Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Penn

This week we invited Haiqian Yang, Ph.D. candidate at MIT, for a seminar on the mechanics of active matter, connecting cell-scale forces to tissue dynamics through modeling, imaging and data-driven approaches. events.seas.upenn.edu/event/meam-sem…

This week's seminar was given by Hanyu Li, postdoc researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, on optimizing porous electrode design for ultra-fast charging in advanced batteries. Li was invited by @ParisPerdikaris, Associate Prof. Learn more: events.seas.upenn.edu/event/meam-sem…

Shujie Yang, an assistant professor at @meam_penn, is harnessing ultrasound to develop microrobotic medicine. “Sound has always been part of healing,” he says. “We intuitively understand its power. Now we’re building the science to harness it precisely.” Yang's programmable acoustic tweezers manipulate cells and viruses without physical contact, with long-term potential for targeted cancer therapies. bit.ly/3MRMkbY

Bone may appear solid, but at the cellular scale, it behaves more like a sponge. Ottman Tertuliano (@MEAM_Penn) and team developed a nanoengineered, 3D-printed scaffold that recreates solid deformation and fluid flow around living cells. “Understanding how individual cells respond to complex forces helps us bridge the gap between routine physiological activity like walking and the microscopic local changes those cells make to the tissue,” says Tertuliano. Published in @BiophysJ, the work introduces a new platform for studying how cells feel force. bit.ly/4rzN702

This week's seminar was presented by Elizabeth Opila, chair and Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Professor of Engineering at the University of Virginia, on optimizing thermochemical and thermal properties of high-temperature aerospace materials for engines and hypersonic systems.

This week's spring seminar was presented by Jinkyu Yang of Seoul National University, on controlling energy in mechanical metamaterials through wave localization and origami-inspired impact-absorbing designs. Learn more about this speaker: events.seas.upenn.edu/event/meam-sem…

Last Friday, we invited Laurence Brassart, associate professor in engineering science at the University of Oxford, for a seminar on multiscale constitutive modeling of rubbery networks, connecting microscale physics to macroscopic material behavior. 🔗 events.seas.upenn.edu/event/meam-sem…

This week, we invited Victor Barocas, professor of @UMNIEM, for a seminar on multiscale biomechanics and mechanobiology of aortic aneurysms, exploring how tissue stress, remodeling and failure inform diagnosis and treatment. Learn more: events.seas.upenn.edu/event/meam-sem…

MEAM alumna Torrie Edwards was named a finalist for the 2025 IEEE RAS Multi-Robot Systems Best Dissertation Award. Her PhD research advances scalable, biologically inspired multi-robot coordination. Watch a short video highlighting her work ⬇️ youtube.com/watch?v=VFiebU…

This week, we welcomed Sushant Anand, associate professor in mechanical and industrial engineering at @thisisUIC, for a seminar on how phase change shapes interfacial behavior, from ice adhesion to emulsions and soft materials. Learn more: events.seas.upenn.edu/event/meam-sem…

@PennEngineers Prof. Igor Bargatin (@MEAM_Penn) and team propose a tether-based design for solar-powered orbital data centers that passively align to the sun, reducing power use and supporting AI inference in space. bit.ly/4qKw4Z2

Robert Carpick, the John Henry Towne Professor in @MEAM_Penn, spoke with Penn Today to explain why ice is so slippery. "The best way to avoid slipping is to be patient. On an icy sidewalk, we walk slowly partly for balance, but also to avoid the drop in friction that occurs as soon as you start to slide," says Carpick. Read the full story today. penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-engi…

We kicked off our Spring Seminar Series this week with Mary Frecker of Penn State University and her talk, “Nonlinear Modeling, Synthesis, and Design-for-Additive Manufacturing of Smart Compliant Mechanisms." Learn more about the seminar & speaker: events.seas.upenn.edu/event/meam-sem…

Robert Carpick (@MEAM_Penn) joins @scifri host @iraflatow to explain why ice is slippery, drawing on his research in tribology, the science of friction and surface interactions. He discusses how ice structure, surface water molecules, and temperature reduce friction. Listen to the episode today. sciencefriday.com/segments/why-i…

Mentally it's spring: the labs are full, the weather is warm and the cherry blossoms are blooming. 🌸

✨ New Year, New Look ✨ Designed with purpose. Built for impact. Our new website allows you to better explore the research, people and ideas driving innovation across the department. Discover how our engineers are shaping the future: me.upenn.edu

Congratulations to Spencer Folk on successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation, “Real Time Local Wind Inference for Robust Autonomous Navigation” which helps aerial robots safely navigate complex, windy urban environments using onboard sensing alone. 🔗 blog.me.upenn.edu/spencer-folk-d…

MEAM 2010 students showcased their custom-built Stirling engines this semester! Designs ranged from Kirby and Tom & Jerry to city skylines and pirate ships. Congratulations to our top speeds: Salamanca (1743 rpm), Barsotti (1689 rpm), Gupta (1661 rpm).

Congratulations to the three Penn Engineering professors elected to the @AcadofInventors' Fellows Class of 2025. Boon Thau Loo (@boonthauloo), RCA Professor in @CIS_Penn, Haim H. Bau, Richard H. & S. L. Gabel Professor of @MEAM_Penn, and André DeHon, Boileau Professor of @ESEatPenn, join this distinguished global community. bit.ly/4aK8GW7

Congratulations to Angelos Gkarsen for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation, “Mechanical Behavior and Fracture of Fibrous Materials at Large Deformations” under the guidance of Prashant K. Purohit and John L. Bassani, Professor and Professor Emeritus in MEAM.