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DOE awards UF and Synhelion $2.7M to scale up solar hydrogen energy production

In Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, News, Research GrantsStory originally published on synhelion.com

A joint project between the University of Florida and Synhelion, a global pioneer in the field of carbon-neutral solar fuels, has been awarded $2.7M from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). The project aims to accelerate the large-scale development and deployment of concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) technology to produce green hydrogen for industrial decarbonization and electric power generation and storage.

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Richard Vigeant named director of Research & Engineering Education Facility

In Engineering Education, News, Research & Innovation

Dear Colleagues, Please join me in congratulating Richard Vigeant for agreeing to serve as the next Director of the Research & Engineering Education Facility (REEF), which is a College-led educational site that has served Eglin Air Force Base for more than 50 years. Richard joined the College in 2017 as the founding Director of Florida Applied Research in Engineering (FLARE) …

Understanding the riding experience of people with disabilities in an automated shuttle

In News, Research & InnovationBy Ada Lang

Most of us have the luxury of not having to think about transportation and mobility. However, about 41 million Americans have disabilities and here in Florida, with its older demographic, providing more mobility options become a higher priority. A research team at the University of Florida (UF) recently studied persons with disabilities’ attitudes about utilizing automated shuttles and found that …

UF researchers develop new CRISPR-based tool for cancer diagnosis

In J Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, News, Research & InnovationBy Leah BulettiStory originally published on UF News

A team of University of Florida researchers led by Yong Zeng, Ph.D.,an associate professor in the department of chemistry, an affiliate faculty member in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family department of biomedical engineering and a UF Health Cancer Center member, has developed a promising new CRISPR-powered method for noninvasive blood tests that could help clinicians diagnose cancer at earlier stages.

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Understanding nature’s fury: UF researchers take their lab to the middle of the hurricanes

In Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, In the Headlines, News, Research & InnovationBy Karen DooleyStory originally published on UF News

Forrest Masters, a civil engineer and interim dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, and his team take field data gathered during storms and compare it to wind tunnel modeling performed at UF’s Powell Family Structures & Materials Laboratory. With support from the National Science Foundation, UF is developing new tools that test hazardous winds on a variety of artificial landscapes inside the lab’s wind tunnel to help better understand how storms impact cities and towns.

AI helps create better, simpler hepatitis, COVID-19 tests

In AI University, Department of Chemical Engineering, NewsBy Eric HamiltonStory originally published on UF News

Going beyond pregnancy and COVID-19, the world could someday soon come to rely on at-home tests for many diseases thanks in part to AI-fueled improvements. UF scientists have used artificial intelligence tools to simplify a test that works for both hepatitis C and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The simplified test happens in one small test tube in just a few minutes. With further refinement, it could arrive at doctor’s offices soon and, one day, become available as home tests that are as easy as a pregnancy test.

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UF partners on NSF-funded National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute focused on STEM learning

In Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Featured, News, Research GrantsBy Brittany SylvestriStory originally published on UF News

The NSF has selected a team of scientists from the University of Florida and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to lead a $20 million institute to advance artificial intelligence to promote STEM education.

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UF engineers create viable artificial blood vessels by stretching the science of silicone 3D printing

In Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Featured, News, Research & InnovationBy Shawn Jenkins

Thomas Angelini, Ph.D., associate professor in MAE, and Senthilkumar Duraivel, a graduate from MSE working out of Angelini’s Soft Matter Lab, have collaborated on an approach to 3D print soft silicone structures like miniscule vascular bodies by turning the conventional process on its head.