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College of Engineering news

Xudong Wang and graduate student Wenjian Liu show off the dendrite-inhibiting membrane
April 18, 2024

Self-flattening membrane will power a smooth transition to next-generation batteries

The anodes, or negative electrodes, in most rechargeable batteries are currently made of graphite. But the next generation of high-capacity, fast-charging, low-cost batteries will use metal anodes instead, which will…

Luca Mastropasqua in his lab with a high-temperature electrolysis testing station.
April 17, 2024

Slashing the carbon footprint of steel production

Manufacturing iron and steel is an extremely energy-intensive process, and the industry is one of the highest greenhouse gas-emitting sectors. Luca Mastropasqua, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the…

Students discuss a low-frequency magnetic beacon
April 15, 2024

There’s no substitute for real engineering: In underwater localization class, design students aim for new technology

When Joe Berg, a senior in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was deciding which classes to take for the fall semester 2023, one offering caught his…

Qin lab in front of test flight plane
April 15, 2024

UW-Madison engineers make 3D printing breakthrough in race to in-space manufacturing

In the end, Rayne Wolf could hardly bear to look at the monitor attached to the microscope she and her labmates had set up in a hangar at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood…

Undergraduates in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering’s capstone class examine a piece of laser-textured steel using a scanning electron microscope
April 12, 2024

For Wisconsin company, undergrads highlight laser focus on engineered coatings

Almost every metal tool out there, from surgical scalpels to agricultural blades, is treated with some sort of engineered coating. These coatings have all sorts of benefits—including reducing wear and…

Graphic of a highly magnified surface of a water filtration membrane as a mountainous landscape
April 11, 2024

Nothing is everything: How hidden emptiness can define the usefulness of filtration materials

Voids, or empty spaces, exist within matter at all scales, from the astronomical to the microscopic. In a new study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of…

April 10, 2024

With NSF CAREER award, Pujara studies the motion of marine pollution

Every year, millions of tons of human-made garbage ends up in the world’s oceans and major lakes. Some of it sinks to the bottom, while other trash floats out to…

Diamond-embedded nanocoil Hai lab
April 10, 2024

Diamond-embedded nanocoils improve magnetic field detection

Neural engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a unique diamond-embedded, nanofabricated coil that expands their growing toolkit of noninvasive devices and methods for better monitoring and stimulating the…

Kangwook Lee talking with students
April 9, 2024

Data ethics course teaches undergrads how to reduce bias in AI

Large language models like ChatGPT and other forms of artificial intelligence are quickly reshaping the world. But in many cases, these systems are imposing a viewpoint based on the biases…

PhD student Jack West and Assistant Professor Kassem Fawaz use Instagram’s vision model
April 2, 2024

Popular social media mobile apps extract data from photos on your phone, introducing both bias and errors

Digital privacy and security engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that both TikTok and Instagram extract different levels of personal and demographic data from user images, but can…