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
Penn Buildings Achieve LEED Certifications, Showcasing Commitment to Sustainability News / September 15, 2025 The University of Pennsylvania’s newest LEED-certified building projects include the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST) which earned a LEED Platinum, Amy Gutmann Hall which was awarded LEED Gold, and the Ott Center for Track and Field which received LEED Silver. Recognized as the international benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green... 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
Sustainable Computing: Can AI Be Energy Efficient? News / August 8, 2025 As AI advances at breakneck speed, experts at Penn are urgently trying to see if AI can be efficient. Read More
Renewable Energy is Not Just for the Grid: Supercharging Carbon Removal with Geothermal Energy Increases Carbon Abatement News / July 29, 2025 Geothermal energy isn’t just for clean power—it can also drive carbon removal. New research from the Clean Energy Conversions Lab shows that pairing geothermal with direct air capture (DAC) can boost CO₂ abatement by up to 757%. Learn how this dual-use approach could reshape climate strategy and policy. When we... 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
Engineering a Healthier Future: Kelsey Swingle’s Journey from Penn Student to Rice Faculty News / July 22, 2025 Kelsey Swingle (GrENG’25) has made a remarkable leap from doctoral training at Penn to a tenure-track faculty position at Rice University. Her pioneering work on lipid nanoparticle delivery of mRNA therapeutics targets critical women’s health issues like pre-eclampsia, addressing a major gap in reproductive medicine. Trained in the Mitchell Lab... Read More
