Liquid Metal Printing

Liquid Metal Printing Liquid Metal Printing Liquid Metal Printing New art of printing electronics on Paper, Plastics or even Cotton By Ritesh Lakhkar, ASME, ME TodayAs electronic devices become more common and shape human lives, it is becoming more challenging to reduce the size of the electronic circuits and use them with different substrates to make better devices. Some of the substrates previously could not be even thought of due to their inherent nature. Making electronics on any desired objects, various sizes and surfaces without wires may soon become possible. Many opportunities and innovations in industry can be expected based on these ideas.One such technology that may enable breakthrough in electronics development is geschmolzen metal printing. Dr. Jing Liu, a professor with the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Tsinghua University (THU), pioneered many non-conventional technolo gies and invented many liquid metal based breakthrough technologies. More than twelve years ago, he initiated for the first time the liquid metal based chip cooling technology which was later turned into commercial products and molded into many heat transfer enhancement method and waste heat recovery technology. In recent years, he made great efforts in significantly extending the liquid metal technologies into a variety of newly emerging areas especially the liquid metal 3D printing and printed electronics.Conventional electronics manufacturing strategies are generally complicated. They are time, water, werkstoff and energy consuming. Besides, building an electronic device on a complex object generally requests a series of different connecting wires which would make the machine a mess. In an alternative approach, Dr. Liu proposed an innovative method of realizing conformable electronic connection by the low melting point metal ink and the related flexible packaging material for qui ckly manufacturing electronics. The liquid metal ink could easily and directly be written on a series of complex surfaces and then coated with the packaging material which is to offer mechanical strength and prevent it from air oxygenation. For illustrating purpose, an electrical connection of LED circuit on cylindrical surface, concave, inclined structure, planes of right angle and sphere was demonstrated. Such optoelectronic device appears rather compact without any evident connecting wires exposing out. Further, a thermal cycle experiment (?40C 120C) was designed to test the variation of the electrical properties of the working sample. It was disclosed that the conductive line covered by the packaging material had a temperature coefficient of 0.255 mO/C (T0=?16C) and finally an increasing rate of only 4.24% in resistance after all thermal aging cycles. This electrical connection method is expected to have a significant impact in surface mount technology. Its applications will not only find their way in the industry but also can change the way we interact with each other and our everyday life.A technical paper titled, Additive manufacture of conformable electronics on complex objects through combined use of liquid metal ink and packaging material was presented by Dr Liu at IMECE 2013. According to the session chair and the audience, this talk generated big interests owing to its innovative contribution. This innovations important practical value initiated the new direction of additive electronics fabrication. Quite a few audience members had follow up discussions and exchanged ideas with the author.According to Dr. Liu, small businesses, venture capitalists or young entrepreneurs can work in this area to start a new business. The method as initiated by this present research has generalized significance and a series of innovative products can be created along this direction in the future. For example, this new technology has been used to paint desired electri cal circuits to decorate the home such as making LED light on the window glass, the wall, the table, whatever as one can image. Even the human skin with complex shape can be painted with liquid metal electrical circuits to monitor the physiological information. It is imperative for the industry to find new ways to manufacture personal electronics, reduce the cost and time of electronics manufacturing and make circuits on any desired surfaces whenever needed, to continue to innovate.MIT Technology Review published an article about Dr. Jing Lius work where he explained how liquid metal printing can be used to print electronic circuits on any substrate such as paper, plastic, glass, rubber, cotton cloth and tree leaves using just an inkjet printer filled with liquid metal. This technology is cheap and simple and can be easily commercialized. If commercialization of liquid ink printing becomes a reality, a day when on skin display devices, wallpaper circuit boards and RFID or LED sticky notes are common commodities, is not far away.Dr. Jing Liu is a professor with the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Tsinghua University (THU). Dr. Liu received his B.E. degree in Turbo Machinery and B.S. degree in Physics in 1992, and Ph.D. in Thermal Science in 1996, all from THU. He then served as assistant professor at THU, a postdoctoral research associate at Purdue University, and a visiting scholar at MIT. Dr. Liu has authored nine popular books on cutting edge frontiers, fifteen invited book chapters, and over three hundred peer reviewed journal papers. His research interests include thermal management, printed electronics, bioheat and mass transfer, micro/nano fluidics and mobile health technology. He contributed significantly to the bioheat transfer area through numerous conceptual innovation, methodology development and technical inventions. His work was also fully reflected in energy related area where he pioneered a series of non-conventional technologies especially the liquid metal based thermal management, waste heat recovery, biomedical technology, 3D printing and printed electronics. He is a recipient of Best Paper of the Year Award from ASME Journal of Electronic Packaging, the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China, National Science and Technology Award for Chinese Young Scientist, and five times highest teaching award from CAS. Ritesh Lakhkar is research and development engineer with diverse interdisciplinary background in manufacturing processes such as laser based manufacturing, welding, deburring and edge finishing, corrosion management, glass cutting, glass sheet manufacturing, etc., currently working for Corning Incorporated. He has bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Govt. College of Engineering, Pune, India and masters in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, W. Lafayette, Indiana, USA. He is Membe r at Large on ASMEs Board on Career Development, Member of Manufacturing Processes Technical Committee and Chair of ME Today Committee.

