Innovation | Penn Today

Building futures through LEGOs

In the FIRST LEGO League tournament, middle school teams mentored by Penn Engineering students worked to design and build robots related to the theme of water.

Physicist strums string theory at Philly high school

In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the universe is composed of one-dimensional cosmic strings vibrating at different frequencies. To high school students at Philadelphia Performing Arts: A String Theory Charter School in Center City, “string theory” is an allusion to the valuable effect of creativity, music, and the arts on developing minds.

Low-cost solutions reduce court no-shows by 36 percent

Streamlining information on a summons form and sending simple text message reminders led to some 31,000 fewer arrest warrants.

Researchers prove that timed brain stimulation improves memory

Performance can be enhanced by as much as 15 percent, according to a study by Penn neuroscientists published in Nature Communications. It is the first time such a connection has been made.

Study uncovers therapeutic targets for aggressive triple-negative breast cancers

As part of a breast-cancer diagnosis, doctors analyze the tumor to determine which therapies might best attack the malignancy. But for patients whose cancer is triple-negative — that is, lacking receptors for estrogen, progesterone and Her2 — the options for treatment dwindle. Triple-negative cancers, or TNBC, also tend to be more aggressive than other cancer subtypes.

Hajishengallis, an expert in the immune mechanisms behind the gum disease periodontitis

By altering bone marrow, ‘training’ can prepare innate immune system for future challenges

George Hajishengallis of the School of Dental Medicine and an international team of colleagues have found that “training” the immune system causes changes in the precursors of immune cells in the bone marrow. These changes could facilitate a more robust response to future infections or even enable the immune system to regenerate faster after chemotherapy.

The challenge: Create a tool predicting where crime will happen

The idea that machine learning can aid in the enforcement of the law inspired a competition held by the National Institute of Justice. Using five years of data from the city of Portland, Ore., a team led by criminologist Charles Loeffler tied for first in the Large Business Division.

Sung is developing design software to enable people without an engineering background to create custom origami robots that can move on the ground. The tool, called Interactive Robogami, is based on a database of robot parts which users can combine together like a “virtual Lego set.”

These small robots are inspired by origami

Through origami-inspired engineering, one researcher hopes to not only create rapidly fabricable robots, but also build intuitive design software that enables others who may not be trained in engineering to create their own personalized robots.

Exploring new worlds: Penn students design an ice drilling robot for Mars

The team’s robot is designed to drill through soil on Mars, extract ice and clay, and then melt the ice and filter it into drinkable water.

Inaugural Franklin SP2 Social Innovation Prize winners to tackle food deserts

Philadelphia is the fifth largest city in America, its former capital, and a cultural mecca that has become a destination for tourists the world over. But according to the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit working to eradicate hunger, the city’s First Congressional District, which includes parts of North and South Philly, is the second hungriest in the nation.

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