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UF develops breakthrough magnet that could transform metal production
Imagine if producing steel parts for agricultural equipment or even aluminum soda cans required only a fraction of the energy it does today. A University of Florida-led innovation may soon make this a reality. In a groundbreaking collaboration backed by a nearly $11 million federal grant, UF researchers have developed a first-of-its kind superconducting magnet that could advance metal production and position the United States as a global leader in alloy production. “This revolutionary technology has the potential to substantially reduce the cost and energy use of heat treatments in the steel industry, and we are excited to help pave the way for its adoption in industry.” —Michael Tonks, Ph.D., UF’s interim chair of Materials Science and Engineering Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, the project uses Induction-Coupled Thermomagnetic Processing, or ITMP, an advanced manufacturing method that integrates magnetic fields with high-temperature thermal processing. The national consortium of industry, academic and national laboratory partners is now led by Michael Tonks, Ph.D., UF’s interim chair of Materials Science and Engineering, who succeeded Michele Manuel, Ph.D., the project’s long-time leader. “This revolutionary technology has the potential to substantially reduce the cost and energy use of heat treatments in the steel industry, and we are excited to help pave the way for its adoption in industry,” said Tonks. It’s not just any piece of equipment; it’s a custom-built superconducting magnet with a unique ability to combine magnetic fields with high-temperature thermal processing. In partnership with the UF physics department, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or ORNL, and six companies interested in the technology, the magnet and cylinder induction furnace now sit atop a 6-foot-high platform. The prototype, which costs more than $6 million to purchase and install, is capable of processing steel samples up to 5 inches in diameter making it a rare asset for academic research. Yang Yang, Ph.D., UF materials science research faculty member, estimated ITMP could reduce steel processing time by as much as 80 percent, cutting energy use and operational costs. “Thermomagnetic processing changes a material’s phase stability and kinetic properties, accelerating carbon diffusion in steel, said Yang. “Traditional furnaces cannot achieve these advanced material properties.” The system works by modifying the driving forces for important steel phase changes, which shortens heat treatment. “What normally takes eight hours can be done in just a few minutes.” Yang explained. “The magnetic field acts as an external driving force to make atoms diffuse faster.” Unlike conventional energy sources like electricity or natural gas, the ITMP process uses volumetric induction heating along with high-static magnetic fields to lower energy consumption. The project is still in a pilot phase and requires additional research and testing. At ORNL, researchers emphasized the rarity of UF’s prototype, citing its unprecedented combination of magnetic field strength and ability to process large samples and components. “This could significantly advance U.S. manufacturing and process efficiency for heat treatment of materials such as metal alloys of steel or aluminum,” said Michael Kesler, Ph.D., ORNL research scientist and lead collaborator. Kesler noted successful implementation of this technology could contribute to a reliable energy grid and more efficient industrial electrification. UF researchers contend it could also reduce carbon emissions, supporting cleaner, more sustainable manufacturing processes. The tall, two-level magnet now resides in the Powell Family Structures and Materials Laboratory on UF's East Campus. MSE plans to officially unveil it in December, inviting representatives from national labs, industry and academia. While Engineering students will have future opportunities to use it for research and experiential learning, UF researchers are optimistic about potential industry adoption for industrial manufacturing in the next five to 10 years. The award is part of a $187 million DOE initiative to strengthen competitiveness in U.S. manufacturing. If successful, the innovation could redefine how the world shapes the materials of tomorrow.
