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School of Engineering & Applied Science
Building literacy and leadership through basketball
Three seniors with roots in West Africa will use their President’s Engagement Prize to build a program for Liberian girls that will combine sports and reading.
Protecting the planet at Penn
Earth Day and every day, the University community is at work to make the world a little better. Here are some highlights from those efforts.
Design for new Tangen Hall offers game-changing student entrepreneurship space
The new building will be Penn’s first dedicated space for cross-campus student entrepreneurship and innovation activity.
Strella Biotechnology’s biosensors minimize food waste, one apple at a time
With their 2019 President’s Innovation Prize, Katherine Sizov and Malika Shukurova are looking to disrupt the agricultural sector.
Organs-on-a-chip hurtle toward the final frontier
Microfluidic devices lined with human cells are headed to the International Space Station later this month, part of an effort to understand why astronauts get sick more easily in orbit.
Hammer time with Rachel Lee Wilson
The senior thrower is a standout performer on the women’s track and field team, and the holder of multiple school records.
Cells control their own fate by manipulating their environment
Muscle, blood, brain, and skin cells are different from one another, but they all share the same DNA. Stem cells’ transformation into specialized cells is controlled through various signals from their surroundings. A study suggests that cells may have more control over their fate than previously thought.
Class of 2019 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize winners announced at Penn
The President’s Engagement Prize and President’s Innovation Prize empower Penn students to design and undertake post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world.
Record gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos to create new energy science and technology building
Roy and Diana Vagelos have made a gift of $50 million to Penn Arts & Sciences for a new science center focused on energy science. The gift creating the new energy science and technology building In support of the Power of Penn Arts & Sciences Campaign is the largest in the School’s history.
The Power of Penn at the Met
One year into the Power of Penn campaign, President Amy Gutmann hosted a panel discussion with three professors to usher in another year of inclusion, innovation, and impact on a local and global scale.
In the News
Science
This physicist is trying to make sense of the brain’s tangled networks
Danielle Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science was profiled.
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Wired.com
Tracking readers’ eye movements can help computers learn
Dan Roth of the School of Engineering and Applied Science said it’s “clear to everyone” that signals within brain activity exist and may eventually improve machine learning.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
‘Metallic wood’ at Penn is as strong as titanium but lighter than water
James Pikul of the School of Engineering and Applied Science comments on his innovation of a material that is as strong as titanium while putting aluminum to shame in the weight department.
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Science News
A new insulation material is practically weightless yet still durable
The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Deep Jariwala commented on a new, nearly weightless insulation material made of porous aerogel capable of withstanding temperature shifts of over 1,000 degrees Celsius. “It’s notoriously hard to make materials that are not just lightweight but can also be heavily heat resistant.”
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Technical.ly Philly
For a glimpse into the future, look at aerial robotics
An event about aerial robotics with the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s dean Vijay Kumar is featured.
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