In the last twenty to thirty years, many industries have made a significant push for environmentally friendly technology. Most companies look to colleges and universities for the latest innovations in green technology, and what better way to showcase this than as a science project? Consider ideas ranging from biodegradable packaging solutions to reduce trash, alternative energy sources, and water-treatment innovations. Others are pollution reduction in indoor settings using plants, and studies in carbon sequestration technology to reduce global-warming risks.
The most profitable applications of plastics and polymers are as packaging solutions for various industrial products. They also have other uses such as binding materials for semiconductor processes and alternative building materials via composite integration with metals or concrete. Plastics and polymers are still a largely unexplored field in science despite the many innovations that have already been created. Each new chemical formulation can easily lead you to a new product. You can also work on developing cheaper manufacturing methods for rubber or plastics.
The human body is a fine-tuned machine that can move beyond normal limits to do great things. Sports science looks at this facet to determine the specific ways the human body works, so that new treatment methods can be found to minimize hazards in sports. Other facets of sports science deal with nutrition, hydration, and recovery after intensive physical activities. You can also conduct studies on the effects of sports drinks or energy bars. Another field in sports science is the use of statistics to analyze performance. Sabermetrics is the mathematical and statistical analysis of baseball records. Using this technique, you are able to come up with situational data whose source is analysis of the players' scores and the pattern of achieving these scores.
Depending on the specific field of engineering, you can focus on design, building, analysis or proposed improvements to an existing device. You should focus on everyday applications that bring significant benefit such as new building strategies, flood control or new methods of performing an industrial process such as distillation of fermentation. Such ideas are highly valued by companies looking to gain an advantage over their competitors.