20 Great Achievements of the 20th century by the National Academy of Engineering

And the winner is...

So, as Dr. Bogen told us to do I compared my answers to those on the great achievements site (http://www.greatachievements.org/ ). According to the NAE the most influential inventions of the past century are (drumroll, please):

1. Electrification
   
2. Automobile
   
3. Airplane
   
4. Water Supply and Distribution
   
5. Electronics
   
6. Radio and Television
   
7. Agricultural Mechanization
   
8. Computers
   
9. Telephone
   
10. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
    
11. Highways
    
12. Spacecraft
    
13. Internet
    
14. Imaging
    
15. Household Appliances
    
16. Health Technologies
    
17. Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies
    
18. Laser and Fiber Optics
    
19. Nuclear Technologies
    
20. High-performance Materials

The day the Earth stood still

It seems as though I wouldn't be such a bad psychic after all! I mostly agree with the list provided by the NAE - even if I overlooked a few of these in my checklist - which is very similar to the one I proposed.

The categories that were exactly the same were: 

• Automobiles, Airplanes, Radio and TV, Electronics, Computers, Telephone (although the addiction to my iPhone made me slash in the cell phone), Health Technologies, Household Appliances and Internet. These are the inventions that we can't imagine our daily lives without. How did people do research for papers before they had computers and Internet? Or commute to work without a car? And what did they do on rainy afternoons if not watch re-runs of 'I love Lucy'? All these fundamentally affected the way we live day-by-day, from routine tasks such as doing laundry or getting to work, like entertainment and communications (radio, television, etc.) to high-technology enabling people to live (e.g. pacemakers) that we take for granted.

Other similarities between the lists were:

• AC and Refrigeration systems - I didn't include refrigeration systems in my list, although when you think about it, they are essential to many industries. For example, transporting foods would be a lot more complicated without freezer trucks, which would mean higher costs to distribute food quickly so that it wouldn't spoil and create food shortages. These systems also enable people to keep fresh foods stocked and regulate temperatures in their homes, as well as in public places or wherever needed (i.e. hospitals).
  

• Nuclear Technologies - OK, so I didn't include it as one of the "top" engineering achievements on the list, but that's because we had a limit, and they used generic terms instead of specific ones for other things! Anyhow, I am pretty sure we can all agree that nuclear technology, from the time of Einstein's revolutionizing equation E=mc² and the Manhattan Project to the current reactors which provide energy for millions of people[2], was one of the most important breakthroughs occurred in the twentieth century.
  

• Laser and Fiber Optics - I included lasers in my lists but didn't include fiber optics. I just figured optical fibers were how laser was originally transmitted so I thought this was implied. Notwithstanding, lasers have enabled the development of countless other technologies which are essential to the way we live today, even though we might not think about them as an everyday tool they really are. For example, they have industrial applications in mechanized processes, we've all seen them in action at the grocery store in barcode scanners and are also used routinely in medical procedures such as eyesight correction (LASIK).

• Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies, and High Performance Materials - I only included plastic in my list, which is an extremely small use of petrochemical technologies. Fossil fuels run our world nowadays, one needs only glance at the goals of most countries to see reducing dependency on petroleum among them. These technologies literally fuel our world, from cars and machines to politics and finance.
  

• Imaging - I included things such as the electron microscope, but the imaging category includes many more applications (telescopes, video-imaging, cameras...). For example, in medical environments x-rays, MRIs, CAT scans are all forms of imaging that have allowed us to further our knowledge of diseases and medical conditions and how to treat them. Imaging is crucial to the development of our understanding in many scientific-related fields.

There were a few things I didn't think about at all. These were:

• Agricultural Mechanization - One of them was agricultural mechanization. The process that agriculture started centuries ago has slowly advanced to provide us with many automated solutions to the common problems growing crops show, therefore increasing productivity immensely. I guess since I don't see it in my daily life I took this for granted, although we all reap the benefits of this automation every day.