With lasers, smoke and a wind tunnel, UF helps federal agency investigate deadly Hurricane Maria
As Floridians brace for hurricanes amid the wild weather of 2025, some University of Florida researchers have their eyes on 2017’s Hurricane Maria, the deadly Category 4 storm that pummeled Puerto Rico. Engineering professor and natural hazards researcher Brian Phillips, Ph.D., is leading UF’s efforts in a Hurricane Maria investigation conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, known as NIST. The goal is increased safety and resilience amid deadly conditions. Maria killed nearly 3,000 people and caused more than $90 billion in damage. Most of the island’s wind sensors and weather stations failed as the storm raged, leaving responders and investigators with few reliable weather measurements. What went wrong? Phillips and UF storm researchers are helping answer that question — and provide safety and structural recommendations — as part of NIST’s Hurricane Maria investigation. The full report will be released in 2026, but NIST recently published preliminary findings; some of the hazard and structural load data was derived from wind tunnel tests at UF's NHERI Experimental Facility in the Powell Family Structure and Materials Laboratory on UF’s East Campus in Gainesville. “Our wind tunnel has a strong reputation in the wind-engineering community for its unique flow control and measurement capabilities We worked with NIST to develop a test campaign to study the wind conditions Puerto Rico’s mountainous terrain and the resulting loads of critical infrastructure,” said Phillips, a civil and coastal engineering professor with UF’s Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment. “UF,” he added, “has one of the premier research wind tunnels in the country and it enables us to pursue impactful research like this.” As part of the NIST investigation, Phillips and his team created 1-to-3100 scale topographic models of regions in Puerto Rico — about 12 kilometers shrunk down to four meters, Phillips said. They set up those models in the wind tunnel and replicated wind flow over the topography. “These initial tests were designed to understand the influence of the complex topography had on the wind,” Phillips said. Flow was measured using velocity probes and particle image velocimetry (PIV). These topographic model tests were followed by 1-to-100 scale tests on models of two hospitals in Puerto Rico. In addition to surface pressure measurements, the team conducted qualitative flow visualization tests using smoke, lasers, and high-speed cameras. “The capabilities of the UF wind tunnel enabled us to investigate the hurricane winds at two different scales,” said NIST’s lead Hurricane Maria investigator, Joseph Main, “so we could measure how the winds were accelerated by Puerto Rico’s mountainous topography and then how those winds translated into loads on critical buildings.” Maria’s flooding blocked roads to hospitals and shelters. The hospitals themselves were heavily damaged by the storm, NIST reported. Reduced access to healthcare was a major factor in the death toll. “It's good to take a step back,” Phillips said about the overall investigation. “Researchers are approaching the disaster from multiple angles, including the better understanding of the hazard, the performance of critical infrastructure, public response and recovery. “This holistic approach is needed to capture the complete picture and maximize what we can learn from the event. UF's primary contribution was understanding the hurricane wind field and the resulting structural loads, which is a critical piece of that puzzle.” In finding infrastructure vulnerabilities, researchers contend the goal is integrating their findings into design standards for Puerto Rico’s unique topography and building codes. The findings also could be valuable to other storm-prone regions with complex topography. NIST launched the investigation in 2018, noting Hurricane Maria “set off a cascade of building and infrastructure failures across Puerto Rico that had lasting impacts on society, including health care, business and education.” “Our goal is to learn from that event to recommend improvements to building codes, standards and practices that will make communities more resilient to hurricanes and other hazards, not just in Puerto Rico but across the United States,” Main said. The complete report is scheduled to be released in 2026, and NIST noted some findings may change before its release. But in July, NIST released some preliminary findings. They include: Peak wind speeds over flat terrain reached 140 mph. They accelerated to over 200 mph in some areas due to the steep hills and mountains. The mountains also intensified the rainfall, which reached 30 inches in some areas. Only three out of 22 weather stations were fully functional during the hurricane. 95.3% of schools on the island lost power for an average of over 100 days. “One important preliminary finding from the study is that emergency preparations work,” NIST reported. “Businesses, schools and hospitals that took specific measures to prepare before Hurricane Maria were able to resume operations more quickly” said Maria Dillard, NIST’s associate lead Hurricane Maria investigator. Preparations included pre-established emergency plans, designated risk mitigation funds and backup power sources.
Recently named a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International, Azim Eskandarian, D.Sc., the Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering, received one of the organization’s highest honors. The designation recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary and sustained impacts on the mobility industry through technical excellence, leadership, innovation and dedicated service to the profession and to SAE International. “SAE Fellows – whose leadership and technical contributions strengthen our organization embody the highest level of professional achievement,” said Carla Bailo, 2026 SAE International president and chair of the board of directors. “Election to SAE Fellow reflects an individual’s lasting influence on mobility engineering and reinforces the standards of excellence that guide SAE’s strategic direction.” Selected through a comprehensive review process led by the SAE International Fellows Committee and approved by the SAE International Board of Directors, SAE Fellows exemplify the organization’s mission to advance mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity. “It is a great honor to receive this distinction from an organization that is so essential to the advancement of the automotive industry,” said Eskandarian. “I hope to continue collaborating with engineers, researchers and other professionals who share a vision for the great work we can do to improve the safety and efficiency of transportation.” Numerous scientific and technical contributions to automotive safety, academic programs, workforce development in crashworthiness, collision avoidance, advanced driver assistance systems, intelligent vehicles, and autonomous driving have stemmed from the more than 40 years of work Eskandarian has pioneered. His research on intelligent and autonomous vehicles includes the development of novel methods for driver safety systems. As an academic leader, Eskandarian’s enduring commitment to education, mentorship and service led him to start impactful academic programs at several universities. This includes robotics and autonomous systems programs and new master’s concentrations at the VCU College of Engineering, a graduate academic program in intelligent transportation systems and an undergraduate concentration in transportation engineering at George Washington University, and an automotive engineering concentration at Virginia Tech. Eskandarian is also a Fellow of two other technical societies, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
