(Left to right) Michelle Paolicelli, David Nemeth, Michael Adjedj, Bryce Gunderman, and Sebastian Miralles break a composite material on the MSE Departmental Laboratory’s mechanical tester. (Image: Penn Engineering Today)
A new makerspace for materials passion projects
MatSci Makerspace is a space for students to work with the synthesis, processing, structure, properties and application of materials, with open hours for materials-centric passion projects.
Protein controlled by both light and temperature can inform cell signal pathways
Penn Engineering researchers have described a new type of optogenetic protein that can be controlled not only by light, but also by temperature, allowing for a higher degree of control in the manipulation of cellular pathways.
Homepage image: No one type of medical imaging can capture every relevant piece of information about a patient at once. Digital twins, or multiscale, physics-based simulations of biological systems, would allow clinicians to accurately infer more vital statistics from fewer data points.
Refining data into knowledge, turning knowledge into action
Penn Engineering researchers are using data science to answer fundamental questions that challenge the globe—from genetics to materials design.
So-called “two-dimensional” materials have unique electrical and photonic properties, but their ultrathin form factors present practical challenges when incorporated into devices. Penn Engineering researchers have now demonstrated a method for making large-area “superlattices”—layered structures containing 2D lattices of sulfur and tungsten—that can achieve light-matter coupling. (Image: Penn Engineering Today)
New atomically-thin material could improve efficiency of light-based tech
A new photodetector design from Penn Engineering is not only extremely thin, making it lightweight and cost effective, it can also emit light, not just detect it.
‘Encrypted’ peptides could be wellspring of natural antibiotics
An interdisciplinary team of Penn researchers have used a carefully designed algorithm to discover a new suite of antimicrobial peptides, or naturally occurring antibiotics, in the human genome.
Caenorhabditis elegans, a free-living transparent roundworm, about 1 mm in length.
A microscopic worm may shed light on how we perceive gravity
C. elegans shares more than half of its genes with humans, allowing genetic studies to give insight into which genes are responsible for similar traits in humans, such as pinpointing molecular pathways responsible for gravitaxis, the ability to move in response to gravity.
Bijels, or bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels, are structured emulsions of oil and water that are kept separated by a layer of nanoparticles. Penn Engineering researchers will develop a way of using them to manufacture mRNA-based therapeutics. (Image: Penn Engineering Today)
Penn engineers will develop on-demand, on-site mRNA manufacturing
With an NSF grant, Penn Engineering researchers are developing a new manufacturing technique that would be able to produce mRNA sequences in a way that removes the need for cryogenic temperatures.
The researchers’ model is capable of accurately describing glacial calving and resulting tsunami waves. (Image: Penn Engineering Today)
Simulation of glacial calving and tsunami waves predicts climate change consequences
Researchers at the School of Engineering and Applied Science have created a computer model that can accurately simulate tsunamis caused by glacial calving, critical to hazard assessments and mitigation measures in coastal regions regarding climate change.
