Impact

Engineering principles have influenced a variety of areas, but one that remains relatively untouched is the human brain. Archana Venkataraman aims to change that.

A cyber attack disabling America’s power grid would be catastrophic. New software developed at Johns Hopkins could help mitigate that risk.

For decades, preservationists have helped protect historic documents, such as centuries-old maps, by placing them in clear envelopes. Enclosing them in these clear envelopes provides mechanical support to help keep these old, brittle treasures from crumbling while also allowing the public to see and sometimes handle them. But paper degradation isn’t a self-contained event, says Patricia McGuiggan.

Next-generation materials for solar cells are cheap, flexible, and transparent, attributes that give them potential for creating films to coat windows or buildings. But defects that accumulate at large scales prevent them from being used for practical power generation.

Having sensitive, lightweight, and portable gas-sensing systems could be helpful for a variety of different users: people with asthma searching for their triggers, soldiers at risk of chemical attack, or industrial workers facing toxic gas exposures.

Johns Hopkins engineers are developing a new kind of camera to help self-driving vehicles better detect obstacles and surrounding traffic and prevent accidents.

Jeff Siewerdsen and his team are advancing imaging technologies that will make surgery more precise and improve patient safety.

Stand in front of this “magic mirror,” and it seems to peer beneath your skin, revealing bones, major organs, blood vessels, and muscles.