VCU College of Engineering receives $600,000 for AI-driven cybersecurity research
To advance AI-enabled cybersecurity research, the National Science Foundation (NSF) presented Kemal Akkaya, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science, with a $600,000 grant through the organization’s Cybersecurity Innovation for Cyberinfrastructure program. Akkaya’s three-year project will explore how large language models (LLMs) can automate packet labeling for intrusion detection systems. “From transportation and healthcare to finance, improving the accuracy of machine learning algorithms used to defend the networks that underpin these sectors’ cyberinfrastructure is critical for protecting them from cyberattacks. Strengthening these defenses helps ensure the reliability and security of the essential services people rely on every day,” said Akkaya. Intrusion detection systems monitor network traffic to identify suspicious or malicious activity. These systems rely on machine learning models trained on large volumes of accurately labeled data. Producing those datasets, however, is time intensive and often requires expert cybersecurity knowledge. As digital systems increasingly power transportation, health care, finance and communication, the volume and sophistication of cyber attacks continue to grow. At the same time, artificial intelligence is reshaping how both attackers and defenders operate. Improving how quickly and accurately security systems can be trained is critical to protecting the infrastructure that supports daily life. Akkaya’s project will investigate how generative AI can help address this challenge. The team will fine tune open-source large language models using network data, threat signatures and expert annotations. Model accuracy will be strengthened through retrieval-augmented refinement, ensemble modeling and human-in-the-loop verification. Labeled datasets will be released in stages to support the development and evaluation of cybersecurity models. Using data from AmLight, an international research and education network operated by Florida International University (FIU), the project includes collaboration with researchers from FIU. The award strengthens VCU’s growing leadership in AI-enabled cybersecurity research and provides hands-on research training for graduate students. Resulting datasets from this work will support machine learning education for undergraduate students.
On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first words ever transmitted over telephone: “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.” This simple request to Bell’s assistant, Thomas Watson, marked a significant milestone in direct person-to-person communication. Now, 150 years later, this message has paved the way for advanced cellular technology in the form of satellites, wireless networks and the personal devices we carry everywhere. For Mojtaba Vaezi, PhD, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Villanova University and director of the Wireless Networking Laboratory, Bell’s few words spoken over telephone marked the beginning of an ongoing technological revolution. “One hundred fifty years ago when telephone communication first started, there was essentially a wired line and a transmitting voice,” said Dr. Vaezi. “That simple, basic transmission has transformed the field of communication technology in unimaginable ways.” According to Dr. Vaezi, five shifts have defined the past century and a half of communication technology: wired devices to wireless, analog to digital, voice to data, fixed landlines to mobile phones and human-to-human communication giving way to an increasing focus on machines and artificial intelligence. Early wireless networks were built around one device per person. Today's networks must support multiple devices per person, plus the technology behind innovations such as smart homes, driverless cars and even remote surgery. “Applications are much more diverse now, so communication has to follow,” said Dr. Vaezi. “A big portion of communication now, in terms of number of connections to the network, is from machine to machine—not human to human or even human to machine." The growing number of connections can cause a host of issues for users. When multiple users share the same wireless spectrum simultaneously, their signals interfere with one another—a problem that is becoming more acute as the number of connected devices increases exponentially. Dr. Vaezi’s research at Villanova focuses on developing techniques that allow multiple users to transmit messages on the same frequency at the same time and still be understood. Another vibrant research area of Dr. Vaezi’s involves Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC). This field of study focuses on integrating wireless communications and radar so they can function within the same spectrum. “Historically, radar and wireless communication work in different bandwidths or spectrums and use separate devices. Although they are related, they happen in different fields,” said Dr. Vaezi. “Almost every communication scheme that has been developed has focused on this: How can we better utilize the spectrum?” ISAC is increasingly important as new innovations like driverless cars become fixtures in everyday life. These vehicles rely on radar to continuously scan for hazards, and when a hazard is detected, a signal must be sent to trigger safety mechanisms. Currently, the radar and communications systems operate on separate bandwidths using separate hardware. Dr. Vaezi's research explores how both functions could be housed in a single device running on one shared spectrum. Areas of study like Dr. Vaezi’s that focus on machine to machine communication are becoming increasingly relevant as communication technology evolves and moves away from simple person to person messaging. As for the next big milestone in communications, Dr. Vaezi is looking ahead to the implementation of 6G by 2030, though he tempers expectations. For most users, the change will feel modest, amounting to slightly faster device speeds. The most massive shift with 6G will be the amount of added coverage in areas that previously did not have network accessibility. “Say you order a package and it’s coming from somewhere abroad,” explained Dr. Vaezi. “6G will add network coverage over oceans, so you’ll be able to track your package in real time using that satellite technology.” The sixth generation of cellular technology will continue to connect our world and optimize current communications to accommodate more users and devices that need network access each day. It is far different from Alexander Graham Bell’s historic phone call 150 years ago. That brief exchange over a single wired line laid the groundwork for a communications ecosystem that now supports billions of devices, complex data networks and emerging technologies yet to be seen. It also serves as a reminder that despite how far communication technology has come, and how complex it has gotten, it all shares a common, simple goal: to transmit information from one point to another.
