Penn, Purdue, UC Merced and UF Partner on New $26M NSF Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture

The National Science Foundation, through a 5-year, $26 million grant, has established the NSF Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag), headquartered at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.


Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) are NSF’s flagship engineering program for convergent research to address large-scale societal challenges. The IoT4Ag Center aims to address food, energy and water security through advanced agricultural technologies. Cherie Kagan, Stephen J. Angello Professor in Penn Engineering’s departments of Electrical and Systems Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, is the IoT4Ag Center’s director and principal investigator.

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

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Mini Autonomous Vehicles Race for Community-Driven Research

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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.

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‘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.

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