Modern marvels

The History Channel’s tech-savvy show, Modern Marvels, gives behind-the-scenes glimpses into innovations of past and present and this week will announce the year’s top five inventions. Among the 25 semifinalists is a machine invented by a Brigham Young University professor that automates the production of lightweight composite 3-D lattice structures 12 times stronger than steel per pound of material.

A panel of inventors, technologists and industry experts selected the semifinalists from among more than 3,300 independent inventors. One will ultimately be named 2007 Modern Marvel of the Year and be featured in episodes airing May 15-17.

Inventor David Jensen, a BYU professor of civil engineering at the Center for Advanced Structural Composites, has been perfecting the machine and its unique continuous fabrication process for nearly a decade. After observing the labor-intensive ways to make composite support materials while on a trip to China, Jensen wanted to create structures, from utility poles to cellular towers, that used lattice IsoTruss structures assembled all at once in a smooth, automated process without using cumbersome materials.