PODCAST · technology
Here's an Idea
by Tech Briefs (SAE Media Group)
Here’s an Idea is a podcast series from Tech Briefs that showcases today's most innovative technologies. Editors lead conversations with inventors and highlight their early prototypes, early challenges, and design lessons learned along the way.
Episodes
-
A New Minimally Invasive Approach to Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injury affects 17,000 Americans and 700,000 people worldwide each year. Prognoses are often tragic and social costs exceed $2 million (U.S. and EU) in the first five years of care. A research team at NeuroPair, Inc. won the Grand Prize in the 2023 Create the Future Design Contest for…
more -
Human Factors in Drug Delivery
Patients are more likely to adhere to their treatment plans when drug-delivery devices are user-friendly. So, what can device developers do to ensure safety but also provide a positive user experience? Using human factors engineering, developers can design features to prevent errors and…
more -
Powerful Sensors for the Eye
Advances in integrated microelectronics have enabled a revolution in ever smaller and more powerful medical sensors. One such use is for detecting pressure in the eye. InjectSense has invented an implantable sensor that detects direct dynamic pressure in the eye and transmits high-fidelity data...
-
How AI is Changing Military Aircraft Maintenance and More
On Nov. 2nd, the Department of Defense (DoD) published its 2023 Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy, outlining how the agency will acquire and deploy AI-enabled systems in the future. David Mazar, Vice President of Strategy and Growth, Spark Cognition Government Systems...
-
The Next Frontier in Neurology
Treatments for neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, and other related neurological disorders often include invasive surgery to implant electrodes in specific brain regions to help control motor symptoms. But what if there were technologies that offered minimally...
-
Dr. Brendan Mulvaney Talks China’s Space and SATCOM Strategy
Ahead of his participation in the 2023 Global MilSatCom conference and exhibition, Dr. Brendan Mulvaney joins the podcast to discuss China’s latest military space and satellite technology related developments. Dr. Mulvaney is the Director of the China Aerospace Studies Institute at National…
more -
The Gripen E Jet's New Lithium-Ion Battery
The Gripen E is the latest variant of Saab's fighter jet that first achieved certification for military use and entry into service in December 2022. The Swedish aerospace manufacturer recently awarded a new design and development contract for a 24 volt lithium-ion battery to be developed by...
-
Medtech’s New Normal
The medical device industry landscape is becoming increasingly complex with an evolving regulatory environment. The focus is now data-centric systems vs. equipment-centric, creating a fundamentally different business model. What does this new normal look like and how can medical device and life...
-
A Plant-Based Gel That Saves Lives
Rapid and effective control of bleeding can be the difference between life and death in surgery, on the battlefield, and in emergency situations. Excessive bleeding can lead to a rapid drop in blood volume, causing hypovolemic shock, which can be fatal if not addressed promptly. By stopping...
-
This Electric Autonomous Drone Enables Networked Warfighter Communications
A California-based startup named Kraus Hamdani Aerospace has emerged as a unique entrant into the market for new commercial and military drone technologies with its K1000ULE fully electric autonomous unmanned aircraft system. The solar-powered glider has demonstrated its ability to fly non-stop…
more -
AI in MedTech
On this episode of Here's an Idea™, James F. Jordan, Healthcare & Life Sciences Expert, President of StraTactic, and the National Co-Chairman of the BIO Bootcamp, discusses where AI can have the greatest impact in medical technology and what medical device developers should consider as they...
-
Automating Warehouse Inventory Monitoring with Drones
Efficient inventory management is crucial for manufacturing companies to maintain smooth operations. Pittsburgh-based Gather AI is using drones to automate inventory monitoring processes for warehouse operators to decrease the cost of inventory, improve productivity, and boost revenue. Sankalp...
-
A Wearable Lab on a Patch
Clinicians today are hampered by insufficient and delayed lab diagnostics. Nutromics has created a breakthrough technology that combines multiple DNA sensors with microneedles. The diagnostic platform does everything a blood test does and more: it is a lab-on-a-patch. On this episode of Here's an...
