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EUROPA - Research and Innovation - What's New

EUROPA - Research and Innovation: What's New in Innovation

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

On track to reduce vehicule emissions - Electric Motorcycle-Bike Racing, Leads - Magny-Cours,Nevers(58) FR in the race Sept 2010. Electric Car GP-F1? -The Economist.

Original Title: TTXGP: Electric Motorcycles Race Isle of Man 2009

I am no motor bike fan, too dangerous for me, but this deserves more than a mention.

2010 FIM e-Power Schedule
April 18 Le Mans (Opening race of the Le Mans 24hours)
TBD Albacete (Opening race of the Albacete 8hours)
September 12 Nevers-Magny Cours (Opening race of the Bol d'Or)
November* 14 Doha (Opening race of the Doha 8 hours)
*To be confirmed

2010 FIM e-Power Schedule.
INNOVATION claim.
"Racing development spurs production innovation. This is an accepted fact, particularly true in motorcycles. So why should electric motorcycles be any different? On June 12th, 2009, emerging electric motorcycles will be put to the racing test when the carbon-free 2009 TTXGP runs on the Isle of Man"
AIM
"The stated purpose of the (TTXGP) is “to bring clean emission transport technologies into the mainstream by demonstrating they can provide exciting, high-speed, high-performance fun.” What better place to put on a high-speed exhibition than on the famed Isle of Man road course?"
OBJECTIVITY - Save the Bike stop the Hype.
Testing the racing application of electric motorcycles in the hallowed TT crucible is perfect. There will be no hiding behind optimistic spec sheet claims, or promised improvements on future production runs (always, it seems, with a nebulous “about two years away” date affixed). Racing is a zero/sum game, there is a winner and there are losers – a clear hierarchical list of them. And come June 12th we will see who stacks up where in the emerging electric motorcycle market."

THE TTXGP RULES are simple:
1. No carbon-based fuels, no toxic emissions.

2. One lap of the 37.75 Isle of Man mountain course with no pit stops or refueling, with any bike incapable of lapping within 50minutes disqualified.

More...
Electric Bike F1-Grand Prix-TTXGP-site.

Sources and Motivation to post: Comments in the Economist following the story 'Devolving Volvo'.

NB. China '2m vehicles by 2015'?

Electric supercars-Highly charged motoring. Fast cars will go even faster with electric power
Mar 18th 2010 | From The Economist print edition
Quote:
"The secret (whisper it, lest puritanical greens find out) is that electric motors are better than combustion engines. They have more oomph, and no need of a gearbox to deliver it. No self-respecting supercar should be without them. And, at this month’s Geneva motor show, at least three supercar-makers showed that they had got the message. Lotus, Porsche and Ferrari each unveiled vehicles driven partly by electric motors."

"These cars have petrol engines, too, to back the electric ones up; technically, therefore, they are hybrids. But that should change in the future as batteries’ storage capacity goes up, and charging time comes down. Most importantly they show that, sometimes, doing the right thing can be fun."
TESLA PERFORMANCE SPEC.
"The launch of the Tesla roadster two years ago demonstrated that electric cars do not have to be slouches. The Californian company’s small plug-in sports car can accelerate from zero to 96kph in 3.7 seconds. It has a range of 393km (244 miles) once its lithium-ion battery pack is fully charged (which, admittedly, takes several hours). The Tesla’s rapid acceleration comes from the ability of an electric motor to deliver its maximum amount of torque at whatever speed the motor is turning."

"Torque is the scientific term for turning force, and it is measured in newton-metres (Nm). The Tesla’s motor has a torque of 400Nm all the way to 5,100 revolutions per minute. An internal-combustion engine, by contrast, produces maximum torque only at certain speeds. The 2.0 litre engine of a Lotus Elise S2, for instance, peaks at 213Nm at 4,400rpm. And, whereas a gearbox is needed to use."
REFERENCE (en référence à ): TTXGP: Electric Motorcycles Race Isle of Man - Isle of Man TT and Street Racing - Motorcycle USA (cf.(afficher sur) Google Sidewiki)

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Thursday, March 25, 2010

Materials Science and Engineering Defined: Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates ref My review of Nanomaterials by MF Ashby et al

Materials Science and Engineering Defined: Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates ref My review of Nanomaterials by MF Ashby et al

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

This-Above-All: A task of terawatts- Editorial from Nature looks at Renewable Energy Policy and criticises "The Traditional Fossile Fuel Dependency

This-Above-All: A task of terawatts- Editorial from Nature looks at Renewable Energy Policy and criticises "The Traditional Fossile Fuel Dependency

Reference to full Editorial in Nature and related posts of importance.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Materials Science and Engineering Defined: Materials and Environment- Mothers of Inventions

Materials Science and Engineering Defined: Materials and Environment- Mothers of Inventions

First class Google Book, commented and reviewed

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Create the Future_Design Contest 2010 from COMSOL Start date 01 March 2010.