Recently named the nuclear program director at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering, Gennady Miloshevsky, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, answers some questions about the direction of VCU Engineering’s nuclear program and what he hopes it can accomplish. What are your top priorities for the nuclear program at the VCU College of Engineering? I want to focus on student development, innovative research and our rankings in best program lists, but that is not everything. Strategy is important. We need to align ourselves with the country’s national energy needs. There are many new developments in the energy sector, like small modular reactors or fusion energy systems, and having the right faculty to engage with these advancements is important. Providing students with a well-rounded education and good opportunities for gaining experience benefits the College of Engineering’s public and private sector partners. Nuclear subject matter is complex, so higher education is very important for workforce development. We want to build partnerships, like the one we have with Dominion Energy, that support this goal. A priority for me is continuing to establish relationships with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which seeks to build and operate the first commercial grid-scale fusion plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Our workforce partners will benefit from VCU’s well-trained nuclear engineering graduates joining the workforce. So, aligning our strategy with national energy needs, hiring the right faculty to support our programs and building industry partnerships that benefit our student’s education and career opportunities are important things for VCU Engineering’s nuclear program. Where would you like to see the College of Engineering’s nuclear program 10 years from now? I would like to see growth in the nuclear program. For example, some new graduate courses on topics like nuclear materials or fusion energy. In 2024, I developed a general course for fusion energy, so building out a curriculum that goes more in-depth would be good. When you look at small modular reactors and micro reactors, current energy policy does not allow private companies to build their own. However, as energy demands increase, policy could change to where you see these compact devices installed in places like data centers, for example. A more in-depth curriculum allows VCU Engineering students to step into industry roles that lead growth of the energy industry while also ensuring students are capable of adapting to the changing field and taking advantage of new developments. What sort of cross-disciplinary opportunities are there for the College of Engineering’s nuclear program? Nuclear engineering and nuclear science are very interdisciplinary fields. You have physics that covers the nuclear reaction and the radiation it generates, for example, then chemistry is needed when talking about nuclear fuel cycles and nuclear waste. You also need materials science because good materials capable of withstanding radiation and high temperatures are needed in nuclear fission and fusion energy systems. This science then connects to engineering, building the reactors, the energy distribution systems like a power grid. It is a small sample of the overall work, but you see how mechanical and electrical engineering are key to this part. All these disciplines come together to solve the same problem. One researcher might be figuring out how to confine plasma and make it stable, then another researcher is looking at how plasma can disrupt the containment wall and how to make materials to protect the wall. Within our department, we are making connections between mechanical-focused faculty working on high-temperature ceramics or additive manufacturing techniques and those of us researching nuclear energy systems in order to make joint proposals. We are also collaborating outside VCU. As an example, I am involved with an alliance founded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) comprised of 17 universities, research labs and military centers. Coordinated through DTRA, we work together on many of the same problems.Through this partnership, my Ph.D. students do summer research rotations with national labs like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. We also bring cadets and midshipman into VCU from other institutions, like the DTRA Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Center, United States Military Academy West Point and the Virginia Military Institute, whose students have been part of research experience for undergraduates programs in the summer. How is artificial intelligence impacting the field of nuclear engineering? So, the United States is sponsoring the Genesis Mission, which seeks to transform science innovation through the power of AI. One area of the Genesis Mission is nuclear fission and fusion energy. I see this playing out with the Department of Energy encouraging national labs, universities and industry to work together on applying these AI advancements to solve the research problems of nuclear energy. It is a great opportunity for students, who we can involve in this work to give them real-world experience with topics they will see after graduation. Last semester I taught a course at VCU on the practical applications of AI on nuclear engineering problems. It is not something