Hiring Gen Y Makes Dollars and Sense

Hiring in richtung Y Makes Dollars and SenseHiring richtung Y Makes Dollars and SenseHiring Gen Y Makes Dollars and SenseBy Jason Ryan Dorsey An excerpt fromY-Size Your Business How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow Your Business.Why should I hire Gen Y?Employers ask me this question every day. Then they start in with their stories about people my age. One of my recent favorites I know all about employing your generation. Last year I hired a young guy right out of college. He had good grades and binnenseemed like a hard worker. A week later Im in the company bathroom and I hear him talking on his cell phone in a restroom stall. And his phone was on speaker Even worse, he didnt think he was doing anything wrong. He just kept talking and talking.Okay, I get it. My peers and I can be alittledifferent when we enter the workplace (which is, on average, about 10 minutes later than youd like). Sure, we show up to work with our iPod buds dangling out of our purse or ba ckpack, and our ever-present cell phone is ringing loudly during the CEOs Monday morning pep talk. Yes, many of us have a tattoo (or several) some of us sport nontraditional hair colors and its elend uncommon for us to have a piercing somewhere besides our ear lobes (and, no, it didnt hurtmuch).However, in my work consulting and speaking with business leaders around the world, Ive seen time and again that Gen Y can deliver tremendous workplace performance and loyalty at a substantial value when managed correctly. This combination could not have come at a better time, because the current economic climate is forcing companies to do more with less in an increasingly competitive business environment. Its my belief and Ive seen it in action that Gen Y can be the strategic differentiator youve been looking for to decrease your costs and grow your business.Here are a few of the strengths that Ive seen Gen Y bring to a workplacewhen managed correctlyOutcome driven By defini tion this means Gen Y is all about results (especially the kind we can brag about on Twitter). We want to see we are making ongoing progress and be a part of the solution. When you manage us based on results rather than a job description, we will focus all our energy on the outcomes youve deemed most critical to your business operations.Tech aware Gen Y has come of age immersed in technology that our grandparents only dreamed about (although it was our grandparents generation that created the engineering that led to the current technology). Gen Ys comfort with technology can be an asset for companies that rely on technology to andrang their business as well as serve customers. One way to leverage Gen Ys tech awareness is to ask us to test new technology you are considering for adoption.Desire to prove The huge expectations sometimes negatively associated with Gen Ys entrance into the workplace can be a big value-add to a company when managed correctly. Harness this ambi tion by giving us the chance to temporarily take on larger responsibilities as well as short-term projects that stretch our skills. While its true we have much to learn, we also have a huge desire to show you (and our 5,000 friends on Facebook) what we can do. Let us. When you do, we both win.Cost effective In many places where I speak, Gen Y is the least expensive employee group to hire. Being less expensive by itself is not enough reason to hire Gen Y, but in combination with the timely skills and big aspirations we carry into the workforce, the potenzial ROI from our employment is significant. The key is to manage us correctly what I callY-Sizingyour business.To understand which steps to take, I interviewed executives, managers, and entrepreneurs around the world to learn the actions they have taken to successfully employ Gen Y. I share the best of these frontline tested actions in my new book,Y-Size Your Business How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow You r Business.Here are threeY-Sizeactions that will give you an immediate head start when employing Gen YY-SizeStrategy 1.) Make the first day at work unforgettableGen Y decides on our first day at work whether or not we can stay with an employer long term. To make the first day unforgettable all you have to do is welcome Gen Y with a handshake and a small box of our new business cards. This unexpected gesture sets the tone upfront that we are professionals and that we must meet those expectations. And who is the first person were going to give our new business card to??? Our mom And many of us will give it to her right when she picks us up . . .Y-SizeStrategy 2.) Demonstrate the performance you expectGen Y is entering the workforce at a later age and with less real world training than previous generations. You can quickly bridge this skills gap, and in turn rapidly increase our workplace value, by providing us with specific examples of the performance you expect. The m ore specific the examples you provide, the easier it is for you to hold us accountable. And, no, business casual does not mean leather flip flops.Y-SizeStrategy 3.) Check in so we stay tuned inGen Y seeks specific feedback about our performance every month. However, we dont need an in-depth 360-degree evaluation. All we need is a quick 30-second check-in where you tell us what we are doing well and where we can improve. unterstellung quick interactions build our loyalty to you as our leader and are way more motivational than a gift card for a free car wash. After all, its hard for us to wash our scooter in a drive-through car wash. For the completeY-Sizemethodology, including 50 cost-effective ways to unlock Gen Ys workplace performance, check out my new book,Y-Size Your Business How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow Your Business.You can download a free chapter atwww.ysize.com.Author Bio Jason Ryan Dorsey,author ofY-Size Your Business How Gen Y Employees C an Save You Money and Grow Your Businessis an award-winning entrepreneur and an acclaimed keynote speaker often referred to as The Gen Y Guy. He has been featured as a Generation Y expert on60 Minutes, 20/20, theToday show,andThe View, as well as inFortunemagazine.For more information about the book, please visitwww.JasonDorsey.com.

