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Events

Upcoming IMSE Events

See all IMSE Events

Nov 2 1:00 pm

IMSE Seminar: "From the Source to the Tap: Predicting, Controlling, and Monitoring Drinking Water Quality" at Stephen F. & Camilla T. Brauer Hall

Nov 18 5:00 pm

PhD Virtual Information Session Hosted by the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering

New building blocks expand functions of photonic chips

Researchers at WashU have developed a new framework to expand the materials, functions and designs on a single chip, opening new possibilities for faster, more powerful and multifunctional photonic technologies. This image visualizes the design of a heterogeneous integrated photonic chip incorporating various functional single-crystalline nanomembranes. These ultrathin layers add capabilities that the underlying chip materials cannot provide alone. (AI generated image courtesy Bae lab).

10.08.2026

Clearing the way for renewable carbon fiber production

Microscopic “rebar” adds strength to a new kind of carbon fiber material that features functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes. WashU engineers developed the manufacturing process to make use of the waste material lignin and to further strengthen carbon fiber for use in the automotive and energy industries. (Photo: Yuan lab)

09.18.2026

Shake it off

With a Department of Defense grant, McKelvey Engineering researcher Christopher Cooper will develop materials to deter organisms from fouling surfaces in aquatic environments, work that could affect fuel efficiency in ships but also could improve the function of desalinization plants and medical devices in the human body. (Photo: Shutterstock)

08.31.2026

IMSE Graduate Student Selected for Olin-Chancellor's Fellowship

Program recognizes students’ exceptional academic and research accomplishments in their first year at WashU. (Photo Credit Gusaimas Akbar)

08.26.2026

A painless punch with a microneedle patch could detect kidney disease earlier

New research from the lab of Srikanth Singamaneni shows the early success of a microneedle patch that can be applied on the skin to quickly and safely capture biomarkers from the biofluid in the skin and quantify them accurately on the patch. The patch detected early signs of kidney injury and may one day support home or point-of-care monitoring without requiring refrigeration. (Credit: Singamaneni lab)

08.17.2026

New platform explored to meet emerging need in mechanobiology

Jae Park, a doctoral student in the lab of Alexandra Rutz, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, has developed a unique, dynamic platform with electricity-conducting biomaterials in which stiffness can be modulated by applying voltage. Such a platform can help researchers learn more about the potential to use conducting polymers to study mechanobiology and to study the effect of stiff environments on cells, which play a role in fibrosis and some types of cancer. (Credit: Jae Park)

06.12.2026

Samsung grant will fund better energy storage systems

Researchers at WashU have found a promising way to improve electrostatic capacitors using an innovative design of the ferroelectric materials that maintain electric polarization. The work caught the eye of component manufacturer Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which provided a $1.8 million grant to take this technology to the next level. (Photo: Shutterstock)

06.11.2026

Mixed plastic waste target of upcycling process to cut waste, emissions

Christopher Cooper, at WashU McKelvey Engineering, is developing a two-step process to recycle pure and mixed plastics by breaking them down into pieces and rebuilding the pieces into new materials with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. (Photo: iStock)

06.01.2026

WashU Expert: Scaling up the circular economy

WashU engineer Feng Jiao has been working to make carbon conversion technologies more scalable for industry. (Photo: Feng Jiao)

05.12.2026