Abstract Solar and wind energy hold tremendous potential, but intermittancy issues translates into low effective load carrying capability. To overcome this challenge, utilities supplement renewable energy sources with battery energy storage systems like lithium-ion, which provide brief four-hour bursts of power to make up for fluctuations. To improve ELCC scores for solar and wind, utilities need a mechanism to decouple energy storage from power conversion—i.e., they need to harvest and store energy from the sun or wind when they can and convert that stored energy into power that flows back into the grid as needed. Thermal energy storage technology, which provides the ability to store energy as heat (or cold) for later use, underpins such a system.
Abstract Baseball has come a long way from the days of packed grandstands and hand-stitched uniforms. Fans are now surrounded by the loudness and vibrance of 21st century technology. Engineering feats show up in the massive screens looming over the stands, drones capturing images over the field, and—in seven major league parks—retractable roofs shutting out extreme weather and climates. The sport has evolved in more subtle ways, too. Updates to equipment can be seen in the newly designed barrels of the torpedo bats that shook up the 2025 season, and details as small as sliding mitts tucked into players’ back pockets are jarring to older fans of the game. The 21st century ballpark is now a highly engineered environment, thanks to the pioneers who dared to try new things, the fed-up players looking for answers, and the engineers bringing the solutions to life.
Abstract The global Femtech market had an estimated value of $60.9 billion in 2025 and is projected to more than double in size by 2034, growing at nearly 9 percent annually. Yet even as devices and diagnostics focused on menstruation, fertility, menopause, sexual health, and skincare and beauty draw unprecedented investment and attention, for the engineers building devices around women’s needs, the hurdles are as much cultural as they are scientific. Gaps in gender-specific data, skepticism about women as a primary user base, and stigma and taboo create a persistent sense that “serious” engineering lives somewhere else. But for the engineers building those products, the story is more complicated than a bullish market forecast. The work is technical, certainly, but it’s also deeply personal, and often emotionally exhausting.
Abstract Cooking technology has made tremendous leaps in just the past couple deades. Even today’s most traditional appliances boast multiple cooking modes, self-cleaning options, digital interfaces, and improved insulation. Yet, despite those features, many are moving away from these conventional appliances because they take up too much space and can often be both time and energy hogs. Engineers are creating new cooking systems, including robotic sous chefs, invisible induction cooking countertops, 3-D printing and laser cooking systems, and even all-in-one blending-food processing-mixing-and-cooking appliances, which are challenging the way we think about preparing and heating our meals.
Every major car company has an electric vehicle in its lineup. Electric cars made up 6.8 percent of the cars sold in 2024 and are now 9.3 percent of the cars on the road. The auto industry faces the prospect of massive reconfigurations and construction projects, and a once again morphing automotive terrain. That means there’s a one-in-a-century opportunity to remake the geography of a major American industry. If the car manufacturing can decouple from engines, transmissions, and the constellation of parts and subsystems that support them, then the auto industry wouldn’t have to be associated with Detroit.
Scientists and engineers are at work on the next phase of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and many believe it will be anchored by digital twins of the human body. Engineers envision these models to help scientists test new drugs and treatments, monitor patients remotely, provide early diagnoses, detail disease prognoses, and help doctors make more informed clinical decisions about patient care.
This year’s cohort of Watch List honorees reminds us that there’s a place in the profession for dreaming big and showing audacity. The 25 early career engineers who made our second annual list are stepping into unfamiliar spaces—sometimes before they’re entirely sure they belong there—pioneering smart technologies, tackling decarbonization, and building digital twins.
In larger buildings—particularly older apartment complexes, hospitals, and government facilities—steam remains the dominant source of space heating and hot water. These systems were often installed in the early to mid-20th century and continue to operate today, offering a reliable though carbon-intensive heating solution. Upgrading these legacy systems with modern, electrified steam alternatives represents a major opportunity to cut emissions while maintaining the performance characteristics upon which building operators and residents depend. One way to do that is through modern heat pump systems.
Over the past few decades, aircraft and engine manufacturers have worked hard to design engines that can withstand bird and other wildlife strikes. While nearly 20,000 wildlife strikes were reported to the FAA in 2023 alone, only 3.6 percent of them caused engine damage. Yet, the world’s airspace is getting more and more crowded by the day. With increasing numbers of larger, more powerful unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) taking to the air, it raises an important question: what might happen to a gas turbine engine if it ingests a drone?
Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have emerged as a transformative material class for gas turbine engines, offering significant advantages over nickel-based superalloys due to their reduced weight and higher temperature capabilities. However, their long-term durability in harsh operating environments depends on the development of Environmental Barrier Coatings (EBCs) to protect against oxidation and volatilization caused by water vapor. This article reviews the evolution of EBC technology, from early architectures consisting of silicon bond coats and rare-earth silicate topcoats to advanced multilayer systems with enhanced durability. Key challenges addressed include thermal expansion matching, chemical compatibility, and resistance to degradation mechanisms such as particulate corrosion, thermomechanical stresses, and impact damage. Recent breakthroughs, including alumina-modified EBCs with dramatically improved lifetimes, highlight the progress made in extending component viability. Looking forward, future research aims to expand EBC/CMC applications to rotating components, increase upper temperature limits through novel bond coats, and incorporate mechanics-based design strategies alongside thermochemistry. Collectively, these advances demonstrate that EBCs are critical enablers for realizing the efficiency, performance, and emissions benefits of CMCs in next-generation aviation propulsion.
