| FLC Midwest Region Quarterly Newsletter - Winter 2008 |
Letter from the Regional Coordinator
I'm excited to be writing to you for the first time as Regional Coordinator. I plan to continue on the same path established by our previous Regional Coordinator. I think we all owe Cindy Wesolowski our gratitude and appreciation for her leadership and service over the past several years, which have led to a revitalization of the Midwest Region. However, we will need your help and continued support for the Region as we move forward. Read more
"Omnivorous Engine" Hopes to Run on Many Fuels
The "omnivorous engine" is no picky eater. Gasoline? Down the hatch. Ethanol? Butanol? It'll slurp those up, too. The creators of the omnivorous engine, engineers at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, seek to fashion an engine that can run on just about any type of spark-ignited fuel. Read more |
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A Cornucopia of Domestic Energy Crops
Cuphea is a genus of flowering plants that yield a type of oil similar to palm kernel and coconut oils. These oils, which are produced commercially only in the Tropics, contain the capric, lauric, and other medium-chain-length fatty acids needed to make soaps, cosmetics, motor oils and other industrial lubricants, and hydraulic fluids. Read more |
NASA Researchers Receive R&D 100 Awards
NASA Glenn Research Center researchers and contractor personnel are among the 100 winners of the prestigious R&D 100 Awards. An R&D 100 Award is a mark of excellence known to industry, government and academia as proof that the product is one of the most innovative of the year. The awards were presented at a ceremony at Chicago's Navy Pier Grand Ballroom and Lakeview Terrace on October 16. Read more
FPL's Work with Global Climate Change
Everywhere we go these days, we hear about climate change. But what does the term mean? Climate change refers to changes in our long-term weather patterns and the environment caused by increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) released into the atmosphere. The primary cause of GHGs, which trap heat that would otherwise radiate back into space, is humans burning fossil fuels. Read more
Zein—A Corn Compound With Diverse Valuable Uses
Zein (pronounced "ZEE-in"), the chief protein in corn, has been commercially available for more than 60 years. In fact, until petroleum nudged it aside, zein was a chief ingredient for making adhesives, varnishes, binders, and films. Today, zein is mainly used in specialty coatings. Read more |
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Major League Baseball Teams Up with Forest Products Laboratory
Watch any major league baseball game and you're likely to see a bat or two break on impact with the ball. Bat breakage during play has become a safety concern for Major League Baseball (MLB), and Dave Kretschmann, research engineer at the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), is on board to help improve the situation. Read more |
FPL Scientist Profile
Editor's note: Periodically in NewsLine, they feature a Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) researcher who has made significant contributions in their area of research. In this issue we meet Carol Clausen, Project Leader for FPL's Durability and Wood Protection research work unit since 2004. Carol received her M.S. in Bacteriology in 1983 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She started at FPL in 1984 as a Microbiologist, and became a Research Microbiologist in 1997. Carol's research specializes in biodeterioration and protection of wood, with an emphasis on inhibition of mold growth on wood-based building products. Read more
Porous Pavements: Managing Rainwater Runoff
After a century of steadily paving the U.S. landscape with highways, parking lots, sidewalks, and driveways, Americans are gradually beginning to recognize the negative environmental effects of installing so much impervious pavement. Parking lots, for example, present a problem because they collect oil, antifreeze, and other automobile contaminants that are swept into nearby streams with rainfall. Read more
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