNEF's report on <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/europes-path-to-clean-energy-a-5-3-trillion-investment-opportunity/" target="_blank">Europe’s Path to Clean Energy</a>, 85% of Europe's total power capacity is projected to be from renewable sources by 2050. New technologies like batteries and hydrogen will be important for increasing electrification and transitioning to cleaner transportation. However, the main challenge for the energy transition is building new infrastructure. In Europe alone, over $5 trillion will be needed for new infrastructure projects by 2050. These projects will include renewable power plants, smart grids, and battery storage power stations. <img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1713277419416-1713277419416.png" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 495px;">Transport for London currently has 20 hydrogen fuel cell Double-decker buses to help reduce TfL's carbon footprintKeeping Pace with UrbanisationFor sustainable mobility methods to become the norm, the cultural and environmental landscape must be primed to accommodate the methods on mass. A report by <a href="https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2024/feb/9-trends-shaping-future-sustainable-mobility.html#:~:text=Manyinvolverisingtechnologiesthat,sustainableandequitablemobilityaccess" target="_blank">Oliver Wyman</a> focuses on how cities will need to innovate to meet the growing demand for sustainable urban mobility, which will be 2.3 times greater in 2030 than today.Cities will need to emphasise sustainable urban planning to meet this demand. Cities are getting more crowded, and this is causing more competition for space. To solve this, new ideas to make transportation better and reduce traffic are needed. According to the report, by 2030, 60% of the world population will live in cities, and half of the transportation systems produced will be made to fit the increasingly sustainable cities. This means there will be more focus on creating new transportation centres that use space better and meet people's changing needs for health, the environment, and personalised services.&nbsp;Digital Manufacturing TechnologyFor product designers and engineers to create and implement the infrastructure required to achieve widespread sustainable mobility, manufacturing methods must continue to develop. Today, digital manufacturing is critical in advancing sustainable mobility by addressing pivotal aspects such as waste reduction, <a href="https://www.protolabs.com/en-gb/resources/guides-and-trend-reports/reducing-component-weight-for-automotive-applications/?utm_source=wevolver&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=uk-sustainable-mobility-0324&utm_content=wevolver-critical-factors-sustainable-mobility-blog-0424" target="_blank" title="Reducing Component Weight for Automotive Applications" rel="noopener noreferrer">lightweighting</a>, and comprehensive life cycle analysis of parts.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1713277452514-1713277452514.png" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 517px;">A clear automotive lens built by stereolithographyThrough the precise application of digital design and simulation tools, manufacturers can optimise component shapes and structures, thus minimising material usage without compromising strength or safety. This lightweighting strategy significantly diminishes the environmental footprint by reducing energy consumption during production and enhancing fuel efficiency during vehicle operation. Furthermore,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.protolabs.com/en-gb/resources/?utm_source=wevolver&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=uk-sustainable-mobility-0324&utm_content=wevolver-critical-factors-sustainable-mobility-blog-0424" target="_blank" title="Resources" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital manufacturing</a> enables a comprehensive life cycle analysis of parts, allowing manufacturers to assess environmental impacts throughout a product's entire lifespan methodically.By identifying opportunities for recycling, reusing, or remanufacturing components, digital technologies facilitate the development of more sustainable transportation solutions, aligning with global endeavours to mitigate environmental degradation and combat climate change.

Sustainable Mobility can be defined in many ways. Is it a concept for transforming how we transport from an ecological standpoint? Or is it taking into account the accessibility of travel? In this blog, we explore key areas playing a crucial role in defining Sustainable Mobility.

The Route to Success: Critical Factors for Achieving Sustainable Mobility

The transition to more environmentally friendly processes and materials promotes sustainability and can lead to significant cost reductions in various industries. Finally, the ability to innovate is a key competitive factor in opening up new markets. These challenges can often not be met alone, but only hand in hand with a strong partner who understands the requirements. And offers the right solutions.<h3 id="isPasted">Customised metal mesh solutions for every industry</h3>Located in the heart of Oelde, Germany, Haver &amp; Boecker oHG has stood for outstanding expertise in wire mesh and packaging technology for generations. Both the Wire Weaving and Machinery Division are under the umbrella of this traditional family business, which is characterized by its innovative spirit, engineering know-how and tireless search for tailor-made customer solutions. &nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1712813314016-1712813314016.jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib">An average of 70 looms are used in the fine weaving department. Mass production is also possible.Haver &amp; Boecker's Wire Weaving Division has established itself as a leading global manufacturer – a testament to the company's expertise and commitment. The brand stands for an impressive variety of product solutions that go far beyond the limits of conventional wire cloth applications. From filters and moulded parts for the various industries to filtration media for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, to innovative architectural mesh – the applications are as diverse as the needs of the customers.&nbsp;Haver &amp; Boecker uses specially designed fine weaving machines and looms to produce products that often exceed specific requirements in terms of functionality and form.<h3>Vertical integration and processes: A look behind the scenes</h3>Haver &amp; Boecker's exceptional vertical integration enables it to meet customer requirements precisely and efficiently – from the construction of the looms to the processing of the finest wires. Wire mesh of exceptional quality is produced on a production area of more than 30,000 m² in Oelde and other locations in Belgium and Canada. The ability to respond to almost any customer request underlines the flexibility and future security of the company.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1712813343123-1712813343123.jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Wire mesh is highly flexible, robust and, depending on the application, has excellent filtering properties and EMC compliance.<h3 id="isPasted">Wide range of materials &nbsp;</h3>The ability to work with all woven materials, from stainless steel to highly specialised materials such as titanium and hastelloy, enables Haver &amp; Boecker to meet the most demanding customer requirements. Combined with the company's technical expertise, solutions can be developed that are perfectly tailored to the process. &nbsp;<h3>Shaping the future with wire mesh</h3>"The world of tomorrow needs our wire mesh" – this is the conviction and commitment of Haver &amp; Boecker, a manufacturer that contributes to overcoming global challenges with pioneering solutions and products. Take electromobility, for example: flat and round wire mesh is already being used successfully to shield components in modern vehicles, including sensors and infotainment systems, from alternating fields that impair functionality. In addition to its excellent shielding attenuation, the material's flexibility and light weight are advantages.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1712813376457-1712813376457.jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib">State-of-the-art machinery ensures precision in the processing of high-quality materials.The combination of decades of experience, technological innovation and customer proximity makes Haver &amp; Boecker a unique partner for modern industry, whose products and solutions are indispensable today and in the future. Please browse the website for more information on applications and custom solutions. Haver &amp; Boecker contacts are also available for a personal, no-obligation discussion. &nbsp;Find out more about the Wire Weaving Division <a href="https://www.haverboecker.com/en/company/old-about-us/wire-weaving-division/?lso=wewolver-brand-beitrag" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.

