Below are the top stories reported in engineering this week from around the world. Check out our engineering news round-up post every Friday to stay up to date.

Hawaii Air Force Unit Getting Own Power Grid That Uses Trash

The Air Force Research Laboratory is spending $6.8 million on a facility that will produce electricity for the Hawaii Air National Guard unit that flies F-22s, the nation's most advanced fighter jet.

Mexico City Bans 1.1M Cars in 1st Smog Alert in 11 Years

Authorities banned more than 1 million cars from the roads and offered free subway and bus rides to coax people from their vehicles as Mexico City's first air pollution alert in 11 years stretched into a third day Wednesday.

KEEN Grant Helps Kettering University ECE Faculty Member Challenge Students to Think Like Customers

Dr. Nozar Tabrizi, Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty member, is challenging his digital systems and computer architecture classes to think beyond the textbook and place themselves in the role of a producer and customer through an interactive and collaborative project.

Kettering University Students Challenged to Make Water Distribution More Efficient in Flint

The Student Association of Global Engineering (SAGE), formerly Engineers Without Borders, is offering students a chance to win $1,000 by participating in the Kettering University Water Distribution Challenge.

Bentley Has Embarked on an Ambitious Model Offensive in a Bid to Build 20,000 Cars Annually by 2025

For the Crewe-based company, that means working overtime to break into new segments and bring forward-thinking technology like plug-in hybrid drivetrains to the market, while remaining true to its core values.

Engineers Create Device to Talk to Fireflies

​

Joey Stein works to make people feel connected to both the natural world and the scientific world. His current project is the Firefly Communicator, a device that uses light patterns to talk to fireflies. The project is running a Kickstarter campaign to gain funding for a production run of pieces.