Right now, there are hundreds of millions of cell phones in use around the world. According to UC Berkeley computer science graduate student R.J. Honicky, the ubiquity of those devices could be leveraged to help reduce pollution, fight disease, and tackle other societal scale problems with no additional effort on the part of the person carrying the phone. The key is outfitting newly manufactured cell phones with inexpensive environmental sensors.

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A tiny new generator that produces electricity from small variations in temperature could turn people into power packs for medical implants and clear the way for complex wireless monitoring systems.
Makers of tiny wireless sensors used for tracking vital signs of people in their homes or watching environmental conditions in large buildings have long faced a power problem: Batteries only last so long. And they can be difficult to replace or recharge in a device implanted, for example, inside a person’s thigh.
But a breakthrough in miniaturization promises to tap unlimited power with small, implantable thermoelectric generators capable of producing electricity from ambient heat.

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The School of Engineering, Design and Technology (EDT) at the University of Bradford is launching a new full-time master of science degree programme in wireless sensor networks - the first of its kind in the UK. The programme has been developed in response to the ever-increasing importance of sensor technology in today’s information society and builds on the Mobile and Satellite Communications Research Centre’s world-class expertise in wireless communications. The new course in wireless sensor networks is motivated and driven by the rapid technological developments and advances in this area and addresses specifically the significant foreseeable demand for chartered engineers in this exciting industry.

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