Pitt Swanson School of Engineering

Eric Beckman and Melissa Bilec, professors in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, will be co-principal investigators on a study of circular economies that earned a $750,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.

“One of the reasons why textiles is so important is when you think of some of the waste streams we have — we have recycling for certain kinds of plastics and glass, many of us have composting opportunities — the textile sector really doesn’t have a dedicated waste stream. Most of the textiles will go to the to the landfill,” according to Melissa Bilec, co-director of Pitt’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and Covestro Circular Economy Program.

Eric Beckman, a co-founder of the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, explained last week that what occurred in East Palestine amounts to an “uncontrolled chemical reaction.” “The range of things you can create is really vast … There are a lot of unknowns here,” Beckman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Carla Ng, associate professor of civil engineering, was among the panelists at a meeting designed to answer questions residents have about the how the Norfolk Southern train derailment on Feb. 3 will impact them.

Ian Dougherty is a mechanical engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District who specializes in mechanical designs, hydraulic systems and large industrial equipment. He started with the Department of the Army intern program and became a full-time employee for the Pittsburgh District after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied mechanical engineering.

The Covestro Circular Economy Program is the first US graduate program on circular economy design solutions for global waste. The University of Pittsburgh’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and Swanson School of Engineering will house the new Covestro Circular Economy Program. The program is designed to create opportunities for the research, education, and innovative advancement of circular economy principles.

Upper St. Clair High School junior Priyasha Itani has always had a knack for science. As a child, she watched Disney’s “Big Hero 6” on repeat, glued to the story of a robotics whiz and his mechanical companion on a mission to avenge his brother’s death.Now, the 16-year-old student is working to better understand the cause of endometriosis through a research internship at the Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering.

Eric J. Beckman, a University of Pittsburgh chemical engineering professor, said the starting raw materials for PVC are chlorine and ethylene, and both of those chemicals are very energy intensive to produce. If a company tries to recycle PVC by melting it, “it tends to fall apart at the molecular level,” while generating unwanted byproducts such as hydrochloric acid, Beckman said. Companies that are attempting chemical recycling of plastics using a process such as pyrolysis try to remove any PVC from the waste stream “so as to not muck up their process,” he added. “The way to lessen the use of vinyl chloride is to find alternatives to PVC.”

The bill has a laundry list of different processes that would be considered “advanced recycling.” But a University of Pittsburgh professor questions whether some of these chemical processes should be considered recycling at all. Professor Eric Beckman researches polymer design. He said it’s not clear how much plastic these companies actually recycle — some of it gets burned as energy to power the plant or simply put into the air. “Anything that’s burned, all you’re doing is like, ‘I’ve got this carbon, OK — could go in the ground or it could go up in the atmosphere. So that’s not really recycling, it’s still single use,” Beckman said.

If you're in a wheelchair, getting your hair cut isn't the most pleasant experience, in large part because the barber often can't adjust the wheelchair seat. One DuBois barber is working with a team out of Pittsburgh on an invention to resolve that. It's called the Tranquilift 2.0.

Priyasha Itani completed an internship as a research assistant at the Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory (VBL) at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering. There she was able to conduct her research.

Rebecca will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Material Science and Engineering in May 2023 from the University of Pittsburgh.

Members of the University of Pittsburgh’s Impactful Resilient Infrastructure Science and Engineering consortium, or IRISE, and officials from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are hoping to try out a few pilot programs that one day could help reduce not just the amount of noise, but also the amount of vehicle emissions.

Carla Ng, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, said the state’s revised standards will result in substantial reductions of the forever chemicals in local drinking water. She suggested ongoing studies have shown permitted levels have long been too high for PFAS, as well as other potentially dangerous chemicals.

University of Pittsburgh researchers are developing a new tool, Cyberwater, to better model climate-related disasters such as landslides, which could help local governments to be better prepared

Engineering students at University of Pittsburgh, until recently, were offered little hands-on experience with electric vehicles of any type. So last year, when then-junior Nick Genco saw an opportunity for a club at Pitt dedicated to racing electric boats in the Promoting Electric Propulsion (PEP) for Small Craft competition held by the American Society of Naval Engineers, he jumped in. That was the summer of 2021. The race was the following May. Plenty of time, right?

Alessandro Fascetti and his colleagues are engaging in a National Science Foundation-backed effort to chronicle the reconstruction of the Fern Hollow Bridge. They use drones and lidar to capture data from the bridge, which is then used to create 3-d digital models. Using this information, the researchers hope to gain a deeper understanding of public infrastructure projects and develop best practices.

Picture electrified tractor trailers wirelessly charging their batteries as they cruise through central Pennsylvania. Imagine Pennsylvania Turnpike walls that not only reduce noise pollution but vehicle emission pollutants, too. This and more could soon become reality thanks to a research grant from Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to the University of Pittsburgh. At its Oct. 4 meeting, the commission approved a $2.5 million agreement with Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering to support four research projects aimed at bettering Pennsylvania’s roads.

"If materials are good at grabbing carbon dioxide, they're usually good at grabbing multiple gases," explained Katherine Hornbostel, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. "It's really hard to tune these materials to grab carbon dioxide but nothing else, and that's what this research is focused on."

ll road 43 stretches for miles to the south, but to the north new things are coming. “This stuff is on the cutting edge, and the turnpike is right there trying to make these innovations,” said Julie Vandenbossche, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Out in the trees, 14 miles will be built to connect 43 to the Parkway East in the final piece of the Mon Fayette Expressway. But the turnpike is partnering with researchers at Pitt to add new technology to this construction.

The Lagos State Government has assured of its commitment to collaborate with the University of Pittsburgh on implementation of the Manufacturing Assistance Center (MAC).

Sarai studies at the University of Pittsburgh with a minor in bioengineering and a concentration in product development and manufacturing. Read on to learn more about her studies in industrial engineering!

“The level of CO2 in the air is so low, it’s hard to test before and after” its run through some new method, explained Katherine Hornbostel, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering. “You need very fine-tuned equipment to get accurate readings.” Ms. Hornbostel has been working on carbon capture, including direct air capture, for years, experimenting with different materials and their ability to absorb and release CO2.

"Until now, no one has been able to actually see the atomically resolved friction process with a clear-cut interface, so the relationship between the friction mechanisms and the interface hasn't been fully understood," stated Guofeng Wang, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science. "In this study, we were able to actually see the sliding pathway of interface atoms and the dynamic strain and stress evolution on the interface that has only previously been shown by simulations."