Nadia Figueroa Receives 2025 CAREER Award News / January 8, 2026 Her award-winning project, “Constraint-Aware Estimation, Learning and Control for Fluid Physical Human-Robot Collaboration,” aims to fundamentally expand how robots sense, predict and physically interact with people in dynamic, real-world environments. Read More
Haim H. Bau Named 2025 National Academy of Inventors Fellow News / December 12, 2025 With more than 2,000 Fellows across over 300 universities and research institutes worldwide, the NAI community collectively holds tens of thousands of issued U.S. patents, which have enabled thousands of licensed technologies and companies and created millions of jobs. The NAI Fellows Program recognizes academic inventors whose work has led to outstanding... Read More
Pedaling Toward a Sustainable Future News / November 12, 2025 A popular course taught by Dustyn Roberts, Practice Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), is garnering attention for its innovative approach to teaching engineering through the lens of sustainability. Roberts and her course, Bicycles: The Mechanical Advantage, were recently featured in PRISM, a members only publication of the American Society... Read More
A ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Molecular Systems News / October 20, 2025 Penn Engineers have created a mathematical “Rosetta Stone” that links atomic motion to large-scale behavior like protein folding and ice melting. The new STIV framework could replace costly simulations, helping researchers design smarter materials, medicines, and technologies. Read More
Helping Robots Work Together to Explore the Moon and Mars News / September 29, 2025 In early August, the crisp dawn sky above White Sands National Park glows faintly blue, gradually brightening as streaks of marigold and soft pink pierce the clouds with the rising sun. But although the powder-white sand of the 30-foot gypsum dunes is cool at dawn, air temperatures become blistering hot... Read More
Centuries After Discovery, Red Blood Cells Still Hold Surprises News / August 6, 2025 Red blood cells, long thought to be passive bystanders in the formation of blood clots, actually play an active role in helping clots contract, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. “This discovery reshapes how we understand one of the body’s most vital processes,” says Rustem... Read More
McBride and Wei Named Environmental Innovations Initiative Faculty Fellows News / July 31, 2025 Two Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) faculty — Samantha McBride, William K. Gemmill Term Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Nathan Wei, Assistant Professor — have been named Environmental Innovations Initiative (EII) faculty fellows. They join the Initiative’s second cohort for a two-year term focused on tackling the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises... Read More
Cracking the Code of Force-Driven Chemistry News / July 17, 2025 When asked to think of a chemical reaction, you might picture bubbling liquids in a beaker, or maybe applying heat to a mixture until something transforms. But some of the most important reactions in nature and industry don’t need heat or solvents. Instead, they need force. Mechanochemistry is where physical... Read More
Wensi Wu Uses Digital Twins to Explore the Hidden Mechanics of the Human Heart News / June 25, 2025 When Wensi Wu, Research Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), first stepped into the world of computational modeling, she wasn’t thinking about hearts or hospitals. She was thinking about ships. “I’ve always been fascinated by how powerful technologies can model what really happens in the world,” she says.... Read More
No Plan, No Problem: Teaching Robots to Build Without Blueprints News / June 25, 2025 Bees, ants and termites don’t need blueprints. They may have queens, but none of these species breed architects or construction managers. Each insect worker, or drone, simply responds to cues like warmth or the presence or absence of building material. Unlike human manufacturing, the grand design emerges simply from the... Read More
