Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics

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encryption

Better security achieved with randomly generating biological encryption keys

12/19/18

Data breaches, hacked systems and hostage malware are frequently topics of evening news casts — including stories of department store, hospital, government and bank data leaking into unsavory hands — but now a team of engineers has an encryption key approach that is unclonable and not reverse-engineerable, protecting information even as computers become faster and nimbler.

Osama Awadelkarim

Nanotechnology center to help broaden participation of minorities in STEM fields

12/2/18

With $1.2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, the Penn State Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization, along with Norfolk State University and Tidewater Community College, will form the Southeastern Coalition for Engagement and Exchange in Nanotechnology Education to broaden participation of underrepresented minority students in STEM.

Michael Hillman and Charles Bakis

Grant to fund research into simulating 3-D fracture in composite materials

3/21/18

Michael Hillman, L. Robert and Mary L. Kimball Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Charles Bakis, distinguished professor of engineering science and mechanics, were awarded a Multidisciplinary Research Seed Grant by the College of Engineering to develop and experimentally validate a novel computational model that could simulate and predict complex fracture behavior of heterogeneous materials.

Flooding in a Uganda village

Study of climate change could lead to understanding future of infectious disease

3/20/18

Over the past 34 years, rainfall in Uganda has decreased by about 12 percent even though many of the global climate models predict an increase in rainfall for the area, according to an international team of researchers. Rainfall levels in Uganda impact agriculture, food security, wildlife habitats and regional economics as well as the prevalence of certain diseases.

protein membrane

Repetition key to self-healing, flexible medical devices

2/8/18

Medical devices powered by synthetic proteins created from repeated sequences of proteins may be possible, according to materials science and biotechnology experts, who looked at material inspired by the proteins in squid ring teeth.

created nose

3-D printing improves cell adhesion and strength of PDMS polymer

1/22/18

Combining two different polymer forms can switch manufacturing of silicone parts from molding, casting and spin coating of simple forms to 3-D printing of complex geometries with better mechanical characteristics and better biological adhesion, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

brain image

Two surgical approaches equal in treating infection-caused hydrocephalus

12/20/17

Implanting a shunt or endoscopically reducing intracranial pressure and reducing fluid production are equally effective in treating infants with hydrocephalus caused by brain infections, according to an international team of researchers, but endoscopy may have fewer down-the-line complications.

Patrick Drew, Huck Distinguished Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering

Understanding how neurovascular coupling changes during postnatal development

11/28/17

Penn State researchers have received $2.3 million in funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to determine how the communication between neurons and blood vessels of the brain changes from postnatal development through adulthood, which would enable the use of hemodynamic imaging to study neural activity, plasticity, and neurodevelopmental disorders in infants, children and animals.

Long-Qing Chen

Chen receives Humboldt Award

9/12/17

Long-Qing Chen, Donald W. Hamer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, professor of engineering science and mechanics and professor of mathematics, Penn State, has been awarded a Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany.

stacked layers gif

2D layered devices can self-assemble with precision

7/5/17

Squid-inspired proteins can act as programmable assemblers of 2D materials, like graphene oxide, to form hybrid materials with minute spacing between layers suitable for high-efficiency devices including flexible electronics, energy storage systems and mechanical actuators, according to an interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers.

Solar power to the people

Solar power to the people

5/17/17

Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State, and a group of multi-university researchers, have conceived an inexpensive solar cell that could provide electricity for every home in underdeveloped and emerging economies.

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