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College of Engineering news

Team Wendy helmet liner system prototype
November 8, 2023

With $15M in new grants, engineers will help prevent traumatic brain injuries

With new funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, an interdisciplinary research initiative led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison will continue to grow its research on concussions and other…

Marleen Ram places a drawing by Rembrandt under the watermark imaging system’s camera along with Rick Johnson and Rob Fucci
November 6, 2023

Cracking the Da Vinci chronology: How a camera and sophisticated computing can finally bring order to the works of a Renaissance genius

Leonardo Da Vinci may have been a genius, but he was also a hot mess. When he died in 1519, he left behind 7,000 pages of undated drawings, scientific observations…

Aviad Hai and Ilhan Bok
November 6, 2023

Tiny particles, big impact: UW-Madison neuroengineers prove longstanding MRI theory

It started out as a side project, a repurposing of the nanopatterning techniques that Ilhan Bok has fashioned in Assistant Professor Aviad Hai’s neuroengineering lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison….

Illustration of autonomous cars sensing
October 9, 2023

How a sensor based on the human eye could accelerate the reaction time of autonomous cars and drones

A new sensor inspired by the retina—the layer of cells in human and animal eyes that detects light and transmits signals to the brain—could improve the safety and performance of…

Grad student Anna Konstant examines a collaborative robot
October 4, 2023

When UW-Madison engineering ideas make their way across Wisconsin, everybody wins

Engineers play a critical role in solving challenges, whether they’re devising technology for the smart farms of the future, building fusion reactors to drive new sustainable energy possibilities, or creating…

Lei Zhou
September 12, 2023

Focus on new faculty: Lei Zhou is breaking down boundaries in precision mechatronics

Lei Zhou uses her interdisciplinary precision mechatronics research as a powerful tool for solving problems in various application areas, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment and robotics. With a systems focus, she…

PhD student Zack Harmer
August 29, 2023

New technique fast-tracks optogenetics work

By shining the right wavelength of light on cells outfitted with specific, light-sensitive proteins, scientists can turn cellular processes on and off—and in doing so, drive production of chemicals that…

Steven Cramer, a civil and environmental engineering professor emeritus, carries a fractured concrete sample after testing it in a hydraulic press.
August 23, 2023

Century-in-the-making tests conclude long-running concrete experiments

A series of concrete tests that began 113 years ago at the University of Wisconsin-Madison concluded this summer, cementing a lasting legacy of research that has endured across generations. During…

Randy Bartels
August 14, 2023

Focus on new faculty: Randy Bartels pushes limits of imaging

Randy Bartels is chasing innovation in imaging technology while building collaborations with researchers across the biological sciences. So he should fit in nicely in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, whose…

Assistant Professor Filiz Yesilkoy and PhD student Samir Rosas show one of their lab's engineered plasmatic metasurfaces mounted with brain tissue.
May 30, 2023

Small nanoengineered surface shows big picture of tissue changes

When pathologists examine tissue samples for signs of disease, they rely on their trained eyes to spot changes in specific biomarkers that indicate abnormalities. Before those alterations become visible on…