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Technology

When design meets engineering, students solve the right problems
Sarah Rottenberg lecturing.

For Sarah Rottenberg is the executive director of the Integrated Product Design Program at Penn Engineering and adjunct assistant professor at the Weitzman School of Design.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

When design meets engineering, students solve the right problems

In Sarah Rottenberg’s studio course, engineering and design students are taught to rethink the earliest stage of design: understanding the problem itself.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

NATO explores the future of robotics at Penn’s GRASP Lab

NATO explores the future of robotics at Penn’s GRASP Lab

A NATO Allied Command Transformation delegation visited the Penn’s GRASP Lab in June to learn how researchers are advancing robotics and autonomous systems with applications spanning disaster response, infrastructure, and national security.

Virtual patients, real-world training

Virtual patients, real-world training

Researchers from Penn’s Linguistic Data Consortium have received a two-year, $4 million grant to collaborate on STELLAR (Steering-Vector Enhanced LLM Agents for Realistic Digital Twins in Mental Health), an AI-driven simulation of virtual patients that allows trainees to practice clinical interviews.

A crash course in AI

A crash course in AI

Early this summer, some 75 faculty members across several Penn Schools attended a two-day program led by Bhuvnesh Jain, co-director of the Data Driven Discovery Initiative and Co-Chair of the University’s AI Council.

From Omnia

Speed and precision for medical imaging
Rohit Jena in front of computer monitors.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Speed and precision for medical imaging

A new open-source algorithm dubbed “FireANTS” can be applied not just in medical research, but clinical practice as well.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Examining asthma with human lung-on-a-chip technology
A chip with asthma cells being held up in a dark, neon-colored laboratory environment

A bioengineered “asthma-on-a-chip” platform. (Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

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Examining asthma with human lung-on-a-chip technology

Researchers at Penn Engineering developed an ‘asthma-on-a-chip’ system that mimics the mechanical stresses experienced by human airways during an asthma attack. The innovation enables scientists to probe how unhealthy lung tissue responds to compression in ways previously impossible to observe directly in patients.

Melissa Pappas , From Penn Engineering

2 min. read

Tiny, knotted robots jump, fly, and plant seeds
Jiarui Wang holds up one of these programmable knot robots

Jiarui Wang, a member of the Yang Lab, holds up one of these programmable knot robots with forceps showing how something not much bigger than a grain of rice can pack a serious punch in the world of soft, automated robotics.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Tiny, knotted robots jump, fly, and plant seeds

Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed a tiny, soft robot using opposable materials that are capable of leaping meters into the air with flexibility, responsiveness, and programmability.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Helping robotic arms solve problems using tools
Three students working on a robotic arm in the GRASP lab

Image: Sylvia Zhang

Helping robotic arms solve problems using tools

Penn engineers have developed VLMgineer, an AI framework that can design, adapt, and deploy tools in the real world.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Penn Engineering’s ‘Innovation & Impact’ podcast

Penn Engineering’s ‘Innovation & Impact’ podcast

“Innovation & Impact” is a monthly podcast from Penn’s School Engineering & Applied Science, hosted by Dean Vijay Kumar in conversation with leading global experts on the latest breakthroughs and innovations in science, technology and medicine.