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

Vivek Sharma Awarded Fall 2023 Outstanding TA

Vivek Sharma, a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), has received the “Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award in Mechanical Engineering” for the Fall 2023 semester. Sharma was honored for his exemplary contributions as the teaching assistant for the course MEAM 1100: Introduction to Mechanics.

In his nomination letter, Associate Professor Jordan R. Raney, who taught MEAM 1100 in Fall 2023, praised Sharma’s vital role in ensuring the success of the course amid Raney’s frequent travel that semester. Sharma delivered multiple guest lectures, managed recitation sections, provided office hours, and guided students through the various components of the course material. 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