Electrical and Computer Engineering

Microsoft’s big lie: Your computer is fine (and you don’t need to buy a new one)

Tim Allen of the Wharton School says that any computer bought new in 2015 should be perfectly capable of running an operating system, a web browser, email, video meetings, and an office suite without feeling slow.

A computer chip being placed by a rubber-gloved hand.

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

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

Farmers are using IoT to take the guesswork out of growing

As director of the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture research center, Cherie Kagan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is uniting university faculty, industry professionals, and farmers to support the development of precision agriculture IoT technologies.

Top row: Dennis Discher, Michael Correa-Jones, and Cherie Kagan. Bottom row: Sophie Rosenfeld and Susan Weiss.

Five Penn faculty elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Dennis E. Discher, Michael Jones-Correa, Cherie R. Kagan, Sophia Rosenfeld, and Susan R. Weiss are being recognized for their contributions to engineering, political science, history, and biology.

3 min. read

Is Moore’s Law really dead?

Penn Engineering’s Ben Lee and André DeHon discuss Moore’s Law, the observation that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double every two years with minimal rise in cost, and reflect on the consequences and opportunities of its possible end.

An elderly person who received a vaccine.

Who to vaccinate first? Answering a life-or-death question with network theory

Researchers from Penn Engineering and Penn Medicine have collaborated to determine the best theoretical strategy for a vaccine rollout.

Some of the equipment used by the Feng Group for transmitting light.

Revolutionizing data centers: Penn Engineers’ breakthrough in photonic switching

Researchers have developed a photonic switch that can redirect signals in trillionths of a second with minimal power consumption.

Robert Gifford’s breakthroughs in real-time system safety

The doctoral candidate with the Penn Research in Embedded Computing and Integrated Systems Engineering Center at Penn Engineering is revolutionizing real-time systems on modern multicore computers.

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.

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