#3 Survey of Current Topics in Your Field

• Operating Systems
⁃ The newest incarnations of the widely used operating systems (namely, Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard) are both what are called 64-bit operating systems. Their predecessors, Windows Vista and Leopard, were both 32-bit operating systems, and before them, 16-bit operating systems. A 64 bit-operating system, simply put, makes much better usage of available memory, and thus allows for faster operation while running multiple applications. As move forward in this field of computer engineering/science, some questions arise: How do we take full advantage of a 64-bit operating system? How far are we from developing a stable 128-bit operating system?
• Control Systems
⁃ Control Systems are in place in virtually ever facet of our lives. An example of a control system would be the temperature-management system present in a conventional oven: there is a system in place to monitor the current temperature. If the current temperature is too low, the temperature needs to be raised, and vice-versa. Once the desired temperature is reached, the temperature needs to be regulated with a control system to keep it at that desired temperature. As technology improves and becomes an integral part of our lives, how can we make full use of control systems? A control system could be developed to drive a car autonomously, or to control a wheelchair with voice for those unable to use their limbs.
• Engineering Ethics
⁃ An issue which we talked about (ad nauseum) in my Engineering Seminar class last semester was Engineering Ethics. There is a code to which all engineers must adhere called the IEEE Code of Ethics. In it we state that our primarily responsibility is to the welfare and safety of the public. Often times in engineering we are presented with the ability to improve the quality of life of mankind, but in doing so we may have to do something unethical. An example that comes to my mind is probably the same one you're thinking of -- Stem Cell Research. Developing our skills in this field could vastly and dramatically change the way medicine is practiced -- but is it ethical? That is a debate that is currently at the forefront of engineering ethics.
• Crazy Powerful Magnets
⁃ Earth's magnetic core exerts a magnetic field with a magnitude of about 50 microtesla, which, as magnetic fields go, is very weak. A new magnet being developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, once completed, will reach 100 Tesla, which is about 2 million times as strong as Earth's field. Why would you want to develop a magnet of that strength? The answer is that this magnet -- with its incredible ability to generate a massive magnetic field -- will be able to test the properties of new semiconducting materials like iron-oxyaresenide, which can improve the method by which current clinical MRI machines are built, lowering costs and improving efficiency. At about $3 million, MRI machines aren't typically deployed in developing countries' clinics. Lowering costs associated with the machine could potentially bring the developing world up to speed in terms of medical diagnoses.