Computer Science | Penn Today

From left: Shreya Arya, Miguel Lopez, Rob Ghrist, and Julian Gould

The soul of an artist, the mind of a mathematician

An artist, author, engineer, mathematician, and mentor, PIK Professor in the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science Robert Ghrist embraces innovation to enrich each of these roles.

8 min. read

Students unveil their latest self-made electric race car on College Green, just in front of Benjamin Franklin statue.

Penn Electric Racing’s latest racecar

Penn Electric Racing, the student-led Formula Society of Automotive Engineers electric team, debuted its latest electric race car, REVX, on College Green on March 28. This marks the team's 10th custom-designed car since its founding in 2013 and its most sophisticated to date.

3 min. read

El Pais

A major evolutionary enigma solved: How simple cells gave rise to complex ones

César de la Fuente of the Perelman School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science comments on the analogy between biological evolution and computational algorithms.

2024 PEP and PIP winners: Where are they now?

Nearly a year after being awarded the 2024 President’s Engagement Prize and President’s Innovation Prize, the recipients—now alumni—provide updates on their projects.

5 min. read

CNN

What officials are doing—and suggesting—to learn more about the possible drone sightings

Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that the main difficulties in detecting and tracking drones stem from their small size, agility, and potential for autonomous operation.

CNN

Why you shouldn’t try to shoot down a suspected drone

Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that shooting at potential drones could lead to missed shots, stray bullets, or accidents that result in hazardous outcomes far beyond the intended action.

Newsweek

What New Jersey’s mystery drones could actually be, according to experts

Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied believes that mystery drones in New Jersey are part a U.S. government operation rather than being sent by a foreign state actor.

Scientific American

Grumpy voters want better stories. Not statistics

In a Q&A, PIK Professor Duncan Watts says that U.S. voters ignored Democratic policy in favor of Republican storytelling.

Interesting Engineering

Superhuman vision lets robots see through walls, smoke with new LiDAR-like eyes

Mingmin Zhao of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues are using radio signals to allow robots to “see” beyond traditional sensor limits.

Medical students sit at a long desk in front of computers.

Training medical AI with knowledge, not shortcuts

By emulating the training pathway of human physicians, KnoBo breaks new ground in medical image recognition with AI.

Filters