Mechanical Engineering

clockwise) Nyasha Zimunhu, Fahmida Lubna, Celestina Saven, Sanjana Hemdev, Sabrina Green and Sydney Kariuki

‘I Look Like an Engineer’

For the third year in a row, Penn Engineering’s Advancing Women in Engineering program, dedicated to recruiting, retaining and promoting all female-identified students in the School, participated in the “I Look Like an Engineer” social media movement.

From Penn Engineering ・

philly orchestra on stage at kimmel

The Philadelphia Orchestra is playing safe

Penn experts are working with The Philadelphia Orchestra to study the aerosol droplets that wind and brass musicians produce when playing. Their findings, aimed at reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, could help the Orchestra once again play together.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

Mohsen Azadi wears latex gloves and wields a scalpel while preparing a photophoretic levitation experiment.

Researchers reach new heights with light-based levitation

Penn researchers are working to engineer nanoscale features on ultra-lightweight materials, finding the ideal combination that will allow those materials to lift themselves into the air using the energy provided by light.

Evan Lerner ・

Niko Simpkins sitting with arms folded, smiling

Niko Simpkins: At the nexus of engineering and music

For Niko Simpkins, a musician who performs, produces, and engineers his own tracks, the most exciting processes combine structure and flexibility, creativity, and rigor. As a third-year student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, he sees his mechanical engineering education as a framework for problem solving that might serve him across a broad set of endeavors, and for now, he’s more interested in learning than narrowing to any one particular career path.

Evan Lerner ・



Media Contact


Erica K. Brockmeier

Erica K. Brockmeier Science News Officer
ekbrock@upenn.edu

In the News


Los Angeles Times

This L.A. start-up is building tiny injectable robots to attack tumors

Marc Miskin of the School of Engineering and Applied Science commented on a new startup that is developing remote-control medical microrobots. “I would give them a lot of credit for figuring out a space where they can make an impact and justify how they’ll be competitive with traditional pharmaceutical approaches,” he said.

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The Washington Post

Drone maker hurt by US-China rift, opening door to US rivals

Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the challenges of using drones for commercial purposes and about American perceptions of DJI, a China-based drone manufacturer.

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KYW Newsradio (Philadelphia)

The Origami Mask Project's engineers are designing DIY face masks for COVID-19

Shu Yang of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the The Origami Mask Project, which is developing simple, easy DIY face masks.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Why not fly over it?’ Uber picks New Jersey firms in ambitious bid to beat traffic congestion

Rahul Mangharam of the School of Engineering and Applied Science commented on Uber’s new air taxi venture. “It’s going to be a very congested sky,” he said. “You want to make sure that each flight plan is safe by design, and that even if they do mess up for some reason, they have a fallback option.”

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Gizmodo

This freaky robotic fish is powered by ‘blood’

James Pikul of the School of Engineering and Applied Science co-authored a study in which researchers developed a soft, robotic lionfish powered by a blood-like compound. “This robot blood is our first demonstration of storing energy in a fluid that is normally only used for actuation,” he said.

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The New York Times

The microbots are on their way

Marc Miskin of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about his cell-sized microbots, which may one day be used for a variety of purposes ranging from measuring brain networks to cleaning cellphone batteries.

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