Latest Publications & Patents on Ecological Design

The NIOSH lifting equation is a tool used by occupational health and safety professionals to assess the risk of musculoskeletal injury associated with manual lifting tasks. It calculates a Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) for a specific task, representing the maximum weight a healthy worker could lift without increased risk of low back injury, considering factors like task geometry and frequency.

A set of nine foundational principles for sustainable design, developed by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. They advocate for the rights of humanity and nature to coexist, recognize interdependence, respect relationships between spirit and matter, accept responsibility for design consequences, create safe objects of long-term value, eliminate waste, rely on natural energy flows, and understand the limitations of design.

Binder jetting is an additive manufacturing process where a liquid binding agent is selectively deposited onto a powder bed using an inkjet-style print head. The print head moves across a layer of powder, depositing binder droplets to join particles together. The build platform then lowers, a new layer of powder is spread, and the process repeats layer-by-layer.

The three pillars of sustainability, also known as the triple bottom line, is a framework that posits true sustainability requires balancing three main dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Environmental sustainability focuses on preserving natural resources and ecosystems. Social sustainability addresses equity, community well-being, and human rights. Economic sustainability ensures long-term financial viability without compromising the other two pillars.

The functional unit is a critical concept in LCA that defines the quantified performance of a product system for use as a reference unit. It ensures that comparisons between different systems are made on a fair and equivalent basis. For example, when comparing paint, the functional unit might be 'to protect 1 square meter of wall for 10 years'.

This fire class, known as Class K in the US and Class F in Europe and Australia, involves combustible cooking media like vegetable oils, animal fats, and grease. These fires burn at very high temperatures, and applying water is extremely dangerous as it can cause a steam explosion (boilover) that spreads the burning grease. Specialized wet chemical extinguishers are the primary extinguishing method.

ISO 14644-1 classifies cleanroom air cleanliness by the maximum allowable concentration of airborne particles. The classification, from ISO 1 to ISO 9, is determined by the formula \(C_N = 10^N \times (\frac{0.1}{D})^{2.08}\), where \(C_N\) is the max concentration of particles/m³, N is the ISO class number, and D is the particle size in µm.

A standardized categorization of artificial satellites based on their wet mass, including fuel. The primary classes are minisatellites (100–500 kg), microsatellites (10–100 kg), nanosatellites (1–10 kg), picosatellites (0.1–1 kg), and femtosatellites (<100 g). This classification provides a common language for engineers, manufacturers, and launch providers to define mission scale, technical requirements, and cost estimations.

Design for the Environment (DfE), also known as ecodesign, is a proactive approach to product and process development that minimizes environmental and human health impacts across the entire product life cycle. It integrates environmental considerations into the earliest design stages, alongside traditional factors like cost and performance, to prevent pollution and conserve resources from the outset.

The European standard EN 2, 'Classification of fires', harmonizes fire classes across member nations. It defines five classes: A (solids), B (liquids), C (gases), D (metals), and F (cooking oils). A key distinction from the US system is that Class C is specifically for flammable gases, and there is no dedicated class for electrical fires; instead, the burning material is classified.

Viral marketing describes any marketing strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message from person to person. It is a form of amplified word-of-mouth, often facilitated by the internet.

A Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistor (CNTFET) utilizes a single carbon nanotube (CNT) or an array of CNTs as the channel material instead of bulk silicon. Depending on its chirality (the arrangement of its graphene lattice), a CNT can be either metallic or semiconducting, making it a versatile building block for nanoelectronic devices with superior performance potential.

A specification for a class of nanosatellites using a standard unit size of 10x10x10 cm, known as 1U, with a mass up to 2 kg. CubeSats can be scaled to 1.5U, 2U, 3U, 6U, or 12U+ sizes. This standardization dramatically lowered the barrier to entry for space missions by enabling shared launch dispensers and a market for off-the-shelf components.

The Peer-to-Peer (P2P) platform model is a technological and business framework that directly connects individuals to transact with each other, bypassing traditional intermediaries. In the sharing economy, these platforms facilitate the exchange of goods, services, or capital. They typically provide the underlying infrastructure, including search functionalities, payment processing systems, and crucial reputation and trust-building mechanisms.