Science & Technology

Robert W. Carpick has been appointed Penn Director of the Nanotechnology Institute. Carpick is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

PHILADELPHIA - Three faculty members of the University of Pennsylvania have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

PHILADELPHIA  - A multi-center, National Institutes of Health-funded report that appears in the scientific journal Genome Research details the first assembly, annotation and comparative analysis of the domestic cat genome, Felis catus.  A University of Pennsylvania researcher is on the team.

PHILADELPHIA - "Little Ben," the autonomous vehicle engineered by University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University faculty and students to drive itself, has advanced to the finals of the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.

PHILADELPHIA - A research team led by a University of Pennsylvania mechanical engineer has discovered that friction between two sliding bodies can be reduced at the molecular, or nanoscale, level by changing the mass of the atoms at the surface.  Heavier atoms vibrate at a lower frequency, reducing energy lost during sliding.

PHILADELPHIA  - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania will share in a three-year grant worth approximately $2 million to develop technology to identify, in real time, proteins at work inside living cells.  Partnering with Anima Cell Metrology Inc., the resulting technology will be used in basic science research and in the development of drugs and novel medical treatments.

PHILADELPHIA - For the first time, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are able to pinpoint brain waves that distinguish true from false memories, providing a better understanding of how memory works and creating a new strategy to help epilepsy patients retain cognitive function.

WHO: Faculty from the Nano/Bio Interface Center of the University of Pennsylvania sponsor a day of nanotechnology education and outreach for the Penn community, as well as regional high schools and neighbors.  

WHO: Dr. Ravi Sheth, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA - A team of ecologists and evolutionary biologists from the University of Pennsylvania has received a five-year, approximately $2.5 million grant to examine the ecological and societal consequences of increased grazing and rising temperatures in the Lake Hvsgl region of northern Mongolia.