Survey reveals peoples biggest pre-work stressers

Survey reveals peoples biggest pre-work stressersSurvey reveals peoples biggest pre-work stressersHalf the stress of work is getting there literally.A survey of over 1,400 full-time UK workers by software company CIPHR found that 45% of respondents said that their commute was their biggest pre-work aggravation. Aside from the twin devils or traffic or the subway, there are other morning conundrums like childcare problems and family mayhem (33%), or simply worrying about that big meeting or what else the workday ahead of them might bring (43%). Workers stress begins before they even get out the door, and builds from there.With so many people arriving at work already under pressure, it was unnerving to hear that 60% said that they had no time to relax and ease their way into the workday. Those that did find some find to cope before the daily grind began sipped coffee or tea (47%), or took a time-out for meditation (47%).There is a lot of focus on stress in the workplace and what emplo yers can do to safeguard their employees mental health, but this study shows we also need to pay attention to what is causing severe stress to staff before they even set foot in the door, said Claire Williams, director of people and services at CIPHR, in a release.Our study found that more than half of workers are regularly starting their days in a state of high stress, which can only have a negative impact on their productivity and engagement 46% of workers said pre-work stress is having an adverse effect on their job satisfaction.Ways to get less stress?There are ways to reduce pre-work stress, but mostly for the lucky those with a shorter commute, for instance, or those who are able to walk or bike to their workplace. Overhalf (56%) of workers with a commute of under 30 minutes reported that they did leid often arrive to work feeling frazzled.Those who take themselves to work via walking or biking are much more relaxed as well. 88% of bikers said they dont feel stressed when th ey get to work, and 64% of walkers said the same.Methods of transportation matter 71% of those who take public transportation frequently arrive at work highly stressed 52% of drivers do.In fact, commuting can be so tension-filled that 49% of people said that theyd take a small pay cut in exchange for flexible work hours and work from home arrangements.While not everyone has the luxury of living close enough to their place of work to be able to walk, its clearthatflexible working arrangements and allowing work from home are key conversations to be having with employees who perhaps are suffering as a result of their commute, Williams said.