Resource scarcity and climate change are major challenges for today's (and tomorrow's) industries: More efficient processes and reduced emissions are needed to keep pace in a globalised world. Cutting-edge technologies like AI and renewable energies are making a valuable contribution. 

Tradition meets innovation: wire mesh solutions for industry

In this episode, we talk about how a fashion company spun-off from MIT has developed the world’s first truly one-size-fits-all garment.

Podcast: Novel Fabrics + Robots -- Sustainable One-size-fits-all Fashion Revolution

Gold and platinum group metals such as palladium, platinum and iridium are in high demand for use in electronics. However, sourcing these metals from mining and current electronics recycling techniques is not sustainable and comes with a high carbon footprint. Gold used in electronics accounts for 8% of the metal’s overall demand, and 90% of the gold used in electronics ends up in U.S. landfills yearly, the study reports.&nbsp;The study, led by <a href="https://chbe.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">chemical and biomolecular engineering</a> professor <a href="https://chbe.illinois.edu/people/profile/x2su" target="_blank">Xiao Su</a>, describes the first precious metal extraction and separation process fully powered by the inherent energy of electrochemical liquid-liquid extraction, or e-LLE. The method uses a reduction-oxidation reaction to selectively extract gold and platinum group metal ions from a liquid containing dissolved electronic waste.&nbsp;In the lab, the team dissolved catalytic converters, electronic waste such as old circuit boards, and simulated mining ores containing gold and platinum group metals using an organic solvent. The system then streams the dissolved electronics or ores over specialized electrodes in three consecutive extraction columns: one for oxidation, one for leaching and one for reduction.&nbsp;“The metals are then converted to solids using electroplating, and the leftover liquid can be treated to capture the remaining metals and recycle the organic solvent,” Su said. “The stream containing the organic extractant is then pumped back to the first extraction column, closing the loop, which greatly minimizes waste.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1712185056672-224788.jpg" style="width: 768px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">This schematic diagram details the electrochemical extraction device used in Su’s laboratory. Graphic courtesy Xiao SuAn economic analysis of the new approach showed that the new method runs at a cost of two orders of magnitude lower than current industrial processes. “The social value of this work is really its ability to produce green gold quickly in a single step, greatly improving transparency and trust in conflict free recycled precious metals,” said postdoctoral researcher Stephen Cotty, the first author of the study.&nbsp;Su said one of the many advantages of this new method is that it can run continuously in a green fashion and is highly selective in terms of how it extracts precious metals. “We can pull gold and platinum group metals out of the stream, but we can also separate them from other metals like silver, nickel, copper and other less valuable metals to increase purity greatly – something other methods struggle with.”The team said that they are working to perfect this method by improving the engineering design and the solvent selection.Research scientist Johannes Elbert and graduate student Aderiyike Faniyan contributed to this study. Su also is affiliated with the <a href="https://beckman.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology</a> and a professor of <a href="https://cee.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">civil and environmental engineering</a> at Illinois. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The U.S. Department of Energy supported this study. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has filed a provisional patent on the technology presented in this work. The authors declare no competing financial interest.&nbsp;

A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign shows how electrochemistry can be used to extract precious metals from discarded electronics in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner. Photo by Fred Zwicky

A new method safely extracts valuable metals locked up in discarded electronics and low-grade ore using dramatically less energy and fewer chemical materials than current methods, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering. 

