11/15
Chemical Engineering
Preparing the next generation of engineers to solve the world’s energy and sustainability problems
Preparing the next generation of engineers to solve the world’s energy and sustainability problems
Lorena Grundy is Penn Engineering’s new practice assistant professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering.
A climate expert’s return to Penn
A climate expert’s return to Penn
Jen Wilcox, an expert on direct-air capture, is the inaugural faculty appointment in the Kleinman Center and served for three years as principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Fossil Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy. She discusses her time away and her return to Penn.
Soft materials, sustainability, and the environment
Soft materials, sustainability, and the environment
Chinedum Osuji, a faculty fellow of the Environmental Innovations Initiative, discusses his research and its connections to sustainability and the environment, and how industry and researchers can work better together.
Shu Yang manipulates materials to create climate change-fighting inventions
Shu Yang manipulates materials to create climate change-fighting inventions
The Joseph Bordogna Professor and chair of Materials Science and Engineering has introduced simple yet effective technologies, including kirigami-inspired structures that aid in breast reconstruction, to the manipulation of knots to create stronger sutures.
Scientists observe composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time
Scientists observe composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time
The findings could enable engineers to more reliably manufacture next-generation materials by combining different nanocrystals.
The alchemy behind the diamond: Unearthing baseball’s beloved mud
The alchemy behind the diamond: Unearthing baseball’s beloved mud
Researchers at Penn are working on cracking the code behind Major League Baseball’s “Magic Mud.”
Engineered magic: Wooden seed carriers mimic the behavior of self-burying seed
Engineered magic: Wooden seed carriers mimic the behavior of self-burying seed
Researchers from Penn Engineering have developed a seed carrier, fashioned from wood veneer, that could enable aerial seeding of difficult-to-access areas, and could be used for a variety of seeds or fertilizers.
New insights into the mechanisms of tumor growth
New insights into the mechanisms of tumor growth
A team of researchers led by the School of Arts & Science’s Wei Guo characterize the molecular pathways that play a major role in tumorigenesis, findings that could lead to better diagnostic tools for cancer and new targeted therapies.
Turning carbon emissions into rocks
Turning carbon emissions into rocks
In Penn’s Clean Energy Conversions Lab, researcher Peter Psarras and colleagues are repurposing waste from industrial mines, storing carbon pulled from the atmosphere into newly formed rock.
Prioritizing environmental justice while capturing carbon from the air
Prioritizing environmental justice while capturing carbon from the air
The Clean Energy Conversions Lab’s mission is to minimize the environmental and climate impacts of the world’s dependence on fossil fuels through carbon management.
In the News
The Wall Street Journal
How can we remove carbon from the air? Here are a few ideas
Jennifer Wilcox of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the carbon-removal potential of forestation can’t always be reliably measured in terms of how much removal and for how long.
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The New York Times
Can your personal medical devices be recycled?
A lab at the School of Engineering and Applied Science led the development of a COVID test made from bacterial cellulose, an organic compound.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
What’s so ‘magic’ about the secret South Jersey mud rubbed on baseballs? These Penn researchers think they know why
Doug Jerolmack of the School of Arts & Sciences, Paulo Arratia of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and colleagues are researching the chemical properties of baseball’s “magic mud” for use in applications beyond sports.
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SciTechDaily
Iontronics breakthrough: Faster thin film devices for improved batteries and advanced computing
Andrew Rappe of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues have developed high-quality, single-crystal oxide thin films, aligned in such a way that the lithium ions can move even faster along vertical ionic transport channels.
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The Guardian
Reversible superglue proves strong enough to hold average man
Shu Yang and colleagues from the School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new glue from hydrogel, inspired by snail slime. “The mucus [snails] produce is a viscous liquid, but when it dries they become firmly stuck,” said Yang.
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Nature
A DIY approach to automating your lab
Brian Chow of the School of Engineering and Applied Science led a team of Penn undergrads in developing a low-cost plate reader for teaching labs using open-source automation software. “Philosophically, I believe in supporting the open-source-hardware community,” he said.
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