News from

School of Engineering & Applied Science

Visit the School's Site
Reset All Filters
1290 Results
Geomimicry offers a new framework for engineering sustainable materials
A hand holding soil.

Penn Engineers are exploring whether the same principles that are used to design new materials could explain how natural soils acquire their remarkable properties. 

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Geomimicry offers a new framework for engineering sustainable materials

In a new paper, Penn Engineers introduce geomimicry, a framework that explores whether the way soils, sediments, and other Earth-mediated substances behave—rather than what they are made of—may be useful for building sustainable materials.

2 min. read

Testing AI against public health’s existing tools
A researcher holding a vaccine vial and a smartphone.

Some of the study’s participants interacted with a chatbot that answered questions about the HPV vaccine, while others read standard public health materials about the vaccine.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Testing AI against public health’s existing tools

A collaborative research team at Penn looks at when, how, and to what extent AI enhances public health communications through a randomized controlled trial of AI-powered chatbots and parental vaccine hesitancies.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Empowering high school students through speech and debate
Renee Liu standing outside of the Netter Center office with arms crossed

Speech and debate enriched Renee Liu’s personal and professional development. Now, she partners with two West Philadelphia high schools to bring tailored, long-term speech and debate programs to local students based on school-identified needs.

nocred

Empowering high school students through speech and debate

In an internship through the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, third-year Renee Liu developed a comprehensive afterschool speech and debate program that responded to needs identified by students and faculty in two West Philadelphia high schools.

3 min. read

Paving the way for safer roads
Drone shot of Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Boulevard.

(Image: Julio Cortez via AP Images)

Paving the way for safer roads

An interdisciplinary team of Penn engineers and urban planners has taken an innovative approach to creating a drivable digital twin of Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Boulevard, a significant public health threat to the tens of thousands of people who use it each day.

2 min. read

How Vanessa Chan is training Ph.D. engineers for real-world impact
Vanessa Chan.

Vanessa Chan is the Jonathan and Linda Brassington Practice Professor in Materials Science and Engineering and vice dean of innovation and entrepreneurship.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

How Vanessa Chan is training Ph.D. engineers for real-world impact

The Jonathan and Linda Brassington Practice Professor in Materials Science and Engineering and vice dean of innovation and entrepreneurship is helping students to bridge the divide between technical excellence and real-world impact.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Opening AI’s black box
Danae Metaxa and the cover of their book “Auditing AI”

Danaé Metaxa is the Raj and Neera Singh Term Assistant Professor in Computer and Information Science at Penn Engineering.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Opening AI’s black box

Penn Engineering’s Danaé Metaxa on AI audits and how their lab at Penn Engineering is working to make AI systems more accountable.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

How a soft robotics breakthrough is revealing stroke’s earliest moments

How a soft robotics breakthrough is revealing stroke’s earliest moments

Researchers at Penn Engineering have collaborated on a tiny inflatable device to observe the first critical moments of stroke using advanced imaging technologies of the brain, giving scientists an unprecedented look at the brain’s immediate response to ischemic stroke.

How AI could make autism screening more accessible
A child follows movements from a video in a clinical office setting.

CAMI-2DNet builds on a series of studies that have steadily moved computerized motor imitation assessment closer to clinical use.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

How AI could make autism screening more accessible

Penn Engineers have built an AI-powered system designed to gauge children’s ability to imitate body motions using video, offering a new and effective way to assess for autism.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

The hidden waves at the beach
Two people are standing at Avalon Beach in Sydney, Australia

Image: Jenny Evans / Stringer via Getty Images

The hidden waves at the beach

Electromagnetism researcher Nader Engheta explains the physics behind invisible waves washing over beachgoers at the shore.

3 min. read