Electrochemistry helps clean up electronic waste recycling, precious metal mining

Encouraged by her family, Lavender Tessmer explored various creative pursuits from a young age, particularly textiles, including knitting and crocheting. When she came to MIT, she figured that working with textiles would remain just a hobby; she never expected them to become integral to her career path.However, when she interviewed for a research assistant position in <a href="https://selfassemblylab.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Self Assembly Lab</a>, it just so happened that the lab had recently received funding from the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, one of the <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/06/20/fact-sheet-president-obama-announces-winner-new-smart-manufacturing" target="_blank">manufacturing institutes launched during the Obama administration</a>, for a textile-based project.Tessmer, now a fifth-year doctoral student in design and computation within the School of Architecture of Planning, took on the project, working with <a href="https://architecture.mit.edu/people/skylar-tibbits" target="_blank">Skylar Tibbits</a>, associate professor of design research, and <a href="https://cee.mit.edu/people_individual/caitlin-mueller/" target="_blank">Caitlin Muller</a>, associate professor in building technology. “At MIT, my interest in textiles really exploded and became the center of everything,” Tessmer says.While textiles may appear commonplace, the Covid-19 pandemic underscored the need for textile products in safeguarding our general health and safety, particularly through the filtration necessary for masks. Recognizing the importance of manufacturing capabilities for textiles, Tessmer’s research has focused on programming textiles with specific functional properties while also considering the feasibility of large-scale manufacturing of such products.<h2>A nonlinear path to MIT</h2>Tessmer studied music as an undergraduate student at Duquesne University, pursuing a passion that bloomed as a high schooler. One assignment opened her eyes to a different career path: She was told to compare a piece of music to some other artistic medium. Through this assignment, she discovered the world of architecture by underscoring the systematic nature of both disciplines, emphasizing the need for repetition and structure to unleash creativity. “I immediately realized that’s what I want to do,” she says.Tessmer switched gears and decided to devote the year after college to architecture, instead of auditioning for music ensembles. She says, “I always liked making things, and then, with architecture, I realized that you can make things as part of your profession.” She relied on the basic drafting skills that her father had taught her, and channeled these into building her architecture portfolio.Ultimately, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated with her master’s at the end of the 2007 economic recession, a time when jobs in architecture were scarce. She eagerly accepted a part-time role teaching at WashU. Over the next five years, this role evolved into a full-time lecturer role, where she taught students while also independently establishing her own design practice and leading various installation design projects. Fittingly, all of the installations were inspired by textiles. “They were these high-performance carbon-fiber braided structures that we hand-made into large-scale braided nets with specific geometries,” Tessmer explains.<h2>“Squeezing everything” out of graduate school</h2>Teaching at WashU was a great experience, but the practice-oriented nature of the architecture department motivated Tessmer to seek complementary perspectives on design. “I wanted a totally new venue that was supportive of research and pushing the boundaries of design. I wanted to see what other approaches were out there,” she says. As her interests continued to grow in that direction, she learned that MIT has some renowned researchers in the field. She decided to apply for a master’s degree in architecture studies, and ultimately a doctorate in design and computation, within the School of Architecture and Planning.MIT’s program stood out to Tessmer because of the interdisciplinary approach of the architecture department. She says, “If you are an architect or designer, it is not strange to end up in a class full of people who are not architects, and that’s totally normal and even expected.” The integrated nature of her program is a shift from her previous academic experiences, where each discipline had been distinct and separate. She also values the lack of hierarchy between different disciplines within the architecture department here. “There is respect across disciplines for the contribution from each participant,” she says.As an older student, Tessmer has a slightly different approach to graduate school, compared to her peers. She says, “MIT is amazing because there is so much variety and so many things that you can get involved in. But my style is to be hyperfocused on my interests. For me, there have been huge benefits to focusing on this specific thing and squeezing everything I can out of it, even in the face of all of these other opportunities.”Tessmer has devoted herself to several projects throughout grad school, but all share a common thread: an emphasis on fiber development and textile programming. As a master’s student in the Self Assembly Lab, she utilized the inherent properties of materials and optimized their configurations for specific functions by integrating computation into the material itself. “At MIT, I learned a much broader definition of computation,” she says. “For example, in the Self Assembly Lab, we believe that material is a storage format of information and that you can program material to behave in certain ways.” &nbsp;The first project Tessmer worked on was designing a fiber that could respond to temperature fluctuations. Another project focused on embedding many different properties within a single fabric, potentially for astronauts. “The human body is so varied in the number of properties that you need to match,” she says. In conjunction with collaborators across multiple MIT departments, she designed a spacesuit sleeve with embedded padding, stretchable areas, a compression gradient, and various sensors. Her third project has focused on embedding shapechange behavior into fabric structures to enhance human comfort or fit, as an alternative to manual tailoring. Finally, in a return to her architectural roots, she is also working on designing a reinforced concrete beam using textiles, a more sustainable solution to building with concrete, which has a significant carbon footprint.Another crucial aspect of Tessmer’s research is her focus on the feasibility of large-scale manufacturing for a product. She regularly relies on industrial-scale machinery and consults with manufacturing partners. She says, “The way research is being conducted in the lab is a close parallel to how it would be made in real life. The potential for a direct bridge between one and the other is a high priority for me and a constraint that I have tried to layer on to all of my projects.”<h2>Dabbling in entrepreneurship</h2>Tessmer says with a laugh, “My entire hobby [textiles] has now been absorbed into my research. So I am in the market for a new hobby.” For now, that hobby has taken the form of entrepreneurship. She has been exploring the commercialization potential of her technologies, having filed multiple patents and completed the <a href="https://engine.xyz/blueprint" target="_blank">Blueprint</a> program with The Engine Accelerator. She hopes that one day her method for embedding properties in textiles, while also reducing manufacturing process steps, will be used for commercial fabrics.As an example, she points to shoe manufacturing. “Your shoes are normally an assembly of lots of different materials and lots of different layers. Instead, my proposal to The Engine focused on embedding all of these properties in an automated way, eliminating the need for an extensive assembly process.” Tessmer envisions entrepreneurship as one of her potential future paths.For the time being, however, she plans to remain in academia. “From the outside, being a professor seems like an unattainable position. However, I keep being surprised at my ability to get to the next level of the academic hierarchy.” She aims to integrate all her past experiences into a future research career, designing textiles within an architectural context, while also weaving in the constraints of manufacturing scalability.

