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Assistant Professor Kaushik Jayaram of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering is the recipient of a $650,000 CAREER award from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The funding will help Jayaram make advancements in robots by drawing from what might seem to be an unlikely source: insects and other small creatures.

Assistant Professors Kōnane Bay and Ankur Gupta from ��ƷSM����ӰƬ’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering each received a $450,000, three-year grant to advance research relevant to the U.S. Air Force.

Associate Professor Jianliang Xiao is a “mechanics of materials” expert launching innovations in soft materials and flexible electronics who has been selected as a senior member in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The program recognizes rising innovators who have had success securing patents, licensing and commercialization for developed technologies that showcase real impact on the welfare of society.

Assistant Professor Longji Cui and his team in the Cui Research Group have developed a new technology to turn thermal radiation into electricity in a way that literally teases the basic law of thermal physics. The group says their research has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing industries by increasing power generation without the need for high temperature heat sources or expensive materials.

��ƷSM����ӰƬ’s Living Materials Laboratory contributed to groundbreaking research showing how engineered microbes can create bioglass microlenses, paving the way for advanced imaging technologies in medicine and materials science.

��ƷSM����ӰƬ researchers are exploring the use of sodium-ion batteries as an alternative to lithium-based energy storage.