We’ve all heard it before: electric cars, solar panels, lab-grown meats are the key to reducing humanity’s carbon footprint. Nowadays, Teslas are all the rage; I mean who doesn’t love fast, sexy and fuelless vehicles? Well, unfortunately pilots don’t. As it turns out, batteries are quite heavy and therefore make it much harder to enable …
The first 3D printer was developed in the mid-1980’s by Charles W. Hull. At the time, the technology was revolutionary. Taking something simple such as a drawing and being able to model it into something that could be printed in 3D changed the way we design things. Over time, the technology has grown and continues …
3D Printing in Healthcare: An Intern’s Perspective read more »
Small modular reactors could be the future of clean energy. Small modular reactors, SMR for short, are more compact versions of your typical nuclear reactor. Today’s nuclear reactors are contained within massive faculties with towering steam towers, but SMRs are just a fraction of the size and will be contained in smaller buildings. NuScale is …
NuScale Small Module Reactors: An Intern’s Perspective read more »
Solar panels have been becoming increasingly popular in the past 40 years. As this trend continues, you might ask yourself how solar panels work, why they are becoming popular, and if you should spend your money on them. A solar panel utilizes the photovoltaic process where photovoltaic cells, a technology that includes semiconductors like silicon, …
In an ever-changing world few things are certain for human beings, one of those being the consumption of food. No matter what is happening in the world humans will always need to eat to survive. As the population continues to grow and is expected to hit 9 billion in the next 40 years, global food …
There will come a time (with multiple US vaccines on the horizon) when we, as a community, will be able to return to a conventional pace in our lives, with real human and social interaction. This does not mean our heightened sense of awareness to those around us will simply disappear. Instead, it should provide …
In response to the current pandemic, RPA Engineering has been actively engaged in research of the transmission of airborne viruses and how it relates to the design of the built environment. Our goal is to have a deep understanding of various airborne viruses beyond how we may apply mitigation technologies and strategies available on the …
As the 2020 RPA internship program concludes, we spoke with the interns about their experience, lessons learned, and advice for future RPA interns. Q: What projects did you work on during your internship? A: At the start of the internship, we were assigned our first major project. We had to pitch an idea of a …
Warfighting today, on a global scale, is an ever-evolving domain. Wars—specifically the ways in which they’re fought—continue to change under the influences of political climate, global economics, and technological innovations. Technology can influence the military sphere in countless ways, namely the bringing about of new offensive or defensive weapons that make neutralizing threats safer, more …
An Intern’s Perspective: The XQ-58 Valkyrie Program read more »
Life-saving for many people, organ transplants are currently the best hope for individuals with end stage organ failure. However, patients often spend years on the transplant waiting list, and a significant number die before a donor organ becomes available. Those lucky enough to receive donor organs often face serious immunogenicity issues, where their immune systems …