-
The Natilus Blended Wing Body Autonomous Air Cargo Aircraft
Natilus was first established a startup in San Diego, California in 2016 with the goal of developing a blended wing body (BWB) autonomous air cargo carrying aircraft. In April, the startup completed the first flight of the sub scale prototype of its Kona aircraft. On this episode of Here's an…
more -
Real-Time Remote Heart Monitoring
Biotricity is connecting cardiologists to real-time patient data while empowering patients to help prevent and manage various heart diseases — which is the leading cause of death in the United States. On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Waqaas Al-Siddiq, CEO and Founder of Biotricity, discuss how...
-
Robotic Exploration of Mars Caves
University of Arizona engineers have developed a new system that allows autonomous vehicles to scout out underground habitats for astronauts. On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Wolfgang Fink, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer engineering at UArizona, discusses how the approach could...
-
Amprius’ Electric Aircraft Battery Energy Density Breakthrough
Amprius Technologies has achieved a new battery energy density breakthrough of 500 Wh/kg with its lithium-ion cell, the Silicon Anode Platform. Mobile Power Solutions, an independent testing house offering battery regulatory compliance and performance testing, verified the Silicon Anode…
more -
The Future of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Avionics Systems
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are transitioning from future-facing buzzwords to a near term possibility for commercial and military aircraft avionics systems. In February, Intel published a jointly written white paper with Daedalean, a Switzerland-based startup and developer of...
-
3D-Printed Lubrication System for Single-Use Engines
Effective lubrication is essential to any mechanical system. For example, it is responsible for providing a continuous flow of oil to the engine of the aircraft. As aircrafts have evolved, so have lubrication systems. Now, a Florida-based startup Zulu Pods, has developed the ZPod, a…
more -
A Future for Smart Fabrics
Fabrics haven’t changed all that much. For years, a shirt has quite simply been a shirt. But a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wants to add function to the fibers. What if your shirt, for example, contained electronics that could track your heartbeat or the heartbeat of your...
-
How to Make the Best Decisions (on the Moon)
Pharma industries, transportation services, the energy sector, and mining companies are looking for a new place to do business, and it’s more than 200,000 miles from Earth. The private sector is heading to the Moon – a world of potential resources like metal, water, and solar power, according to...
-
How a Brain-Computer Interface Works
For some people, a critical link – the one sending signals from brain to body, the one connecting thought to action – does not work properly, or in some cases, has been severed entirely. Marcus Gerhardt, CEO and co-founder of the Salt Lake City, UT-based company Blackrock Neurotech, is creating a...
-
Recycling Lithium-Ion Batteries from Electric Vehicles
Over 145 million electric vehicles are set to take the road by 2030 and a major component of the new class of electric vehicles – lithium-ion batteries – is rarely recycled. Canadian battery recycling company Li-Cycle is aiming to change that through its sustainable process to provide an...
-
Going for the Gold with Aerodynamic Luge Sleds
Luge is one of the three sliding sports on the program at the 2022 Winter Olympics being held in Beijing this month. The sport requires athletes to barrel down an ice track on small sleds accelerating to speeds of nearly 90 mph. Traditionally, lugers design and build their own sleds, often…
more -
How to Make an 'Ocean Battery'
Dr. Frits Bliek and his team at Ocean Grazer are building an "Ocean Battery" that brings hydrodam technology to the sea. On this episode of Here's an Idea, Bliek, CEO of the Netherlands-based energy company, talks about an innovative idea for power that involves plastic bags, underground...
-
A Major Role for Microneedles in Drug Delivery, Post-Pandemic
Who really likes needles? A brand-new episode of our Tech Briefs podcast series Here’s an Idea™ explores the emergence of a drug-delivery patch made of micro-needles. The Velcro-like option is less painful – and more effective, it turns out. And the devices are especially valuable during a...
