Volume II Issue 10
October 2006 |
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 The
Sounds of Saturn's Lightning
 Audio
clips have recently been created from radio signals received by the
radio and plasma wave science instrument on the Cassini spacecraft. The
bursty radio emissions were generated by lightning flashes on Saturn and
are similar to the crackles and pops one hears on an AM radio during a
thunderstorm on Earth.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
Washington, DC.
The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the Radio and Plasma
Wave Group in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of The University
of Iowa. The teams there specialize in the study of naturally occurring
radio and plasma waves in space plasmas. The group has provided radio
and plasma wave receivers for more than 20 space missions and is
currently designing an instrument for Juno, the Jupiter polar orbiter
scheduled for launch in 2010.
Find out more...
College
Hiring Expected to Increase 17.4%
 The
college Class of 2006 enjoyed the best job market in four years; the
market for the Class of 2007 is expected to be even more robust.
Employers expect to hire 17.4% more new college graduates in 2006-07
than they hired in 2005-06, according to a recent survey conducted by
the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
By economic sector,
service-sector employers expect the largest increase in hiring - 19.8% -
over last year. More than half of the employers who provided key reasons
for their anticipated hiring increase cited the growth of their
organizations.
Manufacturers and
government/nonprofit employers also plan healthy increases.
Manufacturers expect to add 9.5% more new college graduates to their
work forces, while government/nonprofit employers plan to increase
college hiring by 9% over 2005-06 levels.
Find out more about job hunting tips...
Try
Your Hand at Video Game Development
 In
the 30 years of video game development, the art of making console games
has been reserved for those with big projects, big budgets and the
backing of big game labels. Now Microsoft Corporation is bringing this art to
the masses with a revolutionary new set of tools, called
XNA Game Studio Express,
based on the XNA™ platform. XNA Game Studio Express will democratize
game development by delivering the necessary tools to hobbyists,
students, independent developers and studios alike to help them bring their
creative game ideas to life while nurturing game development talent,
collaboration and sharing that will benefit the entire industry.
XNA Game Studio
Express will be available for free to anyone with a Windows® XP-based
PC. By joining a "creators club" for an annual subscription fee of $99
(U.S.), users will be able to build, test and share their games on Xbox
360™ and access a wealth of materials to help speed the game development
progress. This represents the first significant opportunity for novice
developers to make a console game without a significant investment in
resources.
It's also a great
opportunity for students with an interest in software engineering to
give it a try on their own. A beta version is now available, and the
final release is due in December.
Find out more about careers in
software engineering...
Degree
Profile: Civil Engineering
 Civil
engineering is about community service, development, and improvement --
the planning, design, construction, and operation of facilities
essential to modern life, ranging from transit systems to offshore
structures to space satellites. Civil engineers are problem solvers,
meeting the challenges of pollution, traffic congestion, drinking water
and energy needs, urban redevelopment and planning.
They are the leading users
of sophisticated high-tech products - applying the very latest concepts
in computer-aided design (CAD) during design, construction, project
scheduling, and cost control.
 Civil
Engineering is grouped into seven major divisions of engineering:
Structural; Environmental; Geotechnical; Water Resources;
Transportation; Construction; and Urban Planning.
The world is undergoing
vast changes -- the technological revolution, population growth,
environmental concerns, and more. All create unique challenges for civil
engineers of every specialty.
Employment opportunities
for civil engineers exist all over the world. Civil engineers are needed
everywhere to plan, design, construct, operate, improve, and renovate
the projects essential to modern comfort and growth.
Find out more about careers in
civil engineering.
Be
a Citizen Scientist!
 The
theme for Earth Science Week 2006 (October 8-14) is "Be a Citizen
Scientist!"
Earth Science Week 2006 marks
the ninth year the American Geological Institute (AGI) has sponsored this international event as a service
to the public and the geoscience community. Each year, local groups,
educators, and interested individuals organize celebration events. The
goal is to offer the public opportunities to discover the Earth sciences
and promote responsible stewardship of the Earth.
"Citizen science affords everyone an opportunity to investigate earth
science questions," says Ann E. Benbow, Ph.D., AGI's Director of
Education and Outreach. "This Earth Science Week, we will be encouraging
students, teachers, and the general public to become actively involved
in a variety of citizen science programs with earth science themes. We
hope that such involvement will highlight the value of Earth science in
everyone's life and raise the profile of the important work that
geoscientists do."
 Students, earth science educators, professionals, and interested
individuals are encouraged to join in. Central to this year's celebration
is AGI's efforts to engage students and other members of the community
to collect data related to scientific endeavors, to make discoveries.
AGI
is sponsoring three national contests as part of Earth Science Week
2006. The photography, visual arts, and essay contests offer
opportunities for both students and the general public to participate in
the celebration, learn about the Earth sciences, and compete for prizes.
Click here to learn
more about these contests and how to enter.
Find out more about careers in
geology...
Industry
Brief: Honda Develops Bio-Fabric for Car Interiors
 Honda
Motor Company, Ltd., has announced it has developed "bio-fabric," a
plant-based fabric with excellent durability and resistance to sunlight,
for use as a surface material in automobile interiors. Bio-fabric offers
the benefit of offsetting CO2 emissions produced during incineration in
the disposal stage with CO2 absorption that occurs during the growth
stage of the plants that are used as raw materials.
Despite this benefit, plant-based fabric has not been used commercially
for automobile interiors due to concerns about limited durability and
aesthetic issues.
The new bio-fabric developed by Honda overcame such issues, and achieved
a soft and smooth material appropriate for the surface of automobile
interiors, with high durability and excellent resistance to sunlight to
prevent color fading after prolonged use. In addition to seat surfaces,
this bio-fabric can be used for the interior surface of the doors and
roof and for floor mats. Honda will install these bio-fabric interiors
to the company's all-new fuel cell vehicle which will be introduced to
the market within next three years.
 A
polyester material called PPT (polypropylene terephthalate) is the basic
material of the bio-fabric. PPT is produced through polymerization of
1-3PDO (propanediol), which is produced from corn, and terephthalic
acid, a petroleum-based component. In order to improve stability as a
fabric, Honda applied a multi-thread structure for the fiber. In
addition, unprecedented aesthetic properties were achieved by leveraging
the flexibility of this fiber.
The new bio-fabric does not require changes in existing fabric
production processes, and is suitable for mass production. Honda plans
to gradually expand the application to new models from 2009 and beyond.
Find out more...
U.S.
Physics Team Strikes Gold at International Physics Olympiad
 Every
U.S. student sent to the 2006 International Physics Olympiad held this
year in Nanyang University in Singapore, brought home a medal, and four
of those were gold. The Olympiad is a nine-day international competition
among pre-university students from more than 60 nations. At the
International Physics Olympiad, the competitors are asked to solve
challenging theoretical and experimental physics problems.
The goals of the Olympiad
are to encourage excellence in physics education and to reward
outstanding physics students. The 24 members of the U.S. Physics Team
are selected through two competitive examinations. Find out more at
www.aapt.org/contests/olympiad.cfm.
Local, regional, national
and international projects and competitions can help students network
with others interested in science, mathematics, and engineering -- while
gaining first-hand experience in applying their knowledge to solve
problems.
Find out more about projects and
competitions...
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