Please describe the most impressive piece of technology you’ve encountered in the past year.
TLT Sounding Board February 2010
TLT readers continue to be impressed with wind turbine technology, which was the No. 1 answer to this month’s question. One reader even noted its potential for home-energy application. Nanotribology, with its vast potential in the industrial and medical communities, was the second most offered response. The poor market for cars in the U.S. hasn’t lessened the appreciation TLT readers have for how they’re manufactured. Several readers were impressed with how automakers are increasing fuel economy and reducing emissions without sacrificing power. The Apple iPhone with its many applications was an often cited response. Other answers include the Mars Rover, hand-held projection equipment and 3D TVs.
Nanotechnology. It is exciting because of the potential for curing cancer.
The iPhone for its functional portability.
The numerous advances in the medical field from obtaining DNA, from ancient hair samples to mind-controlled artificial limbs.
The ability of people to communicate and connect instantly in almost any part of the world is impressive. From smartphones, laptops, WI-FI networks, etc., you are always connected to your customers and your office.
The home windmill.
Large-capacity, solid-state memory.
Cell phone applications.
Nanoparticle solid lubricants.
The Mars Rover, which offers the chance of sustaining life on Mars.
Probably the iPhone. I’m not exactly cutting edge when it comes to embracing new technology, but one device that gives me e-mail, the Web, GPS and my contact listing is neat.
Thin film, higher-efficiency solar cells.
Machining with liquid carbon dioxide offers numerous benefits over MQL and flood coolants.
Biodegradation acceleration. This aids in the removal of waste from our environment while providing an earth-friendly energy supply.
The development of affordable LED lighting products for commercial and domestic use is a top pick because of the great potential it has for light energy savings.
Hand-held application advancements.
The new Voith DIWA Hybrid automatic bus transmission. It’s a parallel drive system that is far superior.
Canola biodiesel as an enhancement to ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel lubricity by reducing friction and wear scar area.
By far I think it is nanotechnology, and we have just started to realize the benefits of this opportunity.
Wind turbine gearbox bearings and gears. These must operate trouble-free under a spectrum of large transient loads, accelerations and temperature environments.
Hand-held (on a phone) video projection.
Biomass to liquid technology. It’s renewable.
Google’s Android operating system.
The PowerMat wireless induction charger for wireless devices. I heard about it at least five years ago as a way to provide power for laptops on airplanes. Now it is available for home and office use and has certainly eliminated the purchase of costly, sole-purpose chargers.
Wind turbine developments and the speed at which they are being upsized!
New lubricants for auto, diesel and wind turbines.
Blackberry’s Smartphone.
The Internet, although it’s been many years since Al invented it, becomes more useful every year for information sources.
Electrical-powered vehicles that reduce our dependence on foreign crude oil sources.
Particle accelerator. It is an exciting technology due to the fact that a test may lead to unpredictable results or results that will change long-held scientific beliefs and models.
Flash drive because they can store a lot of information in gigabytes. Very easy to use!
My 60-inch Mitsubishi TV because it has 3D capabilities. I can watch Avatar in 3D in my living room!
The advances in understanding and implementing lubrication best practices.
I’m voting for the advancement of computer graphics in the film industry. I just saw Avatar, and it blew me away with detail that was so realistic that one can not quickly determine where fact and fiction separate. The scope of this technology leaves open the door to thousands of applications.
Magnetic bearing surfaces. The use of high-strength magnetic surfaces of opposing polarity eliminate the need for a fluid lubricant. Thus, the friction and rotational wear introduced by contaminants in the lubricant are eliminated.
The development of synthetic fluids to suit most mobile equipment. This will lead to expanded applications industry-wide.
Liquid moly, an additive that does not cause wear.
3D TV screens. After HDTV, this is the next step to virtual reality.
Binary explosives. They are potentially a very great threat because of their power and small size.
The upgrades in wind turbines.
Our company just installed a new mill. Table and head are live. The accuracy and speed is impressive as well as the result—3D large pump/ turbine impeller blades.
Which of the following areas do you believe experienced the greatest technological advancement during the past year?
Aerospace
6%
Bearings
4%
Computer or hard drive
22%
Condition monitoring
8%
Engine development
21%
Metalworking fluids
5%
Nanotribology
35%
Power generation
17%
Synthetic fluids
16%
Other
7%
Based on responses from 113 TLT readers. Total exceeds 100% because some readers chose more than one answer.
The CRV plate for large frame gas turbines is the most impressive piece of new technology in ongoing efforts to address varnish formation in turbine lube oils. The simple apparatus design addresses two factors that OEMs and oil companies have yet to address: temperature and oil flow.
Wind turbines: high power density, relatively lightweight, broad temperature range, extended service.
Conveyor lubricant performance. It is extremely useful to have multiple points for monitoring lubrication effects and the lubricant impact on conveyor operation.
Improvements in the automotive industry. The upgrading of the engines and increasing of gas mileage has been very exciting.
Hydrocarbon and water process, purification, filtration, separation technology.
Developments in technology of used-oil reclamation. This technology is very valuable, especially in Third World countries.
iPhone apps are interesting because of the combination of local and user-related information combined with a smart marketing approach.
The work of biotribology. I saw many presentations at the World Tribology Congress in Kyoto, Japan.
RULER technology. This technology truly represents a new era of maintenance philosophy. It forces and drives the market to ask questions and receive answers which where, until now, considered either taboos or dogmatic.
Car manufacturing, particularly the appearance of new models with lower fuel consumption (the L1 model from VW with a consumption of 1 liter per 100 kilometers) and electric/hybrid models.
Nanotechnology and biotribology, especially in genome-mapping.
New fuel-efficient combustion engines. It is exciting because they will be necessary in the automotive industry until new technologies are good enough to work as main power sources in new vehicles.
Recip-trap is new to me in the last few years. It is absolutely amazing, as it incorporates vibration, ultrasound, I/R, pressure and electrical testing. It is timed off the compressor flywheel. The result is a picture of what is going on in your machine.
Wind turbines. What looked impossible becomes possible: huge turbines, a whole parcel of them, producing lots of power. What’s interesting is the minimization of losses in gears and bearings.
Space telescopes that explore the universe.
Full-size pick-up trucks that get 21 mpg with V8 engines without losing towing power.
Advanced manufacturing processes.
GC-MS with thermal desorption. This instrument allows minimal error because sample surfaces can be extracted directly and analyzed at low concentrations.
Nanolubrication.
Infrared technology used in computers. You no longer need a physical keyboard.
The dramatic increase in memory space in standard computers and hard drives including memory keys or thumb drives. Just bought a 32-gig thumb drive for about $50.
Boeing’s new Dream Liner passenger plane is very impressive. I think it will change the paradigm of designing planes.
The advancement in the area of computational fluid dynamics. It is now possible to simulate the operation of bearings—the temperature behavior, for example—including both the bearing solid structures and the fluids involved in the bearing operation.
The development of social media such as Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, etc.
Which of the following technologies/industries do you see as having the greatest potential for technological advancement in the next 1-3 years?
Aerospace
4%
Biotribology
28%
Computer or hard drive
7%
Engine/fuel cell
54%
Nanotribology
36%
Other
9%
Based on responses from 113 TLT readers. Total exceeds 100% because some readers chosemore than one answer.
Editor’s Note: Sounding Board is based on an e-mail survey of 13,000 TLT readers. Views expressed are those of the respondents and do not reflect the opinions of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. STLE does not vouch for the technical accuracy of opinions expressed in Sounding Board, nor does inclusion of a comment represent an endorsement of the technology by STLE.