Skip to main content

College of Engineering news

Moon
February 9, 2026

Designing lunar surface missions for how the brain handles strain

As NASA plans crewed surface missions to the Moon and eventually Mars, researchers say managing cognitive fatigue may be essential for safe, effective deep space exploration. As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the…

February 2, 2026

The numbers add up: Women’s health outcomes can benefit from risk-based breast cancer screening

By replacing generic, age-determined breast cancer screening recommendations with personalized guidelines based on risk, a team of researchers says healthcare decision makers could save lives and reduce false-positives. Oguzhan Alagoz, a professor of industrial and…

A student follows a robotic dog on a construction site
January 29, 2026

Robots to the rescue?

While fantasies of mechanical maids aren’t yet reality, autonomous aides are emerging in a few areas of the modern world. Highlight reels from the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games, held in August 2025 in Beijing,…

Charlie Hirst works on equipment in the UW-Madison Ion Beam Laboratory
January 23, 2026

Engineers watch radiation-damaged nuclear reactor materials fix themselves in real time

In nuclear reactors, radiation causes defects to form inside materials, and this process can change those materials’ overall properties—usually for the worse. One approach for mitigating this radiation damage is heating those damaged materials. This…

PhD student Molly McCord works in the lab
January 23, 2026

Physics-defying discovery sheds new light on how cells move

The cells in our bodies move in groups during biological processes such as wound healing and tissue development—but because of resistance, or viscosity, those cells can’t just neatly glide past each other. Or can they?…

Randy Bartels
January 21, 2026

‘Quantum imaging’ could open new window to nanoscale universe

As spectacular as modern imaging can be in illuminating the tiniest aspects of life, some avenues of biology are still cloaked in darkness. Biological processes that happen over long periods of time—for example, exchanges of…

Researchers use equipment in the lab of Professor Mikhail Kats, led by PhD student Rabeeya Hamid
December 19, 2025

Power-free imaging breakthrough brings near-infrared light into sight

University of Wisconsin-Madison electrical engineers have dramatically improved a semiconductor-based imaging system that makes near-infrared light visible to the naked eye. Near-infrared is the band of electromagnetic radiation between roughly 750 and 1,400 nanometers; it…

Janet Naw uses scanning equipment
December 15, 2025

As undergrad researcher, civil engineer builds skills, confidence and connections

Jacknetson Naw has spent the last two years learning how to scan structures. Naw, a civil and environmental engineering senior, has conducted undergraduate research under CEE Associate Professor Hannah Blum, who leads the Steel Systems…

Daniel Ludois
December 11, 2025

Powering progress: Engineer, inventor earns national recognition for transforming electric motors

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has included a University of Wisconsin-Madison electrical engineer in its 2025 class of fellows—the highest distinction designed to recognize academic inventors’ accomplishments in patents, licensing and commercialization. Daniel Ludois,…

December 8, 2025

New tool illuminates dark website patterns designed to scam you and steal your data

Many internet users understand how to avoid digital pitfalls like catfishing, password hacking and malware. But not all the dangers in the digital world are so straightforward: For example, just browsing the web may set…