• Highways & Spacecraft - I guess I'm not so much of a civil (or aeronautical, for that matter) engineer! These two applications are obvious. From the development of the automobile, the United States constructed highways to connect and promote commerce to fuel the economy. Also, the space race vastly increased scientific knowledge and permitted the exploration of many different questions, such as the origin of Earth thanks to data and samples collected in outer space.
  

• Water Supply and Distribution - Although many countries do have amazing water supply and distribution infrastructure systems, this is not the situation for around half the people in the world. Water scarcity is a growing problem not only in developing countries, but in developed ones as well, as a result of global warming and carbon emissions minimizing the amount of available water. Access to clean water (for drinking, sanitation and other purposes) is one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals[1], since it can greatly increase our life expectancy and decrease the risk of contracting serious illnesses.
  

• Electrification – There is no excuse for forgetting electrification. Without electricity, more than half the achievements I outlined would not exist. Need I say more?
  

So there you go, the 2o engineering breakthroughs from the 2oth century (the repetition of numbers and engineering seems familiar...).

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[1] United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Goal 7 Ensure Environmental Stability, Target 3; UN General Assembly, September 2000 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml
[2] The New Nukes: the next generation of nuclear reactors is on its way, and supporters say they will be safer, cheaper and more efficient than current plants. Here's a look at what's coming -- and when; Rebecca Smith, The Wall Street Journal, September 8th 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350342705855178.html

Twentieth Century Inventions

Psychic? Maybe so... (Probably not)
For Thursday's assignment we had to make a list of what we thought were the " Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century", and after thinking about it for a long time, I narrowed my list down to those that I though were most important (namely those that changed our way of life). The final list follows.

1. Internet (I wouldn't be writing this blog if it wasn't invented)
   
2. Television
   
3. Telephone/Cell-Phone
   
4. Computer
   
5. Word Processor
   
6. Printer
   
7. DVD/USB drive
   
8. Laser
   
9. Electronics (Integrated Circuit, Microchip, Microprocessor)
   
10. Medical Technologies (Defibrillator, Dialysis, Pacemaker, Magnetic Resonance)
    
11. Credit Card
    
12. Air Conditioning (I'm enjoying it right now!)
    
13. Radio
    
14. Airplane
    
15. Plastic
    
16. Robotics
    
17. Penicillin
    
18. Photocopier
    
19. Car
    
20. Home appliances (washing machine, microwave, dryer, dishwasher, vacuum...)

The order of the list is arbitrary, and below are some other interesting inventions from this time period that were also key to the development of humankind to this present moment:

• Zipper
• Push-through tab
  
• Monopoly (Many Whartonites owe their major to this board game)
  
• Slinky
• Crayons
• Toaster
• Fortune cookies
• Yo-Yo (I think this was invented then...)

Now some serious ones...

• Atomic Bomb
• Electronic Microscope
• Helicopter
• Nuclear energy

The transformation begins…

Becoming an engineer
I am not going to lie. Being an engineer is hard. I have hardly been at it for a week and I can already tell that a bumpy (but surmountable) ride lies ahead. Before coming to Penn, I rarely wrote essays about health technology and discussed my passions with people who share my interests, so this has been a big transformation for me. I thought that the recitation on swine flu was particularly fascinating, because I learned of various places where I could find information and how to properly cite sources. I must admit that I did struggle at some points trying to find a particular date, or realizing that the information I had was useless because it was outdated. Anyhow, I gained so much from the search process that I didn't mind it in the end. For example, I now know that, although wikipedia is a good resource to start off in a general area of knowledge, the greatest thing about it are all the references at the bottom of the page. 

Frankly, we all know that having to cite absolutely everything can be tedious sometimes, but I think that it’s extremely important to learn how to thoroughly examine my sources for future papers and research.  I found it challenging but also very rewarding to look for different information sources and check their credibility to include them in my blog posts and to discuss them during recitation. The validity of a very strong argument could completely crumble if it was based on an outdated article, if a biased party wrote it or even if it was not specific enough. I also enjoyed the round-table debate centered around the two questions on swine flu, and learning from my classmates through their diverse opinions and perspectives. This is another aspect of engineering that I am enthralled by: working and discussing in teams to resolve issues.