PhD student Lavender Tessmer has devoted herself to several projects throughout grad school, but all share a common thread: an emphasis on fiber development and textile programming. “At MIT, my interest in textiles really exploded and became the center of everything,” she says. Photo: Gretchen Ertl

PhD student Lavender Tessmer applies computation to create textiles that behave in novel ways.

Programming functional fabrics

In this episode, we discuss a breakthrough from an EPFL researcher which promises to finally make hydrogen a feasible source of energy by extracting it efficiently from ammonia. 

Podcast: How Hydrogen Will Replace Batteries

A new way to make an important ingredient for plastics, adhesives, carpet fibers, household cleaners and more from natural gas could reduce manufacturing costs in a post-petroleum economy by millions of dollars, thanks to a new chemical reactor designed by University of Michigan engineers.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1711496916104-linic-lab.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Rawan Almallahi, a doctoral graduate of chemical engineering and the study’s first author, is preparing a reactor for a performance test inside a furnace. Suljo Linic, the Martin Lewis Perl Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering and the study’s corresponding author, assists Almallahi. Photo credit: Sandra Swisher, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan.The reactor creates propylene, a workhorse chemical that is also used to make a long list of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507483/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">industrial chemicals</a>, including ingredients for nitrile rubber found in automotive hoses and seals as well as blue protective gloves. Most propylene used today comes from oil refineries, which collect it as a byproduct of refining crude oil into gasoline.As oil and gasoline fall out of vogue in favor of natural gas, solar, and wind energy, production of propylene and other oil-derived products could fall below the current demand without new ways to make them.Natural gas extracted from shale holds one potential alternative to propylene sourced from crude oil. It’s rich in propane, which resembles propylene closely enough to be a promising precursor material, but current methods to make propylene from natural gas are still too inefficient to bridge the gap in supply and demand.“It’s very hard to economically convert propane into propylene,” said<a href="https://che.engin.umich.edu/people/linic-suljo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Suljo Linic</a>, the Martin Lewis Perl Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering and the corresponding author of the study published in Science.“You need to heat that reaction to drive it, and standard methods require very high temperatures to produce enough propylene. At those temperatures, you don’t just get propylene but solid carbon deposits and other undesirable products that impair the catalyst. To regenerate the reactor, we need to burn off the solid carbon deposits often, which makes the process inefficient.”The researchers’ new reactor system efficiently makes propylene from shale gas by separating propane into propylene and hydrogen gas. It also gives hydrogen a way out, changing the balance between the concentration of propane and reaction products in a way that allows more propylene to be made. Once separated, the hydrogen can also be safely burned away from the propane, heating the reactor enough to speed up the reactions without making any undesirable compounds.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1711496937117-shale-propylene-membrane-diagram.png" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The innermost tube of the reactor splits propane into hydrogen gas and propylene and allows the hydrogen gas to escape into the outermost shell of the reactor. That hydrogen gas can be burned to further drive the reactions. Image credit: James Wortman, Linic Lab, University of Michigan.This separation is achieved through the reactor’s nested, hollow-fiber membrane tubing. The innermost tube is made up of materials that splits the propane into propylene and hydrogen gas. While the tubing keeps most of the propylene inside the innermost chamber, the hydrogen gas can escape into an outer chamber through pores in a membrane layer of the material. Inside that chamber, the hydrogen gas is controllably burned by mixing in precise amounts of oxygen.Because the hydrogen can be burned inside the reactor and can operate under higher propane pressures, the technology could allow plants to produce propylene from natural gas without installing extra heaters. A plant that produces 500,000 metric tons of propylene annually could save as much as $23.5 million over other methods starting with shale gas, according to the researchers’ estimates. Those savings come on top of the operational savings from burning hydrogen produced in reaction, rather than other fuels.The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the RAPID Manufacturing Institute and the National Science Foundation.The reactor materials were studied at the&nbsp;<a href="https://mc2.engin.umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Michigan Center for Materials Characterization</a>. The team is pursuing patent protection with the assistance of U-M Innovation Partnerships and is seeking partners to bring the technology to market.Suljo Linic is also a professor of integrative systems and design.

With oil production dropping, a process using natural gas is needed to avert a shortage of a workhorse chemical used for automotive parts, cleaning products and more.

New reactor could save millions when making ingredients for plastics and rubber from natural gas

