In Mexico adobe masonry is a traditional building material common in rural areas with low economic development and a high degree of marginalization. In addition, a growing interest in adobe masonry is noticed in two ways: for rescuing the heritage and as a rediscovered environmentally friendly building material. The problems are found of how to carry out the conservation works of the great built heritage with this material, as well as the lack of skilled people at all levels, from designer to masons, because it is a forgotten technique. Hence, some recent investigations about the obtention of adobe mechanical properties and characterization of adobe bricks, including earth blocks, have been performed. This article investigates experimentally destructive and nondestructive tests used for this purpose, especially elastic mechanical properties, considering new sensors, systems and different techniques has led to the inspection of adobe bricks. The results show, compared destructive with nondestructive methods, a good correlation between both techniques. This study contributes towards a better understanding of the elastic mechanical properties of adobe bricks built in Mexico, considered as a developing country.

The necessity to have semiconductor components inside mobile, thinner and lighter devices, has created a new form to solder these electronics components to their main boards. This work for soldering superficial mounting semiconductors has become a precision task. For that reason, nowadays, the construction of equipements to pick and place semiconductors, has got an important attention. A high accuracy aligning systems are required in those equipements. In this work, an aligning prototype for superficial soldering systems is presented, using a laser devise with a set of mirrors, and an aligning mechanic system, which is low-cost, modular and upgradeable.

The development and construction of highway infrastructure are essential in developing countries, whereas its layout and construction sometimes interact with the coastal environment. One problem to attend to is that the outline and geometry designs impact as little as possible on the hydrodynamic circulation of coastal bodies in order to alter the associated ecosystem as little as possible. The study area is located in the north of Colombia, and is made up of a continental coastal zone (Mallorquín Lagoon) and a marine zone (Caribbean Sea), in which a highway is projected that provides communication between two locations. This study presents the application of a numerical model previously developed and modified by the Berkhoff equation, which is developed in a finite difference scheme and has been validated and applied in different works in coastal and fluvial shallow water areas. The application of the model was carried out in a hydrodynamic circulation research project for a one-way highway through a coastal lagoon, where the knowledge of the magnitude of the incident wave height in the structure of the road body is necessary for the design, protection elements, and road geometry. Two numerical simulation scenarios were carried out, specifying normal conditions and extraordinary wave conditions in the month of November with a simulation time of 15 days, obtaining the velocity field associated with coastal currents, waves, and wave modification phenomena, such as refraction, diffraction, and reflection, which provide the height of the incident wave on the highway and the recirculation patterns in the coastal lagoon to identify alterations in the ecosystem. The results of the wave height in each scenario and the velocity field provide values to be used in the design, type of armor, and dimensions of the protection works required for the proper functioning of the road structure.

Actually, the use of optical fiber has been extended to several applications, not only its use for telecommunications; nowadays, optical fiber is used for sensor construction and instrumentation. For that reason, modifications and deformations in optical fiber sections are required and in order to observe how light transition is performed through to the fiber. The construction of this platform has the main objective to accomplish stretching test with different tensions on the fiber, different exposition terms to the electric arc and finally the gap between electrical electrodes to modify the affectations on the fiber, that are applied on the fiber. The different parts this system is conformed with, are presented in this work and the main features of each stage.