Sitaraman Receives NITT Distinguished Alumnus Award

Professor Suresh K. Sitaraman received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (NITT) at its 50-year Golden Jubilee event on July 19, 2014. The Chief Guest at this event was the Honorable Pranab Mukherjee, President of India.  Sitaraman was one of approximately 30 awardees recognized at this event which was held at the NITT campus in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. In addition to Sitaraman, Madhavan Swaminathan of ECE was honored with the same Distinguished Alumnus Award for Excellence in Academic/Research.

Study of Animal Urination Could Lead to Better-Engineered Products

A new Georgia Institute of Technology study investigated how quickly 32 animals urinate. It turns out that it’s all about the same. Even though an elephant’s bladder is 3,600 times larger than a cat’s (18 liters vs. 5 milliliters), both animals relieve themselves in about 20 seconds. In fact, all animals that weigh more than 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) urinate in that same time span.

Engineering a Better Way to Rebuild Bone Inside the Body

Traumatic bone injuries such as blast wounds are often so severe that the body can’t effectively repair the damage on its own. To aid the recovery, clinicians inject patients with proteins called growth factors. The treatment is costly, requiring large amounts of expensive growth factors. The growth factors also disperse, creating unwanted bone formation in the area around the injury.