2016 Press Releases

Taflanidis Named Greek Diaspora Fellow
Associate Professor Alexandros A. Taflanidis, the Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Chair in Structural Engineering, has been named a 2017 Greek Diaspora Fellow.

Datta Named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
Suman Datta, the Chang Family Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of Notre Dame, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Notre Dame, Condé Nast Announce New Research Collaboration on Content Consumption and Deep Learning
How each and every person consumes digital content is different, but University of Notre Dame researchers are working to better understand and model this process. The Interdisciplinary Center for Network Science and Applications at Notre Dame is partnering with Condé Nast – a media company known for producing high-quality content for the world’s most influential audiences – to advance deep learning research on content consumption.

New Method Improves Stability, Extends Shelf Life of Protein Drugs
A new study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and led by Assistant Professor Matthew Webber reveals a new way to improve the stability of common protein drugs and extend shelf life.

The Aerodynamics of Trucks: Getting in the Flow
Like race cars, the semi trucks that haul tons of freight back and forth across the country are often fitted with devices such as spoilers, ride skirts, or rear tail fairings to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency. A recent report published by the University of Notre Dame offers a way to decrease drag and improve fuel efficiency without adding these bulky devices or substantial redesigning the vehicle.

ND Energy Announces New Associate Director to Lead and Advance Its Global Research Initiatives
Subhash L. Shinde has been named associate director of the Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame. He will lead ND Energy’s initiatives to advance global research development and corporate programs effective November 14, 2016.

Fighting for Better Cancer Detection
A mammogram’s ability to detect tumors at early stages has made breast cancer one of the most treatable forms of cancer. Still there are almost 50,000 missed diagnoses every year. Engineering professor Ryan K. Roeder has devised a way in which gold nanoparticles can be injected into the breast and attach to indicators of cancer, so they can be clearly seen.

Notre Dame Researchers Develop Software for Potential Use by Law Enforcement
The software code developed at Notre Dame makes the iris identification process easier for law enforcement to use and, hopefully, apply. The code works by looking at iris features and presenting them to the user in a way that is similar to a program that conducts fingerprint analysis.

Of Synergy and Science: Cross-disciplinary Research Building Anchors New Research Quad
On the northeast side of Notre Dame’s campus, a new quadrangle has emerged on space that seemingly just days ago was occupied by a parking lot and sidewalks. Anchoring this new quad on its east side is the state-of-the-art, 220,000 square foot McCourtney Hall of Molecular Science and Engineering.

How the Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Facility Helps Solve Health and Other Research Questions
When it comes to battling disease and maintaining healthy environments, DNA sequencing can be imperative to success. At the University of Notre Dame, the Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Facility supports research in many areas that increasingly rely on DNA sequencing, including cancer biology, vector-borne diseases, the development of drug and antibiotic resistance, monitoring invasive species, and much more.

Notre Dame Researchers to Lead New Computing Paradigm Effort
University of Notre Dame researchers will lead a new National Science Foundation- and Semiconductor Research Corp.-funded effort to develop a new area of computing titled “Extremely Energy Efficient Collective Electronics.”

Notre Dame Research Is Working with Manufacturers to Minimize Warping in Metal-printed Parts
Three-dimensional printing, also known as additive manufacturing, isn’t just for plastics. In fact, Notre Dame researchers are working to 3D print a number of items, including metal orthopedic implants.

Notre Dame President and Four Others to Participate in Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay
On Saturday (Oct. 8), the torch celebrating Indiana's bicentennial will travel through parts of St. Joseph County, including the University of Notre Dame campus, in the hands of five Notre Dame representatives who have been selected as local torchbearers: University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.; Rev. Paul Kollman, C.S.C., executive director of the Center for Social Concerns; Tracy Kijewski-Correa, the Leo E. and Patti Ruth Linbeck chair and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences; Anna Rohrer, a sophomore student-athlete from Mishawaka; and Morgan Ludwig, a freshman from Granger.

It Takes a Village: How Crowdsensing Can Help Ensure Safe Drinking Water
Water quality is not an issue affecting only urban water treatment systems. More than 15 million U.S. households rely on private wells for drinking water, where no municipal utility monitors water quality. These private wells are the focus of a project being conducted by Notre Dame researchers Dong Wang and Na Wei.

