News Archives - Page 2 of 20 - UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering

ME Professor Homayoon Kazerooni elected to the National Academy of Inventors

Kazerooni, a leading expert in robotics and human-machine systems, is known for creating medical exoskeletons that have allowed those who have been paralyzed to stand and walk.

New model sheds light on how wildfires spread through communities

California has already recorded more than 6,000 wildfires this year, underscoring the need for better mitigation strategies to reduce their devastating impact. Now, researchers have created a model that may shed light on how these fires spread through communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), enabling us to better assess the risks of wildfire and take steps…

Berkeley Engineering welcomes new faculty to campus

Ken Kamrin, associate professor of mechanical engineering Kamrin received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from MIT. His research interests include theory and modeling of granular media, gas- and liquid-sediment mixture modeling, computational methods for soft media and multiphase problems, and analytical techniques and model reduction.

New $150 million research center to develop sustainable model for materials production

UC Berkeley will partner with the new Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials to develop a sustainable model for materials production to support the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Rio Tinto will contribute $150 million over 10 years to fund the center, which will be led by Imperial College London and act as a hub for…

ME Professor and Ph.D. Student’s Research Featured in Soft Robotics

Squishy Robotics, UC Berkeley’s BEST (Berkeley Emergent Space Tensegrities) Lab, and a NASA Ames co-author were on the cover of the June 2024 issue of Soft Robotics journal. The referenced paper was co-authored by Dr. Kyunam Kim, as lead author, with ME Professor Emeritus Alice M. Agogino and Dr. Adrian K. Agogino, a NASA Ames…

Berkeley researchers send 3D printer into space

Imagine a crew of astronauts headed to Mars. About 140 million miles away from Earth, they discover their spacecraft has a cracked O-ring. But instead of relying on a dwindling cache of spare parts, what if they could simply fabricate any part they needed on demand? A team of Berkeley researchers, led by Ph.D. student Taylor…

Winners of 2024 CITRIS Aviation Prize reach great heights

What would it take to connect the University of California’s campuses in Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz with a safe and sustainable system of air taxis, equipped to ferry students, faculty, staff and cargo across Northern California? That’s the question posed by the 2023–24 CITRIS Aviation Prize, the student design competition organized by CITRIS Aviation, a…

Researchers design soft actuators that mimic ‘bone-in-flesh’ structure of human limbs

Berkeley engineers have developed magnetically controlled soft actuators that mimic the “bone-in-flesh” structure of human limbs. Ultrafast and highly precise in their movements, these bioinspired actuators are easily made with low-cost, off-the-shelf components — qualities that may lead to their expanded use in soft robotics systems. In a study published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials,…

ME Undergraduate and Alumni Among Berkeley Engineering Commencement Speakers

Born and raised in the Philippines, Abhinav Subramaniam has worked with UC Berkeley’s Invention Corps on numerous projects—such as designing and building solar-powered refrigeration in rural areas—and was a member of the Model United Nations Team. After graduation, he plans to work with social impact-oriented startups and eventually pursue a master’s degree in public policy.

ME Undergraduate Lilly Etzenbach Among 2024 University Medal Finalists

In the remarkable diversity of the 2024 University Medal finalists, there is a striking theme: All of the finalists started their Berkeley studies in isolation, and through their undergraduate years, each found ways to build communities of study and service that were essential to their success. University Medal winner Christopher Ying has lived this story, and…

UC Berkeley innovators featured in ‘Pathways to Invention’ film

Are inventors born or made? Berkeley engineers explore that question in the award-winning documentary “Pathways to Invention,” set to premiere in May on PBS stations nationwide. The 60-minute special follows eight “modern inventors of diverse backgrounds and their journeys as they develop life-changing innovations.” Among those profiled are Berkeley alumni Paige Balcom (Ph.D.’22 ME), Corten Singer (B.A.’17…

ME Adjunct Professor Ravi Prasher Elected Lifetime Fellow of AAAS

Six UC Berkeley researchers have been elected 2023 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. The honorees, announced today (Thursday, April 18), are among 502 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.

Meet our new faculty: Tom Schutzius, mechanical engineering

Name: Tom Schutzius (he/him) Discipline: Mechanical engineering Degrees: B.Sc. in Mechanical engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago; Ph.D. in Mechanical engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Research interests: Through experimental investigations, we explore how surfaces and bulk materials can be (nano)engineered to enhance micro/nanoscale and interfacial transport, and based on our findings, we develop and fine-tune materials and…

Bioinspired design reduces drag and noise production for towed sonar arrays

Submarines and ships rely on towed sonar arrays (TSAs) for underwater exploration and security operations, but dragging these sensors through water, especially at high cruising speeds, creates excess noise that can mask target signals and compromise the sonar’s detection capabilities. Now, a team of Berkeley engineers is attempting to solve this problem with a little…

