Discipline-defying combustion experiments aboard the International Space Station. New, advanced technologies that help farmers tap the economic potential and environmental benefits of shellfish aquaculture. Wood transformed into something bouncy, bulletproof, and that might help save our planet. 

For these reasons and more, the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland (UMD) is ranked a Top 10 program for graduate-level engineering among the United States’ public institutions in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Graduate Education Rankings, released March 30. The 2022 rankings mark the Clark School’s third consecutive year in the Top 10 for public engineering schools.

Starting in Fall 2021, the University of Maryland will offer a new undergraduate minor in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS). With automated systems becoming more central to the STEM industries in which engineering and computer science graduates work, robotics has become a “must-know” field. The new RAS minor will help meet the rising demand for robotics courses.
The Clark School community mourns the loss of George E. Dieter, who served as dean of engineering at the University of Maryland from 1977–94. “It was George Dieter’s vision that put UMD’s engineering program on a global map,” says UMD President Darryll J. Pines. “His impact and contributions will be forever honored and remembered at the University of Maryland.”

Christopher Jewell and members of his Immune Engineering Lab reached a new milestone in their efforts to design an immunotherapy strategy to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. The team’s findings, published in ACS Nano, used nanomaterials to manipulate inflammatory pathways that might one day help slow or reverse MS without compromising a patient’s immune system. 

University of Maryland researchers are exploring new ways to apply nature-inspired ideas to developing robots that may respond better to environmental conditions. Most robots operate in controlled environments like laboratories and factories, but Jacek Garbulinski and his team are studying how to make robots more resilient to operating outside in potentially volatile and adverse conditions by attempting to match the robot’s stiffness to that of living organisms.
A team led by University of Maryland UAS Test Site Director Matt Scassero and University of Maryland Medical Center transplant surgeon Joseph Scalea has won the 2021 Helicopter Association International's Golden Hour Award. The award recognizes the efforts of an individual, group, or organization that, through a particular activity or contributions over time, has advanced the use of helicopters or UAS aircraft in the vital mission of air medical transport.