Materials Science

Making complex 3-D surfaces with 2-D sheets

Using liquid crystal elastomer, researchers are able to transform 2-dimensional rubber-like sheets into malleable, three-dimensional shapes, with a precise amount of control for various shape sequences.

Ali Sundermier

Researchers show that cells’ perception of stiffness is a matter of time

The relative stiffness of a cell’s environment is known to have a large effect on that cell’s behavior, including how well the cell can stick or move. Now, a new study by University of Pennsylvania researchers demonstrates the role timing plays in how cells perceive this stiffness.

Ali Sundermier Evan Lerner



In the News


Times of India

Self shocks turn crystal to glass at ultralow power density: Study

A collaborative study by researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Science has shed new light on amorphization, the transition from a crystalline to a glassy state at the nanoscale.

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Interesting Engineering

U.S. achieves billion-fold power-saving semiconductor tech; could challenge China

A collaborative effort by Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues has made phase-change memory more energy efficient and could unlock a future revolution in data storage.

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Nature

Meet the unsung scientists behind the Nobel for quantum dots

Christopher Murray’s lab at the School of Arts & Sciences is delving into the next phase of quantum-dot research to make components for quantum computing, sensing, and communication.

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SciTechDaily

Iontronics breakthrough: Faster thin film devices for improved batteries and advanced computing

Andrew Rappe of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues have developed high-quality, single-crystal oxide thin films, aligned in such a way that the lithium ions can move even faster along vertical ionic transport channels.

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Quanta Magazine

The new math of wrinkling

Eleni Katifori of the School of Arts & Sciences is credited for her work simulating wrinkle patterns, which were crucial to an overall theory of geometric wrinkle prediction.

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The New York Times

The hills are alive with the flows of physics

In the lab of Douglas Jerolmack, researchers led by doctoral candidate Nakul Deshpande of the School of Arts & Sciences explored how landscapes gradually move over time.

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