Panel Discussion to Focus on University-City Partnerships
A panel discussion focusing on the importance of universities and cities working together to help solve pressing problems will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 29) at the University of Notre Dame’s McKenna Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Fighting to Explore the Moon
Researchers like Notre Dame's Clive Neal are beginning to piece together how the rocks were formed, how the Moon has evolved, and how the resources they’re discovering, like oxygen, water, regolith and metals, could be used to support a human return to the Moon and enable exploration far beyond.

Expressing the Value of Data Science in an ROI Framework
In a recent paper published in EPJ Data Science, University of Notre Dame researchers study how organizations can quantify decision making in data science.

Fighting to Cure Food Allergies
Professor Basar Bilgicer hopes to make allergies, and the accompanying anxiety and trauma, a thing of the past. For an aspiration that large, he had to start small. Biomolecular small.

Clues in Ancient Mud Hold Answers to Climate Change
From the depths of Lake Malawi in southeast Africa, Assistant Professor Melissa Berke has helped uncover evidence that offers new insights into a long-held theory about Africa’s climate history.

Meyers Returns to Notre Dame Engineering
Kerry L. Meyers has been appointed assistant dean of student development and director of the Women in Engineering program. Formerly director the college's First-Year Engineering Program, Meyers returned to Notre Dame in August 2016 from Youngstown State University, where she had served as director of the First-Year Engineering Program and faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers.

Blue-sky Biomedical Projects Launched by New Funding
Advanced Diagnostics & Therapeutics (AD&T), a strategic research initiative at the University of Notre Dame, has announced the recipients of its Discovery Fund awards for 2016. Innovative research includes efforts to treat Parkinson’s disease, understand heart disease and strokes, tackle bacterial drug resistance.

Notre Dame Announces Collaboration with AT&T for Online Master’s Degree in Data Science
With a growing need for skilled data scientists, the University of Notre Dame, in collaboration with AT&T, has announced its new online master of science degree with a specialization in data science.

In Memoriam: Joseph C. Hogan, Dean Emeritus of College of Engineering
Joseph C. Hogan, dean emeritus of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Engineering, died Thursday (Aug. 18) at Friendship Village in Tempe, Arizona. He was 94.

Reinterpreting the Fossil Record on Jaws
New research from a team of researchers led by Matthew Ravosa, professor of biology and concurrent professor of both aerospace and mechanical engineering and anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, puts into question how we interpret the behavior of extinct organisms from their fossil remains.

Army Research Office Funds Research Targeting Sensors and Quality of Information
Funded by a grant from the Army Research Office, Dong Wang, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, is studying the quantification and assessment of the Quality-of-Information provided by sensors.

Christensen Named Editor-in-chief of Measurement Science and Technology
Kenneth T. Christensen, the Collegiate Professor of Fluid Mechanics and assistant dean of faculty development in the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, has been named the editor-in-chief for Measurement Science and Technology.

Taking Multiple Myeloma Down for the Count
When battling cancer, everything is on the table. Radiation therapy. Surgery. Chemo. Advances in nanotechnology have enabled researchers, like Associate Professor Z. Basar Bilgicer, Research Assistant Professor Tanyel Kiziltepe, and their team in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, to encapsulate cancer-fighting/cancer-killing drugs into nanoparticles that can deliver therapeutic drugs directly to the site of a tumor, effectively avoiding healthy tissue and minimizing adverse reactions.

GE Girls@Notre Dame Summer Camp Encourages Middle-school Girls to Pursue STEM Careers
Local sixth through ninth grade girls will spend a week on the University of Notre Dame campus beginning Monday (July 11) programming LEGO robots, creating a smart phone app, and designing and testing Alka Seltzer rockets, and other activities as part of the third annual GE Girls@Notre Dame summer camp.

Notre Dame Holds Ribbon Cutting for New Turbomachinery Laboratory
On June 7, 2016, the University of Notre Dame celebrated the grand opening of a new 25,000-square-foot turbonmachinery facility at Ignition Park in South Bend, filling the void between small-scale university research and large-scale corporate testing of turbine engine components.