like ChatGPT or anything like that. What we did is take Google’s TensorFlow platform that is a library of AI models and machine neural networks. Using Python scripting students learn how to apply these AI resources to about 30 problems in mechanical and nuclear engineering. They create scripts, use data sets and run analytics. We have a nuclear reactor simulator and I have some ideas to create AI-based software we can pair with the simulator, then give the software a data set and let it control the operation of the simulator in a safe way. Tell us about your background. What brought you VCU and the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering? Actually, I am not a mechanical or a nuclear engineer. My background is in physics. I graduated from the Belarusian State University in 1990 and continued to a Ph.D. in physics from the Heat and Mass Transfer Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus working on topics related to fusion plasmas and nuclear weapon effects. In space, nuclear weapons produce shockwaves and radiation. I computationally model these effects in my research to determine how something like a nuclear warhead detonation in orbit will impact the materials a satellite is made of, for example. My research also crosses over into nuclear fusion, specifically thermodynamic and optical plasma properties, fusion plasma disruptions, melt motion and splashing from plasma facing components. Accelerating Next-Generation Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography (ANGEL) is my most recent collaborative project, supported by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences. It involves two national laboratories, three universities and a private-sector company focusing on advancement of future micro-electronic chips, EUV photon sources, mitigation of material degradation and plasma chemistry. Prior to joining the VCU College of Engineering I worked at Purdue University at a DOE-funded center investigating nuclear fusion and the effects of plasma on materials. Around 2019 I wanted to develop my own lab, so I came to VCU with startup funds from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and DTRA. My first priority after joining the VCU College of Engineering was continuing my fusion research, the second was collaborating with an alliance of universities focused on work for DTRA and DOE.
National Academy of Inventors welcomes five VCU College of Engineering researchers
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) recently inducted five Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering researchers as senior members. Chosen for their innovative engineering contributions, the honorees are recognized as visionary inventors whose groundbreaking research and patented technologies are driving meaningful societal and economic advancements across the national innovation landscape. “Invention represents the practical application of knowledge and stands as one of the many ways engineers can make a positive impact on their communities and the world,” said Azim Eskandarian, D.Sc, the Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of the VCU College of Engineering. “This year’s honorees exemplify the interdisciplinary nature of our field, leveraging advanced concepts from mechanical, biomedical, chemical and pharmaceutical engineering to address today’s most pressing challenges. We are immensely proud that our dedicated researchers have earned recognition as members of the esteemed National Academy of Inventors.” The VCU College of Engineering NAI inductees are: Jayasimha Atulasimha, Ph.D. Engineering Foundation Professor Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering An internationally recognized pioneer of straintronics, an approach to electrically control magnetism for ultra-low-energy computing, Atulasimha has made significant research contributions to next-generation memory, neuromorphic hardware and emerging quantum computing technologies. He holds four U.S. patents spanning energy-efficient magnetic memory, nanoscale computing architectures and medical tools. Atulasimha’s commercially viable inventions are funded by organizations like the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation and he leads multi-institutional collaborations that drive innovation in computing hardware, AI and quantum technologies with more than $10 million in funded research. Casey Grey, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Associate Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering Bridging engineering and medicine, Grey’s work spans life‑saving stroke technologies, breakthrough respiratory and neurological care, and sustainable packaging. As a lead R&D scientist at WestRock, he helped create and commercialize the CanCollar® portfolio, a recyclable paperboard replacement for plastic beverage rings now used on five continents, eliminating thousands of tons of single‑use plastic annually. In medical device innovation, Grey’s patent and development work on a novel cyclic aspiration thrombectomy platform, currently in clinical trials, is advancing stroke treatment by enhancing clot removal efficiency and reducing long‑term disability. At the VCU College of engineering, Grey built a research and commercialization pipeline around neurological and respiratory technologies, securing eight provisional patents and leading multidisciplinary teams in