2023
May
Bockstaller discusses his self-healing plastic research with CBS News Pittsburgh
CBS News Pittsburgh
MSE’s Michael Bockstaller discusses his self-healing plastic research with CBS News Pittsburgh. Typically, plastic’s short lifespan results in substantial waste production, and creating new plastic is much cheaper than recycling it. “The idea is that by creating polymers that would feature self-healing properties, we might be able to prolong the lifetime of these systems and reduce waste formation,” Bockstaller says.
Majidi, Yao quoted on softbotics
World Economic Forum
MechE’s Carmel Majidi spoke to the World Economic Forum about the potential of softbotics, which includes designing them to move adaptably in response to their environment as animals do. “There are many interesting and exciting scenarios where energy-efficient and versatile robots like this could be useful,” Yao said. Their recent design allows the robot to transition from walking to swimming.
April
Feinberg lab joins international heart disease research collaboration
Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund
BME/MSE’s Adam Feinberg and his international colleagues have been awarded $23.6 million by the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund Transformation program to develop cutting-edge regenerative therapies for heart disease. Feinberg’s contribution focuses on 3D-bioprinting a functional heart, and in total, 22 leading laboratories will be involved in the effort across 10 research institutions in four countries (Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel).
Rollett talks to NASA about 3D printed metal parts for spaceflight
NASA
MSE’s Tony Rollett, principal investigator of NASA’s new additive manufacturing institute, talks about 3D printed metal parts that will be used for NASA’s spaceflight endeavors in climate research. “The internal structure of this type of part is much different than what’s produced by any other method. The institute will focus on creating the models NASA and others in industry would need to use these parts on a daily basis,” Rollett says.
Five Engineering faculty receive professorships
Five faculty recently received professorships in Engineering for their outstanding scholarly achievements. The faculty included:
- Yuejie Chi (ECE) - Sense of Wonder Group Endowed Professorship of Electrical and Computer Engineering in AI Systems
- Marc De Graef (MSE) - John and Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professorship in Engineering
- Swarun Kumar (ECE) - Sathaye Family Foundation Career Development Professorship
- Brandon Lucia (ECE) - Kavčić-Moura Professorship in Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Rebecca (Bex) Taylor (MechE) - Inaugural ANSYS Career Development Chair in Engineering
February
Pistorius helps create industrial decarbonzation partnership with a $1.5 million NSF grant
Scott Institute
MSE’s Chris Pistorius and colleagues have been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education. With this money, they created the Industrial Decarbonization Analysis, Benchmarking, and Action (INDABA) partnership which aims to accelerate industrial decarbonization on both a regional and global scale.
Feinberg quoted on lab-grown skin technology
WIRED
BME/MSE’s Adam Feinberg was quoted in a WIRED article about “edgeless” engineered tissue that Columbia University Medical Center researchers are working on and, recently, successfully transplanted. Feinberg commented on the importance of vascular quality in tissues, and a path for making these technologies more available.
Finalist Wang shares her 3MT Challenge competition strategies
Carnegie Mellon University
MSE’s Yingqiao Wang is set to compete in CMU’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Championship, a competition that challenges doctoral students to translate their complex research to a broad audience—all in three minutes. Wang was featured in a story on CMU’s website. She noted that after studying past performances, she realized that most of the past participants spent nearly half their time explaining the problem their research was grounded in. “This is a key point to help the audience understand the research and connect it to real life,” Wang says. Three additional Collee of Engineering students will also compete in the 3MT: Amaranth Karra (MSE), Sofia Cardoso Martins (ECE), and Durva Naik (MSE). The competition is set to take place on Tuesday, February 28, at 6:00 p.m., in the College of Fine Arts Building’s Kresge Theatre.
January
Rollett collaborates on research detecting additive manufacturing defects in real-time
Science Daily
Building upon prior research partnerships, MSE’s Tony Rollett engaged with colleagues at the University of Virginia on “Machine learning–aided real-time detection of keyhole pore generation in laser powder bed fusion,” which was published in Science Magazine in January 2023. The research findings not only advance additive manufacturing research, but can also serve to expand the commercial use of LPBF for metal parts manufacturing.
2022
November
Engineering staff nominated for Andy Awards
CMU
Congratulations to the following College of Engineering staff members who have been nominated for Andy Awards:
- Commitment to Excellence, Rookie: Brian Brown (INI), Keren DeCarlo (MechE)
- Commitment to Excellence, Veteran: Kristen Geiger (ECE)
- Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Eva Mergner (MechE), Jessica Tomko (ECE)
- Commitment to Students: Rachel Amos (INI)
- Innovative and Creative Contributions: Brian Belowich (CEE), Elizabeth Clark (MSE), Athena Wintruba (III)
- Spirit: Trish Hredzak-Showalter (ChemE)
- Teamwork and Collaboration, Standing Teams: The Teck Spark Team (MechE): Ed Wojciechowski, Ryan Bates, Justin Harvilla, Jen Hitchcock, John Fulmer, Tom Rusu
Taheri-Mousavi quoted in Lifewire
Lifewire
MSE’s Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi spoke with Lifewire about using AI to discover new materials.