It’s Archie! Contest ends to name UC Berkeley’s new male peregrine falcon

Archie Williams, a Berkeley alumnus who ran fast enough to earn Olympic gold in 1936 and then flew U.S. Air Force planes during World War II has a new namesake — the new male peregrine falcon at UC Berkeley. Votes in a public contest that ended yesterday to name the raptor — Annie the falcon’s…

Researchers explore the phenomenon of holonomy

BB-8 of Star Wars fame is known for its adorable beeps, dome-shaped head and spherical body. But fighting alongside the Resistance is just one of its many talents. As this spherical robot rolls across surfaces, it’s exhibiting holonomy, a phenomenon in rigid body dynamics that Berkeley researchers think may have broad applications in real-life robotics.…

Three UC Berkeley professors named to NAE

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced today that three UC Berkeley faculty members — Arpad Horvath, Ravi Prasher and Ion Stoica — have been elected to its ranks. Their election brings the number of engineering faculty members in the NAE to 76.

Small solar sails could be the next ‘giant leap’ for interplanetary space exploration

Nearly 70 years after the launch of the first satellite, we still have more questions than answers about space. But a team of Berkeley researchers is on a mission to change this with a proposal to build a fleet of low-cost, autonomous spacecraft, each weighing only 10 grams and propelled by nothing more than the…

Two UC Berkeley engineers elected to the National Academy of Inventors

UC Berkeley engineering professors Ashok Gadgil and Boris Rubinsky are among 162 inventors named 2023 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced today (Tuesday, Dec. 12). Election as a fellow in the academy is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors.

A cool way to save coral

Coral is in crisis. Recent models estimate that 95% or more of the world’s coral could die by the mid-2030s due to climate change. But a new, rapid approach to coral preservation could help stem the tide. Technology discovered by Boris Rubinsky, Professor of the Graduate School at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and professor emeritus of…

Researchers demonstrate new 3D printing technique for quantum sensors

Quantum sensing is an emerging field that holds great promise, but building the crystal substrate for these nanoscale sensors has proved challenging. Now, Berkeley researchers have developed a novel fabrication method to structure quantum sensing particles into complex 3D configurations that can accurately detect changes in temperature and magnetic fields in microscopic environments.

Bears in Business: Toby Ricco

UC Berkeley allowed Toby Ricco ’13, M.S. ’14 to pursue his passion for engineering. Since then, Ricco founded Bimotal, a company aimed at evolving electric powertrain technology.

What It Takes to Grow Crystals in Space

ME Alum Debbie G. Senesky builds materials that can work on Venus.

Entrepreneurship at Berkeley

Started at UC Berkeley, Squishy Robotics provides lifesaving and cost-saving information in real time through rapidly deployable mobile sensor robots. As a majority female-owned startup, they prioritize diversity and inclusion while creating technology for a range of applications on planet Earth.

Ese Asoro awarded the 2023–24 Murray Slater Foundation fellowship

Ese Asoro, MEng ’24 (ME) is the latest recipient of funding from the Murray Slater Foundation, an award he says means “the world” to him. Expressing his gratitude, Ese added while the award came as a surprise, it has enabled him to embark on this journey towards his master’s degree with excitement.

ME Assistant Professor Grace Gu Selected as Inaugural Recipient of the LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) today announced that Grace Gu, a faculty member in mechanical engineering at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative. The initiative is a joint endeavor between LLNL’s Strategic Deterrence Principal Directorate and UC national laboratories at the University of California Office of the…

‘Shoulders to stand on’: Statue of campus’ first Black professor unveiled

In 1952, Joseph Thomas Gier became the first tenured Black professor in the University of California system and the second at any highly-ranked predominantly white university. Despite his historical significance, the record of his existence as a UC Berkeley professor of engineering became lost over time. After uncovering details of his past, a sculpture now…

‘Reaching new heights’: STAR launches rockets, future careers

The first custom flight computer developed by Berkeley Space, Technologies and Rocketry, or STAR, will be tested this week. Conor Van Bibber, a deputy in the avionics specialty, is excited to see his hard work come to fruition. Since joining STAR in 2021, Van Bibber has been able to learn about a variety of specialties…

UC Berkeley’s Big Ideas Contest Builds Student-Led Social Innovations

Paige Balcom, the co-founder, co-CEO and CTO of Takataka Plastics, is changing Uganda — one plastic bottle at a time. In 2017, Balcom, who earned her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, was settling into campus life after spending a year in Uganda on a Fulbright research grant. Only a month into…

UC Berkeley MEng Class of 2024 Full-Time Profile

Each year, the UC Berkeley Master of Engineering (MEng) program admits students from around the world who go on to become leaders in their respective fields. With 40 countries represented in the Class of 2024, the Fung Institute welcomes a student body of technical leaders who come from many different backgrounds and perspectives. The class…

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