neurology, neurosurgery, surgery, pharmacology and toxicology, internal medicine, and respiratory medicine. His work includes developing dry powder inhaler strategies for delivering life‑saving drugs to patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a pediatric bubble CPAP system designed to protect brain development in premature infants, and non‑invasive, non‑pharmacological 40 Hz neuromodulation therapies to treat neurodegeneration and conditions with significant central nervous system complications, like sickle cell disease. In collaborations with the VCU Children’s Hospital and VCU Critical Care Hospital, Grey is leading two clinical studies that are translating these innovations to improve patient care. Ravi Hadimani, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Director of Biomagnetics Laboratory Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering Hadimani founded RAM Phantoms LLC, a VCU startup company, commercializing anatomically accurate, MRI-derived brain phantoms for neuromodulation and neuroimaging applications. These brain phantoms help test and tune transcranial magnetic and deep brain stimulation technologies, improving clinical safety and enabling personalized therapy for patients. RAM Phantoms is also developing a highly-skilled workforce for employment in Virginia’s growing biomedical device industry. Beyond commercialization, Hadimani maintains a productive research program with more than $4.5 million in funding resulting in 125 original peer-reviewed publications, 17 current and pending patents, a book, and several book chapters. His biomagnetics lab serves as a training ground for undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students to hone their skills in innovation management, intellectual property strategy and startup development. Several students from Hadimani’s lab have engaged in translational research, patent co-authorship and start-up formation, cultivating a new generation of engineer-entrepreneurs equipped to drive future technological advances. Before joining VCU, Hadimani led the development of hybrid piezoelectric–photovoltaic materials that established FiberLec Inc., which commercialized multifunctional energy-harvesting fibers capable of converting solar, wind and vibrational energy into usable electricity. Worth Longest, Ph.D. Alice T. and William H. Goodwin, Jr. Distinguished Chair Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering Uniting aerosol science, biomedical engineering and computational modeling, Longest is revolutionizing inhaled drug delivery. Working with collaborators, his lab has developed novel devices, formulations and delivery platforms that precisely target medications to the lungs, addressing conditions like cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. These innovations have resulted in multiple patents. Some of them have been licensed through commercial partnerships like Quench Medical, an organization advancing inhaled therapies for applications like lung cancer. Collaborating with the Gates Foundation and the lab of Michael Hindle, Ph.D., from the VCU Department of Pharmaceutics, Longest’s team developed a low-cost, high-efficacy aerosol surfactant therapy for pre-term infants based entirely on technology developed at VCU. The invention eliminates intubation, reduces dosage by a factor of 10, and cuts treatment costs. Over 9 million infant lives are projected to be saved by this technology between 2030 and 2050. Through a long-term collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Longest’s in vitro and computational methods provide federal regulatory guidance for generic inhaled medications. The VCU mouth-throat airway models developed under his leadership are used globally across the pharmaceutical industry and in government laboratories. Hong Zhao, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering Zhao holds 40 patents with innovations spanning additive manufacturing, stretchable electronics, inkjet printing technologies and superoleophobic materials that repel oils, greases, and low-surface-tension liquids. Her research has applications across health care, sustainable energy and advanced manufacturing. Prior to joining the College of Engineering, Zhao served as a senior research scientist and project leader at the Xerox Research Center, where she developed high-performance materials and printing technologies for commercial deployment. Her industry experience makes Zhao’s lab a hub for innovation and mentorship, with students engaging in innovative research and co-authoring publications. Zhao is an invited reviewer for more than 50 premier journals and grant agencies. “Working with distinguished researchers and innovators like those inducted into the National Academy of Inventors is a great honor for me,” said Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering and NAI fellow. “They are an inspiration and showcase the kind of impact engineers can make. Having all five of these innovators as part of our department amplifies the scientific richness of our college and its societal impact. They advance the college’s mission of Engineering for Humanity, with research that brings a positive change to our world.” The 2026 NAI class of senior members, composed of 231 emerging inventors from NAI’s member institutions, is the largest to date. Hailing from 82 NAI member institutions across the globe, they hold over 2,000 U.S. patents.
