Going to extremes
05/01/19 — Researchers have developed a thermal regulator that improves the performance of lithium-ion batteries in extreme temperatures.
Research
Detecting superbugs
05/01/19 — DETECT is a test that can quickly identify strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by recognizing specific enzymes in urine samples.
New hydrogen fuel catalyst
05/01/19 — Engineers used gelatin to create a hydrogen fuel catalyst that works just as efficiently as platinum but at a much lower cost.
Football and the teenage brain
05/01/19 — A new study shows that a single season of high school football may cause microscopic changes in the structure of the brain.
Shifting gears
05/01/19 — The integration of self-driving vehicles requires policy decisions that consider how travel behavior will shift with the introduction of new mobility choices.
Going with the Flow
05/01/19 — Researchers have developed a machine-learning tool to manage traffic where autonomous, partially-automated and manual vehicles share the road.
A robot has figured out how to use tools
04/15/19 MIT Tech Review — A machine built by UC Berkeley researchers drew on experimentation, data and observation of humans to learn how simple implements could help it achieve a task.
Microscopic ‘traffic cops’ for optical communications
04/15/19 — Berkeley engineers have built a new photonic switch that can control the direction of light passing through optical fibers faster and more efficiently than ever - and possibly revolutionize how information travels through data centers and high-performance supercomputers.
Meet Blue, the low-cost, human-friendly AI robot
04/09/19 — Blue uses advances in artificial intelligence and deep reinforcement learning to master intricate human tasks, while remaining affordable and safe enough that every AI researcher - and eventually every home - could have one.
Mass-producing biomaterials
04/08/19 — Researchers have developed a device that allows living tissue, bone, blood vessels and even whole organs to be printed on demand.
‘Ambidextrous’ robots could dramatically speed e-commerce
01/16/19 — In a new paper, Berkeley engineers build on 35 years of research with new algorithms that compute robust robot pick points, enabling robot grasping of a diverse range of products without training.
These robots are learning the old-fashioned way—by playing
12/19/18 California Magazine — Unlike most robots, the ones in the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) Lab haven't been programmed to perform a specific task. Instead, they've been programmed to learn new stuff by observation or through physical trial and error.
Greener days ahead for carbon fuels
12/18/18 Berkeley Lab — Researchers led by Joel Ager, MSE adjunct professor, have discovered copper's potential as a catalyst for turning carbon dioxide into sustainable chemicals and fuels without wasteful byproducts.
Jiggly Jell-O makes powerful new hydrogen fuel catalyst
12/13/18 — A cheap and effective gelatin-based catalyst, developed by mechanical engineering professor Liwei Lin and his Berkeley research team, can generate hydrogen fuel from water just as efficiently as platinum, the far more expensive current standard.
This innovation removes deadly arsenic from India’s water
12/12/18 The Better India — Everyday, tens of millions of people drink water that significantly increases their risk of cancer and other deadly diseases. UC Berkeley professor Ashok Gadgil amd Asian Institute of Technology's Joyashree Roy hope to fix that with an efficient and cost-effective system called Electrochemical Arsenic Remediation (ECAR) for removing arsenic contamination from drinking water.
Connie Chang-Hasnain named National Academy of Inventors Fellow
12/11/18 — EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, an organization that champions the societal benefits of university research.
Ion drive flight test points to radically different future for aviation
12/05/18 Forbes — Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have conducted a successful 8-second flight test of an aircraft with an ion drive propulsion system, a larger version of the same cutting-edge technology that Berkeley engineers are using to fly centimeter-scale microrobots.
Watch just a few self-driving cars stop traffic jams
11/19/18 Science — Anyone can start a traffic jam - just by tapping the brakes. Now, scientists at Berkeley have shown that a few self-driving cars can prevent such jams - and in some cases double the average speed of surrounding vehicles.
New group to explore engineering solutions for wildfires
11/16/18 Fung Institute — The newly formed Fire Research Group, led by mechanical engineering professor Tarek Zohdi, brings together scientists from UC Berkeley, the Space Sciences Lab and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to find more effective engineering solutions for uncontrolled wildfires.
Playing high school football changes the teenage brain
11/15/18 — A single season of high school football may be enough to cause microscopic changes in the structure of the brain, according to a new study led by Berkeley EECS professor Chunlei Liu.