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Technology that moves the world THE MAGAZINE OF ASME No.02 137 PLUGGING A NUCLEAR LEAK PPAGGE 10 SMART ROAD TESTS FUTURE CARS PPAGGE 40 EDISON AS MANAGER PPAGGE 46 ASME.ORG FEBRUARY 2015 LOG ON ASME.ORG MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | FEBRUARY 2015 | P.01 THE COCHLEAR IMPLANT Transmitter Speech Processor Wire Receiver and Stimulator Vestibular Ossicles Labyrinth Vestibulocochlear Timpanic Nerve Membrane Cochlea Sailing the Icy Blue Mechanical engineer Stefan Dalberg hopes to break Electrode Array records in the sport of iceboating with his new boat, which uses wings instead of sails. Auricle Eustachian Tube Ear Canal Round Window 30 YEARS OF BIONIC EARS HE COCHLEAR IMPLANT, as close as it gets to a true bionic ear, hit the U.S. market A lumber safe-room wall during testing is following approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1984-85. For impaled with 2x4 missile. people with profound deafness, cochlear implants open a world of sound. After 30 years, the implants are still making significant noise in the medical Wooden Tornado Shelter device world. Today more than 350,000 people who once lived in silence now Withstands High Winds Tuse implants to understand conversational speech and hear environmental sounds. Building tornado shelters can be expensive. However, a more affordable safe room may be on the market, made from a basic, low-cost construction material: wood. NEXT MONTH ON ASME.ORG VIDEO: USHAHIDI AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Juliana Rotich, co-founder and executive director of Ushahidi Video: Achieving Inc., a non-profit technology company, For these Energy Efficiency talks about the challenges of being a social articles with Advanced and other entrepreneur. content, visit Manufacturing PODCAST: ADVANCES IN SMALL MODULAR asme.org. Mark Johnson, director of the Advanced REACTORS Manufacturing Office, discusses Fatih Aydogan of the University of the progress of the U.S. Idaho’s mechanical engineering department Department of Energy’s Clean discusses the advantages of light-water Energy Manufacturing initiative. small modular nuclear reactors. TABLE OF CONTENTS 02137 FEATURES Mechanical Technology that moves the world THE MAGAZINE OF ASME ENGINEERINGNo.02 137 Short road PLUGGING A NUCLEAR LEAK PAGE 10 SMART ROAD TESTS FUTURE CARS PAGE 40 EDISON AS MANAGER to the next 46 PAGE 32ASME.ORG FEBRUARY 2015 ride ON THE COVER Tomorrow’s ENGINEERING'S automobile features are tested DEBT TO on the Virginia SCIENCE Fiction Smart Road. BY TOM GIBSON Leading innovators tell how stories of the future inspired them to reimagine the present. 40 BY ALAN S. BROWN AND BRITTANY LOGAN LIBERIA AFTER eBOLA14 The health care needs in West Africa will continue long after the epidemic is eradicated. BY JORDAN SCHERMERHORN 20 ONE-On-ONE Wolfgang Warnecke, Shell’s top engine expert, on the future of fuel. BY R.P. SIEGEL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | FEBRUARY 2015 | P.03 DEpartments 46 6 Editorial 8 Letters edison AS 10 Tech Buzz MANAGER 18 Energy 24 Hot Labs The world’s most prolific 26 Instrumentation inventor knew 28 Vault better than to work alone. 50 Bookshelf BY SARAH MILLER 51 Software CALDICOTT 54 Hardware 57 Resource File 59 Positions Open 61 Ad Index 62 ASME News Rail DIG TURNS UP Skeletons New clues to Black Death 64 uncovered. BY JAMES PERO AMERICANS DRIVE LESS In the years since November 2007, the number of vehicle miles traveled has 30 BY JEFFREY WINTERS fallen. Editor in Chief Publisher John G. Falcioni Nicholas J. Ferrari Executive Editor President J. Robert Sims Integrated Media Sales Manager Harry Hutchinson President-Elect Julio C. Guerrero Greg Valero Past President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb Senior Editor Circulation Coordinator Jeffrey Winters Governors Marni Rice John F. Elter; Urmila Ghia; John E. Goossen; Associate Editor Stacey E. Swisher Harnetty; Bernard