DOepatents from OSTI

DOepatents, developed and hosted by OSTI, is a searchable database of more than 36,500 patents resulting from DOE R&D and includes patents that DOE sponsored through a variety of funding mechanisms, including grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements.  OSTI is working to collect and account for all DOE R&D results in our collections, and we have achieved this goal for the first time in DOepatents.
Through a partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and regular updates to the database, DOepatents provides access to the full complement of patents funded by DOE and consists of bibliographic records, with full text where available, either via a PDF file or an HTML link to the record at the USPTO.  The number of DOE-funded patents issued annually has nearly doubled, from 600+ in calendar year 2007 to 1200+ in 2015 and more than 900 so far in 2016.  This comprehensive coverage of DOE patents is one way to demonstrate the Department's significant contribution to scientific progress in the physical sciences and other disciplines.

Plum Print altmetrics visualization

EBSCOhost databases are integrating this visualization button into their citations.
http://plumanalytics.com/plum-print-coming-result-list-near/

The Plum Print is a visualization of the altmetrics gathered for each research artifact. It visually changes depending upon the number of metrics in each of the five metric categories:

1. Usage – The most sought after metric after citations
2. Captures – A leading indicator of citations
3. Mentions – Where people are truly engaging
4. Social Media – Tracks the promotion and buzz of research
5. Citations – When one document cites another

(You can read more about the Plum Print here.)

IEEE Xplore Integrates Altmetric Data

The inclusion of Altmetric badges enables authors, researchers, and other platform visitors to easily see a collated record of the online shares and discussion relating to an individual article from a variety of sources. These sources include news and social media, public policy documents, post-publication review forums, online reference managers and Wikipedia. These mentions are tracked from the point of publication onwards and updated in real time. Read more- Full press release .

Some "firsts" in civil engineering from 2015

(And they're not ALL bridges!)

From the ASCE year in review e- newsletter:

• Civil engineering is taking center stage in a new IMAX movie that should premiere this fall. Called "Dream Big: Engineering Wonders of the World," it a MacGillivray Freeman film, in partnership with ASCE and presented by Bechtel Corp. In addition to highlighting the wonders of engineering, the film is viewed by many as a tool to recruit young people into the profession. 
• The One World Observatory opened in May in New York City. It's on floors 100, 101 and 102 of One World Trade Center, which measures 1,776 feet at the top of its antenna.
• Bertha, the problem-plagued tunnel-boring machine on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project in Washington, finally started boring again in December. Since then, a barge mishap and a sinkhole have halted any further progress.
• Daene McKinney, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE, led an assessment research team on a two-month mission in Nepal following the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake in April. Reconstruction has been delayed in the country.
• The nearly $9.5 billion, 35-mile Gotthard Base Tunnel opened in June under the Swiss Alps, becoming the world’s longest tunnel.
• The $5.2 billion expansion of the Panama Canal was 96% complete at the end of the year.
• The 2,073-foot, 127-story Shanghai Tower opened, becoming the tallest building in China, dwarfed in the world only by the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates.
• Russian Railways unveiled detailed plans for the Trans-Eurasian Belt, a high-speed railway through Siberia that would necessitate a tunnel crossing under the Bering Strait.

Check out the World's Most Impressive Bridges

I have never seen anything like the water bridge in Magdeburg, Germany that crosses the Elbe River to connect the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittellandkanal becomes the longest navigable aqueduct in the world, at more than 3,000 feet long. 

See the entire list at Popular Mechanics.com.