Features Table of Contents

May 1998

feature articles

smart cars and automated highways
Growing traffic congestion is choking America's overloaded roads. Intelligent vehicles and automated highways could solve the problem.

what can go wrong in FEA?
As finite-element analysis spreads to designers who may lack formal training in numerical procedures, practitioners must ask whether the most appropriate techniques are being used—and whether they are producing accurate results.

modeling a virtual ocean
Engineers are using simulation-based design to test the digital prototype of a floating military base that will be the largest structure ever to voyage on the high seas.

making it in the competitive world
A logical, seven-step approach helps solve the problem of how to deliver goods and services on time and at a profit.

engineering a rural recovery
A veteran mechanical engineer helps rural communities attract industrial investment using a blend of business savvy, technical expertise, and government incentives.

The mechanics of anatomy
Mechanical engineers are helping to make the most complex machine of all—the human body—work better and last longer, with projects ranging from safer skis to a new artificial heart.