-
Reinventing the Hearing Aid: From DIY Devices to Brainwave Monitoring
We speak to four researchers about their hearing innovations: a 3D-printed stent for collapsed cartilage, a one-dollar hearing aid that can be built in an hour, a "mind-reading" hearing aid that solves the cocktail party problem, and a brain monitor for cochlear-implant calibration. See...
-
The Robot’s Emerging Role: Surgeon
Tech Briefs talks to three researchers who are finding ways to automate surgical tasks, from suturing, to spotting tumors, to operating one of the biggest machines in surgery today: The Da Vinci. Ken Goldberg of UC Berkeley discusses how his team got the Da Vinci to autonomously perform a…
more -
Inside the New Medical Wearables: Patches, Tattoos, and Skin-Like Sensors
Medical wearables are advancing past smartwatches and Fitbits, but will they catch on? We talk to the researchers behind an assistive mouth sensor, skin-like sensor tattoos called “BodyNet,” a low-cost UV patch, and an electronic sensor that's 3D-printed directly on the skin. See…
more -
Hospital Robots Join the COVID-19 Fight: Meet Tommy, Spot, and Tiago
As doctors and nurses seek hands-free ways to disinfect environments, operate equipment, and contain the spread of coronavirus and COVID-19, some hospitals have turned to a higher-tech idea: Robots. We talk to the researchers behind “Tiago” and other robotic technologies finding a place in...
-
A "Teflon" for Dangerous Bacteria: Dr. Leyla Soleymani and RepelWrap
It looks a bit like the plastic wrap you’d find around a Coca-Cola bottle, but with a big difference. This “RepelWrap” fends off viruses like one that causes COVID-19, and dangerous drug-resistant bacteria. Dr. Leyla Soleymani of McMaster University discusses how an idea for biosensors turned…
more -
A Bug-Inspired Building Material for Mars: Javier Gomez Fernandez and "Chitin"
If humans end up on Mars in the next ten years, astronauts will need to use as much of the planet’s resources as possible and potentially build habitats to stay there. Chitin is found in the exoskeletons of insects and when combined with Martian soil, results in a potential building material for...
-
3D Printing in Space: NASA's Tracie Prater
The International Space Station is full of spare parts that can replace any faulty or broken ones. Tracie Prater, a materials engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, wants astronauts to be able to quickly print out the tools and parts that they need on demand. She discusses NASA's…
more -
The Future of Urban Air Mobility: Tim McConnell and the 'Aerodrome'
When our urban environments are filled with drones and other unmanned aircraft, they'll need to be able detect and avoid obstacles. University of California, San Diego robotics researcher Tim McConnell oversees the Aerodrome — a facility that may look like a driving range, but is, in fact, a...
-
A Jumping Robot to Explore the Moon and Mars: Hendrik Kolvenbach and "SpaceBok"
The Mars-bound Perseverance rover is as sophisticated as it gets. But can it jump? Hendrik Kolvenbach, PhD researcher at the ETH Zurich Robotics Systems Lab, sees the best way to get around on the Moon and Mars as less of a step and more of a giant leap. Kolvenbach discusses his team's work in...
-
A Shape-Shifting Airplane Wing: Ben Jenett's "MADCAT" Idea
Every airplane wing and body has basically the same shape. "That means they're suboptimal," says MIT's Ben Jenett. Learn how Ben is creating a shape-shifting airplane wing — built by tiny assembler robots. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
-
Looking for Life on Mars: Roger Wiens and the “SuperCam”
Roger Wiens, a fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, talks about how he and his team created the SuperCam. The "Super" instrument will be aboard the 2020 Mars rover, ready to vaporize rocks and search for signs of past life on the Red Planet. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...
