Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Engineering

Engineering Hokusai’s woodblock print “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” showing an artistic rendering of a deep blue tsunami wave

Mechanical engineers lend fresh insight into battery-based desalination technology

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — To achieve more effective saltwater desalination, mechanical engineers focused on fluid movement rather than new materials in a new study. By adding microchannels to the inside of battery-like electrodes made of Prussian blue – an intense blue pigment often used in art that also has special chemical properties – researchers increased the […]

Engineering Life sciences Physical sciences A hand holds two vials of solution, one pink and one blue.

Imaging agents light up two cancer biomarkers at once to give more complete picture of tumor

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Cancer surgeons may soon have a more complete view of tumors during surgery thanks to new imaging agents that can illuminate multiple biomarkers at once, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report. The fluorescent nanoparticles, wrapped in the membranes of red blood cells, target tumors better than current clinically approved dyes and can […]

Physical sciences Undergraduate student Lily Kettler, left, professor Joaquin Viera and graduate student Kedar Phadke photographed inside an astronomical observatory

Webb Space Telescope detects universe’s most distant complex organic molecules

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth – the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new […]

Engineering Life sciences Physical sciences Veterinary medicine An artist's rendering of an implant with the smart coating

Smart surgical implant coatings provide early failure warning while preventing infection

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Newly developed “smart” coatings for surgical orthopedic implants can monitor strain on the devices to provide early warning of implant failures while killing infection-causing bacteria, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report. The coatings integrate flexible sensors with a nanostructured antibacterial surface inspired by the wings of dragonflies and cicadas. In a new […]

Education Photo of the INVITE leadership team members

U of I to lead National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute focused on STEM learning

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will lead a national Artificial Intelligence Research Institute focused on developing learning technologies that accelerate young people’s achievement in science, technology, engineering and math. The National Science Foundation announced today it is awarding $20 million over five years to establish the Inclusive and Intelligent Technologies for […]

Engineering Image shows a large industral 3D printer depositing ink composite on to a surface

New metric allows researchers to better understand soft material behavior

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The mechanics behind the collapse of soft materials structure have befuddled researchers for decades. In a new study, researchers uncover a metric that finally correlates microscopic-level processes with what is seen at the macroscopic level.  The new metric is poised to help bring advances to various materials engineering challenges – ranging from […]

Honors photos of Tamer Basar, David Cahill and Vidya Madhavan

Three Illinois scientists elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Three scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – electrical and computer engineering professor emeritus Tamer Başar, materials science and engineering professor David Cahill and physics professor Vidya Madhavan – have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. They are among nearly 270 inductees to the academy this year, one of the oldest honorary societies in […]

Engineering Portrait of the Illinois team

Researchers reveal real-time glimpse into growth habits of nanoparticles

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — For the first time, researchers have observed the process of nanoparticles self-assembling and crystalizing into solid materials. In new videos produced by the team, particles can be seen raining down, tumbling along stairsteps and sliding around before finally snapping into place to form a crystal’s signature stacked layers. Led by Qian Chen […]

Engineering Illinois researchers professor Diwakar Shukla, left, professor Xiao Su, Anaira Román Santiago and Song Yin standing in Su's laboratory at the RAL building at U. of I.

Advanced electrode to help remediation of stubborn new ‘forever chemicals’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As new environmental regulations are rolling out to mitigate the industry-retired long-chain chemicals known as PFAS in drinking water, there are concerns regarding a new breed of “forever chemicals” called short-chain PFAS. Research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is helping shift the focus to include mitigation of the chemicals – which researchers say […]

Physical sciences The graphic shows an orange and blue fractal image illustrating mathmatical order and chaos

Theory sorts order from chaos in complex quantum systems

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s not easy to make sense of quantum-scale motion, but a new mathematical theory could help, providing insight into the various computing, electrochemical and biological systems. Chenghao Zhang, a physics graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and chemistry professor Martin Gruebele performed a computational analysis of the new mathematical theory […]

Physical sciences Chemical and biomolecular biology professor Xiao Su in his lab

Study demonstrates energy-efficient conversion of nitrate pollutants into ammonia

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The nitrate runoff problem, a source of carcinogens and a cause of suffocating algal blooms in U.S. waterways, may not be all gloom and doom. A new study led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign demonstrates an approach for the integrated capture and conversion of nitrate-contaminated waters into valuable ammonia within a […]

Engineering CUMTD bus on U. of I. campus

Researchers illuminate gaps in public transportation access, equity

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Public transit systems offering broad coverage of stops and routes may still underserve the communities that rely on them the most, according to a new University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study. The study, by former civil and environmental engineering student Dale Robbennolt and Applied Research Institute senior research scientist Ann-Perry Witmer, applies contextual […]

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