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Nov 17

Driving ahead

From ensuring the supply quality of powertrain plastics to project managing Ford's new electric pickup truck, master's alumna Stephanie Jennings is applying the analytical and problem-solving skills she learned in MechE to her career.

Nov 17

SWEet success Opens in new window

The Society for Women Engineers provides opportunities for STEM students to build community, find mentors, develop professionally, and much more.

Nov 10

The fusion of human and machine

New faculty member Doug Weber is combining engineering and neuroscience research to solve challenges related to control and sensation in humans and robotics.

Nov 06

The surprising strength of liquid crystals Opens in new window

In the quest for safer and longer-lasting batteries for electric cars, trucks, and planes, researchers explore a new class of materials to suppress the formation of dendrites.

Nov 03

CMU student is first Black recipient of AGMA’s scholarship Opens in new window

Master’s student David Ajoku has been awarded the American Gear Manufacturing Association Foundation’s scholarship—making him the first Black student to receive it.

Oct 30

Order up! AI finds the right material Opens in new window

MechE’s Amir Barati Farimani has improved an algorithm to predict a material’s properties.

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Oct 08

Robinson earns David Sinclair Award

The American Association for Aerosol Research has named Mechanical Engineering Department Head Allen Robinson the recipient of the David Sinclair Award, recognizing and celebrating Robinson's sustained excellence in aerosol research and technology.

Oct 06

Low-cost sensors to fight air pollution Opens in new window

CMU researchers are teaming up with an interdisciplinary, international network to develop new methods and practices for real-time air quality data collection and solutions for air quality issues.

Oct 02

Recognizing AI’s misinformation Opens in new window

What does cybersecurity have to do with human recognition of false data? A lot, says MechE’s Conrad Tucker, who teamed up with Challenger Center and RAND to study the link between the two.

Sep 28

Hot Stuff: Unusual thermal diode rectifies heat in both directions Opens in new window

Dual-mode thermal rectification could be a game changer for a range of industrial and medical applications.

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Sep 23

Dynamic challenges

When clients have fluid dynamics or heat transfer challenges, master's alumnus and project engineer Varun Nichani uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to develop and build methods to solve the problem.

Sep 14

Imagine a 10-second COVID-19 antibody test—we’re on our way Opens in new window

Carnegie Mellon University researchers reveal fastest known COVID-19 antibody test with high sensitivity due to a unique, 3D printing technology and an electrochemical reaction.

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Sep 08

A Tartan aims for the moon

When Lawrence Papincak earned his master's degree in mechanical engineering, his dreams for the future were out of this world. Today, he is a research engineer at Blue Origin in the Advanced Development Program - Flight Sciences group where he is working on navigation systems for NASA moon missions.

Sep 04

Predictive placentas: Using AI to protect mothers’ future pregnancies Opens in new window

In partnership with UPMC, Carnegie Mellon researchers developed a machine learning approach for examining placenta samples to determine if mothers are at risk for complications in future pregnancies.

Sep 01

Wildfires produce minerals that freeze clouds Opens in new window

Why do some biomass fuels create ice nucleating particles when they combust while others do not? Researchers at the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies make an unexpected discovery.

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Aug 27

Sea slugs to provide clues in understanding the brain Opens in new window

As the co-principal investigator on an NSF NeuroNex project, Victoria Webster-Wood will investigate the impact of neuromodulators on muscle actuation and modeling biological motor control in engineering frameworks.

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Aug 19

Microwaving new materials Opens in new window

Reeja Jayan has made a breakthrough in our understanding of how microwaves affect materials chemistry, laying the groundwork for tailor-made ceramic materials with new electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties.

Aug 17

Viswanathan named an Innovator Under 35

Venkat Viswanathan has been named one of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35, recognized for his work to develop a new type of battery that could make electric vehicles cheaper and more energy efficient.

Aug 10

Robinson named University Professor

Department Head Allen Robinson has been elevated to the rank of University Professor, the highest distinction a faculty member can achieve at Carnegie Mellon University.

Aug 03

Tartan Scholars program nurtures a village

The Tartan Scholars program is a Carnegie Mellon University initiative that builds community to close opportunity gaps.

Jul 30

CMU and CCDC ARL announce new cooperative agreement Opens in new window

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory (ARL) have entered into a $3.5 million cooperative agreement that supports machine learning-enabled additive manufacturing.

Jul 27

Rubin wins ASME’s Dixy Lee Ray Award

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has chosen Ed Rubin to receive the Dixy Lee Ray Award for achievements and contributions in environmental engineering.

Jul 20

At home with research

Despite the coronavirus shutdown, researchers and students were creative about continuing their work and joining the fight against COVID-19.

Jul 17

Engineering ways to keep doctors safe from COVID-19 Opens in new window

When Allegheny Health Network and Magee Plastics needed help perfecting their simple intubation boxes, they turned to Carnegie Mellon engineers Ryan Sullivan and Coty Jen.

Jul 16

There's no stopping MechE

When life throws lemons to mechanical engineers, they make lemonade... and dynamic systems, geometric models, and thermal fluids experiments. There's no stopping mechanical engineers. See what we're planning for the fall semester.

Jul 14

2020 Dean’s Early Career Fellowships awarded Opens in new window

Two College of Engineering faculty members have been selected to receive the 2020 Dean’s Early Career Fellowship in recognition for their exemplary contributions to their respective fields: MechE’s B. Reeja Jayan and EEP’s Alex Davis.

Jul 12

Reassess, recalibrate and transform

MechE students and faculty adapted with innovation and agility to finish the spring 2020 semester during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jul 09

College of Engineering announces Catalyst 2020 winners Opens in new window

The College of Engineering is pleased to announce that the College will fund three Catalyst proposals as winners of the Catalyst 2020 competition.

