On Wednesday, September 2, the Penn Materials Science and Engineering MSE Society will host its annual Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Social from 5:00–6:00 p.m. in the Quain Courtyard. Join us […]
Faculty - News - Research
Getting into the nitty gritty of sand
From scorching feet to the perfect sandcastle to the silicon in phones, materials scientist Shu Yang explains the surprising physics hiding in a single handful of beach sand. Read the […]
Faculty - News - Research
Buildings that cool like African elephants
Inspired by the cracked, water-trapping skin of elephants, Penn researchers have developed a low-cost cement tile that cools buildings by capturing and slowly evaporating water—turning a structural flaw into a […]
Faculty - News - Research
How Sea Stars Build Materials That Can See
Researchers led by Ling Li and collaborators across Penn Engineering, Virginia Tech, MIT, Bowdoin College, the University of South Carolina and the Zuse Institute Berlin have uncovered how sea star […]
Events - News - Students
PhD Thesis Defense – Katie Sun
Title: Effects of Polymer Brush, Nanoparticle, and Solvent Characteristics on Nanoparticle Adsorption Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2026 Time: 9:00 am Location: Singh Center for Nanotechnology, Glandt Forum Abstract: As filtration and separation […]
Alumni - Careers - News
Alumni Spotlight – Aimee Bailey – Founder and CEO – Rock Rabbit
Penn Engineering has long been home to graduates who pair technical excellence with a drive to solve real-world problems. Aimee Bailey, a 2006 Penn Materials Science and Engineering alumna, is […]
News - Students
Marathon Man: John Chen Balances the Half Marathon and High-Impact Research
By John Russell Third-year doctoral student John Chen knows a thing or two about endurance. This fall, he not only pushed through long hours in the lab but also crossed […]
News - Students
13 Questions – Hannah Clarkson
John Russell You’ll notice two things immediately about Hannah Clarkson, a fourth year Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. Candidate in the Shu Yang lab. First, her love of sports isn’t the casual kind. She […]
News - Research - Students
Colgate-Palmolive Internship for PhD Candidate Sydni Wilson
Sydni Wilson, a third-year PhD candidate, recently completed a ten-week summer internship with Colgate-Palmolive in New Brunswick, NJ, working in the Department of Global Technology. During her time there, she was based in a characterization […]
