Katherine Kuchenbecker: Haptography: Digitizing Our Sense of Touch
Is it possible to incorporate the sense of touch into the digital world? Katherine Kuchenbecker thinks so. At TEDYouth 2012, Katherine shares her work in the field of haptics, while discussing its potential to change fields such as gaming, museums, dentistry and stroke rehabilitation.
On and Off the Mat With Scholar-Athlete Mike Steltenkamp
“Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy,” or so said legendary Olympic gold medalist and Iowa University wrestling coach, Dan Gable. Does this include working toward a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Penn? Mike Steltenkamp, a Penn Engineering senior and Penn wrestler, recently considered the quote and found a good deal of […]
Vijay Kumar: Robots That Fly… and Cooperate
In his lab at Penn, Vijay Kumar and his team build flying quadrotors, small, agile robots that swarm, sense each other, and form ad hoc teams – for construction, surveying disasters and far more.
MEAM Students and Faculty in Philly Materials Science and Engineering Day
Students and faculty in the department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) were active participants in this year’s Philly Materials Science and Engineering Day, an event developed to introduce the general public to materials that are stronger, smaller, cleaner, and smarter than ever. Each exhibit in the February 5th event was designed to tie […]
In Memoriam: Alumnus Jeremy G. Chan
Jeremy G. Chan passed away in Medford, NJ in a boating accident on May 29, 2010. He was 23 years old. Born in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, on September 26, 1986, Jeremy attended Mountain Lakes High School before matriculating to the University of Pennsylvania. Jeremy excelled at Penn, earning selection to Tau Beta Pi Engineering […]
Red & Blue Racing takes 15th out of 120
Penn’s Red & Blue Racing team recently turned in a great performance at the annual Formula SAE competition, held at the Michigan International Speedway. From a field of 120 collegiate teams from around the world, Penn placed 15th overall, the team’s best showing to date. In just six years, Red & Blue Racing has progressed […]
Team McGill: Penn Engineering’s Triple Play
The McGill brothers’ defining moment at Penn Engineering came when all three of them filed into Professor Katherine Kuchenbecker’s Introduction to Mechanics Lab on the first day of class. Having reviewed her fall ’09 MEAM 147 student roster, Dr. Kuchenbecker was expecting three students with the last name of McGill, but was it possible that […]
Building a 1965 Shelby Cobra
Mike Peisach is not your average university student. This Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics freshman conceived of and carried out a plan to build a 1965 Shelby Cobra, a rare British sports car, from the ground up. From the time he turned 16 and got his first car, he was tempted to tinker with it, […]
Haptics at Penn: A Class of Touch
Inside the Towne Building’s Haptics Lab, members of Team Kuchenbecker are bent over their work stations, completely absorbed in individual projects. A question is raised from one of the benches and soon the dynamic changes: a diverse and interesting mix of doctoral, master’s, undergraduate, and high school students gather around a central work table to […]
Studying Animals to Build a Better Robot
Land animals use a precise combination of good body design and behavioral smarts to run, hop, climb, adapt quickly to icy conditions, and walk with ease over sand or gravel. Daniel Koditschek, professor in the departments of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Computer and Information Science, and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics looks to these animals […]