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How a coral stiffens its skeleton on demand
Chenhao Hu holds up a 3D-printed model of a sclerite.

Penn Engineering doctoral student Chenhao Hu holding a 3D-printed model of a sclerite, the tiny mineral particles that make up the coral’s skeleton and whose unique shape allows the organism to tune its own stiffness.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

How a coral stiffens its skeleton on demand

Researchers at Penn Engineering have discovered how a coral’s skeleton compacts itself to ward off danger, a novel discovery of “granular jamming” in a living organism.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

A ‘Rosetta stone’ for molecular systems
Prashant Purohit (left) and Penn Engineering’s Celia Reina (right) in front of a whiteboard.

Penn Engineering’s Prashant Purohit (left) and Celia Reina.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

A ‘Rosetta stone’ for molecular systems

Penn Engineering’s Prashant Purohit (left) and Celia Reina (right), in collaboration with recent doctoral graduate Travis Leadbetter, have spent years developing a mathematical “Rosetta stone” that can translate molecular movements into predictions of larger effects.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Tumor-on-a-chip offers insight into cancer-fighting cells in immunotherapy
Hand holding a microdevice

Penn engineers and collaborators have developed a transparent, micro-engineered device that houses a living, vascularized model of human lung cancer—a “tumor on a chip”—and show that the diabetes drug vildagliptin helps more CAR T cells break through the tumor’s defenses and attack it effectively.

(Image: Courtesy of Dan Huh)

Tumor-on-a-chip offers insight into cancer-fighting cells in immunotherapy

Penn engineers and collaborators have built a living tumor on a chip to expose how cancers block immune attacks, and how one existing drug could make immunotherapy like CAR T more effective against solid tumors.

3 min. read

Through Penn First Plus, students unlock potential and purpose
Marc Lo (left) and Enmanuel Martínez (center) speaking with Mayokun Omitogun (right)

Marc Lo (left) and Enmanuel Martínez (center) speaking with Mayokun Omitogun (right)

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Through Penn First Plus, students unlock potential and purpose

Providing first-generation and limited-income students with a comprehensive array of support, Penn First Plus equips undergraduates for success during and after their time at Penn.

5 min. read

Penn Engineering receives $11M from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation to expand Clark Scholars Program
(bottom row, left to right) Tina Lee, Amehja Williams, and Hubery Pai; (second row) Amaris Chen and Ross Richard; (third row) Darren Lin, Minghui Zhang, Emily Jiang, and Frankie Lin; (fourth row) Shawn Edbert, Henry Westfall, and Noah Hidalgo; (fifth row) Matas Bujanauskas and Elias Chavez.

Penn Clark Scholars and peer mentors: (bottom row, left to right) Tina Lee, Amehja Williams, and Hubery Pai; (second row) Amaris Chen and Ross Richard; (third row) Darren Lin, Minghui Zhang, Emily Jiang, and Frankie Lin; (fourth row) Shawn Edbert, Henry Westfall, and Noah Hidalgo; (fifth row) Matas Bujanauskas and Elias Chavez.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Penn Engineering receives $11M from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation to expand Clark Scholars Program

The funds will strengthen scholarships, create an annual Philanthropy Challenge, establish an entrepreneurship concentration, and support summer internships for future engineering leaders.

Holly Wojcik

2 min. read

Penn Engineering’s Dohyung Kim named 2025 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering

Penn Engineering’s Dohyung Kim named 2025 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering

The assistant professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering has been named a 2025 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Kim leads the Kim Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Interfaces at the Nanoscale, which investigates how chemical reactions occur on the surfaces of solid catalysts—materials that drive processes central to energy production, fuel generation, and chemical manufacturing.

Russell Composto talks leading Penn Forward’s Undergraduate Education and Innovation working group
Russell Composto at a conference table gesticulating with undergraduates.

Russell Composto, chair of the Penn Forward Undergraduate Education and Innovation working group and vice provost for undergraduate education, seated with undergraduates on Oct. 13, 2025, inside College Hall. 

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  • Q&A

    • Russell Composto talks leading Penn Forward’s Undergraduate Education and Innovation working group

    In a Q&A, Russell Composto, vice provost for undergraduate education and chair of Penn Forward’s Undergraduate Education and Innovation working group, talks about the guiding principles of the team and what it means to think boldly about the future of the undergraduate experience at Penn.

    8 min. read

    Two Penn faculty elected American Physical Society Fellows
    Ritesh Agarwal and Doug Jerolmack.

    Ritesh Agarwal (left), Srinivasa Ramanujan Distinguished Scholar in Materials Science and Engineering, and Douglas Jerolmack, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics.

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    Two Penn faculty elected American Physical Society Fellows

    Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Douglas Jerolmack of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Engineering have been elected by their peers in recognition of their contributions to the field.

    2 min. read

    Eva Dyer is listening to the brain’s code with a little help from AI
    Eva Dyer

    Eva Dyer is the Rachleff Associate Professor in Bioengineering and in computer and information science at the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

    (Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

    Eva Dyer is listening to the brain’s code with a little help from AI

    Penn professor Eva Dyer merges her background in music and audio engineering with artificial intelligence to help uncover brain signals and explore how the brain processes information.

    Melissa Pappas

    2 min. read

    Inspiring interest in water quality at Cobbs Creek
    Two people in waders in Cobbs Creek getting water samples.

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    Inspiring interest in water quality at Cobbs Creek

    Faculty and staff, high school and Penn students, and community members are working together to collect and analyze the most detailed water quality data to date at the West Philadelphia stream.

    4 min. read