October
McHenry group recognized at IAS EMC
IEEE Explore
Research from MSE’s Mike McHenry’s group was recognized in October at the annual meeting of the Electric Machines Committee of the Industry Applications Society (IAS EMC) in Detroit. They won first place for their paper exploiting their new motor design and a CMU-patented and Core Power Magnetics-licensed FeNi-based alloy.
September
Islam’s carbon-nanotube technology set to receive commercial debut
Pittsburgh Business Times
MSE’s Mohammad Islam was interviewed by the Pittsburgh Business Times about Watson Nano, a new company co-founded by Islam and Trey Watson as a result of Islam’s research on carbon nanotubes. Watson will license the technology and hopes to scale it commercially soon.
Bettinger joins DARPA as program manager
DARPA
BME/MSE’s Chris Bettinger joined DARPA in August 2022 as a program manager in the Biological Technologies Office. He is broadly interested in applying bioelectronics and cellular engineering to create new technologies that monitor and improve warfighter performance.
Engineering faculty receive NSF funding for decarbonization research
A decarbonization project led by EPP’s Valerie Karplus has received a $1.5 million research grant from the National Science Foundation. Karplus’ collaborators are MSE’s Chris Pistorius, EPP’s Paulina Jaramillo, and EPP’s Edson Severnini.
July
Laughlin to retire after almost 50 years at CMU
MSE’s David Laughlin will retire in July 2022 after first joining the College of Engineering in 1974. He has received 13 patents, written a textbook, and was honored as the Alcoa Professor of Physical Metallurgy in 2001. Two of Laughlin’s classes, Thermodynamics of Materials and Phase Transformation in Materials, are noted for their importance to the department’s curriculum.
Davis to retire after storied career in academia
MSE’s Robert Davis, who has been the John and Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering since 2004, will retire from the department in July 2022. After 50 years in academics, his many accomplishments include holding 47 patents, publishing more than 450 peer reviewed papers, and mentoring more than 100 students.
June
Scott Institute announces 2022 seed grants for five projects
Scott Institute
The Scott Institute has announced its latest seed grant awards worth $1.42 million to five research projects led by CMU Engineering faculty. This is the 10th annual round of grants awarded by the Scott Institute. Funding recipients include CEE’s Corey Harper, ChemE’s Gabriel dos Passos Gomes and Zachary Ulissi, CMU-Africa/ECE’s Barry Rawn, MechE’s Shawn Litster, and MSE’s Chris Pistorius.
Rollet awarded the 2024 ASM Gold Medal Award
ASM International
MSE’s Anthony Rollett will receive the 2024 ASM Gold Medal Award for “significant contributions to the development and use of simulations in Materials Science and Engineering to model grain growth, recrystallization, and deformation in three dimensions.” The ASM Gold Medal Award began in 1943 as a way to recognize achievements in the field of materials science and engineering. The award will be presented at the ASM Awards Dinner during the International Materials, Applications & Technologies (IMAT) 2024.
Dickey wins Sosman award
Sosman Award Committee
MSE Head Elizabeth Dickey is the recipient of the 2023 Sosman Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in basic science that results in a significant impact and advancement in the field of ceramics. The Robert B. Sosman Award is the highest recognition of scientific accomplishment given by the Basic Science Division of ACerS and is given in recognition of outstanding achievement in basic science of an area that results in a significant impact to the field of ceramics. The award will be presented at a plenary lecture at MS&T in October.
Feinberg quoted on 3D ear technology
The New York Times
BME/MSE’s Adam Feinberg was quoted in a New York Times article about 3D printed ear implants made by 3DBio Therapeutics. Feinberg commented on the exciting progress of 3D printing tech, drawing from his rich experience as the co-founder of FluidForm, a regenerative medicine company that also uses 3D printing. This work was also covered on NBC News and in Axios, Politico, and The Hill.
May
Pistorius gives lecture at AISTech convention
The Pittsburgh Business Times
MSE’s Chris Pistorius kicked off the AISTech 2022 convention with a lecture on the state of steelmaking in the US. Pistorius addressed the switch to electric furnaces for production, saying that abandoning blast furnaces entirely “gets harder as we get there, because of the need for fresh iron units to produce high-quality steels and the viability of scrap.”