Taher Saif (M-CELS/RBTE), the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He was elected “for characterizing mechanical properties of materials at small scales, with applications in materials science and biology.”

Seven professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, including two from IGB, have been elected 2022 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Exercise looks a little different en route to the Red Planet, so Professor Marni Boppart (RBTE) got creative. Boppart and her colleagues received $1 million from the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, a NASA-funded institute, to explore the regenerative power of cells in space. Their research will help protect human health aboard Orion, the spacecraft destined to ferry astronauts from the Earth to the moon and Mars.

The National Science Foundation awarded a 7-year, $15 million project to a multi-university team led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The resulting ground- breaking and path-finding research, entitled “Mind in vitro - Computing with Living Neurons,” will imagine computers and robots that are human designed, but living.

Studies indicate that homemade masks help combat the spread of viruses like COVID-19 when combined with frequent hand-washing and physical distancing. Many of these studies focus on the transfer of tiny aerosol particles; however, researchers say that speaking, coughing and sneezing generates larger droplets that carry virus particles. Because of this, mechanical engineer Taher Saif (M-CELS/RBTE) said the established knowledge may not be enough to determine the effectiveness of some fabrics used in homemade masks.

MechSE professor Taher Saif (M-CELS) has been named the 2018 recipient of the Warner T. Koiter Medal from ASME. He is the first winner of this award from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.