Doctoral Student Erica Waters Awarded F31 Grant

Erica Waters, a fourth-year doctoral student, has been awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

The F31 award is a highly competitive grant aimed at supporting promising predoctoral students with the potential to become productive, independent research scientists. Erica’s project, titled “Leveraging Robot-Based Haptic Dyads to Improve Community-Based Stroke Rehabilitation,” was officially awarded on July 23rd and commenced on September 1st. Working under the guidance of Michelle Johnson, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Erica’s research focuses on enhancing stroke rehabilitation through innovative robotic and haptic technologies. Her project aims to improve community-based care, a critical need as the global population ages and the demand for accessible rehabilitation increases. READ MORE

Nathan Wei on Renewable Energy, Fluid Mechanics and the Shaping of Humble Engineers

With a research career dedicated to atmospheric wind and fluid mechanics, Nathan Wei, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), takes his endeavors almost wherever the wind blows. Guided by his desire to make an impact in the realm of energy and sustainability and his commitment to mentoring the next generation of problem solvers, a very intentional wind blew Wei to Penn, where he can do both with creative freedom. READ MORE

First-Year Doctoral Student Recognized with 2024 Presidential Ph.D. Fellowship

Raisa Achiriloaie, a first-year doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), has been recognized as one of the 2024 Presidential Ph.D. Fellowship recipients, an honor awarded to outstanding scholars with exceptional research agendas. Raisa’s past work has focused on movement and transportation at tiny scales within cells. READ MORE

Y-Prize Technologies 2024-25

The Y-Prize Competition kicks off next week, offering students the chance to transform Penn Engineering innovations into business ideas—and compete for a $10,000 prize.

This year’s technologies include the MORF (Magnetic Origami Reprogramming and Folding System) from the Sung Lab, which enables dynamic self-folding structures, and the CHAMPS (Conforming Highly Articulated Multi-Purpose Snake) Robot Arm from the Modular Robotics Lab, a flexible robotic arm with groundbreaking potential across industries. READ MORE

Ottman Tertuliano Receives 2024 CAREER Award

Ottman Tertuliano, AMA Family Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, is the recipient of a 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for his work studying the characteristics of bones and external forces that affect their likelihood of breaking by examining fractures on the nanoscale.

“We all have a bone story,” says Tertuliano. “Whether it be through fractures, osteoporosis or repeated wear and tear, bones bear the brunt of our active lives. Models built from the bottom on nanoscale observations will give us insight into the fundamental mechanics involved in bone fracture and repairs, fueling innovations to improve health and quality of life for everyone.” READ MORE

Cynthia Sung Receives Army Early Career Award to Make Robots Move Like Animals

Inspired by the variety of muscles that control movement in animals, Cynthia Sung, Gabel Family Term Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) at Penn Engineering, aims to advance movement and stiffness control in today’s robots to make future robotic platforms more adaptable and efficient. Her project, “Multiscale Actuation and Control for Tunable Stiffness Robots,” is funded by a three-year, $360K Early Career Program grant from the Army Research Office, a directorate of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory. READ MORE

MEAM MSE Students Compete at ICRA 2024

MEAM MSE students independently competed at IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2024 in Japan. The team, comprised of four students from the class of 2025 – Saurav Agrawal, Sai Chand Gubbala, Tejendra Patel and Kevin Paulose – took on this challenge with enthusiasm and determination. The team competed the F1tenth Autonomous Grand Prix and the Bots & Bento competition.

With guidance from Rahul Mangharam, Professor in ESE, and support from the Dean’s Office, these students embraced the opportunity to test their abilities. In this blog post, team member Kevin Paulose shares their experiences, challenges, and triumphs at this event. READ MORE

Two MEAM PhD Candidates Awarded NSF Graduate Fellowship

Daelan Roosa, a rising third-year PhD, and Benjamin Shaffer, a first-year, were awarded the highly competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000.

Roosa, co-advised by Professor and Chair Kevin Turner and Adjunct Associate Professor James Pikul, is focusing on developing materials with tunable stiffness for use in soft robotics applications. READ MORE

Shaffer, co-advised by Associate Professors Ani Hsieh and Nat Trask is focusing on using principles of fluid dynamics and machine learning to develop improved sensing and modeling techniques for geophysical fluid environments like oceans and rivers. READ MORE

Penn Receives $2 Million NASA Grant for TRUSSES Project to Study Lunar Robotics

The University of Pennsylvania has been awarded a $2 million NASA grant for the TRUSSES Project, led by Gabel Family Term Assistant Professor, Cynthia Sung, aiming to advance lunar robotics.

“Future lunar exploration demands the ability to navigate challenging terrains, including steep slopes, loose regolith and potentially ice,” says Sung. “Our research will focus on developing new algorithms that allow robots to estimate ground properties through locomotion, enabling them to autonomously assess traversal risk and recover from any navigation failures.” READ MORE

Penn Engineering’s GRASP Lab Helps Lead $5M Effort to Accelerate Robotics Research

Mark Yim, Asa Whitney Professor of Mechanical Engineering in MEAM, will help lead a $5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) effort to accelerate human-robotic-interface by designing a humanoid robot to distribute to the scientific community. In collaboration with investigators at Oregon State University (OSU) and Semio, the goal for the program is to drive discovery and learning in computing and communication foundations, computer and network systems, and information and intelligent systems.

Penn Engineering’s primary contribution to the project will be the design of the new robot, Quori Version 2, while OSU will lead the forming of the human-robot-interaction research community. READ MORE