Transportation

Trump’s Second Term Will Change AI, Energy, and More

November 27, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

U.S. presidential administrations tend to have big impacts on tech around the world. So it should be taken as a given that when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, his second administration will do the same. Perhaps more than usual, even, as he staffs his cabinet with…

14 Apr 24

E-Bikes Are Growing Up, Finding Jobs, Still Having Fun

Civil, Structural & Architecture

Since Tesla seized the world’s imagination, EVs have been cast as lead rebels in the transportation revolution. Then e-bikes whirred into the war against climate change. In 2024, a maturing industry is broadening its design ambitions and engineering sophistication. Manufacturers are expanding into traditional riding categories and creating new ones:…

28 Feb 24

A Bamboo Carbon Filter for Diesels Could Reduce Emissions

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Diesel cars are a popular choice for those looking to buy a used vehicle in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. After all, diesel cars cost less to maintain, burn less fuel, and have a longer engine life. Although the pollutant emissions of a diesel engine are less than those of a…

06 Feb 24

The Greening of Transportation

Civil, Structural & Architecture

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, approximately 15 percent of net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector. To meet global climate targets, we must devise ways to get people and goods from point A to point B without burning fossil fuels. In this month’s special…

22 Dec 23

From Cleaning Offices to Designing EV Charging Stations

Civil, Structural & Architecture

Greta Bekerytė started out cleaning offices and ended up designing electronics for EV charging stations. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in your career when you follow your dreams. It wasn’t easy. Bekerytė moved from her native Lithuania to Norway in 2010 to take advantage of the country’s free university…

13 Nov 23

MIT Professor’s IoT Sensors Make Roads Safer

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Back in 2005, before smartphones were generally available, MIT Professor Hari Balakrishnan was so fed up with commuting delays in Boston that he built a mobile system to monitor road conditions. Hari Balakrishnan Employer MIT Title Professor Member grade Fellow Alma maters Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and the University…

22 Aug 23

The Power Engineer Electrifying John Deere’s Tractors, Trucks, and More

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

For Brij Singh, electrifying John Deere’s heavy-duty vehicles reflects his past. Singh grew up on a farm in India, and is committed to bettering agriculture’s future. John Deere, headquartered in Moline, Ill., is a leader in agricultural, construction, forestry, and turf-care machinery. Singh, a power-electronics engineer, has been working to…

06 Apr 23

Using Nuclear Energy to Produce Synthetic Fuels

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

While renewable energy is helping to decarbonize the power sector, transport today still relies heavily on fossil fuels. More than a third of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions in 2021 came from transporting people and cargo, according to the International Energy Agency. Synthetic fuels—drop-in replacements for liquid fuels such as gasoline…

31 Mar 23

The Staggering Scale of the EV Transition

Civil, Structural & Architecture

Over the past 20 or so years, contributing editor Robert N. “Bob” Charette has written about some of the thorniest issues facing the planet at large and engineers in particular. For IEEE Spectrum, he’s dug into software reliability and maintenance, the so-called STEM crisis, and the automation paradox, examining those…

Trump’s Second Term Will Change AI, Energy, and More

E-Bikes Are Growing Up, Finding Jobs, Still Having Fun

A Bamboo Carbon Filter for Diesels Could Reduce Emissions

The Greening of Transportation

From Cleaning Offices to Designing EV Charging Stations

MIT Professor’s IoT Sensors Make Roads Safer

The Power Engineer Electrifying John Deere’s Tractors, Trucks, and More

Using Nuclear Energy to Produce Synthetic Fuels

The Staggering Scale of the EV Transition

Google won two major awards at MWC Barcelona 2025.

Expanding AI Overviews and introducing AI Mode

This MRI Can Run on Batteries

The Tiny Star Explosions Powering Moore’s Law