Shape-Shifting Ultrasound Stickers Detect Post-surgical Complications
The first-of-its-kind device ‘tags’ an organ to monitor abnormal, life-threatening fluid leaks.
John Rogers – MSE, BME
Strategic VisionRevolutionize the Methods of Engineering
Strategic Vision
Revolutionize the Methods of Engineering
We’ll guide engineering into the future with new tools and methodologies.
How engineers work is changing, and it’s changing quickly. Now is the time to define how engineers will drive the field forward.
We are building on our existing strengths in three key research areas to foster new tools and methodologies that all engineers will need to know.
Biohybrid systems
Engineering at the interface of living and non-living systems
Northwestern engineers are maximizing biology’s potential across a wide spectrum of research — from harnessing biology directly to build new tools and systems to extracting biology’s own design principles to build electronics that mimic biological function.
Impact areas include: synthetic biology, bioelectronics, biomaterials, and neuromorphic engineering.
Recent work in this area:
A ‘Volume Dial’ for Missed Signals Produced by Our Bodies
System that monitors contaminants in drinking water now sensitive enough to detect tiny nucleic acids.
Julius Lucks – ChBE
Novel ‘Scaffolding’ Biomaterial Improves Bladder Regeneration and Function
The development improves bladder tissue regeneration and overall function better than current techniques.
Guillermo Ameer – BME
Jonathan Rivnay – BME, MSE
Arun Sharma – BME
Concurrent Materials Design
Co-designing new materials alongside their desired applications
Traditionally, the limits of technology have been defined by the materials available to build it. Northwestern engineers are changing this landscape. By combining strengths in materials science, generative AI, and machine learning, we simultaneously design new materials at the atomic and microstructural level alongside the applications for which those materials will be used. This co-design approach integrates material composition, processing, and performance outcomes from the outset, accelerating discovery and enabling solutions tailored to the demands of each application.
Impact areas include: energy, electronics, aerospace, biomedical, quantum technologies, and manufacturing.
Recent work in this area:
AI Algorithm Identifies High-Performing Electrolytes for Batteries
New AI algorithm can significantly speed up and guide the discovery of more efficient and longer-lasting electrolytes for batteries.
Wei Chen – ME
James Rondinelli – MSE
Newly Identified Antiferromagnetic Material Could Lead to Faster, More Efficient Memory Technology
The material represents a paradigm shift in how we think about this class of compounds.
James Rondinelli – MSE
Moving Closer to Efficiently Using Earth’s Power
Chris Wolverton proposed way to unify heat carriers to estimate lower limit of lattice thermal conductivity.
Chris Wolverton – MSE
Beyond Data: Discovery, Design, and Decision-Making
Building reliable systems that work, and defining their limits
The modern world is awash in data, yet that data represents a surprisingly narrow slice of reality. While many race to apply AI tools to the data that we have, mistaking model confidence for real-world reliability, Northwestern engineers take a more critical stance. We are identifying where data is missing, exposing where AI systems fail or mislead, and developing the foundational methods to close those gaps before deployment, not after.
This instinct comes from our roots in our Midwest manufacturing and clinical tradition where systems must work the first time and vaporware isn’t tolerated. Northwestern engineers combine strengths in AI, machine learning, optimization, and applied mathematics to build powerful and trustworthy systems, and rigorously defining when they can be relied upon.
Impact areas include: transportation, health, misinformation, and energy.
Recent work in this area:
Random Robots Are More Reliable
A new algorithm that encourages robots to move more randomly to collect more diverse data for learning. This advance could improve safety and practicality of self-driving cars, delivery drones, and more.
Todd Murphey – ME
Applying Math to Answer Life's Fundamental Questions
Northwestern Engineering faculty are decoding biological findings using the language of mathematics.
William Kath – ESAM
Creating Algorithms to Build International Research Teams
McCormick Global Initiatives hosted a workshop to pair scientists from four international partner universities.
Matthew Grayson - ECE