Editorial

• New fabric automatically cools or insulates depending on environmental conditions

  Researchers at the University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) developed the first fabric that will automatically control the amount of heat that passes through it depending on environmental conditions, according to a report from the university. details>>

• NASA instrument lands on Mars ready to measure the temperature of the planet

  The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, Calif.) recently announced that the InSight lander has placed its second test instrument, the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), on the surface of Mars on Feb. 12. details>>

• Researchers develop novel process for 3-D printing custom-designed piezoelectric materials

  Researchers from Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Va.) developed a new method for 3-D printing piezoelectric materials that can convert movement, impact, and mechanical stress from any direction into electrical energy. details>>

• New research center dedicated to building the future of electronics packaging in the U.S.

  Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) has chosen researchers from Binghamton (N.Y.) University and Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.) to staff the new, multimillion-dollar Center for Heterogeneous Integration Research in Packaging (CHIRP), which will be dedicated to defining the future of electronics packaging. details>>

• Researchers use flexible 2-D materials to build device that converts Wi-Fi signals to electricity

  Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass. created a fully-flexible device that converts the energy from Wi-Fi signals into electricity and, according to a report from the school, could be used to power electronics such as mobile devices and wearables. details>>

• Japanese plastics company releases new polyamide resin for thermal management applications

  Unitaka, a Osaka, Japan-based plastics company, recently released its XecoT series of thermally-conductive polyamide resins that are targeted to thermal management applications for LED, electric vehicles, and other electronics sectors, according to a report from Plastics Today. details>>

• Project TOCHA to use properties of topological materials to enhance next-gen electronics

  European researchers recently kicked off Project TOCHA (dissipationless topological channels for information transfer and quantum metrology), which is being coordinated by the Catalan institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) in Barcelona, Spain. details>>

• DesignCon 2019 announces winner of prestigious Engineer of the Year award

  According to a press release from the conference, Intel engineer Vishram Pandit has been named the Engineer of the Year by DesignCon 2019, a conference for chip, board, and systems engineers held in Santa Clara, Calif. details>>

• U.K. university receives grant funding to continue study into controlling liquid droplets

  Nottingham (U.K.) Trent University (NTU) has received 700,00 pounds from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to work with the Smart Materials and Surfaces Laboratory at Northumbria University (Newcastle, U.K.) on a process called dynamic dewetting, which uses electrical voltages to force liquid droplets into specific shapes before receding. details>>

• U.K. university demonstrates sustainable hybrid heating system that uses off-peak electricity

  Researchers at the University of Chester (U.K.) used computer simulations to demonstrate the viability of a renewable integrated and sustainable electric (RISE) hybrid heating system composed of an air source heat pump (ASHP), a thermal storage tank, and an off-peak-powered thermal storage boiler. details>>