2/5
Mechanical Engineering
Celebrating five years of innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity
Celebrating five years of innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity
Penn Today marks the anniversary of Pennovation Works, the University’s business incubator and laboratory space, with a look at the evolution of the site, its research and commercialization achievements, and a glimpse into the future.
A microscopic worm may shed light on how we perceive gravity
A microscopic worm may shed light on how we perceive gravity
C. elegans shares more than half of its genes with humans, allowing genetic studies to give insight into which genes are responsible for similar traits in humans, such as pinpointing molecular pathways responsible for gravitaxis, the ability to move in response to gravity.
Packaging-free design quadruples microbatteries’ energy density
Packaging-free design quadruples microbatteries’ energy density
New research from the School of Engineering and Applied Science shows a new way to build and package microbatteries that maximizes energy density even at the smallest sizes.
Simulation of glacial calving and tsunami waves predicts climate change consequences
Simulation of glacial calving and tsunami waves predicts climate change consequences
Researchers at the School of Engineering and Applied Science have created a computer model that can accurately simulate tsunamis caused by glacial calving, critical to hazard assessments and mitigation measures in coastal regions regarding climate change.
‘I Look Like an Engineer’
‘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.
Even without a brain, metal-eating robots can search for food
Even without a brain, metal-eating robots can search for food
SEAS engineers are developing robot-powered technology with energy sources that are harvested in the robot’s environment.
The Philadelphia Orchestra is playing safe
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.
Researchers reach new heights with light-based levitation
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.
Niko Simpkins: At the nexus of engineering and music
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.
Using stress to shape microlevel structures
Using stress to shape microlevel structures
A new study describes how external forces drive the rearrangement of individual particles in disordered solids, enabling new ways to imbue materials with unique mechanical properties.
In the News
CNN
What officials are doing—and suggesting—to learn more about the possible drone sightings
Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that the main difficulties in detecting and tracking drones stem from their small size, agility, and potential for autonomous operation.
FULL STORY →
CNN
Why you shouldn’t try to shoot down a suspected drone
Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that shooting at potential drones could lead to missed shots, stray bullets, or accidents that result in hazardous outcomes far beyond the intended action.
FULL STORY →
Newsweek
What New Jersey’s mystery drones could actually be, according to experts
Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied believes that mystery drones in New Jersey are part a U.S. government operation rather than being sent by a foreign state actor.
FULL STORY →
NBC News
Special mud rubbed on all MLB baseballs has unique, ‘magical’ properties, study finds
A study by Douglas Jerolmack of the School of Arts & Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues has uncovered the mechanical properties of the mud used to coat Major League baseballs.
FULL STORY →
The New York Times
The science that makes baseball mud ‘magical’
A study by Douglas Jerolmack of the School of Arts & Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues has uncovered the mechanical properties of the mud used to coat Major League baseballs, with additional remarks from postdoc Shravan Pradeep and Paulo Arratia.
FULL STORY →
CNBC
Students can soon major in AI at this Ivy League university—it’ll prepare them for ‘jobs that don’t yet exist’
The Raj and Neera Singh Program in Artificial Intelligence at Penn will be the first AI undergraduate engineering major at an Ivy League school, led by George Pappas of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
FULL STORY →