Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Left: person wearing the fluid motor attached to artificial muscles. Center: artificial muscle lifts suitcase off the ground. Right: robotic leg attached to artificial muscle flexes its ankle.

Jul 2, 2024

Portable engine can power artificial muscles in assistive devices

What sets the new engine apart is its ability to generate significant force without being tethered to an external power source.

image shows three different configurations of 3-D cubes

Jun 28, 2024

Mechanical computer relies on kirigami cubes, not electronics

The mechanical computer uses a complex structure of rigid, interconnected polymer cubes to store, retrieve and erase data without relying on electronic components.

a man runs across a green lawn wearing a robotic exoskeleton that attaches to his waist, hips and knees

Jun 14, 2024

AI-powered simulation training improves human performance in robotic exoskeletons

The robotic exoskeletons help users save energy while walking, running and climbing stairs.

time lapsed photo shows a soft robot tendril lowering, wrapping around a tube, and lifting it into the air

Jun 12, 2024

3D-printed mini-actuators can move small soft robots, lock them into new shapes

The miniature soft hydraulic actuators can control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick.

image shows an orderly array of blue cubes, with a network of silver spheres descending from it

May 30, 2024

Researchers create materials with unique combo of stiffness, thermal insulation

This combination of properties is extremely unusual and holds promise for applications such as thermal insulation coatings for electronics.

Image shows a jewel beetle on a green branch on a gradient green background.

May 28, 2024

Wei, partners host meeting on volatile organic compounds sensors research

Qingshan Wei, associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University, is the principal investigator for a Phase I Convergence Accelerator Track L award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Aerial view of The Oval and surrounding Engineering buildings and Hunt Library on NC State's Centennial Campus.

May 22, 2024

COE announces Scholar of the Year award winners

The College of Engineering’s Office of Graduate Programs has announced five winners of the 2023-24 Scholar of the Year awards. All students were nominated by their respective departments for their outstanding scholarly achievements and dedication to NC State.

A soft robot and a caterpillar on the branch of a green plant. The caterpillar is on the bottom of the branch and the soft robot is on the top or opposite side of the branch.

May 16, 2024

Caterbot? Robotapillar? It crawls with ease through loops and bends

Engineers at Princeton and North Carolina State University have combined ancient paper folding and modern materials science to create a soft robot that bends and twists through mazes with ease.

May 9, 2024

Propelled toward success

Growing up in Apex, North Carolina, Kelton Phillips never gave engineering much thought. Buoyed by the John Estes Conway Scholarship and the Doug and Whitney Yates Scholarship, he just graduated from NC State as an engineer who will keep airplanes flying.