-
A.I. in the Air
In July of this year, Tech Briefs editors found themselves in the middle of a drone testing ground. Now, the race is on. See how engineers are writing code that can send aircraft through obstacle courses — all without a pilot. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
-
Apollo 11
In conjunction with our celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, this month's Here's an Idea episode features an interview with Daniel Coleman, editor of the publication NASA Spin-Off. Many of the technologies we use today – from memory foam to our phone cameras – were first developed in...
-
Candy
Whether you're the owner of a candy shop in Brooklyn or you're one of the giant chocolate makers like Hershey's or Nestlé, you'll want to experiment. In this episode of Here's an Idea, we explore how candy manufacturers large and small turn to technology to support their newest, sweetest ideas.…
more -
Sports
There was a time where the closest thing we had to a wearable was plugging your sneaker into a computer. But now that we’re so connected, now that we have the ability to gather a treasure trove of data, what do we do with it? We talk with a wide range of experts to explore how sensors are being...
-
Sleep
When it comes to a better night's sleep, what role should technology play – if any? We talk with two noted sleep specialists and explore some of the innovative products being developed in the emerging field of Sleep Tech. And we go behind the scenes of the manufacturing and prototyping processes…
more -
Car Hacking
Today's cars are more connected than ever before. But the more you open up internal parts of your system to this connectivity, the bigger the chance that those vulnerabilities are accessible from the outside. In this episode, we’ll talk with researchers, including noted Jeep Cherokee hacker Chris...
-
Garbage
Garbage is everywhere — whether it’s paper in your trashcan, plastic in the ocean, blobs in the sewers, or junk floating out in space. In this episode, we talk with researchers who are finding small — and maybe even fun — ways to take out all the trash. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and…
more -
Asteroids
Detecting a potentially-hazardous, near-Earth asteroid requires a community of dedicated researchers, from amateur astronomers to NASA professionals. In this episode, we talk with NASA's Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson, Dr. Bruce Betts of the Planetary Society, and astrophysicist Mike...
-
Haptics
You've most likely felt the vibrations of a phone in your pocket, but did you know that the buzzing effect is one of the most basic forms of a field known as Haptics? Haptics refers to any interaction involving touch, or specifically touch feedback. What if vibrations could communicate more to…
more -
Alcohol
The process for making wine, beer, and spirits has remained relatively the same for centuries. In this episode of Here’s an Idea™, we look at the efforts of vineyard owners, distillers, and brewers who are discovering small ways to innovate and adjust their own crafting processes. We speak with...
-
Superpowers
Engineers today are using their creativity to build a variety of superhero-like technologies that enhance our human capabilities, including exosuits, invisibility cloaks, and wall-scaling gloves. What drives these researchers? Were they all comic-book reading dreamers? Or is a need to imagine...
-
Sponges
After a disaster like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf coast, what if a giant sponge could clean up the area and the wildlife around it? What if a bunch of tiny sponges could quickly save gunshot victims? In this episode of Here's an Idea, we look at how researchers are doing just...
-
Humanoid Robots
Some conditions are too dangerous, or just too mundane, for people. For decades, humanoid robots have been stepping in to take tasks off our hands. One named Manny spent a lot of the 80s being shot with a flamethrower. Another, R2, is currently doing chores in space. In this episode, we look at…
more
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Here’s an Idea is a podcast series from Tech Briefs that showcases today's most innovative technologies. Editors lead conversations with inventors and highlight their early prototypes, early challenges, and design lessons learned along the way.
HOSTED BY
Tech Briefs (SAE Media Group)
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Here's an Idea have?
Here's an Idea currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Here's an Idea about?
Here’s an Idea is a podcast series from Tech Briefs that showcases today's most innovative technologies. Editors lead conversations with inventors and highlight their early prototypes, early challenges, and design lessons learned along the way.
How often does Here's an Idea release new episodes?
Here's an Idea has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Here's an Idea?
You can listen to Here's an Idea on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Here's an Idea?
Here's an Idea is created and hosted by Tech Briefs (SAE Media Group).
URL copied to clipboard!