Pranam Chatterjee Designs Novel AI Frameworks for Biotechnology News / September 18, 2025 When he enrolled at Dartmouth, Pranam Chatterjee, Assistant Professor and Africk-Lesley Distinguished Scholar of Innovation in Engineering with a joint appointment in Bioengineering (BE) and in Computer and Information Science (CIS), did not start off as an engineering student. He majored in religion. “I had a deep desire to... Read More
Penn Engineers Explore How Tumor Mechanics and Tiny Messengers Could Shape the Future of Cancer Research News / September 17, 2025 When Ph.D. student Kshitiz Parihar began combing through dozens of research papers on two seemingly different topics — tumor mechanics and extracellular vesicles, tiny packages of proteins and genetic material secreted by cells — he noticed something surprising: the two fields were speaking to each other. Together with his advisor,... Read More
What Stiffening Lung Tissue Reveals About the Earliest Stages of Fibrosis News / September 5, 2025 Fibrosis of the lungs is often a silent disease until it’s too late. By the time patients are diagnosed, the scarring of their lung tissue is already advanced, and current treatments offer little more than a slowing of the inevitable. But what if we could understand the very first steps... Read More
Eva Dyer Is Listening to the Brain’s Code With a Little Help From AI News / August 27, 2025 When Eva Dyer, Rachleff Associate Professor in Bioengineering and in Computer and Information Science, talks about the brain, she doesn’t just talk like a neuroscientist. She speaks with the rhythm of someone who listens deeply. Once a jazz singer and multi-instrumentalist, Dyer now orchestrates another kind of harmony: finding the... Read More
Sunflower Spirals and Raspberry Beads: A Nature-Inspired Leap in Water Harvesting Technology News / August 18, 2025 Tackling large socio-environmental issues like climate change and global freshwater scarcity takes bold, interdisciplinary experts with an eye for natural solutions. Shu Yang, Joseph Bordogna Professor and Chair of Materials Science and Engineering, has already leveraged both her engineering expertise and biomimicry approach to develop kirigami-inspired fog collectors and dehydrating... Read More
What Ever-Growing Incisors Can Teach Us About Genetic Disease News / July 24, 2025 Teeth may seem like static fixtures, but a new collaboration between engineers and clinicians is proving just how dynamic, informative and medically significant our teeth can be. In a recent study, published in the American Chemical Society’s ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, engineers and dentists come together to uncover how... Read More
Cracking the Code of Force-Driven Chemistry News / July 17, 2025 When asked to think of a chemical reaction, you might picture bubbling liquids in a beaker, or maybe applying heat to a mixture until something transforms. But some of the most important reactions in nature and industry don’t need heat or solvents. Instead, they need force. Mechanochemistry is where physical... Read More
Shoji Hall Works at the Electrifying Edge Between Materials Science and Chemistry News / July 16, 2025 Shoji Hall, who joined Penn Engineering as an associate professor in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in January 2025, is focused on the chemistry of transformation: specifically, how electricity can be used to break and form chemical bonds at the interface between solids and liquids, a process called electrocatalysis. His... Read More
Wensi Wu Uses Digital Twins to Explore the Hidden Mechanics of the Human Heart News / June 16, 2025 When Wensi Wu, Research Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), first stepped into the world of computational modeling, she wasn’t thinking about hearts or hospitals. She was thinking about ships. “I’ve always been fascinated by how powerful technologies can model what really happens in the world,” she... Read More
Penn Engineering Students Graduate as Benjamin Franklin Scholars News / June 9, 2025 The Benjamin Franklin Scholars (BFS) program at the University of Pennsylvania is an interdisciplinary initiative designed for students across all four undergraduate schools: Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Nursing and Wharton. These scholars are passionate about broad intellectual exploration and integrating knowledge across disciplines. Graduating as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar requires... Read More
