Research Focus
In recent years, our signature areas have helped foster interdisciplinary collaborations. We are teaming with industry and seeking solutions from virtually every corner of campus to solve whole problems—not just parts. From the atomic-scale breakthroughs in nanotechnology to system-changing solutions that ensure global sustainability, we are focused on day-to-day achievements and committed to tomorrow's success.
Research Spotlights
SpeechVive Inc. announced the completion of nearly $700,000 in funding to move a speech aid innovation for people with Parkinson's disease to the public. Jim Jones and Kirk Foster, both of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, developed the SpeechVive technology along with Jessica Huber, associate professor of speech, language and hearing sciences.
Researchers are working to enable smartphones and other mobile devices to understand and immediately identify objects in a camera's field of view, overlaying lines of text that describe items in the environment.
A brain graft developed from a biomaterial licensed from Purdue and designed by Cook Medical has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to treat troublesome leaks of brain fluid that can occur after tumor or sinus surgery or head trauma.
Researchers have created a new type of "ultracold" molecule, using lasers to cool atoms nearly to absolute zero and then gluing them together, a technology that might be applied to quantum computing, precise sensors and advanced simulations.
Researchers have discovered a link between prostate cancer aggressiveness and the accumulation of a compound produced when cholesterol is metabolized in cells, findings that could bring new diagnostic and treatment methods.
A new International Brain Mechanics and Trauma Lab (IBMTL) has been established as part of an international initiative to study brain cell and tissue mechanics and their relation with brain functions, disease, and trauma. The team comprises Riyi Shi, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Weldon School, and colleagues from Oxford University, the Technical University of Madrid, and the University of California.
Research by Pavlos Vlachos and colleagues at Virginia Tech sheds light on how the snake's body works like an airfoil to generate lift forces to keep them airborne as they descend through the air in the Southeast Asian rainforest.
Researchers are proposing a new technology that might control the flow of heat the way electronic devices control electrical current, an advance that could have applications in a diverse range of fields from electronics to textiles.