Variable Cycle Engines (VCEs), also known as Adaptive Cycle Engines, represent a major advancement in propulsion technology, offering the ability to optimise performance across diverse flight conditions. Unlike conventional turbofans, VCEs employ variable geometry components—such as compressors, turbines, and mixing systems—to dynamically adjust engine parameters, enabling improved fuel efficiency at subsonic speeds and high thrust at supersonic flight. This adaptability also supports enhanced thermal management, reduced installation drag, and operational flexibility critical for next-generation military and supersonic aircraft. The article traces the historical development of VCE concepts from early experimental designs to contemporary three-stream architectures, highlighting ongoing international research efforts such as the U.S. Adaptive Engine Transition Programme (AETP) and Europe’s Next Generation Fighter Engine (NGFE). While challenges remain in reducing system weight and complexity, continued innovation positions VCEs as a transformative technology set to play a pivotal role in the future of aviation.
There’s no doubt that worries about employment are growing, given the current economic uncertainty in the United States and beyond. And with prominent financial services outfits like J.P. Morgan suggesting that the risk of a recession stands at 40 percent (and PwC putting the likelihood even higher), it’s hard to put fears of a severe economic downturn completely at bay—even for roles like mechanical engineering that are often lauded as being “recession-proof.” Some experts argue, even as early as 2024, the economy was already in the midst of a so-called “white-collar recession,” with fewer job opportunities for college graduates and those with advanced degrees. Certainly, hiring for tech roles had dropped—to the tune of 26 percent for engineers. Thanks to a significant slowing in hiring overall, a February 2025 article in The Atlantic made the case that the job market is already “frozen,” and that’s before we see any impact from new federal policies on the U.S. economy at large.
It's easy for scientists to learn where they would like to do research. The hard part is getting there. Far-away observations of natural phenomena make closer examinations tempting. But when the destinations themselves are too hot, too far away, too risky, or too expensive for researchers themselves to access, scientists can design instruments that reach difficult destinations on their behalf. If researchers anticipate conditions correctly, their equipment should withstand the kinds of destructive forces the gear will encounter on its mission—or at least, last long enough to take some measurements.
In this age of internet communications, data is transmitted through the air to myriad computers, routers, servers, and cell phones. But if you look much further down, you might see wires traversing across our oceans to connect continents. They’re increasing in number and play an important role in our high-tech society. Few people know about this undersea cable industry and it suffers a chronic worker shortage to keep it running. “Submarine cables are a critical but often forgotten part of global communications. People picture the Internet as being wireless, but these long, thin cables transmit data more cheaply and efficiently than satellites,” explained Lane Burdette, a research analyst at Washington, D.C.-based TeleGeography, which builds and maintains data sets used to monitor, forecast, and map the telecommunications industry.
Is fusion finally having its moment? A quick scan of headlines from news sources as diverse as Scientific American, CNN, the Washington insider publication The Hill, and video game website GameSpot.com all ran articles in May 2025 on some aspect of nuclear fusion’s journey from long-prophesized power source to actual, existing power plants. In more technical settings, engineers and physicists are announcing breakthroughs in plasma containment, and startups are releasing press statements about their successful funding rounds. Those with a cynical mindset could well dismiss this press and venture capital interest as the next technology bubble, following on the heels of virtual reality goggles or artwork sold in the form of nonfungible tokens.
The migration to digital, cost and bottom-line manufacturing considerations, and more are all playing a role in shaping industrial design’s evolution. Manufacturing efficiency has led to products that can be designed and mass-produced faster, but at other costs. An exploration into the reasons why design has shifted toward the bland.
In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy hit New York City, causing more than $70 billion in damages and lost economic activity in the United States—about $19 billion to New York City alone. It was a wake-up call for New York City with its 520 miles worth of waterfront, which is longer than Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco combined. To avoid becoming awash in the ocean, the city would need to protect itself against another record-breaking and deadly storm surge.
India has been on a firm growth trajectory since the late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh introduced economic liberalization policies in the 1990s. That course has accelerated over recent years. According to Deloitte’s August 2025 economic outlook, India’s growth economy grew 7.4 percent year over year in the final quarter of fiscal year 2024 to 2025. Already a destination for software development, the country is firing on all cylinders, incentivizing “Make in India” manufacturing and developing a healthy ecosystem for startups in the process.
On March 28, 1979, a small coolant leak in Reactor 2 of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pa., led to a partial meltdown of the fuel assembly. Thanks to the work of engineers responding to the accident, very little radioactive matter escaped into the environment. Today, $1.6-billion effort to restart Three Mile Island is in full swing, with completion expected in 2028. In this piece from the Mechanical Engineering vault, four of the principal figures from the crisis shared their personal experiences a look back at how they helped avert a nuclear disaster.
Eva Erickson is a graduate student at Brown University who used a star turn on the reality television show Survivor to advance her advocacy for people with autism--like herself.
