Engineering Scientist Awards

  Scientists from the G. B. Elyakov Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with colleagues from Vietnam, have discovered new compounds with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties in marine sponges. This was reported on the university’s website. The biologically active compounds were found in fungi of the genus Aspergillus, isolated from Vietnamese marine sponges. These include a previously unknown peptide named versicotide K and the anthraquinone 6,8-dimethoxyaveritrine. Versicotide K demonstrated cardioprotective activity in experiments on cardiac muscle cells, as well as the ability to protect cells from damage caused by Staphylococcus aureus infection, ischaemia, and inflammation. Antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus was also shown by the known compound averitrine. It suppresses both bacterial growth and biofilm formation, which is particularly important in the fight against antibio...

  Can you please introduce yourself and your role at Thermo Fisher Scientific? My name is Annika Völp, and I am a Process Application Specialist at Thermo Fisher Scientific. I focus on extrusion-based processes, especially in the context of recycling plastics and integrating analytical methods into process development. What was the objective of your study, and why did you choose to focus on marine waste plastics? In this study, we aimed to investigate the mechanical recycling of plastic waste collected from marine environments. While the materials (e.g., fishing nets, plastic bags) had experienced degradation from UV radiation, temperature fluctuations, or chemical exposure, the insights we gained are broadly relevant to other plastics subjected to similar stress. We want to understand how these degraded plastics behave when reprocessed and how best to incorporate them into new recycling streams. Image Credit: Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock.com How did you characterize the types of...

  Market Overview: The Smart Manufacturing Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% during the forecasting period 2024-2031. The Smart Manufacturing Market report, published by DataM Intelligence, provides in-depth insights and analysis on key market trends, growth opportunities, and emerging challenges. Committed to delivering actionable intelligence, DataM Intelligence empowers businesses to make informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, it offers comprehensive reports that help clients navigate complex market landscapes, drive strategic growth, and seize new opportunities in an ever-evolving global market. Get a Free Sample PDF Of This Report (Get Higher Priority for Corporate Email ID):  https://datamintelligence.com/download-sample/smart-manufacturing-market?sz The Smart Manufacturing Market encompasses the adoption of advanced technologies such as IoT, AI, robotics, and data analytics ...

  Lawyer and environmental activist   Hitendra Gandhi   has urged the   Chief Justice of India   to reconsider the Supreme Court’s recent decision defining the Aravalli range based on a   100-metre height criterion , a move that has triggered widespread concern among environmentalists. In a detailed letter addressed to the Chief Justice and also forwarded to the  President of India , Gandhi warned that relying solely on a narrow, height-based definition of the Aravallis could unintentionally dilute environmental safeguards across  north-western India . Referring to the Supreme Court’s  November 20 order , Gandhi acknowledged it as an important and progressive step in recognising the  Aravalli system as a vital ecological barrier . However, he expressed reservations about the operational definition adopted in the ruling, which identifies Aravalli hills and ranges primarily as landforms rising  100 metres or more above the surrounding...

  MONACO, NICE, France & LONDON--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Vertical Aerospace (“Vertical” or “Company”) [NYSE: EVTL], a global aerospace and technology company that is pioneering electric aviation, and Héli Air Monaco, the founding helicopter operator in the French Riviera, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the pre-order of Vertical’s Valo aircraft, opening a new chapter for sustainable air mobility along the Côte d’Azur. Valo - unveiled today in London and offering a premium cabin experience - is targeting concurrent regulatory certification with the European Union and UK aviation regulators in 2028. Héli Air Monaco will operate Valo across its network, connecting destinations such as Monaco, Nice, Cannes and Saint-Tropez through quiet, comfortable, zero-operating emission flights. A new era of sustainable flight for the French Riviera This partnership signals an important step toward decarbonised aviation in Europe, enabling electric, quiet operations on some ...

  PANAJI: Drishti Marine lifesavers had a busy weekend across Goa’s coastline, responding to multiple emergencies — including four stingray injuries at Hollant beach, four rescues from drowning, three medical assistance cases and the successful tracing of a missing child at Calangute. Calangute: A four-year-old boy from Bihar who was reported missing was swiftly located by lifesavers during an extensive beach search and reunited with his parents after due verification. In another incident, a man from Bengaluru sustained a minor hand injury and was administered first aid on the beach. Candolim: A 44-year-old Russian tourist facing difficulty while swimming was rescued by lifesaver Santosh Patil using a rescue board. He was reported stable following the incident. Sinquerim: Lifesaver Sukhram responded to a 65-year-old Russian man showing signs of distress while resting on a beach bed — including sweating, facial spasms and a weak pulse. After receiving first aid, the man and his comp...

  India’s electronics manufacturing ecosystem has recorded a significant rise over the past decade, with production increasing sixfold and exports rising eightfold, the Ministry of Electronics & IT said on Friday (5 December). In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitendra Singh attributed this growth to a series of policies aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Make in India. The minister   noted that the Government launched Production linked scheme (PLI) for large scale electronics manufacturing in 2020 with the target segment including mobile phones and certain specified components. He added that the scheme has attracted investment of Rs 14,065 crore. Further, the government launched PLI for IT Hardware for promoting manufacturing of laptop, tablets, server and Ultra small form factor (USFF) devices, which has attracted investment of Rs 846 crore till date. Additionally, gov...

For me, agriculture has never just been about yields; it has been about resilience. In my family, this meant keeping a horticultural business alive in wartime, or building one of the first tissue culture labs in Europe. Today, for me, it means asking: How can we take the most fragile, manual steps of plant propagation and turn them into robust, scalable systems? Because if we cannot translate care into technology, and produce more plants, faster and cleaner, then we won’t feed the future. The scale is staggering: the world already needs 18 trillion new plants every year just to keep agriculture running. As populations rise, that number must grow. Without automation, this gap is simply impossible to close. From prototype hype to productivity I remember when robots in agriculture were treated like showpieces at trade fairs, nice for headlines but irrelevant for farmers. That era is over. Today, autonomous weeders run through the night and cut weed biomass by up to 97% in trials, while p...

  Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company Ltd (MPPTCL) has become the first state transmission utility to adopt drone patrolling of overhead transmission lines, on a large scale. In a release, MPPTCL said that extra high-voltage (EHV) transmission lines and tower corridors in Madhya Pradesh are now being monitored through an advanced drone-based inspection system, replacing the conventional and risk-prone foot-patrolling model. MPPTCL has deployed this technology extensively across its network, marking a significant leap toward precision maintenance, operational safety, and system reliability. The state is the first in India to adopt drone patrolling on such a large scale, the release said. The Madhya Pradesh state utility currently uses drones to monitor more than 10,000 ckm of EHV lines and over 23,000 transmission towers, enabling real-time identification of structural, mechanical, and thermal anomalies. The shift to aerial digital inspection has contributed to a steady declin...