Technology Development Influencing Modern Life

Technology Development Influencing Modern Life

 

DR. S. N. CHAKRAVARTY

 

KPS CONSULTANTS & IMPEX PVT. LTD.

812, Devika Tower, 6 Nehru Place , New Delhi 110019,

(e): kpspltd@gmail.com | (w): www.kpsimpex.com

 

December 2016

Technologies that are presently & can be Game Changers in future.

Technologies that have been knocking at our doors and are all ready to storm the market in future.

1.      IT and Computing SMAC :

As the most disruptive force ever in the IT industry, the unique power of SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) comes from the way it combines different technologies.

IT and Computing : Cognitive Computing

Cognitive Computing is a process by which computers learn as they do their tasks and engage with humans like humans. 

2.      Life Sciences and Healthcare

Whole Genome Sequencing - The complete deconstruction of a human being’s DNA is the most rapidly developing technology ever.

Wearable Devices - Personal health monitoring is growing in developed markets and even in India, as people monitor their sleep, exercise impact, heart, and progress of pregnancy. A wearable devices network can be considered an Internet of Things, and will be influenced by SMAC, and is thus a good illustration how cutting-edge technologies reinforce each other.

Nano-medicine - Is the application of nanotechnology manipulation of matter at the smallest scale-to medicine. As an area of research is not new, but there have been no game-changing commercial applications yet for nanomedicine. Experts believe that there will be one soon, at some point the next few years. Drug delivery using nanoparticles is one of the most promising areas of nanomedicine. 

3.      Energy

Perovskites

Perovskites are a kind of mineral made of calcium titanium oxide discovered in the 19^th century. They have now become a hot research material for solar cells because they are cheap and abundant. Perovskites now work at 15% efficiency in the lab. Efficiencies of 25% are not impossible at some point, considering the pace at which research is advancing. It still has some barriers to cross.

Solar cells could be produced more cost-effectively thanks to a new study on the use of perovskite films in solar cell technology. With the finite supply of traditional, non-environmentally friendly energy sources running out, there is increased focus on renewable energy sources, including replacements for expensive silicon-based solar cells. However, this research has brought perovskite solar cells closer to mass production by solving the key problems of efficiency, lifespan and scalability.

Transport: Electric Car

Driven by the Tesla Model S, electric cars has a good run. Electric cars are predicted to grow steadily till 2020, and dominate after that, gear boxes will disappear in some cars, batteries will shrink and range on a single charge will increase. Charging time will shrink too, though still not to the ideal.

Battery breakthroughs are essential for renewable energy to take off, and the world has waited for long. We need better batteries in electric cars, in solar farms to provide steady power.

4.      Internet of Things

Internet of things, or M2M, is jargon for a network of machines. It is actually a set of sensors and motors connected to each other, one for feeding information and the other to act upon this information. Often a hyped technology, Internet of Things will begin to become real. Its impact will be left most in the manufacturing sector, as it improves productivity by bringing an exquisite sense of timing to global supply chains. 

5.      3D Printing

3D Printing had an inventing year. As technology has advanced rapidly, gun models for printing were downloaded over 100,000 tomes. 3D printing is set to revolutionize manufacturing, as big players around the world announce their intention to switch to the technique in a big way. Presently it is USD 5 bn market & growing 26% annually.

3D Printed Product

A small-sized pilotless aircraft made using 3D printing (additive layer manufacturing) processes is showcasing Airbus’ pioneering and innovative spirit.

 Airbus is using this mini aircraft project – known as THOR (Testing High-tech Objectives in Reality) – as a testbed for futuristic aircraft technologies: from 3D-printed structural parts to advanced aerodynamics and even artificial intelligence. 

A major advantage for THOR is the short lead time of 3D printing, which significantly reduced development time for producing the technology demonstrator compared to traditional manufacturing methods.

Evonik intends to launch special powder materials (Polyamide 12) for this innovative 3D printing technology in HP’s Open Platform program. “HP’s Multi Jet Fusion™ technology opens up new 3D printing applications.

Can this concept be applied for new / futuristic tyre development? Major efforts are called for .

Additive Manufacturing (AM)

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), refers to various innovative processes that are used to manufacture three-dimensional products. In additive manufacturing, successive layers of material are formed under computer control to create an object. These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry and are produced from a digital 3D model or other electronic data source. Great attention has been given to this subject recently since it offers new opportunities for polymers in factories of the future.

Leo Christodoulou, Boeing’s director of structures and materials, said:

“The existing, more expensive metallic tooling option we currently use comes from a supplier and typically takes three months to manufacture using conventional techniques. Additively manufactured tools, such as the 777X wing trim tool, will save energy, time, labor and production cost and is part of our overall strategy to apply 3D printing technology in key production areas.”

VRT & AI

Virtual Reality Technology (VRT) and 3D Printing are changing Doctors view the human body.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being more & more used to stay relevant to consumers-health care, retail, e-commerce, education, banking, designing – it’s everywhere.

It is the ability of a machine to think, learn & serve. It helps the machine perform tasks, which require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision making etc. 

These may extend in future to other fields as well.

6.      Graphene Chip

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms. It was discovered only 2004, but has since shown extraordinary properties in the lab. It is the thinnest and the strongest material that we know, and is also very good conductor of heat and electricity. These properties make it great for computing. An all-graphene chip would be a great development, as MIT and IBM have already shown that the idea can work, in photo-detectors to begin with.