Surprising finding could pave way for universal cancer vaccine
An experimental mRNA vaccine boosted the tumor-fighting effects of immunotherapy in a mouse-model study, bringing researchers one step closer to their goal of developing a universal vaccine to “wake up” the immune system against cancer. Published today in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the University of Florida study showed that like a one-two punch, pairing the test vaccine with common anticancer drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors triggered a strong antitumor response in laboratory mice. A surprising element, researchers said, was that they achieved the promising results not by attacking a specific target protein expressed in the tumor, but by simply revving up the immune system — spurring it to respond as if fighting a virus. They did this by stimulating the expression of a protein called PD-L1 inside of tumors, making them more receptive to treatment. The research was supported by multiple federal agencies and foundations, including the National Institutes of Health. Senior author Elias Sayour, M.D., Ph.D., a UF Health pediatric oncologist and the Stop Children's Cancer/Bonnie R. Freeman Professor for Pediatric Oncology Research, said the results reveal a potential future treatment path — an alternative to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy — with broad implications for battling many types of treatment-resistant tumors. “This paper describes a very unexpected and exciting observation: that even a vaccine not specific to any particular tumor or virus — so long as it is an mRNA vaccine — could lead to tumor-specific effects,” said Sayour, principal investigator at the RNA Engineering Laboratory within UF’s Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy. “This finding is a proof of concept that these vaccines potentially could be commercialized as universal cancer vaccines to sensitize the immune system against a patient’s individual tumor,” said Sayour, a McKnight Brain Institute investigator and co-leader of a program in immuno-oncology and microbiome research. Until now, there have been two main ideas in cancer-vaccine development: To find a specific target expressed in many people with cancer, or to tailor a vaccine that is specific to targets expressed within a patient's own cancer. “This study suggests a third emerging paradigm,” said Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., a co-author of the paper. “What we found is by using a vaccine designed not to target cancer specifically but rather to stimulate a strong immunologic response, we could elicit a very strong anticancer reaction. And so this has significant potential to be broadly used across cancer patients — even possibly leading us to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine.” For more than eight years, Sayour has pioneered high-tech anticancer vaccines by combining lipid nanoparticles and mRNA. Short for messenger RNA, mRNA is found inside every cell — including tumor cells — and serves as a blueprint for protein production. This new study builds upon a breakthrough last year by Sayour’s lab: In a first-ever human clinical trial, an mRNA vaccine quickly reprogrammed the immune system to attack glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. Among the most impressive findings in the four-patient trial was how quickly the new method — which used a “specific” or personalized vaccine made using a patient’s own tumor cells — spurred a vigorous immune-system response to reject the tumor. In the latest study, Sayour’s research team adapted their technology to test a “generalized” mRNA vaccine — meaning it was not aimed at a specific virus or mutated cells of cancer but engineered simply to prompt a strong immune system response. The mRNA formulation was made similarly to the COVID-19 vaccines, rooted in similar technology, but wasn’t aimed directly at the well-known spike protein of COVID. In mouse models of melanoma, the team saw promising results in normally treatment-resistant tumors when combining the mRNA formulation with a common immunotherapy drug called a PD-1 inhibitor, a type of monoclonal antibody that attempts to “educate” the immune system that a tumor is foreign, said Sayour, a professor in UF’s Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Pediatrics in the UF College of Medicine. Taking the research a step further, in mouse models of skin, bone and brain cancers, the investigators found beneficial effects when testing a different mRNA formulation as a solo treatment. In some models, the tumors were eliminated entirely. Sayour and colleagues observed that using an mRNA vaccine to activate immune responses seemingly unrelated to cancer could prompt T cells that weren’t working before to actually multiply and kill the cancer if the response spurred by the vaccine is strong enough. Taken together, the study’s implications are striking, said Mitchell, who directs the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute and co-directs UF’s Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy. “It could potentially be a universal way of waking up a patient’s own immune response to cancer,” Mitchell said. “And that would be profound if generalizable to human studies.” The results, he said, show potential for a universal cancer vaccine that could activate the immune system and prime it to work in tandem with checkpoint inhibitor drugs to seize upon cancer — or in some cases, even work on its own to kill cancer. Now, the research team is working to improve current formulations and move to human clinical trials as rapidly as possible. While the experimental mRNA vaccine at this point is in early preclinical testing — in mice not humans — information about available nonrelated human clinical trials at UF Health can be viewed here.
Supporting fusion energy system development in the state, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering will acquire an ultrasonic metal-powder atomizer to advance critical research in magnetic materials needed for compact fusion reactors. Made possible by a $500,000 grant from the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank (VCEIB), the funds support VCU Engineering’s Advanced Magnetic Materials Processing Laboratory (AM2P), enabling VCU Engineering to establish Virginia’s first in-state capability for producing custom, high-purity metal powders tailored for next-generation fusion reactor components. “Clean-energy innovations from fusion to grid-scale technologies demand materials that can operate under extreme conditions while remaining manufacturable at scale,” said Radhika Barua, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering and director of AM2P. “This project will be transformative as we can now design advanced alloy compositions, produce them in-house, and immediately integrate them into additively manufactured components—dramatically accelerating the innovation cycle.” This project positions Virginia to capture a share of the rapidly expanding fusion materials and advanced manufacturing market, projected to surpass $8 billion annually by 2035. Also, this investment is expected to unlock more than $4 million in additional federally competitive research funding over the next four years. “This is a smart, high-impact investment in Virginia’s energy future,” said Glenn Davis, director of the Virginia Department of Energy. “By establishing in-state powder atomization and advanced materials capability, we’re positioned to become a critical node in the emerging fusion supply chain while strengthening our defense and clean-energy industrial base.” This comes on the heels of last year’s announcement that Commonwealth Fusion Systems will make a multibillion-dollar investment to build the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant in Chesterfield County. The AM2P Lab has emerged as one of the few academic research centers in the nation with deep expertise in additively manufactured permanent magnets, soft magnetic alloys and magnetocaloric materials. “This equipment and research will not only support fusion activities but also open doors for collaborative activities with multiple federal agencies including the Army Research Laboratory, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research,” said Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering. “This grant accelerates Virginia’s leadership in advanced nuclear and fusion manufacturing while strengthening workforce readiness,” said Julianne Szyper, deputy director of the Virginia Department of Energy. “By connecting Virginia’s academic talent with industry and national lab partners, we’re creating an ecosystem that drives innovation, supports high-quality careers and positions the Commonwealth as a competitive hub for clean-energy technologies like fusion.”
