Co-making the future: judges’ insights on transdisciplinary creativity and global collaboration in the China-U.S. young maker competition

This paper examines the future of maker education through an analysis of feedback from judges in the China-U.S. Young Maker Competition. Drawing on inputs from 36 judges from diverse backgrounds in academia, industry, and sponsoring companies, the study uses thematic analysis of interviews, feedback, and focus group discussions to uncover key educational trends. It highlights critical themes such as transdisciplinary creativity, real-world application, sustainability, cross-cultural collaboration, and innovation mindset. The research reveals a trend towards integrating various academic fields to boost creative problem-solving and application in real-life scenarios. Sustainability is identified as a crucial component, pointing to the need for environmentally aware education. The study also emphasizes the importance of cross-cultural collaboration for global interconnectedness and adaptive problem-solving, alongside fostering a continuous innovation mindset in students. Concluding with future directions for maker education, the paper advocates for an experiential, inclusive, and forward-looking educational approach. It underscores the importance of a broad curriculum that integrates entrepreneurial skills, promotes lifelong learning, and enhances global connectivity. This study provides insights for educators, policymakers, and practitioners, offering a streamlined roadmap for advancing maker education in a rapidly evolving global context

Exploring Maker Innovation: A Transdisciplinary Engineering Design Perspective

Researchers, designers, and engineers embrace the ongoing maker movement and view ‘grassroots innovation’ as essentially important for staying competitive in both academia and in industry. The research team gives full play to its expertise on innovation and entrepreneurship education. In the past five years of actively participating in the China-U.S. Young Maker Competition, the team coached and worked with over five hundred student makers to create innovative engineering prototypes focusing on the areas of community development, education, environmental protection, health and fitness, energy, transportation, and other areas of sustainable development by combining innovative design and emerging technologies. Several conceptual designs and developments are described. A transdisciplinary engineering design and teaching approach is presented and discussed. Due to the limited time allowed by the competition, more thorough design and development iterations will take place in a future study

Concept Design of Movable Beam of Hydraulic Press

The hydraulic press movable beam is one of the key components of the hydraulic press; its design quality impacts the accuracy of the workpiece that the press suppressed. In this paper, first, with maximum deflection and material strength as constraints, mechanical model of the movable beam is established; next, the concept design model of the moveable beam structure is established; the relationship among the force of the side cylinder, the thickness of the inclined plate, outer plate is established also. Taking movable beam of the 100MN type THP10-10000 isothermal forging hydraulic press as an example, the conceptual design result is given. This concept design method mentoned in the paper has general meaning and can apply to other similar product design

Modeling the p53-Mdm2 Dynamics Triggered by DNA Damage

In this paper, a p53-Mdm2 network model with Michaelis–Menten function involved in DNA damage repair is studied by using the dynamical system approach. Detailed bifurcations of the model including saddle-node bifurcation, Hopf bifurcation of codimension 3, and cusp-type Bogdanov–Takens bifurcation of codimension 3 are investigated. Meanwhile, the coexistence of three limit cycles and the coexistence of a homoclinic cycle and a limit cycle are also obtained. To our best knowledge, it is the first time that the coexistence of an isola and a cusp of limit cycles is observed for the p53 model, which indicates complex transitions of different oscillating dynamics. Furthermore, we find that oscillation could persist whether the damage is nonexistent, small or large, and multiple oscillations can be involved in the DNA repair process. In addition, the dynamics induced by the interaction between p53 and Mdm2 unveil the relationship between the positive feedback brought by p53 itself and the negative feedback brought by Mdm2, which triggers the digital oscillation modes for DNA damage. Of particular interest is that multiple oscillations and the threshold value of DNA damage are found to reveal the intrinsic mechanism of DNA damage repair

Water Absorption, Hydrothermal Expansion, and Thermomechanical Properties of a Vinylester Resin for Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites Subjected to Water or Alkaline Solution Immersion

In the present paper, a vinyl ester (VE) resin, potentially used as a resin matrix for fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite sucker rods in oil drilling, FRP bridge cables, or FRP marine structures, was investigated on its resistance to water and alkaline solution immersion in terms of water uptake, hydrothermal expansion, and mechanical properties. A two-stage diffusion model was applied to simulate the water uptake processes. Alkaline solution immersion led to a slightly higher mass loss (approx. 0.4%) compared to water immersion (approx. 0.23%) due to the hydrolysis and leaching of uncured small molecules (e.g., styrene). Water immersion caused the expansion of VE plates monitored with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG). With the same water uptake, the expansion increased with immersion temperatures, which is attributed to the increased relaxation extent of the resin molecular networks. Although an obvious decrease of the glass transition temperatures (Tg) of VE due to water immersion (5.4 to 6.1 °C/1% water uptake), Tg can be recovered almost completely after drying. Tensile test results indicate that a short-term immersion (less than 6 months) enhances both the strength and elongation at break, while the extension of the immersion time degrades both the strength and elongation. The modulus of VE shows insensitive to the immersion even at elevated temperatures

