Professor Gregory Shaver spoke recently about a new type of engine his team is developing that could dramatically reduce oil consumption and the emission of global-warming pollutants. His talk, titled 'Development of High Efficiency, Environmentally Friendly Vehicles.' was part of Science on Tap, an informal presentation series that takes place at the Lafayette Brewing Company, 622 Main St., Lafayette.

Timothy Fisher is part of a team of researchers who have created a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears and urine and might be manufactured at low cost because it does not require many processing steps to produce.

Researchers led by Professor Karthik Ramani have developed a design tool that enables people to create three-dimensional objects with their bare hands by using a depth-sensing camera and advanced software algorithms to interpret hand movements and gestures.

Professor Jason Clark has demonstrated tiny machines that could make possible super-accurate sensors and motors, with far-reaching applications from computer storage to altimeters, detecting petroleum deposits to measuring DNA-binding forces.