Common engineering and science tropes seen in film and media often inform what people think is possible. To dispel movie myths and show how engineering can be cooler than fiction, University of Maryland engineers are taking a deep dive into popular media depictions of engineering in a new video series, Ask An Engineer.

In the first episode, resident sprinkler expert and Clinical Professor of Fire Protection Engineering Kenneth Isman breaks down the realities of how fire sprinkler systems really work.
University of Maryland engineers have created a zinc battery with a biodegradable electrolyte from an unexpected source—crab shells. The discovery was presented in the journal Matter, led by materials science and engineering Professor Liangbing Hu. The new battery uses a gel electrolyte made from a biological material with many natural sources called chitosan.
The A. James Clark School of Engineering ranks #11 among the country’s public universities in U.S. News & World Report 2022-23 Best Colleges rankings, rising one spot from #12 in 2022. The 2022-23 list, released on September 12, also ranks the Clark School as the #22 overall undergraduate engineering program in the nation. This recognition from U.S. News voters concludes the Clark School’s successful academic year and summer.
To acknowledge and honor the accomplishments of Maryland engineers 40 years old and younger, the Clark School and Dean Samuel Graham, Jr., are proud to announce the Early Career Distinguished Alumni (ECDA) Society and inaugural class of inductees. Established in Fall 2022, the ECDA Society launches an exclusive professional network of Clark School alums leading the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and change agents.
Several members of UMD’s aerospace engineering department are either directly involved in DART or conducting related research. Brent Barbee, a NASA Goddard researcher who is the dynamics verification. and validation lead for the DART project, is a lecturer at the department. DART has also yielded valuable data for researchers like Yun Zhang, a UMD postdoc and member of the DART Investigation Team.
Civil engineering alum Stanley R. Zupnik ‘59 has made a $25 million commitment toward a new building that will help prepare new generations of engineers and foster collaboration between disciplines. Named in his honor, Stanley R. Zupnik Hall will be the new home of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and will include Mechanical Engineering and the Quantum Technology Center.
The aerospace engineering undergraduate team from the University of Maryland took first place at the 39th Annual Student Design Competition hosted by the Vertical Flight Society (VFS). Teams were asked to create an all-electric take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) that could accommodate passengers with reduced mobility. The eVTOLs had to be designed with special considerations, including passenger comfort and safety.