Lignin, a complex organic polymer, is one of the main components of wood, providing structural support and rigidity to make trees strong enough to withstand the elements. When transforming wood into paper, lignin is a key ingredient that must be removed and often becomes waste.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1710979930198-240208_naunheim_washu_mckelvey_labs_007-760x507.jpg" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Marcus Foston (left) and collaborators are exploring how to use lignin, a common waste product of paper pulping, as a source of renewable alteratives to petroleum-derived chemicals. (Photo: Jerry Naunheim)Marcus Foston, associate professor of energy, environmental &amp; chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, is exploring how to add value to lignin by breaking it down into small molecules that are structurally similar to oxygenated hydrocarbons. These renewable chemicals are key components in many industrial processes and products, but they are traditionally sourced from non-renewable petroleum.Foston’s study of lignin disassembly, done in collaboration with Sai Venkatesh Pingali, a neutron scattering scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ONRL), was published Jan. 17 in Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering.“Lignin’s structure actually looks a lot like what we get from petroleum,” said Foston, who is also the director of WashU’s Synthetic Biology Manufacturing of Advanced Materials Research Center (SMARC). “In current manufacturing processes, we spend time making petroleum look like the elements of lignin. Instead, I’m using a catalyst to break lignin down more easily and in such a way that it produces specific chemicals. Once we can produce chemical from lignin in a form we want, then we can make more efficient use of lignin, which is an abundant byproduct of pulping wood into paper.”With collaborators at ORNL, Foston used neutron scattering to study how lignin interacts with solvents and catalysts during its disassembly under reaction conditions, including high temperature and pressure. ORNL’s advanced facilities allowed researchers to observe the reaction process in real time to improve their catalyst and further streamline reaction systems for lignin depolymerization. This direct, molecular-level view is critical, Foston said, to figure out how the catalyst and lignin behave in solution and to ensure the lignin doesn’t recondense into a polymer with bonds scientists can’t easily break.“In this study, we’re specifically thinking about how we can take the large amount of lignin that gets produced during biofuel or paper production and use it to make renewable chemicals that replace some of the chemicals we currently get from petroleum,” Foston said. “More broadly, the same depolymerization principles we’re exploring with lignin could be used in other applications. For example, the same lessons from this study apply to plastic waste scenarios, where one approach is to deconstruct plastic waste into small molecules that could be used to make plastic or other useful products.”“Ultimately, we want to take a bunch of chemicals that are coming from petroleum and figure out how we can make those renewably,” Foston added. “Everything we’re learning about lignin will apply to other spaces as well.”<hr>Zhang J, Yang Z, Ponukumati A, Senanayake M, Pingali SV, and Foston M. Structural evolution of lignin using in situ small-angle neutron scattering during catalytic disassembly. ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering. Jan. 17, 2024. DOI: <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c06368?ref=PDF" target="_blank">https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c06368?ref=PDF</a>&nbsp;

Marcus Foston takes a detailed look at lignin disassembly on path to replace petroleum with renewables