I feel that learning about these questions and most importantly how to research them is essential, not only because we are potential bioengineers, but also because we are members of a society where swine flu and other topics are very serious problems. The experience of talking about an issue and how to potentially solve it in different ways was fascinating to me. I know I'm still far away from being a real engineer; and though I still have much to learn and many hurdles to overcome, so far, I love engineering.

Swine flu, what to do?

Biomedical technologies to help the H1N1 influenza pandemic

If I were arriving on campus for a biomedical event I would probably have an interest in how my field could help in solving one of the most important challenges our world faces this winter: surviving the H1N1 influenza, or as more commonly referred to, swine flu.

Thinking about things that could help us prevent the widespread infection of the population in the world and at Penn, I came up with a few good ideas based on the preventive measures outlined by various health organizations.

First of all, having hand-sanitizing or alcohol-based soap dispensers, although it might seem trivial, can really help and is an easy way to wash our hands and prevent the spread of germs. In the same category, having tissue boxes would also help prevent this situation. Another simple step that could be definitive in helping stop the outbreak of swine flu cases is informing people and getting them in quarantine on time. This would mean that if anyone experiences influenza-like symptoms, they should get tested immediately and be isolated so as not to facilitate the spread of influenza.

Moving on to biomedical technologies that could help solve this problem, I can imagine a few ways to cope with this problem. First off, I believe that putting more effort into the vaccine is crucial, especially in trying to decode the way this strain of influenza works. By having a better understanding of this (which could be aided by biomedical technology) we could develop a more efficient vaccine and perhaps even prevent new strains of influenza from affecting us with a single shot. Secondly, I think that having a good health-information organizing system would be crucial to stopping the pandemic that so many epidemiologists think imminent. Being well organized could help with the distribution of vaccines and healthcare throughout the world, prioritizing those areas with greater needs.

I really do believe that precautionary measures can go a long way in helping stop this pandemic, and most of all that we should encourage widespread information as a deterrent of the H1N1 flu.

Swine flu: to vaccinate, or not to vaccinate

Should I get a swine flu shot?

Not a week passes by when we don’t hear something about swine flu. We read about it in the newspaper, we hear updates on the radio and discuss the subject amongst friends. I knew I would have to make a decision on whether or not to get a swine flu shot, but I approached the matter with an open mind.

I have never had a flu shot, but I was considering getting this particular vaccine because of the gravity of the situation. According to an article published by Belshe R et al., from the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at Saint Louis University[1] the “live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) (…) is highly effective and well tolerated in children and adults from 5 to 49 years of age”. The concrete percent of efficacy was 92% against antigenically well-matched influenza strains. After researching this information on PubMed, I knew that the vaccine was one of the best tools to prevent contracting the H1N1 strain of influenza.

I then visited some of the most common sites offering advice to the public on the matter, and I first found the Center for Disease Control website. This site provided a lot of general information on the subject, and made suggestions as to how to avoid contracting the H1N1 flu. For example, washing your hands, staying home if you feel sick, and covering your mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.[2]

The discussion in the recitation was very lively and, although most people thought that they should get a flu shot, some people opposed it. After presenting most of the arguments, there were a few things that stood out. Some people didn’t have shots at all, because they believed they could cause secondary effects (autism, etc.) while others thought that the efficacy of the vaccine was not total, so one could still contract the H1N1 flu after having the shot. A group of people argued that if there was an easy access to the vaccine that the percentage of people who would want it would greatly increase. However, others thought that the priority was not publicizing the vaccine to facilitate the access to it, but subsidizing it by the government.

Another interesting topic that came up was the avian flu, which caused a "hype" like the H1N1 flu is causing now a few years back. We discussed the governments role in the pharmaceutical industry, and how certain companies might benefit from this potential pandemic, relating the case to the avian flu pandemic that never went into full swing.

