We depend on clean, safe, reliable fuel for our personal vehicles, delivery trucks, emergency generators, aviation and so much more. Testing is critical to ensure fuel quality and safety. SwRI has conducted fuels and lubricants research since the late 1950s. Decades later, this important program continues the vital work of analyzing fuels to keep people safe and drivers moving, while looking ahead at the alternative fuels of the future.
Listen now as SwRI Fuels and Lubricants Research Director Robert Legg discusses how fuel testing impacts everyone, what his team assesses beyond fuels and his top tips for your next trip to the pump.
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Episode 79: Producing Graphene from CO2 Waste
SwRI is developing a process to produce graphene from carbon dioxide waste. Graphene is a valuable carbon allotrope with a wide range of applications. It is used in electronics like touchscreens, batteries, coatings, biomedical devices and more. While it can occur under the right chemical and thermal reactions in nature, it is not abundant, and it is difficult to produce synthetically in large quantities. SwRI is working on a large-scale solution, forming graphene from carbon dioxide that has been captured and stored to reduce emissions.
Listen now as SwRI chemical engineer Michael Hartmann and scientist Miles Salas discuss how they are turning carbon dioxide waste into a feedstock for a useful, high-demand material.
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Episode 78: SWORD™ User-friendly Robotics Toolkit
The SwRI Workbench for Offline Robotics Development™ (SWORD™) is simplifying robotics motion planning. The user-friendly software allows developers to flow from computer aided design (CAD) to robotics management with ease. Robotics are used in manufacturing and other industries for “dull, dirty, dangerous” tasks. When designers move out of CAD for the next phase of product development, they often encounter complicated robotics software. SWORD works with CAD, allowing users to stay in a familiar software environment, making robotics more accessible and streamlining workflow.
Listen now as SwRI SWORD developers Matt Robinson and Michael Ripperger discuss SWORD capabilities, how the software fits into the production puzzle and how it could benefit businesses, consumers and patients.
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Episode 77: AI for Osteoporosis Risk
What do you know about your bones? SwRI is developing artificial intelligence (AI) for enhanced bone imaging to give patients a clearer picture of bone health. Current imaging methods, such as CT scans, protect patients from excess radiation but don’t provide detailed information on bone structure. SwRI technology runs these existing images through AI to fill in the blanks on bone health. The AI produces higher-resolution bone images with no additional radiation. Healthcare providers get a better picture of fracture and osteoporosis risk. Patients get faster intervention.
Listen now as Dr. Lance Frazer, SwRI biomechanical engineer, discusses the benefits of artificial intelligence for bone imaging and shares his top research-backed tip to strengthen our adaptable, living, smart bones.
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Episode 76: PUNCH: Imaging the Solar Wind
Launch is approaching for NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere or PUNCH mission, led by SwRI. Four suitcase-sized satellites equipped with special instruments are setting out to capture the first images of the solar wind, the stream of charged particles that flows out from the Sun’s corona. PUNCH will examine the solar wind in low-Earth orbit, protected by our planet’s magnetosphere. The mission is exploring space weather and its impact on Earth, including how it affects power grids, satellites and astronauts.
Listen now as Dr. Craig DeForest, SwRI space scientist, heliophysics expert and PUNCH principal investigator, discusses the mission’s upcoming launch, how PUNCH will make the invisible solar wind visible for the first time and his inspiration to study the Sun, the star that powers our planet.
Technology Today Podcast launched in November 2018, offering a new way to listen and learn about the technology, science, engineering and research impacting our lives and changing our world. The podcast is presented by Southwest Research Institute, a nonprofit contract R&D organization developing innovative solutions for government and industry clients. Podcast host Lisa Peña is breaking through the tech jargon and talking to the scientists, engineers and researchers building the future of technology. It’s a conversation bringing tech to life and helping us understand how technology, science, engineering and research link to our daily lives.
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