Efficient Genome Writing in Bacteria Thu, October 28, 2021 MIT's Timothy Lu (CAFOE 2017) has engineered a technique to efficiently edit bacterial genomes and program memories into bacterial cells by rewriting their DNA. Various forms of spatial and temporal information can be permanently stored for generations and retrieved by sequencing the cells’ DNA. Read More
Artificial Intelligence in the Ocean Mon, October 25, 2021 Kakani Katija (USFOE 2020) of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has engineered FathomNet, an open-source, distributed image database that can be used to train, test, and validate state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms to understand the ocean and its inhabitants. Read More
Using Microbes for Better Sewage Treatment Thu, October 21, 2021 Columbia University's Kartik Chandran (CAFOE 2015) is engineering carefully cultured bacterial communities to improve sewage treatment—and create useful products in the process. Read More
Stem Cells for Cardiac Muscles Mon, October 18, 2021 Melissa Skala (USFOE 2020) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is engineering a non-invasive imaging technique that can predict the efficiency of stem cell differentiation as a method of quality control, which holds great potential for regenerative therapies and treatments to combat ... Read More
Big Data Tool Monitors Disaster Recovery Thu, October 14, 2021 Ali Mostafavi (JAFOE 2021) at Texas A&M analyzed visitation patterns to essential establishments like pharmacies, religious centers, and grocery stores during Hurricane Harvey to assess the recovery of communities after natural disasters in near real time. Read More
Preventing Plastic Pollution Mon, October 11, 2021 The University of Georgia's Jenna Jambeck (USFOE 2020) is seeking engineering solutions by studying the types of litter volunteers picked up during a Mississippi River cleanup event and the precise location of where they found it to extrapolate how pollution could be prevented. Read More
Upcoming Nov 15 2021 - Nov 17 2021 2021 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium The 2021 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering symposium will be held virtually November 15-17, 2021. Sixty of the most promising early career engineers from the US and EU will meet for an intensive 2-1/2 day symposium to discuss cutting-edge developments in four areas: Machine ... Virtual
Upcoming Jul 18 2022 - Jul 20 2022 2022 China-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium The 2022 China-America Frontiers of Engineering symposium will be held July 18-20 in China. Sixty of the most promising engineers under the age of 45 from China and the United States will meet for an intensive 2-1/2 day symposium on developments at the cutting edge of engineering ... Chengdu (TBD), China
Upcoming Sep 21 2022 - Sep 23 2022 2022 US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium The 2022 US Frontiers of Engineering will be held September 21-23 at Amazon in Seattle, Washington. About 100 outstanding early career engineers will meet for an intensive 2-1/2 day symposium to discuss cutting-edge developments in four areas: Advances in Infectious Disease Diagnostics ... Seattle, Washington
NSF Seeks Multidisciplinary Collaborations for Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace Program NSF’s Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace program invites exploratory concepts from researchers in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences collaborating with researchers in computer and information science and engineering. The program aims to support fundamental multidisciplinary research on security, privacy, and trustworthy cyberspace that leads to new knowledge and approaches to design, build, and operate systems that can better protect people, organizations, and critical infrastructure. Proposals due Dec. 10, 2021. Read More
Gecko Gripper to Clean Up Space Junk FOE alum Marco Pavone at Stanford has engineered a robotic gripper equipped with grippy but not sticky gecko-inspired adhesives that could be particularly well-suited for tasks such as collecting debris and servicing satellites. Read More
Tech for Good - Lives Not Grades Civil and environmental engineer Burcin Becerik-Gerber at the University of Southern California co-produced this film about students traveling to the Moria Camp in Greece, known as "the worst refugee camp on earth," to design and build innovations that can improve the lives of refugees fleeing wars and natural disasters. Read More
Humans Cause Traffic Jams, AI Can Fix Them Traffic causes a litany of problems for society, from increased emissions to accidents. FOE alum Alexandre Bayen thinks automated vehicles will help us finally solve it. Read More
The Future is Out There In this interview of Martin Cooper, who conceived the first portable cellular phone in 1973, NAE illustrates the importance of encouraging current and future generations of engineers and entrepreneurs to think big and bold. Read More
Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2019 Symposium This volume includes 12 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's 2019 US Frontiers of Engineering (US FOE) Symposium held in September 2019. US FOE meetings bring together 100 outstanding early career engineers to exchange information about leading-edge technologies in a range of engineering fields. The 2019 symposium covered four topic areas: Advanced Manufacturing in the Age of Digital Transformation; Engineering the Genome; Self-Driving Cars: Technology and Ethics; and Blockchain Technology. The papers describe leading-edge research on these topics, among others: next-generation robotic locomotion, using CRISPR to combat human disease vectors, the ethics of autonomous vehicles, and blockchain technology. Appendixes include information about contributors, the symposium program, and participants. This is the 25th volume in the US Frontiers of Engineering series. Read More
Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2018 Symposium This volume includes 12 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's 2018 US Frontiers of Engineering (US FOE) Symposium held in September 2018. US FOE meetings bring together 100 outstanding engineers (ages 30 to 45) to exchange information about leading-edge technologies in a range of engineering fields. The 2018 symposium covered four topic areas: Quantum Computers: Are We There Yet?, the Role of Engineering in the Face of Conflict and Disaster, Resilient and Reliable Infrastructure, and Theranostics. The papers describe leading-edge research on these topics, among others: quantum computing, combining formal and informal structures in crisis response, infrastructure resilience, and immune theranostics. Appendixes include information about contributors, the symposium program, and participants. This is the 24th volume in the US Frontiers of Engineering series. Read More
Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2017 Symposium This volume includes 12 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's 2017 US Frontiers of Engineering (US FOE) Symposium held in September 2017. US FOE meetings bring together 100 outstanding engineers (ages 30 to 45) to exchange information about leading-edge technologies in a range of engineering fields. The 2017 symposium covered four topic areas: Machines That Teach Themselves, Energy Strategies to Power Our Future, Unraveling the Complexity of the Brain, and Megatall Buildings and Other Future Places of Work. The papers describe leading-edge research on such topics as whether machines can spot diseases faster than humans, wireless charging of electric vehicles, brain-machine interfaces, and functional natural materials for high-rise structures, among other topics. Appendixes include information about contributors, the symposium program, and a list of meeting participants. This is the twenty-second volume in the US FOE series. Read More
Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2016 Symposium This volume includes 13 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's 2016 US Frontiers of Engineering (US FOE) Symposium held in September 2016. US FOE meetings bring together 100 outstanding engineers (ages 30 to 45) to exchange information about leading-edge technologies in a range of engineering fields. The 2016 symposium covered four topic areas: Pixels at Scale, Extreme Engineering, Water Desalination and Purification, and Technologies for Understanding and Treating Cancer. The papers describe leading-edge research on such topics as frontiers in virtual reality headsets, autonomous precision landing of space rockets, new materials for emerging desalination technologies, and engineering immunity against cancer, among other topics. Appendixes include information about contributors, the symposium program, and a list of meeting participants. This is the twenty-third volume in the US FOE series. Read More
Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2015 Symposium This volume includes 14 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's 2015 US Frontiers of Engineering (USFOE) Symposium held in September 2015. USFOE meetings bring together 100 outstanding engineers (ages 30 to 45) to exchange information about leading-edge technologies in a range of engineering fields. The 2015 symposium covered four topic areas: Cybersecurity and Privacy, Engineering the Search for Earth-like Exoplanets, Optical and Mechanical Metamaterials, and Forecasting Natural Disasters. The papers describe leading-edge research on such topics as designing materials with unprecedented capabilities, building image-relaying mechanisms to better explore exoplanets, and improving medical device cybersecurity, among other topics. Appendixes include information about contributors, the symposium program, and a list of meeting participants. This is the twenty-first volume in the USFOE series. Read More