E. Hrubala; Advertising & Sponsorship Sales Coordinator Alan S. Brown Richard T. Laudenat; Andrew C. Taylor; Michelle Lewitinn John M. Tuohy; William M. Worek Contributing Writers Media Sales Assistant Michael Abrams, Benedict Bahner, Mark Crawford, Executive Director Thomas G. Loughlin James Pero Tom Gibson, Rob Goodier, Lee Langston, Bridget Mintz Secretary and Treasurer Warren R. Devries Classified and Mailing List Testa, Ronald A.L. Rorrer, Kirk Teska, Evan Thomas, Jack Assistant Secretary John Delli Venneri Thornton, Michael Webber, Frank Wicks, Robert O. Woods 212.591.7534 Assistant Treasurer William Garofalo Design Consultant Bates Creative Group Second Assistant Treasurer June Ling Advertising Sales Offices ASME.ORG Senior Vice Presidents East Coast Michael Reier Editor Standards & Certification Laura Hitchcock [email protected] Technical Events & Content Robert E. Grimes David Walsh p. 410.893.8003 f. 410.893.8004 Managing Editor Public Affairs & Outreach William J. Wepfer 900-A South Main Street, Suite 103; Bel Air, MD 21014 Chitra Sethi Student & Early Career Development Senior Editor Cynthia M. Stong Southeast Bob Doran John Kosowatz Mechanical Engineering magazine Advisory Board [email protected] Robert E. Nickell, chair; Harry Armen; p. 770.587.9421 f. 678.623.0276 Managing Director Publishing Philip V. DiVietro Leroy S. Fletcher; Richard J. Goldstein 8740 Glen Ferry Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30022 Managing Director Conformity East Central Thomas S. 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Mechanical Engineering identifies emerging Int’l Petroleum Technology Institute asme-ipti.org Agilolfingerstrasse 2a, 85609 technologies and trends and provides a perspective on the role p. 281.493.3491 f. 281.493.3493 Aschheim/Munich, Germany of engineering and technology advances in the world and on 11757 Katy Freeway, Suite 380; Houston, TX 77079-1733. our lives. Opinions expressed in Mechanical Engineering do not necessarily reflect the views of ASME. 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Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mechanical Engineering, c/o The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 22 Law Drive, Box 2300, Fairfield, NJ 07007-2300. Return Canadian undeliverable addresses to P.O. BOX 1051, Fort Erie, On, L2A 6C7. PRICES: To members, annually $32 for initial membership subscription, single copy $7; subscription price to nonmembers available upon request. COPYRIGHT © 2015 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Canadian Goods & Services Tax Registration #126148048. Printed in U.S.A. Authorization to photocopy material for internal or personal use under circumstances not falling within the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act is granted by ASME to libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center Transactional Reporting Service, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923. Request for special permission or bulk copying should be addressed to Reprints/Permissions Department. air cylinders ae earne 40” 35” 7KH\KDYH VRI ,WHPV5HDG\WR6KLSWKH 30” 6DPH'D\ 25” 7RWDOO\,QWHUFKDQJHDEOH 8SJUDGH1RZ 20” 15” 10” 5” 0“ For the past 50 years, Clippard has been providing quality cylinders for thousands of applications around the world. Cylinders that are responsible for millions of production cycles. CyliCylindersnders ththatat provprovideide outstanding performanceance and payback.payback. 877-245-6247 the finest. www.clippard.com/cylinders On-lineO configuratorconfigu Cincinnati, OH fast! makes orderiordering simple!simple ! FROM THE EDITOR // FOLLOW @JOHNFALCIONI THE NONFICTION OF SCIENCE FICTION hen viewed through an engineer- mission control in Germany landed on a Wing lens, science fiction deals comet last November. Consider also the in dubious possibilities that symbiosis of science fiction and IBM’s become conceivable when reason and recent $3 billion R&D investment in tech- know-how are applied.