3/4
Innovation
Building bridges: A feat of engineering and artistry
At the Corning Museum of Glass, professor of architecture Masoud Akbarzadeh and his team have turned fragility into strength with a 30-foot-long span of shimmering glass, blending ancient wisdom with cutting-edge design to redefine the future of structural engineering and architecture.
Stentix wins the 2025 Y-Prize
The winning team of Penn Engineering’s annual award for entrepreneurial technology have created a noninvasive mechanism to adjust medical stent positioning using magnetic reconfiguration.
A look back at 2024 through Penn Today stories
Revisit some of the stories that highlighted the events, breakthroughs, people, and research across the University this year.
Climate crisis meets nursing know-how
How nurses at Penn are innovating public health care for a changing world.
Easing patient fears of radiation treatment, via virtual reality
Before their first dose of radiation, cancer patients can shadow another patient’s treatment and get a private behind-the-scenes tour with the team members via virtual reality.
Penn Vet’s Wildlife Futures Program launches habitat initiative for Philadelphia bats
With the bat population on a sharp decline since 2008, the Program collaborated with Penn Sustainability and Penn Facilities and Real Estate Services to develop bat boxes designed to mimic tree habitat and support the daily needs and overall health of bats.
Mastering physical contact with new algorithm for robots
Penn Engineers have developed an algorithm that makes previously impossible tasks possible for autonomous robots, like controlling the motion of a sliding object.
Racing to the future
Rahul Mangharam’s scaled-down, self-driving race cars are revamping engineering education at Penn.
The power of protons
Penn Medicine has treated more than 10,000 cancer patients at three proton therapy centers across the region, including the largest and busiest center in the world—while also leading the way in research to expand the healing potential of these positive particles.
How to learn about a world-class double bass? Give it a CT
Radiology experts at Penn Medicine applied imaging technology to centuries-old instruments to better understand how to care for masterworks built between the 17th and 19th centuries, and provide insights into building new ones.
In the News
Philly schools could be on the forefront of using AI. Here’s what that means
Penn has partnered with the Philadelphia School District to launch a pilot program to train teachers and administrators on how best to integrate artificial intelligence in city schools, featuring remarks from L. Michael Golden of the Graduate School of Education.
FULL STORY →
Bosses struggle to police workers’ use of AI
Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School says that workers who privately use generative AI to accelerate their work might not be willing to admit it.
FULL STORY →
Supreme Court will hear TikTok’s challenge to looming U.S. ban
Justin (Gus) Hurwitz of Penn Carey Law says that the heart of the TikTok ban case is balancing the First Amendment against both national security concerns and the court’s deference to Congress and the executive branch.
FULL STORY →
Family offices face hidden risks in making direct investments
According to a study by Raphael “Raffi” Amit of the Wharton School and colleagues, direct investments in private companies could mean taking on more risk than expected if family offices aren’t leveraging their resources.
FULL STORY →
When AI goes shopping: AI agents promise to lighten your purchasing load—if they can earn your trust
Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School says that the adoption of AI in everyday life will be gradual, as societal change typically lags behind technological advancement.
FULL STORY →
What a new innovation index tells us about Philadelphia
Penn is lauded for its research and development efforts, including the modified mRNA technique that was commercialized into a COVID vaccine and won its researchers a Nobel Prize last year.
FULL STORY →