Winning is fun, but sometimes you need to lose in order to win. It may sound tough, but there are many lessons to be learned from a loss. A group of 21 students from the UIC chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) learned a lot during the recent ASME E-FEST North conference at Michigan State University. The UIC students participated in the Student Design Competition, which changes every year. For this conference, the competition was called The Pick-and-Place Race, and it is designed to challenge the students’ imagination and technical skills. The teams had to design and build a robot that can quickly and carefully secure a variety of different balls, which were balancing on tube stands…

This spring, a group of 60 UIC College of Engineering students feel like they won the lottery. In a way, they did—they were the lucky group selected via a lottery from among many students clamoring to participate in a full course on autonomous vehicles (AVs). This first-of-its-kind, interdisciplinary class is providing graduate students with a look at all the major issues relating to the development and eventual widespread implementation of AVs. “Who wouldn’t want to take this course?” said Akshay Sachdeva, an electrical and computer engineering major. “This is the first time they’ve organized this subject, and it’s a fantasy for us.” The course includes 15 guest lecturers, and is coordinated by four core faculty members; Ugo Buy (computer science),…

Is there life on Jupiter? UIC alumna Annie McDonnell wants to find out. The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering alumnus recently landed a position as a systems integration and test engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The young engineer graduated from UIC in 2016, and is already rocketing toward a thrilling career. She will be working on systems-level testing for the Europa Clipper program, which is set to launch in 2023. The spacecraft will be sent to Jupiter's moon to study whether or not conditions there could sustain life. “I'm excited to be working on projects that could changes the fundamental way we look at the universe,” exclaimed McDonnell. “The Jet Propulsion Lab is filled…

Lithium batteries are what allow electric vehicles to travel several hundred miles on one charge. Their capacity for energy storage is well known, but so is their tendency to occasionally catch on fire – an occurrence known to battery researchers as “thermal runaway.” These fires occur most frequently when the batteries overheat or cycle rapidly. With more and more electric vehicles on the road each year, battery technology needs to adapt to reduce the likelihood of these dangerous and catastrophic fires. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Engineering report that graphene — wonder material of the 21st century — may take the oxygen out of lithium battery fires. They report their findings in the journal Advanced…

 MIE Assistant Professor Sushant Anand has been selected to receive the prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career (NSF CAREER) Award, which supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in integrating research and education and to lead advances in the missions of their department and organization. The award is the most prestigious honor for up-and-coming researchers in science and engineering. https://youtu.be/LqbBNwdLj2A?t=60 The CAREER award provides five years of funding to help lay the foundation for a faculty member’s future research. Anand will receive $529,561 to study “Condensation-Driven Phase-Transitioning Surfaces.” “The goal of this research is to understand condensation on a class of existing materials that can undergo phase-transition due to condensation itself,” said Anand.…

The title of UIC Distinguished Professor isn’t simply awarded. It is earned. The designation is one of the highest academic honors for faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and it was established to recognize faculty members who have made a significant impact in their field through scholarship, creativity, and leadership. To celebrate this honor, the College of Engineering launched a public lecture series called “Reflections” to recognize each new UIC Distinguished Professor. The lecture is a memoir of education, research, key breakthroughs, and collaborations that led to achievements. The inaugural lecture was delivered on March 18, 2019, by the 2018 new UIC Distinguished Professor Constantine “Dino” Megaridis of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE).  https://youtu.be/QZZX64PxdSE The opening remarks came…