Transforming wood waste for sustainable manufacturing

You’ll find a few appliances on a typical kitchen counter. A toaster? Almost definitely. A stand mixer? If there’s a baker in the house. An air fryer? More and more frequently — and not just among food hipsters. What you’re less likely to find between the range and the spice rack is a 3D printer.And yet 3D printed food is steadily becoming a real phenomenon. While we’re unlikely to ever print an entire hot meal from a single machine, and while some current examples of food 3D printing might sound a little silly, the technology behind culinary 3D printing is no mere gimmick. Many foods are highly suited to common 3D printing processes like extrusion and sintering, and printing food can have genuine advantages, from environmental benefits to the elevated presentation required by master chefs.This article attempts to show that 3D printed food is not a pie in the sky concept. It’s useful, versatile, and only just getting started.The Technologies Behind 3D Printed FoodOne reason why 3D printing can seem confusing to ordinary people is that “3D printing” can be used to describe some very different technologies. A $200 machine that prints plastic toys operates in a very different way to a million-dollar machine that prints titanium aircraft components or hip implants.3D printed food is no different — or rather, it’s similarly different. While most food printing applications involve a form of extrusion 3D printing, there are actually several different additive technologies used in food production.ExtrusionMost consumer-level 3D printers use a technology called fused filament fabrication (FFF) to make plastic objects. This technology extrudes molten thermoplastic filament to build 3D objects one layer at a time.While you can’t eat thermoplastics, you can use an FFF printer (or a machine resembling one) to extrude and print certain types of food. Some foods behave in a similar way to thermoplastics: chocolate, for example, is solid at room temperature but can be melted and then re-solidified, which has led many cases of 3D printed chocolate, some — like the Fab@Home multi-material printer — dating back almost two decades. But melting and re-solidifying isn’t a necessity when it comes to food. For example, soft materials like frosting and mashed potato can be extruded without a change in temperature.Extrusion is the dominant food printing technology for several reasons. For one, it is a simple and affordable form of 3D printing. Secondly, food extrusion has already existed for centuries in the form of sausages, certain types of pasta, pastry piping, and beyond. 3D printing simply adds an element of computer numerical control to the process.BioprintingIf extrusion represents the simple, affordable, and user-friendly side of food 3D printing, then 3D bioprinting — a cutting-edge form of tissue engineering — is the other extreme. Experts hope that bioprinting will one day allow us to print transplantable human organs and save millions of lives. But it can also be used to make steak.Since 2013, when startup Modern Meadow demonstrated the printing of meat and leather, scientists have been coming up with news ways to bioprint cultured meat. 3D bioprinters deposit liquids called bio-inks, which contain cells and a matrix material, onto a scaffold (as the bioink is not typically self-supporting). The printed structure is then typically placed in a bioreactor to encourage tissue growth.Though extremely complex, 3D bioprinting has been shown as a viable means of forming lab-grown meat, which has significant environmental advantages over livestock farming.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzEwODYyMjAyOTU1LXJlZGVmaW5lIG1lYXQucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Redefine Meat's 3D-printed meat substitute. Credit: ReDefine Meat.&nbsp;PowderTwo less common varieties of food 3D printing technology are selective laser sintering (SLS) and binder jetting. While these two processes work in different ways — SLS uses a laser to fuse particles together, while binder jetting uses a liquid binder — both can be used to print foods in powder form. Powdered foods suitable for 3D printing include sugar, chocolate powder, and specially formulated protein mixtures.<h2>Applications of Food 3D Printing (and Why They are Helpful)</h2>The uses of food 3D printing range from the entertaining to the potentially world-changing. Here we look at some of the more widespread uses of 3D printing technology in food production.ConfectionerySome of the earliest examples of food 3D printing have involved chocolate and candy. This is partly down to the extrudability of chocolate and partly down to the obvious mass appeal of 3D printed sweet treats with unusual or customizable geometries. Candy giant Hershey’s saw the potential here, teaming up with additive leader 3D Systems in 2014 to launch the “CocoJet” chocolate 3D printer.BakingOne of the simplest forms of traditional food extrusion is piping — squeezing a paste-like substance from a bag through a shaped nozzle. Some companies have used machines resembling FFF 3D printers to automate the piping process, allowing for fast and accurate 3D deposition of frosting and other materials. One company operating in this space is BeeHex, which sells machines for small and large-scale cake decoration.Fine diningAvant-garde chefs love to experiment with technology, and 3D printing has unsurprisingly found a niche in certain fine dining circles. In late 2020, Michelin-starred Restaurant Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona came up with several elaborate dishes using the Foodini 3D printer from Natural Machines, which uses a syringe-style extrusion mechanism that can be filled with foods of the user’s choice.Space foodOne of the more experimental strains of food 3D printing is the development of nutrient-rich powdered food that can be printed by astronauts in outer space. While this area of food 3D printing research will have as many cynics as it has champions, NASA is taking the idea somewhat seriously, having offered grants to companies researching the topic.Cultured meatWhile still in its infancy, 3D bioprinted meat is one of the most exciting areas of food 3D printing. Lab-grown meat is more environmentally friendly than livestock farming, with the added benefit of not actually harming animals. On the other hand, this may be the area of food 3D printing that invites the greatest level of skepticism: many will balk at the idea of eating a hamburger grown in a petri dish.<h2>3D Printed Food Case Studies</h2>We have so far looked at the key technologies and some of the common applications of food 3D printing. Here we take a closer look at two organizations that have used 3D printing in a particularly interesting way.Barilla’s 3D printed pasta&nbsp;Italian food giant Barilla, the world’s largest producer of pasta, has witnessed several technological innovations since its founding in 1877. In 2015, the company introduced 3D printed pasta to the world, working with Dutch research firm TNO to develop a printer that could process dough. While most 3D printer users give up and start again when their prints look like spaghetti, Barilla encouraged it, asking members of the public to come up with 3D printable pasta shapes.Of course, 2015 was the heyday for novelty 3D printing stories, so 3D printed pasta was sure to cause a stir. But Barilla continues to sell 3D printed pasta shapes to this day, proving that its extruded creations were more than just a flash in the pan. Its BluRhapsody division sells a number of unique 3D printed pasta varieties, including an egg shape, a bunny shape, and “spaghetto 3D,” targeting these premium products at upscale restaurateurs.3D printed pasta shapes have practical as well as aesthetic benefits. For example, several of the complex geometric designs are hollow, allowing them to be filled with meats, cheeses, sauces, or other fillings.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oz6D1FXwuvA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> Osaka University’s 3D printed Wagyu beef steakWhen people picture lab-grown meat, they probably picture the very opposite of Wagyu beef, one of the most expensive meats in the world thanks to its tender fatty structure and delicious flavor. However, in 2021 scientists at Osaka University used 3D bioprinting to recreate the famous Japanese export.In vitro meat was first bioprinted way back in 2013, and several research groups and companies have since attempted to perfect the process. The printed Wagyu was a particularly complex endeavor, however, due to the distinctive marbling or sashi of this type of meat. To recreate this pattern, the scientists used a combination of muscle fibers, fat, and blood vessels, printing the three distinct components in layers to mimic the organic beef.“By improving this technology, it will be possible to not only reproduce complex meat structures, such as the beautiful sashi of Wagyu beef, but to also make subtle adjustments to the fat and muscle components,” explained study co-author Michiya Matsusaki.<h2>The Future of 3D Printed Food</h2>To become a mainstream culinary technology, 3D printing still has to overcome a few hurdles. For starters, providers of food printers need to identify challenges where 3D printing can offer a genuine solution — not be just a gimmick. The novelty era of 3D printing has been and gone. Consumers will now only entertain 3D printed food if it tastes good, looks good, and has a reason to exist.In areas like 3D bioprinting, another challenge is convincing consumers — many of whom have been brought up believing that organic is best — that a lab-grown meat is sensible, tasty, and not the Frankenstein’s Monster of proteins.In all likelihood, your kitchen counter probably won’t have a 3D printer sitting on it in 10 years’ time. But your pantry might just contain some 3D printed pasta and your fridge some bioprinted meat.

3D printed food might have started as a novelty, but this niche area of additive manufacturing is giving producers and consumers food for thought.

