Design
Assistant Professor Nicole Xu first became fascinated with moon jellyfish more than a decade ago because of their extraordinary swimming abilities. Today, Xu has developed a way to harness their efficiency and ease at moving through the water in ways that could make some types of aquatic research much easier.
Living organisms have evolved across the span of millions of years to do things that are nearly impossible even for today's machines. But what happens when you combine biology and engineering to create more capable robots? Assistant Professor Nicole Xu shares her lab's efforts to create the next generation of cyborg jellyfish explorers.
In a study conducted by Assistant Teaching Professor James Harper and his consultation company Realize Research, LLC, it was found that regions where heavy storms and floods are more prevalent cause households in those areas to stop using and maintaining their toilets. Toilet dysfunction is a huge source of pollution, can increase the burden on water treatment systems and is a major risk of human health.
The Paul M. Ray Department of Mechanical Engineering has launched a new research area in design. The new focus area, geared toward PhD students, involves the study of the design process and how various contexts (environmental, psychological, political, etc.) affect the artifacts that today’s engineers aim to create.