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How Vanessa Chan is training Ph.D. engineers for real-world impact
Vanessa Chan.

Vanessa Chan is the Jonathan and Linda Brassington Practice Professor in Materials Science and Engineering and vice dean of innovation and entrepreneurship.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

How Vanessa Chan is training Ph.D. engineers for real-world impact

The Jonathan and Linda Brassington Practice Professor in Materials Science and Engineering and vice dean of innovation and entrepreneurship is helping students to bridge the divide between technical excellence and real-world impact.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

How sea stars build materials that can see
Li holds the skeletons of two differently sized sea stars, both showing the calcium carbonate skeleton.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering

How sea stars build materials that can see

Researchers have discovered that the skeleton of the sea star Protoreaster nodosus contains specialized mineral structures capable of guiding and concentrating light, suggesting natural mechanical support and optical sensing in a singular system.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Getting into the nitty gritty of sand  
Created materials in the lab.

Penn Engineering materials scientist Shu Yang and Weitzman School of Design architect Masoud Akbarzadeh teamed up to develop a 3D concrete printing system that captures carbon dioxide and boosts the structural performance of the building materials. The solution is based on diatomaceous earth and offers enhanced carbon capture and structural fortitude while using relatively fewer materials.

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Getting into the nitty gritty of sand  

Materials scientist Shu Yang explains the hidden physics of a day at the beach, like why some sands scorch your feet, what makes the perfect sandcastle, and how the same humble grains end up in windows and smartphones.

3 min. read

Topology helps build more robust photonic networks
(From left) Xilin Feng, Liang Feng, and Tianwei Wu in an engineering lab.

(From left) Xilin Feng, Liang Feng, and Tianwei Wu developed a microring array that allows multiple beams of light to travel simultaneously, protected by topology.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Topology helps build more robust photonic networks

Researchers at Penn Engineering draw insights from topology to help drive promising, light-based technological advances in computing and communications.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

20 breakthroughs of 2025
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.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.

5 min. read

How a coral stiffens its skeleton on demand
Chenhao Hu holds up a 3D-printed model of a sclerite.

Penn Engineering doctoral student Chenhao Hu holding a 3D-printed model of a sclerite, the tiny mineral particles that make up the coral’s skeleton and whose unique shape allows the organism to tune its own stiffness.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

How a coral stiffens its skeleton on demand

Researchers at Penn Engineering have discovered how a coral’s skeleton compacts itself to ward off danger, a novel discovery of “granular jamming” in a living organism.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Two Penn faculty elected American Physical Society Fellows
Ritesh Agarwal and Doug Jerolmack.

Ritesh Agarwal (left), Srinivasa Ramanujan Distinguished Scholar in Materials Science and Engineering, and Douglas Jerolmack, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics.

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Two Penn faculty elected American Physical Society Fellows

Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Douglas Jerolmack of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Engineering have been elected by their peers in recognition of their contributions to the field.

2 min. read

Penn Engineers send quantum signals with standard internet protocol
Yichi Zhang wearing sunglasses in the Penn Engineering lab.

Yichi Zhang, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering, inspects the source of the quantum signal.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Penn Engineers send quantum signals with standard internet protocol

Penn engineers have developed a “Q-Chip” (quantum-classical hybrid internet by photonics) signal which coordinates quantum and classical data and can run on the same infrastructure that carries everyday online traffic.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Understanding atomic disorder and next-gen electronics
Imaging devices surround a material on a blue backlit surface.

A new class of 2D materials known as MXenes holds the key to next-generation applications, such as consumer electronics and medical devices. Now, collaborative research led by Zahra Fakhraai of the School of Arts & Sciences, Aleksandra Vojvodic of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and their collaborators offers fundamental insights into the chemical and geometric mechanisms underlying the synthesis of these materials, a finding that could lead to cleaner, quicker energy conversion and storage for these devices. 

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Understanding atomic disorder and next-gen electronics

A Penn team has developed insight into the chemical and geometric mechanisms underlying the synthesis of new 2D materials, paving the way for next-gen devices, biomedical applications, and cleaner, quicker energy conversion and storage.

5 min. read