The CIS Department and GRASP Lab invite you to please join us on Thursday, November 17th, at 3:30pm as we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Max Mintz, Professor of Computer and Information Science. Max joined Penn as an assistant professor of Systems Engineering (now part of ESE) in 1974. He changed his primary […]
Sustainable transportation and aviation are critical to address climate change and renewable energy powered battery electric vehicles represent a promising path towards this goal. I will discuss the performance metrics needed of batteries for electric land and air vehicles, and assess the energy-efficiency of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft compared to ground vehicles. […]
A non-local (gradient) plasticity model for porous metals that accounts for deformation-induced anisotropy is presented. The model is based on the work of Ponte Castañeda and co-workers on porous materials containing randomly distributed ellipsoidal voids. It takes into account the evolution of porosity and the evolution/development of anisotropy due to changes in the shape and […]
As 3D printing and other advanced manufacturing techniques have become more common, it is increasingly possible to produce structures with nearly arbitrary internal geometric and compositional features, opening up vast new design space for engineers. In this work, we consider a kirigami-inspired, flexible architected material comprising rotating squares joined at their vertices. The rotational degrees […]
Aquatic modular self-reconfigurable robotic systems (MSRRs) have incredible potential for bringing practical, flexible, and adaptable robotic tools to challenging environments. They could build mobile ocean platforms or bridges for larger vehicles, act as ocean-going manipulators to perform repairs on infrastructure, or function as oceanographic research platforms, using reconfiguration to achieve precise spatial resolution when sensing […]
A large fraction of cell and tissue mass is made of water. The flow of water across the cell surface follows osmotic and hydraulic pressure gradients, and is actively controlled by the cell. This physical fact suggests that the mechanical behavior of cells is intimately connected with cell ionic homeostasis and osmotic control. In this […]
Multifunctional soft materials and interfaces create intriguing new opportunities to enhance performance through programmable and adaptable properties. I will discuss: 1) Novel material architectures of solid-liquid soft composites for electronics, 2) Switchable and programmable materials for adhesion control, and 3) Morphing materials for soft robotics. For soft composites, I will show how liquid metal droplets […]
In this work, we present a low-rank tensor approach for approximating solutions to the nonlinear Vlasov equation. Our method takes advantage of the tensor-friendly nature of the differential operators in the Vlasov equation to dynamically and adaptively construct a low-rank solution basis through the discretization of the equation and an SVD-type truncation procedure. We utilize […]
Advances in machine learning and reduced-order modeling are rendering construction of digital twins for complex systems possible. We are using these tools to perform scientific discovery, design optimization, and data-informed decision making in diverse applications. In this talk we (1) show how graphs may be used to build robust digital twins in high-consequence engineering settings […]
The ability to three-dimensionally pattern semiconducting electronic and optoelectronic materials could provide a transformative approach to creating active electronic devices without the need for a cleanroom or conventional microfabrication facilities. This could enable the generation of active electronics on-the-fly, using only source inks and a portable 3D printer to realize electronics anywhere, anytime, including directly […]
