Research

Glue inspired by mussels could save lives

08/23/17 Food & Wine — Mussels may do a lot more for us than just offering a delicious vehicle for butter and garlic. UC Berkeley scientists are now studying the way mussels stick to slippery rocks to make prenatal surgery a much safer option.

Ensuring that robots and humans work and play well together

08/17/17 MIT Tech Review — EECS assistant professor Anca Dragan is working to distill complicated or vague human behavior into simple mathematical models that robots can understand. Her visionary work has landed her a spot on MIT Tech Review's 35 Innovators Under 35 list.

Single nanowires shown emitting different colors.

‘Soft’ semiconductors could transform HD displays

06/29/17 Berkeley Lab — A class of semiconductors called halide perovskites could usher in new generation of optoelectronic devices, according to Berkeley Lab scientists led by materials science and engineering professor Peidong Yang.

Chengzhi Shi checks the connections between the transducer array and the digital circuit.

High-speed communications for the deep sea?

06/29/17 Berkeley Lab — A new approach to sending acoustic waves through water could open up the world of high-speed communications to activities underwater (including scuba diving, remote ocean monitoring and deep-sea exploration), according to research led by mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang.

Viral infections decrease muscle health

06/13/17 — UC Berkeley bioengineers, led by associate professor Irina Conboy, have found unexpected effects of viral infections on muscle regeneration and other health factors, a discovery that may explain why viruses can make people feel so lousy.

Researchers teach computers to be curious

05/25/17 Engadget — When you first played Super Mario Bros, you probably started by exploring, not by racing through the game. Berkeley computer scientists have imparted that same sense of curiosity into their algorithm in a move that could drastically advance the field of artificial intelligence.

Berkeley robot practices picking up awkward and unusual objects.

Meet the most nimble-fingered robot yet

05/25/17 MIT Technology Review — A dexterous multi-fingered robot, developed by IEOR professor Ken Goldberg and his team, practiced by using virtual objects in a simulated world, showing how machine learning and the cloud could revolutionize manual work.

A new ferroelectric material developed at Berkeley Lab

Scientists help thin-film ferroelectrics go extreme

05/13/17 Berkeley Lab — Lane Martin, associate professor of materials science and engineering and faculty scientist at Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division, has created the first-ever polarization gradient in a thin film, greatly expanding the range of functional temperatures for ferroelectrics, a key material used in a variety of everyday applications.

Small wonder

05/01/17 — Researchers have created the world's smallest transistor, a development that could advance the performance and efficiency of electronics.

Jungiao Wu and graduate students in the lab

The rule-breaker

05/01/17 — Professor of materials science and engineering Junqiao Wu has identified an outlier in the materials world: Vanadium dioxide can conduct electricity without conducting heat.

Reading minds

05/01/17 — The BioSENSE Lab has created a “pass-thought” reader to authenticate wearers by reading their brainwaves.

Boosting robotics in manufacturing

05/01/17 — The Department of Defense announced a $253 million Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Innovation hub that partners with Berkeley Engineering.

Smart moves: California’s next-gen infrastructure

05/01/17 — Next-generation technologies are disrupting traditional ideas of infrastructure, which will soon be laced with sensor networks, machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize efficiency, resiliency and sustainability.

3-D printers and the future of tissue engineering

04/27/17 Medium — The Fung Institute sat down with mechanical engineering professor Grace O'Connell to discuss her research into engineering complex tissues and cartilage with the help of a 3-D printer.

Image alchemist Alexei Efros wins ACM computing prize

04/18/17 ACM — The Association for Computing Machinery has awarded its 2016 Prize in Computing to EECS professor Alexei Efros "for groundbreaking data-driven approaches to computer graphics and computer vision."

Shoe-string theory

04/12/17 — A new study by Berkeley mechanical engineers finally shows why shoelaces keep coming untied.

NSF’s $11M to fund natural hazards SimCenter

04/05/17 CITRIS — Structural engineering professor Stephen Mahin will lead a new center for computational modeling and simulation of the effects of natural hazards on the built environment, supported by a five-year, $10.9-million grant from the National Science Foundation.

In a sample of blood, researchers probe for cancer clues

03/23/17 — Berkeley bioengineers, led by Amy Herr, have made an important step toward liquid biopsy technology, which could allow patients to monitor cancer therapy through a simple blood draw.

Shell and Berkeley officials at signing ceremony

EBI signs partnership with Shell to fund energy tech research

03/15/17 — UC Berkeley's Energy Biosciences Institute has entered into a five-year, multimillion dollar research agreement with Shell International Exploration and Production Inc. to fund research that meets the growing demand for energy in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible.

A “VAST” step forward in cybersecurity

03/15/17 Berkeley Research — Working closely with cybersecurity experts at Berkeley Lab, CS professor Vern Paxson and postdoc researcher Matthias Vallentin are developing VAST, a system to help forensic analysts pinpoint how much of an organization's computer network has been compromised - and where.