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Category: engineering

Stainless-steel component boosts bacteria-based biobattery

Engineering innovations generally require long hours in the lab, with a lot of trial and error through experimentation before zeroing in on the best solution.

But sometimes, if you’re lucky, the answer can be right under your nose—or in this case, beneath your feet.

Binghamton University Professor Seokheun “Sean” Choi has developed a series of bacteria-fueled biobatteries over the past decade, building on what he has learned to improve the next iteration. The biggest limitation isn’t his imagination—he’s always juggling several projects at once—but the materials he has to work with.

Researchers create safer nonstick surface, cutting use of ‘forever chemicals’

A new material developed by researchers from University of Toronto Engineering could offer a safer alternative to the nonstick chemicals commonly used in cookware and other applications.

The new substance repels both water and grease about as well as standard nonstick coatings—but it contains much lower amounts of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of chemicals that have raised environmental and health concerns.

“The research community has been trying to develop safer alternatives to PFAS for a long time,” says Professor Kevin Golovin, who heads the Durable Repellent Engineered Advanced Materials (DREAM) Laboratory at U of T Engineering.

Electron beam method enables precise nanoscale carving and building of copper structures

Creating complex structures at the tiniest scales has long been a challenge for engineers. But new research from Georgia Tech shows how electron beams, already widely used in imaging and fabrication, can also be used as ultra-precise tools to both carve and build structures out of materials like copper.

The research group of Professor Andrei Fedorov at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering has discovered a technique that uses focused electron beams in a liquid environment to either remove or deposit copper, depending entirely on the surrounding chemistry.

By tuning the amount of in the solution, the researchers were able to control whether the beam etched away the material or deposited it, effectively allowing 3D sculpting at the atomic level.

Researchers demonstrate first bidirectional asymmetric frequency conversion in a single system

A research team in Korea has experimentally demonstrated, for the first time in the world, a nonlinear wave phenomenon that changes its frequency—either rising or falling—depending on which direction the waves come from.

Much like Janus, the Roman god with two faces looking in , the system exhibits different responses depending on the direction of the incoming wave. This groundbreaking work opens new horizons for technologies ranging from medical ultrasound imaging to advanced noise control.

The joint research team, led by Professor Junsuk Rho of POSTECH’s Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, along with Dr. Yeongtae Jang, Ph.D. candidate Beomseok Oh, and Professor Eunho Kim of Jeonbuk National University, has experimentally demonstrated a phenomenon of bidirectional asymmetric frequency conversion within a granular phononic crystal system.

Research reveals quantum topological potential in material

New research into topological phases of matter may spur advances in innovative quantum devices. As described in a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications, a research team including Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists used a novel strain engineering approach to convert the material hafnium pentatelluride (HfTe5) to a strong topological insulator phase, increasing its bulk electrical resistance while lowering it at the surface, a key to unlocking its quantum potential.

“I’m excited that our team was able to show that the elusive and much-sought-after topological surface states can be made to become a predominant electrical conduction pathway,” said Michael Pettes, scientist with the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at the Laboratory.

“This is promising for the development of types of quantum optoelectronic devices, dark matter detectors and topologically protected devices such as quantum computers. And the methodology we demonstrate is compatible for experimentation on other .”

Design strategies for reshaping stability and sustainability of perovskite solar cells

A research team from the School of Engineering (SENG) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has introduced comprehensive bio-inspired multiscale design strategies to address key challenges in the commercialization of perovskite solar cells: long-term operational stability. Drawing inspiration from natural systems, these strategies aim to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and adaptability of solar technologies.

Their paper, titled “Bio-Inspired Multiscale Design for Perovskite Solar Cells,” has been published in Nature Reviews Clean Technology.

The approaches focus on leveraging insights from to create that can better withstand environmental stressors and prolonged use.

In JCI insight: CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors remains limited

In this Review, Ruoqi Chen et al. discuss the latest advances in transcriptional factor engineering for empowering CAR-T cells with superior antitumor efficacy.

1Eye Center of Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases. Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou, China.

2Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

3Bone Marrow Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and Department of Cell Biology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.

Researchers visualize crystal phase changes particle by particle in new simulations

The secret to how steel hardens and shape-memory alloys snap into place lies in rapid, atomic-scale shifts that scientists have struggled to observe in materials. Now, Cornell researchers are revealing how these transformations unfold, particle by particle, through advanced modeling techniques.

Using custom-built computer simulations, Julia Dshemuchadse, assistant professor of and engineering at Cornell Engineering, and Hillary Pan, Ph.D., have visualized solid-solid phase transitions in unprecedented detail, capturing the motion of every particle in a theoretical material as its crystal structure morphs into another.

Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal not only classical transformation mechanisms, but also entirely new ones, reshaping how scientists understand this fundamental process in materials science.

Researchers Crack One of Aromatic Chemistry’s Toughest Challenges

A team of scientists has developed an electrochemical technique that enables precise, para-position single-carbon insertion into polysubstituted pyrroles. This advancement holds significant promise for synthetic organic chemistry, particularly in the development of pharmaceutical compounds.

Their work was recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

“We set out to address the longstanding challenge of achieving single-carbon insertion into aromatic rings with precise positional control,” said Mahito Atobe, Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University.