This appears to be an interesting, helpful and rewarding approach to innovation from one of the leaders in commercial multiphysics modelling.

Comsol also provides a rich selection of freely available resource items, Conference reports on CD, white papers etc. which reminds me, I must pick-up the lastest. CD.

Should readers require a network partner, please check my blog posts for senior experience and multidisciplinary areas of competence.
eg
1.
Conversations-on-Innovations.
2.
Materials Science and Engineering Defined


I am a member of Linkedin, and ReseachGate networks
If in doubt drop me a line via one or other (or all) of the above sites.

en référence à : Create the Future Design Contest ::Create the Future (afficher sur Google Sidewiki)

Friday, March 12, 2010

Up-dated my SPY registration on MaterialsKTN Knowledge Transfer Network with Nano Feed link_cf also some of my French Links

Just a quick news up-date the UK's attractive Materials Innovation site MaterialsKTN Knowledge Transfer Network with Feed from NanoKTN.

For good measure balance (no feed available at present):

A French Network (in English)
France's C'Nano and
Company network Rhone Alpes .

Other links on the site via LINKS, SEARCH button:
-Institutional nano sites
-Competence centers
-European laboratories
-Nanoscience journals

Saturday, March 06, 2010

This-Above-All: Financial Innovation_The Economist Debate. Stiglitz sways the field advocating a more cautious regulatory approach. CASE for MASS TORTS?

This-Above-All: Financial Innovation_The Economist Debate. Stiglitz sways the field advocating a more cautious regulatory approach. CASE for MASS TORTS?

Friday, March 05, 2010

Smart material-Super strong gecko insired adhesive gets unstuck is reusable and facilitates recycling components

This invention - innovation appears to have fairly wide spread application potential. As such may well suggest opportunities for the enterprising.

General Motors researchers, led by Tao Xie, a polymer scientist at the GM Research and Development Center in Warren, MI., have made an extremely strong adhesive that comes apart when heated. The adhesive is 10 times stickier than Velcro and the reusable gecko-inspired glues that many research groups have been trying to perfect.


The polymers in the glue bond to each other within minutes when they are initially heated. Thus, when two pieces of the adhesive materials are heated, they stick together strongly, but they come apart easily when heated again.

It is in the class of new materials known as Shape memory materials-here a polymer.

Current Performance:
The researchers were able to attach and pull apart the polymers twice before losing one-third of the adhesive strength (that's still 6.6 times stronger than other adhesives? ) So how many cycles are possible?

Recycling components:

Mark Geoghegan, who studies reversible adhesives at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., says that strong, switchable adhesives could make it easier to recycle computers and electronics, if these adhesives were used to glue them together. "Taking complicated structures apart for reuse at the end of life of the original device is not trivial if their original production involved welding," he says.

The glue could find use in any application requiring a strong but alterable bond, such as furniture, toys, and buildings. Geoghegan envisions offices or hotel rooms that could be tailored to accommodate a handicapped person. Or, he suggests, "Imagine a U2 tour, where sets are assembled and disassembled on a daily basis. It might be easier to use a high-strength reversible adhesive than to use bolts."




Some questions for applications and recycling: Reliabilty? Ratio of the amount of glue per component (esp for very small and expensive ones as in electronics). Glue removal when nessessary -by heating or chemical or mechanical abrasion?) Saftey standards for toys...?




This Smart Mat sounds well worth following-up.

Fuller details on MIT's Technology Review Newsletter

REF: en référence à : Technology Review: Super Velcro (on afficher sur) Google Sidewiki)

Monday, March 01, 2010

IdeaConnection encourages team approach to problem solving

Just a quick addition to paid Innovation contests. IdeaConnection IdeaConnection encourages team approach to problem solving. Since I registered with IdeaConnection, the site has gained in momentum. Enormous progress ahas been made. I am please to have added the site as good team network source for problem solving, finding collaborators,becoming a team leader. As a company seeking to tap problem solving resourses world wide why not post you problem on the contest list. It is an excellent compliment to my first affiliation: Innocentive.


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