Drexel School of Engineering

Join the Nick Howley College of Engineering and Computing for a virtual graduate info session on Wednesday, August 19 at noon ET. We'll cover master's, PhD, and post-baccalaureate certificate options across the School of Biomedical Engineering, the School of Computing and Information Sciences, and the School of Engineering, along with research opportunities and how graduate co-op works. The session closes with breakout rooms so you can meet the faculty and staff behind the program you're considering, whether you're starting this fall or looking ahead to next year.

Register at https://admissions.drexel.edu/register/?id=18c756ee-80dd-4a21-814c-f91c06f376af

"The ultimate goal of a biosensor is to be so reliable and comfortable that the wearer can go about their life without constantly noticing it's there," said Abu Musa Abdullah, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in mechanical engineering and mechanics.

He and colleagues at Drexel and Penn State have developed a hydrogel that can be printed in custom shapes, sticks to sweaty or hairy skin, and lets sweat pass through instead of building up underneath.

Read more: https://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2026/July/breathable-graphene-hydrogel-biosensors/

Drexel students will spend the coming year working with Pennsylvania manufacturers on seven research projects funded through a $3.1 million state investment. The work covers glass for high-efficiency solar panels, lightweight material for highway sound barriers, recycled carbon fiber for self-healing concrete, a nanomaterial catalyst for clean hydrogen, orthopedic technology, catheter coatings and sensors for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Drexel is taking part in seven of the 47 projects statewide, more than any other university partner this year.

Read more: https://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2026/July/DCED-Manufacturing-PA-Innovation-grants/

Drexel and University of Pennsylvania researchers have designed a "nanotrap" that lures HIV, holds onto it, and tags it so the immune system can recognize it as an intruder. The approach disguises a liposome, a hollow fat bubble found throughout the body, as the T cell that HIV is driven to infect. In a mouse model using a synthetic viral particle, a single injection produced a broad immune response. The work was led by Peter Deak, PhD, an assistant professor in Drexel's School of Engineering, and published in the journal Biomaterials.

Read more: https://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2026/June/HIV-nanotrap-therapeutic-vaccine/

A new National Science Foundation grant will support Drexel research into microscopic polymer capsules called crystalsomes. Most polymer capsules have walls of tangled chains that leave weak points where contents can leak. Crystalsome walls are ordered like a crystal instead, making them stronger and more uniform. The three-year project is led by Christopher Li, PhD, professor of materials science and engineering in the School of Engineering, who coined the term in 2016.

Read more: https://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2026/July/christopher-li-nsf-grant-polymers/

This week, Drexel University's School of Engineering is hosting the 10th International Conference on Self-Healing Materials (ICSHM2026), bringing researchers, engineers and practitioners from more than 17 countries to campus. The conference is chaired by Professor Amir Farnam of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, and features keynote talks, technical sessions and a poster showcase covering the latest advances in self-healing concrete, polymers and composites.

Still not sure what you want to major in? Lelia Karmeli wasn't either, so she made her own major. Through Drexel's Custom-Designed Major program, she mixed engineering, product design and business into a degree she calls "make stuff and help people." That combination led her to design Steady Slice, an accessible cutting board built to help people with upper limb impairments prep food more safely and easily. It took a lot of research, interviews and prototypes to get there, but Karmeli says the mix of fields gave her both the skills and the connections to bring her ideas to life.

Read more: https://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2026/June/custom-designed-major-cutting-board/

What if instead of attacking a virus, you could just trick it into revealing itself? That's the idea behind a new therapeutic vaccine approach being developed by Peter Deak, PhD, and his team at Drexel's School of Engineering. Their "nanotrap" disguises itself as an immune cell to lure HIV in and flag it for the body to fight naturally, and in early testing, a single dose sparked a strong immune response.

Read more: https://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2026/June/HIV-nanotrap-therapeutic-vaccine/

Drexel faculty are hosting a free online panel this Wednesday, June 24 from 6 to 7 p.m. for anyone considering a graduate degree online.

Andres Kriete, PhD and Matthew Burlick, PhD will talk through the online learning experience, student support resources, and MS and Certificate programs across CS, Bioinformatics, Cybersecurity, Systems Engineering, and more.

Register: http://online.drexel.edu/coec-onl-oh/