Penn Engineers have developed a promising approach to lunar insulation: stacking hundreds of ultrathin Mylar sheets. The material combines thermal insulation with flexibility and durability, even after repeated compression, offering potential for future lunar habitats and space technologies. “This material could open a pathway to inexpensive, durable and reusable insulation on the moon,” says first author Danielle R. Levin, a recent Penn doctoral graduate in chemistry who also earned a master’s in @MEAM_Penn. Read more. bit.ly/4zKK2hu

Introducing the Schlein Center for Cybersecurity. Founded through a transformative gift from University Trustee Ted Schlein (C’86, PAR’20), the Center will bring together experts across disciplines to address emerging cyber threats and advance more secure technologies in the age of AI. Read more. bit.ly/4852h5s @PennEngAI | @CIS_Penn

From Penn Engineering to the Jeopardy! stage. Kayla Patel (Eng'25, GEng’25), who earned her B.S.E. and M.S.E. in @PennBioeng at @Penn before completing an MSc at @UniofOxford, competes on @Jeopardy tomorrow, Oct. 21. Good luck, Kayla!

Chemical engineering sophomores Christopher Zhu and Daniel Zheng (ENG’29) took first place at Climate Week’s Transform Penn: Green Fund Pitch Competition with Penn Pause, a proposal to manage electricity use on Red Days, when the grid experiences peak stress. Zhu and Zheng will receive mentorship to develop a full Green Fund proposal, helping move their campus sustainability idea toward implementation. @cbe_penn Congratulations, Christopher and Daniel!

During Climate Week, Penn Engineering faculty explored climate solutions across materials science, water, policy, AI, energy and sustainability. Highlights included nature-inspired robotic seeds from the Shu Yang Group, hands-on water-pollution demonstrations hosted by the McBride Lab, discussions on climate policy and AI’s environmental impact, a nuclear fusion panel and student sustainability pitches at Transform Penn. Read the full Climate Week recap. bit.ly/4hNiAcW

As AI accelerates software development, other departments struggle to keep up. In Episode 13 of Innovation & Impact, Byron Cook joins Penn Engineering Dean Vijay Kumar to discuss AI, autonomous systems and the evolving role of developers as managers of AI agents. piped.video/watch?v=1r7OD-iz… @pennengai | @awscloud

Alexandra Oh, a graduate of Penn Engineering's inaugural B.S.E. in AI program, returned to campus for an Alumni Spotlight, sharing insights on her academic journey, internships and career opportunities. #PennEngineeringProud #AIStudents

Yuanwen Jiang (@JiangYuanwen), Assistant Professor in @MSEatPenn, has received a 2026 @NSF CAREER Award to develop implantable bioelectronic devices that continuously monitor peripheral nerve injuries, tracking signals associated with injury and recovery. bit.ly/4s3CWlG

The @Comm4Rigor 2026 Conference brought together students, researchers and educators for three days focused on improving the rigor and transparency of scientific research. “I loved seeing how people reacted to the awesome materials the C4R team was presenting. Science actually is self-correcting,” says Penn Engineering’s Konrad Kording. bit.ly/4BhAFYm #C4R26 #ScientificRigor

The @NSF AI Institute for Human-AI Cooperation officially launched this week with a ribbon-cutting at the University of Delaware (UD). The $21.5M initiative, led by UD in collaboration with @Penn, @DelStateUniv, @UF and @Princeton, advances human-centered AI for healthcare. Penn Engineering’s Eric Eaton, Managing Director of NSF HAIC, joined representatives from the partner universities for the launch, which also featured research demonstrations and student posters highlighting NSF HAIC's work. haicinstitute.org/

Daeyeon Lee has received the 2026–27 George H. Heilmeier Faculty Award for Excellence in Research for his advances in understanding and exploiting interfacial phenomena in soft matter and biomaterials. Lee is the Russell Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Professor in @CBE_Penn. The Heilmeier Lecture will take place in Spring 2027. bit.ly/3TUvf4D

As AI moves into robots, cybersecurity is key. A new @IEEESpectrum feature outlines three layers of risk and highlights @PennEngineers research on RoboPAIR. bit.ly/46QQdUW #PhysicalAI #AIRobotics

If robots are going to be useful for everyday tasks, they need to combine skills, adapt to changes and complete complex, multi-step tasks. Researchers in the Figueroa Robotics Lab developed SymSkill, which helps robots learn and recombine skills to complete longer tasks. With just five minutes of video demonstrations, a real robot completed sequences of up to 12 steps and could adapt to interruptions and failures. “What makes this exciting is that the robot doesn’t have to experience every possible version of a task before it can perform it,” says doctoral student Yifei Simon Shao. Read the full story. bit.ly/4xT5n6U @MEAM_Penn

The next episode of “Innovation & Impact” features Byron Cook, Vice President and Distinguished Scientist of the Automated Reasoning Group at @awscloud and Professor at University College London. Cook joins host Dean Vijay Kumar to discuss AI, automated reasoning and the evolving relationship between people and intelligent machines. Episode 13 drops next week.

Penn Engineering recently welcomed @PAAgriculture Secretary Russell Redding for a visit focused on precision agriculture and AgTech in Pennsylvania. Redding toured @IoT4Ag research in VLEST, from leaf sensors to self-powered batteries, before joining the Penn Engineering community for a talk and a moderated discussion on the future of agricultural technology.

Penn’s new $10M StartUP Fund has announced its first investments, including two with ties to Penn Engineering. OneFiltr, co-founded by Troy Olsson of @ESEatPenn (pictured left), is developing tunable RF filters for applications including defense, satellite communications and quantum computing. Peptaris, co-founded by @delafuentelab of @PennMedicine and @PennBioeng, is advancing an AI-powered platform for peptide drug discovery and optimization. bit.ly/3VwzHqx

Penn Engineering’s Digital Media Design (DMD) program is evolving into Visual and Interactive Computing (VIC), beginning in Fall 2026. VIC builds on DMD’s strengths in computer graphics, interface design and interactive media while giving students more flexibility to explore generative AI, computer vision, immersive environments and more. Learn more. bit.ly/4hlE9zC @CIS_Penn

@PennEngineers was at #AIHorizons2026 in Pittsburgh, with @GRASPlab and IoT4Ag showcasing research at the expo and Penn's Vice Provost for Research David Meaney joining the “Who Gets to Build AI?” panel on access to the resources and infrastructure needed to advance AI.

Two Penn Engineering faculty members are among the 18 finalists for the 2026 @BlavatnikAwards National Awards for Young Scientists. @Deep29Jariwala is recognized for advances in electronic materials and devices, while @ParisPerdikaris is recognized for developing physics-aware AI, including the Aurora weather forecasting model. bit.ly/4AdmQcM