Regardless of this fact, in my opinion I didn’t think that getting the vaccine could in any way harm me, so I researched the Food and Drug Administration site to see what they disclosed about it. Here, I found an interesting report that talked about the approval of the vaccine. It stated that ”in the ongoing clinical studies, the vaccines have been well tolerated. Potential side effects … are expected to be similar to those of seasonal flu vaccines”[3]. These side effects included soreness, mild fever and other non- highly threatening pathologies. Although I had to take these secondary effects into account, the vaccine would still provide me with protection against this particularly severe strain of influenza, so I made an appointment to get the vaccine this fall.

If there were only 500,000 swine flu shots available this fall, who should get them?
In my opinion, this question was a little more complicated, because it involved prioritizing certain groups of people over others, which can create rivalries and generate debate, because it signifies potentially playing with the lives of many people.

First of all, I looked at the recommendations made by the Center for Disease Control for who should get the vaccine. Although the site made a list of the recommended people who should be vaccinated they included a total of about 158 million people, starting with pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age and healthcare and emergency medical services[4]. The press release also stated that “no shortage of 2009 H1N1 vaccine is expected, but vaccine availability and demand can be unpredictable and there is some possibility that initially, the vaccine will be available in limited quantities”[5].

Although this site provided a list, it wasn’t one of definite steps to follow, but of recommendations, when I found that the World Health Organization did give a definite list for governments to adhere to. “SAGE suggested the following groups for consideration, noting that countries need to determine their order of priority based on country-specific conditions: pregnant women; those aged above 6 months with one of several chronic medical conditions; healthy young adults of 15 to 49 years of age; healthy children; healthy adults of 50 to 64 years of age; and healthy adults of 65 years of age and above”[6] which was very similar to the list from the CDC. This made sense to me because, first of all, this strain of influenza is having such a great impact on the media because it is affecting a very young demographic, contrary to the seasonal flu which, although more deadly so far, affects an older demographic. Secondly, I really do think that pregnant women should be first in line, since they can suffer complications and provide protection to unborn infants who can’t be vaccinated. However, I found that the list was lacking one of the main groups in the recommendations made by the CDC: healthcare personnel. I thought about why they might have overlooked this group of people, but could come up with no reasons of great importance. Therefore, I think that this section of the population should be prioritized at the same level as expecting women, since they could infect healthy patients and cause a decrease in the number of active healthcare personnel, diminishing our capacity to treat ill patients.

This question spurred a great deal of conversation during the recitation, when everyone agreed on the first groups to receive the vaccine: healthcare and medical emergencies personnel, and pregnant women. However, there was a big discrepancy over who the next group to get the vaccine should be (although this might have been because children under de age of 19 were favored instead of college students).  After everyone presented their thoughts, I felt that, because of the close proximity in which young adults (18-24) live in college and since they are from many different areas throughout the world, they should be prioritized over young children who could stay away from school and be cared for.

Another interesting solution was to divide it by demographics, having the more densely populated areas receive it first as a way to stop the A influenza from spreading quickly. Although this was an interesting point, prioritizing less rural areas seemed a bad idea to many people, since they would probably have less access to healthcare in the case of contracting the swine flu.

After seriously thinking about the issue though, I felt like I knew who I thought should be prioritized above everything: healthcare and emergency medical services personnel as well as pregnant women.

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[1] Safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of intranasal, live attenuated influenza vaccine Belshe R, Lee MS, Walker RE, Stoddard J, Mendelman PM, December 2004

[2] Questions and Answers 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccine, CDC, September 2009

[3] FDA News Release, FDA Approves Vaccines for 2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus Approval Provides important Tool to Fight Pandemic, FDA, September 15^th 2009

[4] Use of Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine, Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), August 21^st 2009

[5] 2009 H1N1 Vaccination Recommendations, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, July 29^th 2009

[6] WHO recommendations on pandemic (H1N1) vaccines, Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 briefing note 2, Strategic Advisory Group of Experts, July 13^th 2009

The truth about me and Bioengineering

Why would I want to be a Bioengineer?
I can hardly remember the first day when I thought about what I wanted to do when I grew up. Ever since I was a little girl, I imagined all the possibilities: I could be an astronaut, a teacher, a lawyer, a diplomat, a researcher or even a doctor. And today, as I sat through my first Bioengineering class I realized I could still become every single one of those things.

