From skyscrapers and bridges to residential and heritage projects, the annual Structural Awards recognize the best in structural engineering excellence and the significant role that structural engineers worldwide serve. Out of this year's shortlist, 12 projects were awarded at the award ceremony in London. Winning the Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence went to The Glass Lantern at the Apple Store in Istanbul. — bustler.net

"Robotic Building Construction by Contour Crafting" by educator Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California was named the grand prize winner of the Create the Future Design Contest for 2014. Launched in 2002 by the NASA Tech Briefs magazine publishers, the contest was created to encourage and honor innovation from engineers, students, and entrepreneurs worldwide. — bustler.net

A team of researchers at Michigan State University has developed a new type of solar concentrator that when placed over a window creates solar energy while allowing people to actually see through the window.

It is called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator and can be used on buildings, cell phones and any other device that has a clear surface. — msutoday.msu.edu

While still experimental, engineering techniques drawn from origami promise the development of pop-up devices that could assemble themselves from flat, composite materials cheaply and efficiently, the [Harvard and MIT] researchers said. Potential applications range from self-assembling satellites to shape-shifting robots that could be used in search-and-rescue missions. — online.wsj.com

...University of Washington engineers have designed a new communication system that uses radio frequency signals as a power source and reuses existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to provide Internet connectivity to these devices. Called Wi-Fi backscatter, this technology is the first that can connect battery-free devices to Wi-Fi infrastructure. — ScienceDaily

It's that time of year again. The Institution of Structural Engineers revealed the 2014 shortlist for their annual Structural Awards today. The awards recognize achievement, innovation, and excellence in the field of structural engineering in addition to promoting its significant role in the creation of inventive design solutions. — bustler.net

... the ball most commonly seen today was first designed in the 1960s by architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, whose forte was designing buildings using minimal materials. Previously, leather soccer balls consisted of 18 sections stitched together: six panels of three strips apiece. The soccer ball Fuller designed stitched together 20 hexagons with 12 pentagons for a total of 32 panels. Its official shape is a spherical polyhedron, but the design was nicknamed the “buckyball.” — mentalfloss.com

It’s initiatives such as this that have, in recent years, given the water engineers of Holland their almost mythical status amongst flood defenders the world over. After Hurricane Sandy hit New York, in 2012, the $20 billion protection plan that was subsequently instituted built upon principles that were pioneered by the Dutch. Officials from as far away as China, Vietnam, Thailand and Bangladesh are currently consulting Dutch experts. — telegraph.co.uk

Forty-seven miles of the 400-mile California Aqueduct could have their flow reversed this summer to bring water to dry Central California districts with dangerously low supplies, reports KQED. As this megadrought's persisted and worsened, it's come to light that many water districts, especially the smaller ones, haven't had the chance (read: the money) to stockpile water as we do here in SoCal. — la.curbed.com

Caissons are a technology borrowed from bridge building, and they are what makes this project possible. The engineers will drill them anywhere from 40 to 80 feet into the Manhattan schist (the dense, metamorphic bedrock that supports the city’s soaring skyline). The caissons are meticulously arranged in the narrow spaces between the tracks. Above, the they will connect to deep-girdle trusses – some up to 8 stories tall – that control and redirect the towering weight overhead. Finally, the slab. — wired.com

Stand your ground, the U.S. debut of the "Considering the Quake: Seismic Design on the Edge" exhibition will be on Feb. 13, 2014 at the AIA's Center for Architecture in New York.

Based on resilient-design research gathered by the exhibition's curators Professor Ghyslaine McClure and Dr. Effie Bouras, it highlights not only the artistic aspect of seismic design, but also its more hidden — and crucial — scientific side. — bustler.net

The Huijin International Center designed by architecture/engineering firm LEO A DALY was recently honored with the Luban Award, China's prestigious prize for design and construction.

Since 1989, the biennial Luban Award acknowledges architecture and engineering firms that produce high-quality work and maintain strong quality control and project management. — bustler.net

The winners of the 2013 Structural Awards were revealed last Friday during a ceremony event [...] in London. Hosted by The Institution of Structural Engineers, the annual Structural Awards recognize the talents, the challenging environments, and the invaluable contributions of the world's best structural designers.

Twelve winners from around the world were honored this year, with the Taizhou Bridge in China winning the Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence — the highest title. — bustler.net

After winning first prize in a 2009 international competition, Henning Larsen Architects' Kolding Campus building for the University of Southern Denmark is full of sustainable features. One in particular is the recent construction of its facade, which is built with a solar shading system that maintains climate control throughout the day — and plus, the triangular shape of the solar shutters add a nifty-looking pattern for the structure. — bustler.net