Skip to Content Skip to Content

Nanotechnology

Shujie Yang harnesses sound to build the next generation of microrobotic medicine
Shujie Yang

Shujie Yang is at the frontier of single-cell acoustic manipulation, an emerging field that blends physics, mechanobiology, and medicine.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Shujie Yang harnesses sound to build the next generation of microrobotic medicine

Yang’s lab at Penn Engineering uses precisely-controlled ultrasound waves to develop microscale tools that can manipulate cells, viruses, and soft materials without physical contact.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Building better delivery vehicles for medicine
A machine in Michael Mitchell’s lab.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering

Building better delivery vehicles for medicine

Penn researchers in the Mitchell Lab are modifying lipid nanoparticles, the delivery vehicles for mRNA therapies, to make them more potent, precise, and better tolerated.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

When bone behaves like a sponge
Three members of the Tertuliano lab looking at a computer in the lab.

To visualize the nanoscale structures, the Tertuliano lab often uses large-scale models like the one pictured.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

When bone behaves like a sponge

Penn Engineers in the Tertuliano Lab have developed a nanoengineered 3D-printed scaffold for observing how cells feel force.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines
Hannah Yamagata, Research Assistant Professor Kushol Gupta and postdoctoral fellow Marshall Padilla, holding 3D-printed models of nanoparticles in a lab.

(From left) Doctoral student Hannah Yamagata, research assistant professor Kushol Gupta, and postdoctoral fellow Marshall Padilla holding 3D-printed models of nanoparticles.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines

New research involving Penn Engineering shows detailed variation in lipid nanoparticle size, shape, and internal structure, and finds that such factors correlate with how well they deliver therapeutic cargo to a particular destination.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

New class of materials passively harvest water from air
A water droplet reflecting the color spectrum.

Image: MamiGibbs via Getty Images

New class of materials passively harvest water from air

Researchers at Penn Engineering have discovered a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, which could enable new ways to collect water in arid regions and devices that cool electronics or buildings using the power of evaporation.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Microrobots navigate diverse oral environments to deliver therapies

Microrobots navigate diverse oral environments to deliver therapies

Penn Engineers and clinicians at the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry are developing shapeshifting microrobots capable of navigating the complex environments of the mouth to deliver targeted treatments.

Five Penn faculty elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Top row: Dennis Discher, Michael Correa-Jones, and Cherie Kagan. Bottom row: Sophie Rosenfeld and Susan Weiss.

Top row: Dennis Discher, Michael Correa-Jones, and Cherie Kagan. Bottom row: Sophie Rosenfeld and Susan Weiss.

nocred

Five Penn faculty elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Dennis E. Discher, Michael Jones-Correa, Cherie R. Kagan, Sophia Rosenfeld, and Susan R. Weiss are being recognized for their contributions to engineering, political science, history, and biology.

3 min. read

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed
Lit-up lights on a computer chip.

Image: iStock/yucelyilmaz

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed

A new silicon-photonic (SiPh) chip design from the lab of Nader Engheta, alongside Firooz Aflatouni, uses light waves, the fastest possible means of communication, rather than electricity, to perform mathematical computations.

From Penn Engineering Today