Heat Gets Graphene Moving

Atomic force microscopy image of three graphene ribbons formed from a fretted contact by self-assembly.

Single sheets of two-dimensional graphene can be prompted to slide, fold, peel, and tear into strips spontaneously, researchers have found.

Graphene Rolls out a new Nanocomposite

The process of making a stack of parallel sheets of graphene starts with a chemical vapor deposition process (I) to make a graphene sheet with a polymer coating; these layers are then stacked (II), folded and cut (III) and stacked again and pressed, multiplying the number of layers. The team used a related method the team to produce scroll-shaped fibers.

7.      Printed Electronics

Printed electronics is certain to rewrite industries. The only question is when. A beginning could be made with printed solar cells, as several novel techniques have been shown to work in the labs. Soon, as costs drop, printed electronics could be everywhere on food packets, on newspapers and magazines, manufactured goods and so on. One day, this newspaper could have a video that could cut food waste, generate cheap electricity, power medical devices in our bodies, and so on.

Wonder Materials that Could Change the World

The history of materials is a history of mistakes, says Mark Miodownik, a materials scientist at University College, London. But the chance discovery of useful materials might not carry on for much longer. Scientists are now turning to computers to design materials and work out their properties before going anywhere near a laboratory or workshop.

Wonder Materials and their possible use

Material	Property	Possible use
Graphene	Immensely, strong, flexible, transparent and conductive	In next generation electronic devices, sewn into our clothing, slapped on drinks bottles and cans of food or rolled and tucked in our pockets
Metamaterials	Can – to some extent – bend light around an object, rendering that object invisible	Cloaking devices
Shrilk	Without water the materials stiff, but with water the coating becomes very flexible	Boidegradable trash bags
Stanene	Insulator on the inside, and a conductor on the outside	Natural successor to copper interconnects in computers
Spider Silk	Exquisite material, immensely extensible	Yet to be worked out. But is definitely an inspiration to make better materials

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at Manchestter University were playing around with Scotch tape and lump of graphite tape when they found they could make sheets of carbon one atom thick. That was in 2004. They have since shared the Nobel Prize, become Sirs and been reward with a £61m National Graphene Institute.

Spider Silk could be the perfect material from which to manufacture bulletproof vests. The application was found around after researchers teased out the silk’s molecular structure and from that came to understand its strength and flexibility.

Enormously competitive microchip industry, has refined manufacturing at the nano scale. Metamaterials are made with the same technology, but their design is so precise that scientists can control how electrons inside the materials respond when light – or other electromagnetic waves – strike them. This makes it possible to manipulate radiation like never before. And says, materials can –to some extent – bend light around object invisible.

Shrilk was inspired by research into the tough skins of insects. The coating made from layers of a material called chitin and a protein called fibroin. Simple tweaks to the material changed its behavior dramatically. Without water the material is stiff, but with water the coating becomes very flexible. Shrilk is an environmentally friendly alternative to plastics.

Stanene ( material designed on a computer ) is an insulator on the inside, and a conductor on the outside.

Brightening Moon to Save Electricity ?

A Sweden-based company has proposed a bizarre new method to eliminate the need for streetlights – brighten the surface of the Moon. The idea is to use materials already on the Moon to lighten its surface. The goal is to reflect slightly more sunlight onto Earth, making the night sky brighter.

A brighter night sky would mean less need for streetlights, which could potentially translate into less electricity usages and thus fewer globe warming carbon emission. 

Age Clock may be reversible

At a Lab in California, Scientist are trying to get biological time to run backward. In the first attempt to reverse aging by reprogramming the genome, they have rejuvenated the organs of mice and lengthened their life spans by 30%.  

Tyres

Renewable tires could be here by 2020

Continental A.G. is predicting car tires could be made of 100 percent renewable raw materials by 2020, but at the same time cautioned that finding acceptable substitutes for materials used widely today is a "rocky road."

The non-oil-based materials content of modern-day tires already is at about 45 percent, but increasing that to 100 percent is not a straight-forward process. "Not all raw materials in tires can simply be replaced by renewable materials," he said.

Bridgestone eyes 100% sustainable tyres by 2050

Bridgestone Corp. is committing itself to develop tires made with 100-percent sustainable raw materials by 2050. Initiatives are natural rubber alternatives Guayule and Russian dandelion, processes to develop synthetic rubber, carbon black and rubber compounding agents from biomass materials and practical application of new cellulose fibers to produce yarns that would substitute for petroleum-derived polyester and nylon, butadiene—used in SBR synthetic rubber - produced from bio-ethanol and has developed carbon black from intermediate materials created from biomass materials. 

Reinforcing with Carbon Fiber & Carbon Nano – Tube

It’s properties & strength are well known and established. Using carbon fiber has contributed to increased durability along with improvements in strength while achieving ultra light weight of a Product. This fiber is definitely lighter and resulted in a measurable increase in power and accuracy. Problem areas for Carbon Fiber are adhesion & cost.

New technology has been developed that can reduce the time and energy needed in the production of carbon fiber. Plasma processing technology is a new approach to the oxidation stage of carbon fiber production in which polymer materials are oxidized (or stabilized) before carbonization. During oxidation, the thermoplastic precursor is converted to a thermoset material that can no longer be melted. Oxidation is the most time-consuming phase of the multistep carbon fiber conversion process.

Lowering the cost and expanding the use of strong, lightweight carbon fiber can improve the energy efficiency of products including cars, trucks, and aircraft without sacrificing safety.