Penn Engineering | Inventing the Future

For more than a decade, Penn’s Dan Huh has been developing super-small devices called organs-on-chips that use living cells to stand in for larger organs. In May 2019, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two experiments with Huh’s organs-on-chips to the International Space Station. In orbit, a lung chip and bone marrow chip are being compared to Earth-bound counterparts to shed light on astronauts’ susceptibility to infection.

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Inventing the Future

Penn Engineering and the Philadelphia Museum of Art Join Forces to Envision the Future

In the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s new exhibit, Designs for Different Futures, artists, designers, and engineers are coming together to explore the future of technology in everyday life. A highlight of the exhibit is Quori, a socially interactive teaching robot developed by Mark Yim along with fellow members of the GRASP Lab and the Integrated Product Design program. Quori is genderless, and its socially-conscious design is sparking an important conversation about how sexism can be inadvertently coded into hardware and software.

Mini Autonomous Vehicles Race for Community-Driven Research

Former remote control toys are being reinvented to study the future of autonomous driving,. Houssam Abbas, a former post-doctoral researcher in Rahul Mangharam’s laboratory, was one of the core founders of the F1 Tenth Autonomous Racing Project, which transforms RC cars into miniature autonomous vehicles to study safety systems, computational performance, cybersecurity, and multi-car coordination. Now this project goes far beyond the lab. Members of F1 Tenth meet at international competitions to race their cars in pursuit of research.

Superstrong, Reversible Adhesive That Works Like Snail Slime

Using snail slime as inspiration, Penn Engineers led by Shu Yang created a reversible superglue that is adjustable when wet but cement-like when dry. When the wet adhesive dries, it locks firmly in place and is even strong enough to hold a fully grown adult. Durable, reversible adhesion, like that demonstrated in the material developed by Yang’s team, could allow for reusable envelopes, gravity-defying boots, and revolutionized industry assembly.

‘Nanocardboard’ can Levitate Using Only the Power of Light

Through working on a problem with blood filters, Penn Engineers developed what they call “nanocardboard,” a material that’s as thin as a few strands of DNA and weighs less than a thousandth of a gram, but stiff enough to resist flopping. In testing their material, they discovered an unexpected property: the material weighs so little that, when exposed to light, it can levitate. Their discovery, although still in the initial phases, could lay the groundwork for future smart dust sensors or weather sensors.

News

Ravi Radhakrishnan Named Chair of the Department of Bioengineering

01.24.2020 | Read More

Jennifer Phillips-Cremins Featured in Nature’s ‘Technologies to Watch in 2020’

01.24.2020 | Read More

David Meaney Named Senior Associate Dean of Penn Engineering

01.24.2020 | Read More

Events

MEAM Seminar: “Liquid Crystal Elastomers”

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MEAM Doctoral Dissertation Defense: “Applications of a Double-stranded Elastic Rod Model to DNA”

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Britton Chance Distinguished Lecture: “Regenerative Immunology: The Role of Technology Translation in Guiding Discovery”

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Announcement

In Memoriam: Joseph Bordogna, 1933-2019

Joseph (“Joe”) Bordogna, the Alfred Fitler Moore Professor Emeritus of Engineering in Electrical and Systems Engineering and former dean, died on November 25 at the age of 86.

Stephanie Weirich named the ENIAC President's Distinguished Professor

The ENIAC President’s Distinguished Professorship was established in honor of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the world’s first general-purpose electronic computer which was developed at The Moore School of Electrical Engineering, the precursor to Penn Engineering.

Six Penn Engineers Receive Tenure

The School of Engineering and Applied Science has granted tenure to six faculty members: Brian Chow, David Issadore, Dongeun (Dan) Huh, Linh Thi Xuan Phan, Amish Patel and Aleksandra Vojvodic.

Mark Yim and CJ Taylor Named New Director and Deputy Director of GRASP Lab

Mark Yim, Professor and Director of Integrated Product Design in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, has been named director of the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing & Perception (GRASP) Laboratory at Penn, and CJ Taylor, Professor in Computer and Information Science, has been named deputy director. The GRASP Lab incorporates a selective and rigorous robotics program for graduate and doctoral students.

Penn Engineering Announces Four New Scholarly Chairs

Penn Engineering is proud to announce the recipients of four scholarly chairs: Drs. Danielle Bassett, Russell Composto, Boon Thau Loo and Mark Yim.

César de la Fuente Named Penn Presidential Professor

César de la Fuente, assistant professor in the Perelman School of Medicine and in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, has been awarded a Presidential Professorship by University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann. Presidential Professorships, which have terms lasting five years, are awarded to outstanding scholars who, according to the award announcement, “demonstrably contribute excellence and diversity to Penn’s inclusive community.”

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About Penn Engineering

At Penn Engineering, we are preparing the next generation of innovative engineers, entrepreneurs and leaders. Our unique culture of cooperation and teamwork, emphasis on research, and dedicated faculty advisors who teach as well as mentor, provide the ideal environment for the intellectual growth and development of well-rounded global citizens.

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