Pitt Swanson School of Engineering

A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh have shown for the first time that people are not the only primates that choke under pressure.

InsideEVs recaps electric vehicle news, leading with the Swanson School of Engineering's project with Powdermet to create motors for electric vehicles that avoid using rare-earth minerals.

A team of scientists recently published a paper suggesting that at least three rhesus monkeys will, in fact, choke under pressure. The authors told Ars that this lapse in performance is almost certainly true of all rhesus monkeys—and quite possibly other primates as well.

Monkeys ‘choke under pressure’ just like humans, according to a study into their performance, and it is more likely when the rewards for their actions are higher.

Research from Chris Wilmer's Hypothetical Materials Lab leads this story in Innovators about e-waste's role in a circular economy.

Researchers from UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh aim to use the ISS U.S. National Laboratory (ISSNL) to conduct biomedical research not possible on Earth and advance space-based biomanufacturing.

CEE faculty Melissa Bilec and Kent Harries featured in article about how climate change impacts Pittsburgh’s infrastructure

Plum High School math teacher Tamar McPherson recently joined an elite group of educators dedicated to the future of technology-based learning. She is one of 38 teachers in the state to become certified in computer science grades 7-12 through the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The professional development opportunity was made possible through the state’s PAsmart initiative.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering and the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation used the city of Pittsburgh to create a model to estimate city energy use. The goal is to help policymakers and building companies estimate the energy usage and emissions of a city’s buildings.

Harold Rickenbacker knows the real value of a breath of fresh air. He’s a clean air and innovation manager with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in Washington, D.C., one of the world’s leading environmental organizations. Working with EDF+Business, Rickenbacker (ENGR ’19G) manages clean air projects in the United States and abroad and promotes technologies, business models and partnerships needed to reduce pollution and improve health outcomes.

A model created by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh could help city officials make more effective energy policies and encourage businesses to use less energy. The map includes 3D models of 209 buildings Downtown and in Oakland. Different colors indicate different levels of energy use.

New research from the University of Pittsburgh shows particle-free silver microgrid outperforms other flexible high-performance transparent electrodes...

Antimicrobials find their use in destroying or slowing down the growth of viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms. They could exist in the form of an additive, as an antibiotic used to treat bodily infections, or as a coating on commercial products that are utilized to prevent germs.

Pitt Engineering student Nayana Suvarna is part of the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a competition set for October 23 in which driverless cars will race wheel-to-wheel around IMS at potential speeds of more than 180 mph. And she doesn't even have a driver's license.

Constructing and maintaining multi-story structures in the Pittsburgh region present some different challenges than conditions in the Miami area, where answers are still being sought for the condominium collapse that has killed at least 18 people. CEE Professor and infrastructure expert Dr. Kent Harries comments on the benefits of older buildings, more frequent inspections, and the bane of salt.

Cities are caught in a hot, vicious cycle. Surfaces in a given urban area absorb heat, and that heat causes city dwellers to use more air-conditioning, water, and other resources, which in turns calls for greater resources from power plants and water-treatment facilities. There’s a need to break that energy-intensive cycle, says Sushobhan Sen, a postdoctoral associate from the University of Pittsburgh.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering $1.6 million in funding for advanced nuclear energy research and development.

While many existing urban surfaces (think concrete, roofing, and pavement) absorb and radiate solar heat, reflective materials, including concrete and coatings, could be designed to reflect between 30% and 50% of sunlight.

New research from the Hypothetical Materials Lab at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering develops a framework to understand the choices a recycler has to make and the role that digital fraud prevention could have in preventing dishonest recycling practices.

“The challenge with us as a society is that anything that we don’t or we cannot measure, it does not get valued and that is the case with insect pollinators,” notes Vikas Khanna, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

"The pro of being a young entrepreneur is just going anywhere to find that knowledge or ask questions. That curiosity. And people are pretty accepting of you asking questions as a young entrepreneur because they know you are trying to fix a problem."

A new magnetic resonance imaging development has uncovered new insights into how sickle cell disease affects the brain.

“Things that don’t get valued get deteriorated,” said Vikas Khanna, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering.

The Science Times highlights Amir Alavi's work on self-aware materials in an article about the new class of nano materials.