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Designing cleaner, greener concrete that absorbs carbon dioxide
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.

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Designing cleaner, greener concrete that absorbs carbon dioxide

Penn engineers, materials scientists, and designers have developed a 3D-printed concrete solution based on diatomaceous earth that has enhanced carbon capture, is stronger, and uses fewer materials like cement.

6 min. read

Penn Engineers examine the fracture mechanics of 3D graphene structures

Penn Engineers examine the fracture mechanics of 3D graphene structures

A new study from teams in the labs of Penn Engineering’s Ottman Tertuliano and Robert Carpick describes a new, 3D auto-kirigami deformation of graphene, one of the strongest materials known to science, and how the process could be used to transform 2D graphene into 3D structures.

New 3D-printing enables color-changing, stress-responsive materials for smart sensing, displays, and robotics
A Penn engineering student holds up an array of different structures made with a new, 3D-printed material

Alicia Ng, a Ph.D. student in materials science and engineering holds up an array of different structures made with a new, 3D-printed material that changes color when stretched.

(Image: Penn Engineering Today)

New 3D-printing enables color-changing, stress-responsive materials for smart sensing, displays, and robotics

Penn engineers have developed a transparent silicone shell to preserve cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers—color-changing materials that can respond to mechanical stress—while supporting intricate 3D designs.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Penn engineers first to train AI at lightspeed
Tianwei Wu (left) and Liang Feng (right) demonstrating some of the apparatus used to develop the new, light-powered chip.

Tianwei Wu (left) and Liang Feng (right) demonstrating some of the apparatus used to develop the new, light-powered chip.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Penn engineers first to train AI at lightspeed

Penn engineers have developed the first photonic chip that reshapes how light behaves to carry out the nonlinear mathematics at the heart of modern AI while reducing energy use.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Baseball’s ‘magic mud’
A jar of Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud sits on a table beside a muddy, dirty baseball.

Lena Blackburne’s legendary baseball rubbing mud has been a game-day staple for nearly a century, helping Major League pitchers achieve a better grip. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have scientifically confirmed its friction-enhancing properties, revealing its significance not just in baseball, but also in the broader field of materials science.

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Baseball’s ‘magic mud’

Douglas Jerolmack and Paulo Arratia led research that could someday crack the code of the mud smeared on baseballs for nearly a century that pitchers profess provides a perfect grip.

3 min. read

Modeling careers in STEM
Allyson Mackey, Melissa Kelly, Ping Wang, and Vanessa Chan speaking to audience.

This year’s Women in STEM Symposium featured (left to right) Allyson Mackey of the School of Arts & Sciences, Melissa Kelly of Penn Center for Innovation, Ping Wang of the Perelman School of Medicine, and Vanessa Chan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. 

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Modeling careers in STEM

At Penn’s annual Women in STEM Symposium, Vanessa Chan, Allyson Mackey, Ping Wang, and Melissa Kelly shared lessons from their experiences.

3 min. read

Quantum communications
3D rendering of artist's interpretation of quantum entanglement.

Leveraging principles of quantum mechanics to securely transmit messages has promised a revolution in encryption, keeping sensitive information secure. Now, a collaborative team of researchers including the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Liang Feng and Ph.D. candidate Yichi Zhang have developed a system that enables more stable, robust, high-efficiency, and long-range quantum communication—paving the way for practical, high-dimensional quantum networks.

(Image: Courtesy of Jian Fan)

Quantum communications

Penn and CUNY researchers collaborated to develop a device that uses quantum principles to relay information securely—an advance that could improve encryption in critical service areas like banking and health care.
Breakthrough in energy-saving process could transform data storage
Ritesh Agarwal looks through a microscope in his lab.

Ritesh Agarwal is the Srinivasa Ramanujan Distinguished Scholar and a professor of materials science and engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering Today)

Breakthrough in energy-saving process could transform data storage

Researchers led by Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered a groundbreaking, ultra-low-energy method for creating amorphous materials, which could boost the efficiency of phase-change memory technology, potentially revolutionizing data storage.