IEEE Spectrum December, 2012 - 3

volume 49 number 12 north american

12.12

spectrum.ieee.org

availaBle 1 decemBer

Titans of Innovation

update

30 TECHNICALLY
SPEAkING
to describe new massive
11 FLASH THAT LASTS
open online college courses,
engineers have found a way
we need new words.
to make flash heal itself-
and last 10 000 times as long. By Paul McFedries
By Yu-Tzu Chiu

12 NEW kING OF SECURITY
ALGORITHMS
14 SUPEREFFICIENT
SOLAR CELLS

departments
4 BACk STORY
robots invade the
IEEE Spectrum office.

16 TABLET TEARDOWN

6 CONTRIBUTORS

18 SLIME MOLD
VS. ROOMBA

22 TOOLS & TOYS
Looking for a high-tech gift?
our guide has suggestions
for every budget.
By Stephen Cass &
Willie D. Jones

20 THE BIG PICTURE
A student-built solar house
eclipses the competition at
the Solar Decathlon europe
2012 contest.

opinion
8 SPECTRAL LINES
biometric sensors can gauge
worker productivity but carry
real risks as well.
By Susan Hassler

The sixth annual Patent Power
Scorecard is a who's who
of global innovation, based
on an analysis of the patent
portfolios of more than
5000 businesses, universities,
government agencies, and
other organizations. On IEEE
Spectrum's behalf, 1790 Analytics
looked at portfolios in such
technology categories as
aerospace, communications, and
software. Each portfolio is ranked using a set of objective
measures that gauge the portfolios' overall quality, not
just their size. Read more at http://spectrum/ieee.org/
patentscorecard1212.

tHeinstitute.ieee.org
life sciences:
the marriage of
engineering and biology
this month,
15
5
6
12
The Institute
takes a look
at Ieee and
Life
its members'
Sciences
work in the
life sciences.
Ieee Fellow
rashid bashir
and his team
of researchers
in Illinois are using nanobiotechnology to develop
chip-based sensors that can
detect cancer cells earlier than
traditional methods.

84 THE DATA
An analysis of cloud
outages reveals new
categories of problems.
By Ryan K.L. Ko, Stephen S.G.
Lee & Veerappa Rajan

ClOCkwisE fROm lEft: RiChaRd nagy/datamanCER;
JasPER whitE/gEtty imagEs; sCiEnCE PhOtO libRaRy/gEtty imagEs

5 december: Taming the
Complexities of SoftwareDriven Innovation to Reduce
Project Cost and Risk
6 december: Chip/Package/Board:
Constraint-Driven Co-Design
11 december: From Labs-on-Chips
to Cellular Machines: Interfacing
Engineering and Biology at
the Micro- and Nanoscale

SFI-01042

spectrum.ieee.org

The Next
Generation of
Surgical Robots

Delving
Deeper Into
Life Sciences

Bin He
Creates New
Partnerships

D ec e m b e r 2 012 * t h e i n s tit u t e . i e e e .o r g

26 HANDS ON
A watchful parent builds an
autonomous tracking drone.
By Paul Wallich

online WeBinars & resources

The Marriage
of Engineering
and Biology

theinstitute

13 december: Simulation of EMI
in Hybrid Cabling for Combining
Power and Control Signaling
18 december: IBM Rational
Helps Deliver Next-Generation
Automotive Infotainment Systems
Smarter Product Development
Needs Effective Systems
Engineering: Get Greater
Visibility Across Your SystemsEngineering Data

Special Report

A roundup of IEEE's activities
in this growing area

12p.Cover.LO.indd 1

11/16/12 3:08 PM

availaBle 7 decemBer

smaller, cheaper
surgical robots
robots have made it easier for
surgeons to perform minimally invasive
surgeries, but the current systems
can be clunky and expensive. that's
why Ieee Fellow Guang-Zhong yang
and other engineers are developing
compact, flexible robots that can also
reduce patients' recovery time.
delving deeper into
life sciences
Ieee has introduced a number of
resources, including a Web portal and a
newsletter, to keep members informed
about this growing field.

availaBle at http://spectrum.ieee.org/webinar
Master of Engineering Degree
Programs From Boston University

Multiphysics Simulation-
Now in Excel and the Cloud

EMC Simulation of Consumer
Electronic Devices

Reduce Time to Market and Lower
Development Costs With Improved
Management of Requirements

Modeling Electromagnetic
Phenomena in VORPAL With
the VSimEM Package

Master Bond White Paper Library:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/
masterbond-whitepaper-library

LTE Components Drive
Multimode Mobile Broadband

New Product Release Library:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/
new-product-release-library

IEEE SPECTRUM (ISSN 0018-9235) is published monthly by the Institute of electrical and electronics engineers, Inc. All rights reserved. © 2012 by the Institute of electrical and electronics
engineers, Inc., 3 park Avenue, New york, Ny 10016-5997, u.S.A. the editorial content of Ieee Spectrum magazine does not represent official positions of the Ieee or its organizational units.
canadian post International publications mail (canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40013087. return undeliverable canadian addresses to: circulation Department, Ieee Spectrum,
box 1051, Fort erie, oN L2A 6c7. cable address: ItrIpLee. Fax: +1 212 419 7570. INterNet: spectrum@ieee.org. ANNuAL SubScrIptIoNS: Ieee members: $21.40 included in dues. Libraries/
institutions: $399. poStmASter: please send address changes to Ieee Spectrum, c/o coding Department, Ieee Service center, 445 Hoes Lane, box 1331, piscataway, NJ 08855. periodicals
postage paid at New york, Ny, and additional mailing offices. canadian GSt #125634188. printed at 120 Donnelley Dr., Glasgow, Ky 42141-1060, u.S.A. Ieee Spectrum circulation is audited
by bpA Worldwide. Ieee Spectrum is a member of American business media, the magazine publishers of America, and Association media & publishing. Ieee prohibits discrimination,
harassment, and bullying. For more information, visit http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html.

December 2012 * Ieee Spectrum * NA

http://spectrum.ieee.org http://spectrum/ieee.org/ http://tHeinstitute.ieee.org http://spectrum.ieee.org/webinar http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/ http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/ http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html http://spectrum.ieee.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum December, 2012