Tech Roundup - November 12, 2021

Welcome to ‘Tech Roundup,’ where we highlight some of the most significant tech news items from Nebraska and the surrounding area. If you have a news item you would like to see in the Roundup, please email neil.rutledge@unl.edu.

Local/Regional 

UNMC-Led Group Monitoring AltEn Pollution Says It's Still Concerned

Nebraska Public Media

• The head of a group of scientists studying the potential after-effects of contamination at the AltEn biofuels plant in Mead, Nebraska is concerned a clean-up plan for the area won’t go far enough.
• Dr. Eleanor Rogan with the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health leads a group 13 scientists and health officials from UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Creighton University and area health departments. The group has tested water and the air around the AltEn plant, which produced ethanol using pesticide-contaminated seed corn until it closed earlier this year. Several major leaks led to the closure, and a plan put together by seed companies to clean it up was released this week. Rogan said she’s still concerned about huge piles of ethanol byproduct, called wetcake, still on the property.
• “I’m not sure what’s going to keep things from still, if there’s a big rain or snow event, from getting carried off in the runoff from the property, which has been a big concern,” Rogan said.

Omaha to develop action plan to combat climate change

AP News

• Omaha plans to join hundreds of other U.S. cities by trying to come up with strategies to combat climate change.
• While the Nebraska Legislature has rejected calls for a statewide plan, Omaha will lead a metropolitan area climate action plan expected to be funded with a mix of public and private money, the Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday.
• Climate plans typically involve identifying where a community is most vulnerable to severe weather, its contribution to global warming, what needs to be done and measurable steps that can be taken.

Nebraska Wind & Solar Conference Explores Renewable Energy Potential in the State

Nebraska Public Media

• The 13th annual Nebraska Wind and Solar Energy Conference returns to Lincoln this week, after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic. This year’s conference will examine potential areas of growth and potential challenges for the future of renewable energy in the state.
• Josh Moenning is the mayor of Norfolk, Nebraska, which is working on a sizable solar project for the city. Moenning will lead a panel discussion at the conference and said Nebraska can become a leader in the growing industry.
• “We have the opportunity, now, as a state, to be an energy producer,” he said. “Historically, we’ve never had that. We’re not an oil, gas, or coal state, but we are, however, a wind and solar state. We have top-ten potential in both of those resources.”

Peter Kiewit Foundation Engineering Academy aims to increase access, diversity

Nebraska Today

• With a goal to help increase gender diversity in the engineering workforce and provide educational opportunities for Nebraska students with financial need, the Peter Kiewit Foundation Engineering Academy in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Engineering will provide new possibilities for the next generation of professionals in engineering, computing and construction.
• Beyond developing students individually, this new, one-of-a-kind academy will increase access and enhance diversity by removing financial barriers to engineering education and encouraging and supporting more Nebraska women to pursue careers in engineering, computing and construction.

In the heat of the byte: Design could curb overheating, up performance of soft electronics

Nebraska Today

• But for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Eric Markvicka and colleagues, droplets of liquid metal are emerging as a protagonist in the quest to dissipate heat — and prevent overheating — in wearable technology, soft robotics and other microelectronic-packed applications.
• “As computing power increases, thermal dissipation becomes an increasingly important factor,” said Markvicka, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering.
• But in a new study, Markvicka’s team has shown that embedding a silicone material with gallium-based droplets — and, crucially, embedding those droplets with microscopic spheres of hollow glass — can mostly retain the boost in heat dissipation without sacrificing the material’s lightweight pliability.

A Kenyan built a coffee bridge to central Nebraska

Nebraska Public Media

• This article in Nebraska Public Media profiles Laban Njuguna, a resident of Aurora Nebraska who defied supply chain disruptions and started a coffee distribution company reselling coffee sourced from his native Kenya. The story explains how he developed the idea for the company, and how he pivoted his business model in response to the challenges of Covid.

Local Opinion

In a Local View segment in the Lincoln Journal Star, climate activist Aila Ganic expressed her support for Nebraska Public Power Districts proposed decarbonization goal.

Local View: Building future on wind

Lincoln Journal Star

Excerpts from Ganic’s Piece: 

• “If greenhouse gases continue to rise, Nebraska is expected to face an average temperature increase of up to 9 degrees Fahrenheit, 13 to 16 additional days with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees statewide (and 37 additional days — more than a month — in western Nebraska), and a dangerous decrease in soil moisture.”
• Despite these dangers, Nebraska still gets 51% of its electricity from coal. But there’s good news: Nebraska has exceptional potential for wind energy. In fact, we have the fourth-highest wind potential in the country.

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