2023
September
Pistorius comments on U.S. Steel sale
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
MSE’s Chris Pistorius told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he hopes the new owners of U.S. Steel will continue to support the region’s universities. “If a takeover were to change the relationship with the university, that would not be something we’d be keen on,” Pistorius said.
July
Engineering faculty engage in industrial decarbonization research partnership
Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation News
MSE’s Chris Pistorius and EPP’s Valerie Karplus and Paulina Jaramillo, along with Heinz College’s Edson Severnini, joined collaborators in Germany to begin an international research partnership. “Prior to the start of the partnership, the academic collaborators and industry partners had been working in parallel towards the shared goal of finding viable decarbonization pathways,” said Karplus. “The meeting was filled with ‘aha!’ moments as we explored common interests and new research opportunities.”
McHenry breaks down superconductors
Built In
MSE’s Michael McHenry was quoted in Built In about the unique properties of superconductors, which are capable of conducting electricity without losing energy. McHenry said, in part, that paired electrons “cooperate with a material’s vibrating atoms” to boost conductivity and avoid resistance.
Dickey uses novel methods to analyze ferroelectric materials
Physics World
MSE Head Elizabeth Dickey and her team of researchers are collaborating with groups at Penn State University to study ferroelectric materials. Together, the groups are combining their skills to analyze the structure of alloyed aluminum nitride films using transmission electron microscopy.
Krause and Wang named Wimmer Faculty Fellows
CEE’s Jerry Wang and MSE’s Mandie Krause have been named Wimmer Faculty Fellows at the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation. This program is designed for junior faculty members interested in enhancing their teaching through concentrated work with an Eberly consultant.
June
Three CMU energy projects receive Scott Institute Seed Grants
Scott Institute
Three CMU-led projects have been awarded seed funding from the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation as a part of the Seed Grants for Energy Research program.
- EPP’s Paulina Jarmillo will collaborate with ChemE’s Hamish Gordon, CEE’s David Rounce, and EPP Head Peter Adams on their project Climate risk assessment for electricity transmission assets in the U.S.
- MechE’s Rahul Panat and Burak Ozdoganlar will work alongside ChemE’s Grigorios Panagakos to demonstrate scalable and low-cost manufacture of porous metal-oxide-frameworks for CO2 capture.
- Additionally, MSE’s Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi, Chris Pistorius, and Marc De Graef will enhance understanding of localized plasticity in pure alloys by studying H-embrittlement of high-strength structural alloys.
Rohrer quoted on steel vulnerabilities after overpass collapse
The Philadelphia Inquirer
MSE’s Greg Rohrer spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer about the properties of steel in light of the recent overpass collapse on I-95 in Philadelphia that occurred after a tanker truck caught fire. Rohrer noted that heat not only makes steel girders weaker, but it also causes them to expand.
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 showcases research at US DOE summit
CMU News
MSE’s Anthony Rollett presented research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit. His research is one of 18 high-termperature material projects that are part of the High Intensity Themeral Exchange through Materials and Manufacturing Processes (HITEMMP) program. He also schowcased work with Prabuhu Energy on a project titled.
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.