Concept Design of Movable Beam of Hydraulic Press

The hydraulic press movable beam is one of the key components of the hydraulic press; its design quality impacts the accuracy of the workpiece that the press suppressed. In this paper, first, with maximum deflection and material strength as constraints, mechanical model of the movable beam is established; next, the concept design model of the moveable beam structure is established; the relationship among the force of the side cylinder, the thickness of the inclined plate, outer plate is established also. Taking movable beam of the 100MN type THP10-10000 isothermal forging hydraulic press as an example, the conceptual design result is given. This concept design method mentoned in the paper has general meaning and can apply to other similar product design

Designing an Interactive Communication Assistance System for Hearing-Impaired College Students Based on Gesture Recognition and Representation

Developing a smart classroom can make the modern classroom more efficient and intelligent. Much research has been conducted pertaining to smart classrooms for hearing-impaired college students. However, there have been few significant breakthroughs in mobilizing students’ learning efficiency as measured by information transmission, communication, and interaction in class. This research collects data through nonparticipatory observation and in-depth interviews and analyzes available data on classroom interaction needs of these students. We found that diversified explanations, recordable interactive contents, and interaction between teachers and students could improve the learning effects in the classroom. We also propose a tracking-processing method based on gesture recognition and representation and present a design for a processing system based on AT89C52 microcontroller and Kinect. In this way, sign language can be translated into text and all students can receive the information and participate in the interaction, which greatly improves students’ autonomy and enthusiasm of learning. This design enables deaf students to fully use classroom learning resources, reduces learning time costs, and improves learning efficiency. It can assist teachers in teaching and tutoring students to enhance their experience

In Vitro Safety Evaluation and In Vivo Imaging Studies of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles through Biomimetic Modification

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an advanced medical imaging diagnostic technique that utilizes different resonance signals generated by the signal strength of water content and the relaxation time of protons in water molecules under the influence of an external magnetic field. This technique requires contrast agents, such as Gd-DTPA and Gd-DOTA, which could increase the risk of renal fibrosis in patients with severe renal insufficiency. The magnetic moment or susceptibility of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) is higher than that of other paramagnetic substances and could significantly reduce the dosage of the contrast agent required. In our previous work, the novel magnetic composite nanoparticles (abbreviated as c(RGDyK)-PDA-SPION) had been successfully synthesized by a facile and simple approach. Further evaluation had demonstrated that it had an average particle size of about 50 nm and uniform distribution, superparamagnetic properties, and good dispersion stability in water solution. Animal acute toxicity test also had proved that it had high safety in vivo. In this work, c(RGDyK)-PDA-SPION was further studied for the cell toxicity and effect on HepG2 cells in vitro, and the MRI imaging of this contrast agent in HepG2 tumor-bearing mice was also studied. It is an extension of the published work. The results showed that it possessed high safety and enrichment phenomenon on HepG2 cells in vitro. Animal experimental data preliminarily prove that the contrast agent could enhance the MRI T2-weighted imaging capability of HepG2 carcinoma in tumor-bearing mice and could be a potential T2 contrast agent

Effect of laser-textured substrate on adhesion and microstructure of deposited Mo–NiCrBSiCFe coating

The novel application of laser surface texture as a method for enhancing the deposition of coatings on substrates has garnered significant interest. This study focuses on the use of atmospheric plasma-sprayed Mo–NiCrBSiCFe coating, which was applied to both laser surface textured and grit-blasted AISI 304 substrates. The coating powder was created by mechanically milling a mixture of 25 % molybdenum and 75 % NiCrBSiCFe powders, providing a unique combination of materials for the deposition coating. The analysis zeroed in on examining the effects of laser texture grooves on the microstructure, porosity, microhardness, and adhesion strength of the composite coating. The findings revealed that the composite coating primarily comprises MoO2, Mo, and Ni phases. In comparison to the grit-blasted substrate, the coating applied on the laser-textured groove substrate exhibited a porosity increase of 15.15 %, a pore size rise of 17.45 %, a notable 45.62 % improvement in adhesion strength, and a significant 23.57 % enhancement in scratch resistance. Furthermore, the coating on the laser-textured substrate exhibited fewer closed pores. The microhardness of the coating surface was higher than that of the coating cross-section within the grooves. Notably, the laser surface texture had a significant impact on the adhesion strength, microstructure, and hardness of the composite coating, surpassing the results achieved through traditional grit blasting. One novel observation from this study is that laser surface texturing can have a significant impact on the porosity of Mo–NiCrBSiCFe coatings. Another noteworthy finding is that laser surface texturing can enhance the hardness of Mo–NiCrBSiCFe coatings