News: AEP

Congratulations to Peter McMahon, Associate Professor in Applied and Engineering Physics,who has been selected as the 2025 recipient of Optica’s Adolph Lomb Medal, which is presented to an individual who has made a noteworthy contribution to optics at an early career stage. McMahon is honored for demonstrating new forms of optical-physics-based computing machines, that surpass the standard von Neumann computers that are familiar to everyone. Read more

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Researchers created a robot less than 1 millimeter in size that is printed as a 2D hexagonal “metasheet” but, with a jolt of electricity, morphs into preprogrammed 3D shapes and crawls. Read more

John Silcox, the David E. Burr Professor of Engineering Emeritus who twice served as director of the School of Ap­plied and Engineering Physics in Cornell Engineering, died April 25 in Ithaca. Silcox was 88. Read more

Benjamin A. Ash ’26, a sophomore in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics who works in Professor Peter Mc Mahon’s lab, has recently been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for 2024. Students must be nominated by their academic institutions to compete for the Goldwater scholarships, named after former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Ben is one of two Cornell students, and one of 64 engineering students nationwide who were awarded the scholarship in 2024 and will receive up to $7,500 per full academic year for the next two years. Ash, who is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, chose Cornell... Read more

Advised by Professor David Muller, and a member of Professor Ankit Disa’s lab, Richard was endorsed for this award by Disa, who noted that she is “extremely diligent, creative and resourceful.” Disa praised her motivation and commitment for pursuing research as well as her willingness to take on any challenge, and predicted that she is “poised to be a future leader in the field.” As an Optica Women’s Scholar, Richard will receive a merit- and need-based grant, access to a mentorship platform and connection with a one of Optica’s mentors in their global network, and will be invited to attend... Read more

Eight projects have been selected from the Fall 2023 application cycle to receive Ignite Innovation Acceleration grants. The grants are designed to help project teams pursue licensing, form startups, and forge industry collaborations. Read more

For the first time in Cornell Engineering’s history, every school and department currently has, or will soon have, a woman faculty member on the college’s executive leadership team. The milestone comes as the college celebrates the 140th anniversary of its first woman engineer. Read more

Researchers went searching for a quantum spin in the popular semiconductor gallium nitride and found it, surprisingly, in two distinct species of defect. Read more

Researchers developed a more controlled way of making nickelates, a material that could potentially help pinpoint the key qualities that enable high-temperature superconductivity. Read more