I had always been interested in science and math, but during high school I took many courses in languages and humanities, and formed part of clubs such as Model United Nations and debate. The fact that I could apply my scientific knowledge as an engineer and work in the field of health - which has always been close to my heart - was what attracted me to this particular major. However, if at any moment I wanted to work in any of my fields of interest, I could, with the added reward of being able to apply my scientific knowledge in hopes of making the world a better place.

The broad range of aspects in which Bioengineering is involved, as well as the possibility of becoming a researcher in medicine were the reason why I chose this major.

What will you have me do in Bioengineering?
Up until a couple of years ago, I had never heard the term “bioengineering”. Obviously, the first time someone defined it to me, it was fairly simplistic: a bioengineer is an engineer (someone who uses his ingenuity) to solve problems with the available resources in all health and biological related matters.  Although this is true, Bioengineers – if I can be candid- do the coolest things that are not included in that definition. Not only can they go on to work in practically any field, they get to work on cutting edge technology and apply it to so many fields this blog post wouldn’t end if I attempted to cite all of them.

The Bioengineering Time Machine or where I wish I had been in history
Bioengineering is a field that progresses so quickly that every few years, maybe even months, there are new areas where it gets involved. However, some of the most important advances have been made possible by certain advances in biomedical technology. One that I find particularly interesting was the introduction of haptic technology in the world of surgery. The possibility of solving medical problems in developing countries, and during times where someone may not have access to a surgeon is greatly increasing thanks to this technology that makes remote surgery possible.  Although this field is still in development, I would have loved working on Operation Lindbergh, one of the first remote surgeries performed aboard a transatlantic flight.

What I hope to learn in Bioengineering
Although I know that in the coming semester I won’t acquire most of the knowledge about bioengineering, in the strict theorical sense, I hope to at least learn the basics about what Bioengineers really do and have a close look at a few of the fields where Bioengineers work. And, yes, I want to learn to think like an engineer, but I want to have fun doing it too. What would be the point of working as an engineer if not?

The skills I'll have to summon
Although I greatly enjoy math and science, I know I have to work on something else to be a good engineer: communicating my thoughts (as Dr. Bogen said).  This is why I am really looking forward to completing the research project. I believe it will allow me to develop and improve the skills necessary to write a good research paper, something essential for every engineer, while still concentrating on an area of Bioengineering of interest to me. However, I must confess that writing this blog is going to be one of the toughest challenges for me. I have never kept a diary or written a blog (successfully) and I’m eager to find out what I’ll learn from this experience, and maybe I’ll even end up loving it!

Bioengineering news
Hey Penn Students! Well, as one of the holy grails of everything scientific, the magazine “Science” recently published an article on artificial forms of eyesight to give the blind their vision back. 

The complete article can be found here:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;312/5777/1124?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=biomedical+engineering&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Basically, a German company created by a family whose children were visually disabled (Intelligent Medical Implants) has come up with an implant that could potentially restore vision to the blind.  The implant consists of an extremely small patch with 49 electrodes that excite the cells in the retina, sending visual information via gold wires (as can be seen in the picture from the article). This millimeter-sized golden implant has shown much promise (according to the article various patients could identify basic shapes and figures when the implants were connected to a computer sending infrared signals) but they are still in the earlier stages of development, since the best devices can only provide vision to a small group of blind people in very crude black and white images. Still, there is hope in the future and,who knows?, maybe one of the people in this class will come up with the solution to this problem in the future!

Anything else?
I just wanted to mention that if anyone who reads this has any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or post something and I’ll do my best to answer them. Thanks and have a great week!