You Want Me to Eat What? The Rise of 3D Printed Food

<h3 id="isPasted">Who are we?&nbsp;</h3>Team Polar is an Eindhoven-based student team filled with students from different disciplines. Our mission is to facilitate and improve the research going on in Antarctica. We aim to achieve this by building an autonomous, affordable, and electric rover. The reason we go with Antarctica is that the current research going on is led by human-driven vehicles using fossil fuels. Building an autonomous vehicle means it is safer and less expensive since there is no&nbsp;driver to pay.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>The Ice Cube&nbsp;</h3>After working for more than a year, Team Polar came up with the&nbsp;Ice Cube. Ice Cube was just the first step towards our vision of building a sustainable and affordable research environment in Antarctica. Ice Cube has 2 square meters of&nbsp;solar panels&nbsp;which helps Ice Cube to go up to 65 kilometers (about half the distance from Washington, D.C. to New York City) per day. With its 28' wheels, the Ice Cube weighs around 350 kilograms (about 771.62 lb).&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Progress on Ice Cube&nbsp;</h3>Team Polar is&nbsp;in&nbsp;the second prototype's design process, and the Ice Cube is only used for testing.&nbsp;Since the Ice Cube was built in&nbsp;a short time, some features were missing, such as autonomy.&nbsp;Our software team is using&nbsp;the Ice Cube&nbsp;to test their software and the new sensors&nbsp;that&nbsp;we are aiming to implement on our second prototype.&nbsp;While these tests are&nbsp;being made, new structural components are also being tested. Such as gas springs, hinges, handles, etc.&nbsp;Meanwhile, we are developing a force balance that helps&nbsp;determine&nbsp;possible ranges&nbsp;of mass of the next vehicle. We&nbsp;are also looking into the location of research, which will help&nbsp;determine&nbsp;the&nbsp;driving range and strategy for the energy balance (which will&nbsp;probably be&nbsp;made next year).&nbsp;<h3>Processing REMA Image&nbsp;</h3>Under the “Autonomous Department”, our engineers successfully developed and implemented code to process &nbsp; Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (REMA) images.&nbsp;REMA provides the first, high-resolution (2-meter) terrain map of&nbsp;nearly the&nbsp;entire continent. Since each REMA grid point has a timestamp, any past or future point observation of elevation provides a measurement of elevation change.&nbsp;REMA may provide corrections for a wide range of remote sensing processing activities, such as image orthorectification, and interferometry, and provide constraints for geodynamic and ice flow modeling, mapping of grounding lines, and surface processes. REMA also provides a powerful new resource for field logistics planning.&nbsp;This is an important step for the autonomy of the Ice Cube. The goal is to calculate the altitudes in Antarctica to find out the clearest and most optimized path for the rover.&nbsp;&nbsp;The next step for these images is to transform the processed REMA images into a format that is compatible with our A* algorithm.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>A* Algorithm&nbsp;</h3>The A* search algorithm is one of the best techniques used in path-finding and graph traversals. The path we derived will be the shortest of all the other options or the most efficient by all parameters considered. &nbsp;A* works by making a lowest-cost path&nbsp;<a href="https://brilliant.org/wiki/trees-basic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tree</a>&nbsp;from the start node to the target node. What makes A* different and better for many searches is that for each node, A* uses a function f(n) that gives an estimate of the total cost of a path using that node.The environment of Antarctica and the conditions are the hardest part of our project. We need to come up with innovative and technical solutions. Understanding the altitudes and general geography of Antarctica is crucial.&nbsp;&nbsp;Furthermore, the design of the rover plays a huge role in our path to success. Our Dynamics Sub team is trying to come up with new ideas for the newest version of the Ice Cube.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Suspension&nbsp;</h3>Unlike the Ice Cube, the new vehicle will use a suspension system. The test in Norway in 2022 showed that; the main purpose of having a suspension is important for keeping all wheels on the ground, for improved traction. Also, it will dampen vibrations to keep the vehicles' most important components as stable as possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;The suspension system the new vehicle will be using is a so-called double wishbone suspension. For this suspension, every wheel is connected to two-wishbone-shaped arms. Every wheel is independently controlled.&nbsp;&nbsp;The main advantage of the double-wishbone configuration is its good ratio of kinematic versatility vs. complexity, it being slightly more complex than other systems like the McPherson strut and slightly simpler than others like multi-link suspensions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Ground pressure&nbsp;</h3>Getting the right ground pressure is extremely crucial for the environment the vehicle will operate. A ground pressure that is too high will cause the vehicle to get stuck in the snow or even fall into crevasses. To prevent this, the ground pressure that will be aimed for in the new vehicle is 0.1 bar. This value is also used by Artic Trucks or other snow vehicles such as the tracked vehicles made by Mattracks. In comparison, the average human exerts a pressure of 0.17 bar on the ground.&nbsp;The low ground pressure is achieved by maximizing the contact area using large and not fully inflated&nbsp;tires.&nbsp;Next Steps?&nbsp;

Facilitating the human-led and autonomous research in the Antarctic continent.

Pioneering Autonomous Antarctic Research

Equipped with an infrared and a RGB camera, the fire drone is sending video data directly from the danger zone.

The Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics of the Swiss Empa institute develops a special drone for firefighting operations. Lightweight, stable and temperature resistant parts manufactured with SLS 3D printing is the key to success.

