University of Utah

University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor Massood Tabib-Azar and his team of engineers have come up with a way to produce microscopic electronic switches for appliances and devices that can grow and dissolve wires inside the circuitry that instantly connect and disconnect electrical flow.

Defense Against the Vampire Appliance

With this technology, smartphones and laptops could run twice as long on a single charge, and digital appliances such as televisions and video game consoles could be much more power efficient.

University of Utah materials science and engineering associate professor Mike Scarpulla stands next to a solar panel made of the compound cadmium telluride. Along with Kirstin Alberi of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, he developed a theory that adding light during the manufacturing of semiconductors can reduce defects in the materials, leading to more efficient solar cells and better LEDs.

Let There Be Light

Utah engineer discovers light can stamp out defects in semiconductors for better solar panel and LED bulb production.

University of Utah materials science and engineering professor Ling Zang holds up a prototype handheld detector his company is producing that can sense explosive materials and toxic gases. His research team developed a new material for the detector that can sense alkane fuel, a key ingredient in such combustibles as gasoline, airplane fuel and homemade bombs.

A Nose for Danger

An oven-sized instrument can be replaced with a portable scanner to detect bomb materials or fuel and gas leaks.