UC Berkeley scholars help Bay Area communities prepare for wildfire season
07/09/25 — Professor Michael Gollner and his students are applying advanced wildfire simulation tools to help neighborhoods understand their specific wildfire risks
Mechanical engineering
From COVID to cancer, new at-home test spots disease with startling accuracy
07/08/25 — Novel technology uses the ‘coffee-ring effect,’ paired with plasmonics and AI, for rapid diagnostics
Inspired by nature, engineering professor’s designs fold, move and morph
07/03/25 — UC Berkeley’s Morphing Matter Lab is transforming what’s possible in engineering design with their biomimetic materials
Berkeley engineers develop customizable, 3D-printed robot for tech newbies
06/25/25 — The open-source Berkeley Humanoid Lite provides an entry point into the robotics field
Insect-sized innovation
06/11/25 — Engineers have unveiled the world’s smallest wireless flying robot.
Q+A on assistive devices
06/11/25 — The Dorsal Grasper enables grasping with supernumerary robotic fingers on the back of the user's hand.
Igniting knowledge
06/11/25 — Robots aboard the International Space Station are testing the flammability of acrylic plastic to improve spacecraft safety.
The chameleon effect
06/11/25 — A chameleon-inspired electromagnetic material could someday make vehicles and aircraft invisible to radar.
Native FEWS Alliance trains students to strengthen tribal food, energy, water systems
05/22/25 — This multi-university consortium now faces an uncertain future due to NSF funding cuts
Researchers explore connections between chronic low back pain and movement
04/03/25 — UCSF/UC Berkeley study aims to make progress toward individualized treatments
Berkeley engineers create world’s smallest wireless flying robot
03/28/25 — The bumblebee-inspired robot, less than a centimeter in diameter, can hover, change directions and even hit small targets.
No robot can match a squirrel’s ability to leap from limb to limb — until now
03/19/25 — UC Berkeley engineers and biologists design a robot that can stick a landing on a branch
When student athletes are also engineers
03/05/25 — ASME: Berkeley mechanical engineering students are excelling on and off the field, court and track
New assistive device enhances grasping for people with spinal cord injuries
02/10/25 — Dorsal Grasper provides an intuitive, collaborative grasping approach
White House honors engineering faculty with early career awards
01/17/25 — Grace Gu, Sergey Levine and Grace O’Connell have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
New electromagnetic material draws inspiration from the color-shifting chameleon
01/15/25 — Applications include defense, wireless communications, energy and smart infrastructure
UC Berkeley researchers offer insights into the Los Angeles fires
01/13/25 — Scholars discuss the fires’ causes and impacts on health, housing and the path ahead
Grace Gu named ‘game-changing’ researcher in materials science
12/12/24 — Nature: She is recognized for using techniques such as machine learning to design composite materials
Homayoon Kazerooni elected to the National Academy of Inventors
12/10/24 — A leading expert in robotics and human-machine systems, he has created medical exoskeletons that enable paralyzed individuals to stand and walk
NASA-funded project offers new insights into fire behavior in space
12/09/24 — Testing in microgravity reveals materials can burn at lower-than-expected oxygen levels