Baptism of fire for Sintratec SLS 3D parts

Additive manufacturing is one of the greenest manufacturing technologies. 3D printers use minimal power, produce limited waste because they are additive rather than subtractive, and enable local production, minimizing the carbon footprint of shipping and logistics.That being said, additive manufacturing has environmental challenges to address. While the process does not create waste material like chips, it does create waste in other ways. Failed prints, broken printer components, and surplus resin or powder may all end up in a landfill. Furthermore, manufacturing 3D printers and subsequently operating them causes emissions. Extrusion-style printers in particular release significant levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM). Resin 3D printers are not immune to environmental criticism either. Although photopolymerization technologies like stereolithography (SLA) produce fewer emissions than extrusion technologies, they use thermosets that are not typically made from recycled materials or able to be recycled.This article discusses how both manufacturers and end-users can reduce the carbon footprint of additive manufacturing. In particular, it looks at how Nexa3D’s resin 3D printers are addressing key environmental challenges head-on, reducing carbon emissions at three stages: during printer production, during printing, and even beyond the service life of the printer.<h1 dir="ltr">Environmental challenges faced by 3D printer hardware manufacturers</h1>Makers of additive manufacturing hardware have a responsibility to minimize their carbon footprint. It’s easy for 3D printing companies to say their technologies are greener than CNC machining (in terms of waste) or injection molding (in terms of tooling logistics). But what about all the ways that additive manufacturing does create carbon emissions? The environmental impact of additive manufacturing can be divided into several areas, including energy consumption, product life cycle, waste materials, water footprint, impact on global warming, and air pollution.<h3 dir="ltr">Production</h3>One of the first concerns for 3D printer companies is the production of their machines. Components are often produced by third party-manufacturers, creating emissions through manufacturing and shipping. While such emissions can be reduced by localizing the supply chain, it is often cheaper to use suppliers in places like China. Furthermore, companies must consider the kind of materials being used for these components. How are the raw materials processed? Can they be recycled after the printer’s service life?<h3 dir="ltr">Quality</h3>The design and quality of the 3D printer is also tied to its carbon footprint. Quality engineering can result in an energy-efficient system that minimizes the energy consumption of each print cycle. Additionally, a well-built machine will typically result in fewer failed builds, which means fewer overall printing cycles and less scrap. Perhaps most importantly, a high-quality machine will have a longer product life cycle. If an end-user needs to replace their machine every few years, they are creating scrap as well as unnecessary production and supply chain emissions for the new machines.<h3 dir="ltr">Secondary processes</h3>Another challenge for 3D printer hardware companies is the application of secondary processes and their respective contributions to the overall carbon footprint. The nature of these secondary processes is largely dependent on the 3D printing technology. For example, resin 3D prints need to be washed and cured, while laser sintering systems may use a separate powder handling machine that consumes additional energy.<h1 dir="ltr">Reducing the carbon footprint of additive manufacturing during printing</h1>3D printer end-users can reduce the carbon footprint of additive manufacturing in various ways, starting with the purchase of the technology. For instance, end-users can research the power usage of different 3D printers and choose one with minimal energy consumption. They can also look for certain green certifications. For example, the UL GREENGUARD certification indicates a low-emission product, though it is only applicable to consumer-level extrusion printers.Feedstock is another important factor for environmentally conscious printer users, with some materials having a greater carbon footprint than others. Development of recycled, bio-based, recyclable, and biodegradable materials is an ongoing area of research, particularly in extrusion 3D printing but also in vat photopolymerization. End-users can also choose to buy feedstock and other consumables locally. However, this can be difficult with 3D printers that use a closed materials platform. Some leading SLA printers, for example, are only compatible with the manufacturer’s proprietary resins.Taking a systematic approach to printing can also reduce the carbon footprint of additive manufacturing. For instance, packing the build area with multiple models — perhaps using a nesting feature in the slicing software — allows for fewer total print cycles and less energy consumption. Other simple strategies can include using draft settings for prototypes to reduce machine operation time.<h1 dir="ltr">How Nexa3D’s resin printers minimize carbon emissions</h1><a href="https://www.nexa3d.com/" target="_blank">Nexa3D</a> is one 3D printer company taking a proactive approach to reducing the carbon footprint of additive manufacturing. Its resin 3D printers like the <a href="https://nexa3d.com/3d-printers/xip/" target="_blank">XiP</a> and <a href="https://nexa3d.com/3d-printers/xip-pro/" target="_blank">XiP Pro</a> are not only built from recyclable materials, they also allow for energy-efficient printing and practical maintenance that contributes to a longer product life cycle.Key to the sustainability of Nexa3D printers is their aluminum body and a two-part vat that can be reused over and over without needing replacement. Since both the XiP and XiP Pro are constructed from billet aluminum, parts of the printer body can be recycled at the end of the machine’s life cycle. Fortunately, Nexa3D has taken steps to ensure that life cycle is as long as possible: rather than using a planned obsolescence strategy and forcing users to periodically replace their machines with new models, the company allows users to update their printer with replacement components — a practice that is both ethical and sustainable.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzEwNzc1NDI4ODAyLXhpcC1wcm8taW1hZ2UuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The Nexa3D XiP.&nbsp;Nexa3D resin printers can also reduce the carbon footprint of additive manufacturing during operation. The energy-efficient XiP directs almost all of its power usage (86%) to the light engine, with the rest powering the printer’s electronics. The XiP Pro, meanwhile, allows users to pack the build area with multiple parts thanks to its extra-large envelope (292 x 163 mm). Since the mSLA technology cures the whole XY plane at once, it becomes possible to print a whole vat full of parts without significantly increasing printing time or energy consumption.Finally, all Nexa3D resin printers are built on an open materials platform. While the company sells a number of pre-qualified resins, it also allows users to source their own materials, allowing them to buy resin and consumables locally to minimize the carbon footprint of their additive manufacturing activities.<h1 dir="ltr">Sustainable printing</h1>Nexa3D is one of a handful of 3D printer companies taking its carbon footprint seriously, and its commitment to sustainability over profit is evident through its modular systems and open materials platform.&nbsp;

Reducing the carbon footprint of 3D printing requires work from 3D printer manufacturers and end-users. Nexa3D’s resin printers are built using recyclable materials and allow users to print responsibly too.

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