University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science | 2025 Dean's Report - Flipbook - Page 13
RESEARCHER FINDS SHOCKING CHANGES TO
GLOBAL RIVERS
Dongmei Feng, environmental engineering professor, led a groundbreaking
study that mapped the 昀氀ow of water in nearly 3 million rivers and streams for
the past 35 years and discovered more water 昀氀owing in upstream headwaters
and decreasing 昀氀ows downstream. Published in the journal Science and featured
by CNN, the study identi昀椀ed an increase in catastrophic 100-year 昀氀oods in
upstream waters.
METALS PHYSICIST EXPLORES BETTER MATERIALS
FOR CLEAN ENERGY
Matt Steiner, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, received
the Department of Energy $875,000 Early Career Research Award for his research
on new materials for clean energy solutions. Steiner is focusing on tetrataenite, a
special type of magnet, that could be a replacement for rare-earth magnets used
in tech like EVs and wind turbines.
Utilizing state-of-the-art remote
EXPLORING EXOSOMES FOR NERVE REGENERATION
sensing, modeling, and machine learning
Leyla Esfandiari, associate professor of biomedical engineering, was awarded
techniques, Dongmei Feng, professor of
$2M from the National Institute of Health’s National Institute of General Medical
environmental engineering, and her team
Sciences to fund her research on small extracellular vesicles (exosomes). Esfandiari
will be analyzing the role of Arctic soil
is exploring how exosomes can be used as new therapeutics for nerve regeneration.
erosion and river sedimentation in relation
This builds on her earlier work, in which she and her team developed a device to
RECENT NSF EARLY CAREER AWARDS
2024
2022
Kishan Bellur
Ashley Paz y Puente
Assistant professor, Department of
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Associate professor, Department of
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
A coupled multiscale study of phase change
dynamics at curved liquid-vapor interfaces
Controlling vacancy migration and Kirkendall
pore evolution: Understanding compositional,
geometrical, and thermal in昀氀uences
Amanda Webb
Associate professor, Department of Civil
and Architectural Engineering and
Construction Management
A modeling framework to understand the
environmental and equity impacts of building
decarbonization retro昀椀ts
Swastik Brahma
Associate professor, Department
of Computer Science
Distributed inference-making via
crowdsensing
Jonathan Nickels
2023
Aashish Priye
Associate professor, Department of
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Simultaneous sample preparation and thermal
cycling for rapid and inexpensive molecular
diagnostics at the point of care
Associate professor, Department of
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Standing out in a crowd, neutron-based
methods to study molecular transport in
crowded environments
Jonathan Pham
Associate professor, Department of
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Wetting and dynamics on soft and
swollen polymeric surfaces
extract and purify exosomes for diagnostic use.
RESEARCHER LEADS NEXT-GEN SEMICONDUCTOR
STUDY
Sarah Watzman, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is studying
the next generation of materials used in nanoelectric devices called spin gapless
semiconductors, with a goal to make smaller devices that operate at higher
speeds while consuming less energy. This project is one of 24 supported by the
National Science Foundation and designed to spur semiconductor development
and manufacturing in the U.S. as part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | CEAS
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