Quaker Days brought hundreds of admitted students and their families to campus for a closer look at Penn Engineering and the University of Pennsylvania. Attendees engaged with faculty and staff, took campus tours, and learned about available academic and student resources.
Margaret Zhu and Nhlanhla Mavuso have been named winners of the 2026 President’s Engagement Prize. From robotics that improve worker safety to energy-efficient chip design, both will spend the next year advancing projects with real-world impact.
https://bit.ly/42icpVr
Congratulations to César de la Fuente on receiving the 2027 Biochemical Society Award for Significant Breakthrough or Achievement.
His AI-driven work is accelerating antibiotic discovery from years to hours, opening new paths to treat infections once considered untreatable.
https://bit.ly/41uWymi
Penn Engineering’s 2026 Commencement is almost here 🎓
May 14: Doctoral (Irvine Auditorium)
May 15: Master’s (Palestra)
May 16: Undergraduate (Palestra)
See full details on regalia, tickets and more: https://bit.ly/3L6uADx
Penn Engineers redesigned a key component of lipid nanoparticles used in mRNA vaccines. The new aroLNPs steer mRNA toward lymph nodes, potentially enabling more precise, lower-dose vaccines.
https://bit.ly/4sSAspY
https://bit.ly/3NSd2Si
In the latest episode of "Innovation & Impact," Vanessa Chan talks with NAI Fellows about the mindset behind meaningful innovation, from questioning the status quo to learning through failure.
https://youtu.be/Ajih0E7quuc
Congrats to Julia Fremberg (ENG’26), Penn Engineering’s 2026 undergraduate student Commencement speaker. A CIS major in AI, TA for CIS 1200 and ESAC leader, she’ll join Palantir in NYC after graduation.
AI is accelerating mathematical research while overloading peer review systems. Amazon Scholars and @pennengineering.bsky.social professors Michael Kearns and @aaroth.bsky.social on the promise, the problems, and what needs to change.
A sneak peek at the new Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) teaching lab and makerspace. Slated to open for Fall 2026 classes, the space will maximize daylight, upgrade core infrastructure and facilitate new collaborations.
Penn Engineers redesigned the lipid nanoparticles used in mRNA vaccines to boost immune cell metabolism while reducing inflammatory side effects. The new lipid matched leading formulations while improving delivery to immune tissues. https://bit.ly/3NdvtAC
Congratulations to Xue “Sherry” Gao on her lab’s renewal of the NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA). The $2M+ grant provides five more years to advance genome engineering and explore fungal natural products as a source of new small-molecule therapeutics. #GenomeEngineering
Penn Aerial Robotics revealed three fully integrated aircraft for SAE Aero Design West and flight-tested them in NJ. From a 10-ft cargo UAV to a blown-lift micro design and a fully autonomous VTOL tailsitter, the team is pushing the limits of electric aviation and precision payload delivery.
Shujie Yang is using ultrasound to develop programmable acoustic tweezers that manipulate cells without contact. His work at Penn Engineering explores sound-based microrobots with potential for diagnostics, immunology and future cancer therapies. https://bit.ly/3MRMkbY
“You need to be able to understand other people's ideas and perspectives to bring out the best, most ingenious solutions,” says Tsu-Jae King Liu, President of the National Academy of Engineering. Episode 9 of "Innovation & Impact" is live. https://bit.ly/3OyMgOJ
Congratulations to CarboWells, winners of the 2026 Y-Prize Competition! The team proposed using 3D-printed concrete developed by the Yang Lab to plug millions of leaking oil wells across the U.S., helping capture carbon in the process. They’ll receive $15,000 to advance their research.
As part of its spotlight on Pennsylvania “firsts,” 6abc highlights ENIAC, the world’s first electronic computer, born at Penn. Shown by Penn Engineering’s Paul Shaffer. This Sunday marks ENIAC’s 80th anniversary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb2afLoljf8
Penn researchers found that raindrops on dry sand form rolling “sandballs” that can increase erosion up to 10x. These self-organize into “peanut” and “donut” shapes. The findings refine models of landscape change and soil loss. https://bit.ly/3LVcOcd
Penn Engineering launches the Michael and Jennifer Ternoey Glassman Penn Scholars Program (GPS), a new pre-college STEM initiative for rising high school seniors in the School District of Philadelphia, offering mentorship, hands-on learning and college prep.
https://bit.ly/3ZU11hi
Sarah Rottenberg applied human-centered design to support three Penn Forward working groups shaping ideas for Penn’s next decade. As executive director of the Integrated Product Design program, she helped bring design thinking into strategic university planning.
https://bit.ly/4jKnira
Robert Carpick (@meam-penn.bsky.social) joins Science Friday host Ira Flatow to explain why ice is slippery. He describes how ice structure, surface water molecules & temperature interact to reduce friction.
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/why-is-ice-slip...
To mark the 10th anniversary of Nature Microbiology, Penn Engineering’s @delafuentelab.bsky.social shares his vision for the future of microbiology, where machine intelligence accelerates discovery while human creativity leads the science.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-025-02218-x
Real or artificial tree? Lorena Grundy weighs in on the holiday debate with CBS News Chicago to share insight into this familiar holiday question.
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/a-real-chr...
2025 was a year of transformative progress for Penn Engineering, with breakthroughs spanning cancer research, water-harvesting materials, and AI-powered discovery.
https://www.seas.upenn.edu/2025-year-in-review/
Penn Engineering marked major achievements at the PCI Celebration of Innovation event, with Liang Feng (pictured, right) named Emerging Inventor of the Year and faculty earning 26 patents across AI, energy, health, and semiconductor tech.
Join us on Tuesday, 12/9 at 12pm to see Deans' Distinguished Visiting Professor, Eva Dyer of @pennengineering.bsky.social, present her seminar at the Computational Neuroscience Initiative! #PSOMDDVP tinyurl.com/2ewyww87
Computer scientist Konrad Kording and economist Ioana Marinescu have developed an interactive model that incorporates assumptions from both their fields to predict how AI will affect wages, jobs, and the overall economy. @upenn.edu @pennengineering.bsky.social
For CIS Prof. Chris Callison-Burch, today’s AI boom reflects 25 years of work across symbolic AI, statistical ML and generative models. Now, as director of Penn Engineering’s MSE-AI Online, he’s preparing the next generation of AI leaders.
https://bit.ly/43J9A16
Group photo taken after the symposium
That's a wrap on the 16th Grad Student Symposium in CBE@Penn [11.14.2025]. Great day of talks, posters, and networking among students, faculty, industry representatives and colleagues. Thanks to Lonza, Axalta and Arkema for generous sponsorship! @cbe-penn.bsky.social @pennengineering.bsky.social
Penn Engineering and Ashoka University have signed a new MoU to deepen collaboration in research and graduate study, including a 4+1 pathway for Ashoka undergraduates to pursue an accelerated master’s degree at Penn Engineering.
https://bit.ly/3K0T2L5