Jul 09

COVID and pollution Opens in new window

A team of Carnegie Mellon researchers found that Pittsburgh’s air pollution levels decreased during the stay-at-home order—but the overall impact remains small.

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Jul 02

Installing windows with help from robots Opens in new window

MechE’s Kenji Shimada is working on a collaboration with YKK AP to create high-tech window installation robots.

Jul 01

We have a Wimmer

As a 2020-2021 Wimmer Faculty Fellow, Victoria Webster-Wood plans to design interactive demonstrations and to build virtual labs for the course “Gadgetry: Sensors, Actuators, and Processors.”

Jun 29

The electric future of autonomous vehicles Opens in new window

A team of CMU Engineering researchers has shown that autonomous vehicles can be electric—despite the decreased driving range.

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Jun 26

Johnson received NSF CAREER Award Opens in new window

Aaron Johnson has been awarded a CAREER award by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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Jun 23

Zhang receives NSF funding for brain research

Yongjie Jessica Zhang is researching brain biomechanics with funding from the National Science Foundation's Engineering for America's Prosperity, Health, and Infrastructure (LEAP HI) program.

Jun 16

Molding masks against coronavirus Opens in new window

MechE’s Kenji Shimada and Erica Martelly team up for the America Makes Fit to Face Challenge, creating one of the top two designs in the competition.

Jun 12

Unlocking PNA’s superpowers Opens in new window

Rebecca Taylor and her research team have developed a method for self-assembling nanostructures with gamma-modified peptide nucleic acid, a synthetic mimic of DNA.

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Jun 04

Confronting Racism in Our Society

A statement from Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian.

Jun 02

Cagan earns ASME award

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers recognizes Jonathan Cagan with the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Design Educator Award.

Jun 01

Student Accolades 2020

The Department of Mechanical Engineering congratulates students on their many accomplishments.

May 26

A clear solution to protect healthcare workers

Carnegie Mellon University and Heritage Valley Health System team up to engineer protective boxes that shield healthcare workers against viral exposure during intubation procedures.

May 22

First real-time physics engine for soft robotics Opens in new window

Collaborators have adapted the sophisticated computer graphics technology used in blockbuster films and video games to simulate the movements of soft, limbed robots for the first time.

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May 12

Solid-ion conductors for safer batteries

Venkat Viswanathan and collaborators at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory investigate how a solid-ion conductor – a component that can be used as a separator between the anode and the electrolyte in a battery – can prevent dendrites.

May 05

A new law for metamaterials

Sheng Shen and his student Jiayu Li have created a new scale law to describe the thermal emission from metasurfaces and metamaterials.

May 04

Working against the clock Opens in new window

Alumnus Raj Kapoor teamed up with health-tech startup Clara Health to create World Without COVID to connect people from all over the world to clinical trials in their local communities.

Apr 27

A big comeback for a little switch Opens in new window

Maarten de Boer and Gianluca Piazza are developing reliable, mechanical switches the size of a DNA molecule, thanks to a $2M LEAP-HI grant from the National Science Foundation.

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Apr 23

Making innovation count

Undergraduate research support empowers Miguel Martinez to engineer surgical training solutions.

Apr 17

Behind the shield Opens in new window

Tech Spark is fabricating face shields for essential workers at the front lines of the COVID-19 response.

Apr 16

Pick your own project Opens in new window

Whether CMU engineering teams are given a week or a whole semester, their projects are always innovative and exciting.

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Apr 10

Outsmarting a virus Opens in new window

Can machine learning help us to accelerate the antibody discovery process to fight highly infectious viral diseases like COVID-19 and save thousands of lives?

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Apr 07

An alternative to the syringe Opens in new window

Carnegie Mellon University will provide microneedle drug delivery patches to support COVID-19 vaccination and treatment research.

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Apr 01

MechE Magazine 2020

Haven't yet read the 2020 issue of our annual MechE Magazine? You can read it here.

Mar 23

Engineering faculty win Carnegie Science Awards Opens in new window

MechE’s Carmel Majidi and Ryan Sullivan have won Carnegie Science Awards from the Carnegie Science Center for their incredible contributions to science.

Mar 13

CMU to transition to remote instruction

Beginning next week and until further notice, all CMU graduate and undergraduate programs on the Pittsburgh campus will move to remote, virtual or alternative teaching and assessment.

Mar 09

Safety top of mind for Baranowski Opens in new window

As an integral member of the “Rethink the Rink” team, Joanna Baranowski is working to make hockey safer.

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Mar 06

Transforming the toolbox

The true impact of AI and machine learning occurs when these technologies are translated into the physical world. This is the role of mechanical engineers — and we’re leading the way.

Mar 03

College of Engineering announces 2020 Moonshot winners Opens in new window

The College of Engineering is pleased to announce that the College will fund two Moonshot proposals as winners of the Moonshot 2020 competition, as well as one College of Engineering Planning Award.

Feb 28

Engineering faculty receive CAREER awards Opens in new window

Four College of Engineering faculty members have been awarded CAREER awards by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Feb 25

Greenhouse gas emissions from Pittsburgh’s food system Opens in new window

A new report from a student team details the climate impacts from the production, packaging, transportation, and refrigeration of all food consumed in Allegheny County.

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Feb 21

Making tracks in the desert Opens in new window

Catherine Pavlov, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, traveled to the Atacama Desert to conduct experiments she modeled that aim to gain non-grasping functionality from space rovers.

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Feb 11

Capturing physiological signals with an app and a tap Opens in new window

For someone suffering from an acute illness or a medical emergency, the nearest healthcare facility can be several hours away in some parts of the world. Researchers are working to bridge this gap in patient care with machine learning.

Feb 06