Three-dimensional (3D) printing has fast risen from being what amounted to an R&D curiosity to a recognised and highly important manufacturing process that has transformed the way that we make things, regardless of their complexity. Offering both a high degree of flexibility coupled with the potential to make highly complex designs out of what were […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
Hybrid manufacturing combines 3D printing & machining
Decoding the cost of College
You return from school one afternoon, open the mailbox in your apartment building in western Massachusetts, and pull out a thick envelope. Heart quickening and hands shaking, you tear into the envelope of your first-choice school—Merrimack College—and you read the first line, “Congratulations and welcome…” Last week, you were accepted to Pace University and your […] … learn more→
Help – I’m drowning in my own notes!
One of the delightful things about blogging is letters from readers; an endless source of delightful validation and sometimes, interesting problems to try to solve. This letter is a case in point. Dora, a reader from Croatia writes: The situation I find myself in is, I think, one that all researchers have found themselves in… […] … learn more→
Forget ‘free speech’ on campus, this debate is about free people
It has now become customary for academics to debate the line between free speech and hate speech. Yale, for instance, recently hosted a panel discussion whose central topic was the difference between hate speech and free speech and “the point where one shifts into the other.” The distinction has already been debated throughout the academy, […] … learn more→
Limits on Chinese graduate student visas may protect US intellectual property but drive away talent
Some Chinese students studying STEM-related fields may not be staying in the U.S. as long as they’d planned. The Trump administration announced on May 29 that it may limit some graduate students’ visas to one year. Many U.S. universities have looked to Chinese students to fill out their programs and revenues, so this has caused widespread concern in higher […] … learn more→
Writing a bio-note
Most of us have to produce bio-notes. The bio-note is a little verbal selfie that goes with a book chapter, a journal article, or sometimes a conference presentation. Book authors also have to provide brief bio-notes which might go in their book as well as on the publisher’s website. The bio-note tells the reader some key information […] … learn more→
What being a professional bodybuilder taught me about gaining tenure
Squatting, curling, pressing, sprinting and preparing meals with the ideal combination of fats, carbs and proteins dominate hours of female bodybuilders’ lives. Such women also spend hours perfecting posing routines and give a final few more to spray-tanning and hair and make-up styling for competitions. They may be on the competition stage for 15 minutes, showcasing what they […] … learn more→
Higher Ed to lower standards (more!)
Anyone looking at the numbers realizes, even if the student loan scam continues, higher ed is going to be in big trouble. We’ve overbuilt, massively, to the point that we could, if we put our minds to it, slam every citizen into higher education today. “98% of our students have been accepted into college!” –a […] … learn more→
South Africa wants to make history compulsory at school. But can it?
South Africa’s minister of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has released a report from a ministerial task team that recommends a major overhaul of the history curriculum at schools. Most of the debate around the report has focused on its main recommendation – to make history compulsory in the final three years of high school from 2023. […] … learn more→
Exam stress: What is it and how can I manage it?
A little stress around exam time can be a good thing, as it motivates you to put in the work. But sometimes stress levels can get out of hand, particularly at the end of an academic year. When you become stressed, the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system gets switched on. Initially this is a […] … learn more→
