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20 breakthroughs of 2025
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.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.

5 min. read

Penn Team honored with Charles E. Peterson Prize for work on Nakashima House

Penn Team honored with Charles E. Peterson Prize for work on Nakashima House

A recent study of the Nakashima home by students in the Department of Historic Preservation at the Weitzman School have earned the Charles E. Peterson Prize from the National Park Service Heritage Documentation Programs, the Philadelphia Atheneum, American Institute of Architects, and the Association for Preservation Technology International.

The human side of clean energy

The human side of clean energy

In their new book “Power Lines: The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition,” Sanya Carley and David Konisky ask what happens to the people left behind in America’s energy transition.

From Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

2 min. read

Air travel quandary: Gad Allon and Megan Ryerson on challenges and solutions
Travelers in a busy security checkpoint at an airport.

Travelers at a security checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago during the government shutdown in November.

(Image: Nam Y. Huh via Getty Images)

  • Q&A

    • Air travel quandary: Gad Allon and Megan Ryerson on challenges and solutions

    The recent government shutdown exposed long-standing issues facing commercial air travel. Leading into Thanksgiving holiday travel, Gad Allon of the Wharton School and Megan Ryerson of the Weitzman School of Design discuss the system’s infrastructure challenges and the need for workforce development.

    4 min. read

    Letting the sunshine in and monitoring stormwater runoff
    Tree saplings next to the solar panels.

    Trees planted next to the solar panels are enhancing stormwater runoff infiltration.

    (Image: The Water Center at Penn)

    Letting the sunshine in and monitoring stormwater runoff

    As the buzz around renewable energy grows louder, a research endeavor led by the Water Center at Penn exemplifies of how addressing energy demands goes hand-in-hand with tackling water challenges.

    From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

    2 min. read

    Ph.D. researcher Yefan Zhi wins the Hangai Prize

    Ph.D. researcher Yefan Zhi wins the Hangai Prize

    Yefan Zhi, a third-year Ph.D. student in architecture at the Weitzman School and a member of the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory has won the Hangai Prize at the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures Annual Symposium 2025 for co-authoring the paper “Surface-Toolpath Twins of Shell Components in 3D Concrete Printing for Optimized Buildability and Surface Quality”.

    Why aren’t America’s national roadways working?
    Traffic from New Jersey to Philadelphia.

    Professor of city and regional planning Erick Guerra recently published a book exploring the economic and societal impacts of American highways. He explains some of the pitfalls associated with an ever-expansive highway system, arguing that spending more on highways might not be the solution to the country’s transportation issues.

    (Image: Courtesy of Getty / peeterv)

    Why aren’t America’s national roadways working?

    Penn urban planner Erick Guerra’s new book, “Overbuilt,” argues that additional spending on building more highways might not be the solution to the country’s transportation issues. In a Q&A, Guerra shares his insights.

    4 min. read

    The making of Weitzman Hall
    Before and after aerial views of Weitzman Hall under construction and completed.

    Image: Courtesy of KieranTimberlake

    The making of Weitzman Hall

    As the Weitzman School of Design prepared to open its first new building in more than 50 years, members of the design, preservation, and construction teams were highlighted in a series of conversations about the making of Stuart Weitzman Hall.

    From the Weitzman School of Design

    2 min. read

    Why rental support works
    Vincent Reina and Sara Jaffee.

    “You’re seeing a dramatic improvement in housing stability outcomes,” says Vincent Reina, pictured with Sara Jaffee.

    nocred

    Why rental support works

    Cash assistance drastically reduces tenants’ likelihood of eviction and homelessness, according to an ongoing study of the PHLHousing+ program from Weitzman’s Vincent Reina and Arts & Sciences’ Sara Jaffee.

    From the Weitzman School of Design

    2 min. read