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Designing cleaner, greener concrete
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.

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Designing cleaner, greener concrete

Penn engineers, materials scientists, and designers have developed a 3D-printed concrete solution based on diatomaceous earth that has enhanced carbon capture, is stronger, and uses fewer materials like cement.

6 min. read

$2.6M NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

$2.6M NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Sherry Gao, Presidential Penn Compact Associate Professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering and in bioengineering at Penn Engineering is the co-recipient of a $2.6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to develop new gene editing tools that could address one of the underlying mutations that causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic disease that thickens the heart’s walls, making it harder for the organ to pump blood.

Wensi Wu uses digital twins to explore the hidden mechanics of the human heart
computational mapping of a human heart.

Image: Floriana via Getty Images

Wensi Wu uses digital twins to explore the hidden mechanics of the human heart

Wu, a research faculty member at Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, develops “digital twins” of the human heart through computational modeling that capture both the visible and invisible aspects of cardiac function.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Teaching robots to build without blueprints
A simulation of the mathematics of a bee colony.

Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed mathematical rules to simulate robots to behave like bees, building complex shapes without instructions, pointing to a new manufacturing frontier.

(Image: Courtesy of Jordan Raney and Mark Yim)

Teaching robots to build without blueprints

Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed mathematical rules to simulate robots who behave like bees, building complex shapes without instructions, pointing to a new manufacturing frontier inspired by nature.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug
Qiuyue Nie and Maria Zotova, from left, purify samples of the fungus in a lab.

First author Qiuyue Nie (left) and coauthor Maria Zotova purify samples of the fungus.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug

Penn-led researchers have isolated a new class of molecules from Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus, and modified it into a promising cancer-killing compound

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Decoding ancient immunity networks
Hand holding a blood vial that reads "complement (C3 + C4)"

A collaborative team from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Perelman School of Medicine have unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that acts like the body’s bouncer, “deciding” which foreign materials get degraded by immune cells and which are allowed entry.

(Image / iStock Md Saiful Islam Khan)

Decoding ancient immunity networks

A collaborative team from Penn Medicine and Penn Engineering have  unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that “decides” which foreign materials are friend or foe.

Nathi Magubane , Ian Scheffler , Holly Wojcik , Matt Toal

5 min. read

What is an NPU? A Penn expert explains
A computer chip being placed by a rubber-gloved hand.

Image: Narumon Bowonkitwanchai via Getty Images

  • Q&A

    • What is an NPU? A Penn expert explains

    Benjamin C. Lee, a professor of electrical and systems engineering, explains what a neural processing unit (NPU) is and why it matters in the age of artificial intelligence.

    5 min. read

    How cable news has diverged from broadcast news
    Person sitting on couch watching news.

    Image: simonkr via Getty Images

    How cable news has diverged from broadcast news

    A team of researchers from the Computational Social Science Lab at the University of Pennsylvania find that cable news has increasingly diverged from broadcast news in the topics covered and language used.

    3 min. read

    AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows collaborate across disciplines
    Sibe-by-side portraits of Brynn Sherman, on left, and Kieran Murphy, right.

    Penn’s AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows Program is breaking down traditional scientific boundaries by integrating artificial intelligence across diverse research fields. Less than a year in, the program is already paying dividends in the form of new collaborations and research publications for inaugural fellows like Brynn Sherman (left) of the School of Arts & Sciences and Kieran Murphy (right) of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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    AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows collaborate across disciplines

    The new fellowship program, offered through the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, offers mentorship and peer engagement opportunities.

    5 min. read