Wetlands: Nature’s First Line of Defense for Our Coast and Communities
Since the 1930s, Louisiana’s coastline has been reshaped by the relentless advance of the Gulf, with over 2,000 square miles of land disappearing beneath its waters and representing the largest loss of coastal land anywhere in the continental United States. This dramatic transformation has far-reaching consequences, threatening local economies, delicate ecosystems, and heightening the state’s exposure to hurricanes. In the face of these urgent challenges, LSU’s College of the Coast & Environment (CC&E) stands at the forefront, leading pioneering research and bold initiatives that not only protect Louisiana’s coast, but also build stronger, more resilient communities. Below are just a few examples of how CC&E is driving meaningful solutions for our coastal future. Wetlands are vital to protecting our coast, and CC&E researchers are actively investigating the role of both constructed and natural wetlands in reducing coastal flooding hazards. Through several projects funded through the US Army Corps of Engineers, Drs. Robert Twilley, Matthew Hiatt, and CC&E Dean Clint Willson, along with collaborators across campus, are conducting research on coastal ecosystem design - a framework that leverages the benefits of natural and nature-based coastal features, such as wetlands, environmental levees, and flood control gates – and how that could be integrated into engineering design and urban planning. Through the State of Louisiana’s ambitious Coastal Master Plan, administered by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, wetland construction and restoration play a huge role in managing the Louisiana coastal region. Such innovative techniques leveraging natural and nature-based features require evaluation to determine the success of such projects, and CC&E researchers are using cutting-edge science to advance this endeavor. Dr. Tracy Quirk and her students are investigating the success of marsh restoration by comparing structural and functional characteristics (e.g., vegetation, elevation, hydrology, accretion, and denitrification) between two created marshes and an adjacent natural reference marsh along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. Wetlands not only serve as a buffer from storms and sea level rise but also play a major role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to productive vibrant ecosystems. In large collaborative project funded by the National Science Foundation, Dr. Giulio Mariotti is using computer models to forecast how coastal marshes may change in size, shape, and salinity in the future, and how these changes could affect methane emissions. As part of the same project, Drs. Haosheng Huang and Dubravko Justic are creating high-resolution hydrodynamic and biogeochemical models to predict changes in methane emissions in coastal Louisiana. In another project, with funding from Louisiana Center of Excellence, National Science Foundation, Louisiana Sea Grant, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Drs. Matthew Hiatt and John White have established a network of sensors to measure water levels and salinity throughout the wetlands in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, a region that has experienced significant land loss and storm impacts. The goal is to establish an understanding of the drivers of saline intrusion in marsh soils, and to ultimately determine what this means for the ecological resiliency of wetlands experiencing rapid change. CC&E’s leadership in wetlands science is recognized nationwide. It is the only college in the United States to have six faculty members—Drs. John White, John W. Day, Jr., Robert Twilley, William Patrick, James Gosselink, and R. Eugene Turner—honored with the prestigious National Wetlands Award. No other institution has had more than one recipient. Presented annually by the Environmental Law Institute, this award celebrates individuals whose work demonstrates exceptional innovation, dedication, and impact in wetlands conservation and education. CC&E’s unmatched record reflects decades of pioneering research and a deep commitment to safeguarding the nation’s most vulnerable coastal landscapes. Every day, CC&E channels this expertise into action—protecting Louisiana’s coast and, in turn, the communities, wildlife, and ecosystems that depend on it. Through bold research, collaborative partnerships, and a vision grounded in science, the college is shaping a more resilient future for coastal regions everywhere. CC&E is building teams that win in Louisiana, for the world. Article originally published here.
