Science Café Videos

John Crocker
University of Pennsylvania
“How is the Grand Canyon Like Mayonnaise?”
April 16, 2024


Marc Miskin
University of Pennsylvania
“Building the World’s Smallest Robot”
March 12, 2024


Eleni Katifori
University of Pennsylvania
“The Secret Lives of Networks”
February 6, 2024


Matthew Good
University of Pennsylvania
“Augmented Bio-Reality: Genetically-Encoded Materials to Engineer Cells and Tissues”
December 12, 2023


Struan F.A. Grant
University of Pennsylvania
“Snooze or Lose: The Impact of Genetics on Sleep Health”
November 14, 2023


Ritesh Agarwal
University of Pennsylvania
“How Can Ideas from Tornadoes & Whirlpools Improve Our Internet?”
October 17, 2023


Phil Nelson
University of Pennsylvania
“Why Are There So Many Songs About Rainbows?”
September 26, 2023


Christopher Madl
Assistant Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Accelerating Aging with Dynamic Biomaterials”
May 16, 2023


Jorge J. Santiago-Aviles
Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Renewable Energy Schemes”
April 25, 2023


Arjun Yodh
Department of Physics and Astronomy
“Order from Disorder: Entropy-driven Forces & Phase Transitions”
March 28, 2023


Samuel Dillavou
Department of Physics and Astronomy
“Friction: The Surprising Unsolved Science Behind Earthquakes & Tire Treads”
February 21, 2023


Eric A. Stach
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
“Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in Materials Discovery”
January 17, 2023


Jeffery G. Saven
Department of Chemistry
“Sculpting Protein”
November 15, 2022


Anthony Sigillito
Electrical and Systems Engineering
“Building a Quantum Computer”
October 18, 2022


John M. Vohs
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
“Energy Storage Solutions – Batteries & Fuel Cells”
September 27, 2022


Ottman Tertuliano
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics
“Breaking Bones at the Nanoscale to Heal Them”
August 22, 2022


Shu Yang
Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Creating Smart Textiles”
February 19, 2020


Ashley Kennedy
Postdoctoral Fellow, United States Army Public Health Center
“Living Materials: What the ‘Insect Apocalypse’ Means for You and Your Yard”
January 21, 2020


Jason Burdick
Professor of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Advances in 3D Printing for Medical Applications”
December 18, 2019


Zahra Fakhraai
Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
“Slowing Time to Make Burn-Resistant Polymers”
November 20, 2019


Thomas E. Mallouk
Professor of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
“How Do You Make a Micro-Robot?”
October 15, 2019


Ritesh Agarwal
Materials Science & Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Silicon Nanophotonics: Using Light to Speed up Computers”
September 11, 2019


Paulo E. Arratia
Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania
“Fluid Mechanics of Reproduction”
March 13, 2019


Gene Mele
Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
“Topological Insulators: Mind the Gap”
February 19, 2019


Samantha Cox
University of Pennsylvania Museum
“Forensic Anthropology: Exhumation & Identification of America’s First Serial Killer”
January 30, 2019


Mark Yim
Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania
“Innovation in Drones: The World’s Smallest Drone.”
December 19, 2018


Marija Drndić
Fay R. & Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, PENN
“The Hole Story: Ions and Molecules in Very Small Holes”
November 28, 2018


Dr. Noah Clay
Director, Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility, PENN
“Nanotechnology in Nature, Ancient Times, Today and Beyond”
October 22, 2018


Arjun G. Yodh
Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
“The Coffee Ring Variations”
May 16, 2018


Lee Bassett
Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“The Rise of Quantum Machines”
April 26, 2018


Eric A. Stach
Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Understanding the Structure of Materials Atom By Atom”
March 14, 2018


Vanessa Chan
Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Why Start-ups and New Products Fail and How to Avoid It”
December 7, 2017


Douglas Jerolmack
Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania
“The Secret Life of Pebbles: how the history of Earth and other planets is encoded in pebble shape”
November 16, 2017


David R. Busch
Physics, University of Pennsylvania
“From Flashlights to Brain Monitors, Diffuse Optics in Tissue”
October 26, 2017


Preston B. Moore
Chemistry Department, University of the Sciences, Philadelphia
“Smart Materials That Respond to Stimuli”
September 21, 2017


Neil Tomson
Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
“Chemical Lightning: Using Electrostatic Fields to Make Alternative Fuels”
May 25, 2017


Harold Gray
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
“Electricity Generation from Nuclear Power Reactors”
April 20, 2017


Peter J. Collings
Physics, Swarthmore College and University of Pennsylvania
“Liquid Crystals: Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them!”
March 23, 2017


Jeffery G. Saven
Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
“Sculpting Protein”
February 15, 2017


Jorge Santiago-Aviles
ESE, University of Pennsylvania
“The Importance of Batteries and Super Capacitors to the Electric Car and to an Efficient Power Grid”
January 26, 2017


Paulo E. Arratia
MEAM & CBE, University of Pennsylvania
“A Fantastic Voyage – From Bacteria to Micro-robots”
December 8, 2016


Randall Kamien
Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
“The Mathematics of Paper”
November 17, 2016


Ivan J. Dmochowski
Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
“Designing Light-Responsive Molecules for Biomedical Applications”
September 29, 2016


Struan F.A. Grant
Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
“Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes ARE Genetic: Successes from Genome Wide Scans”
April 28, 2016


Raymond J. Gorte
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Automotive Emissions-Control Systems: How Does It Work and What Did Volkswagen Do?”
March 31, 2016


Bill Berner
Physics, University of Pennsylvania
“It’s All Smoke and Mirrors: The Physics of Images”
December 3, 2015


Neil C. Tomson
Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
“The Problem with Solar Energy, and How to Fix It”
November 5, 2015


Alison Sweeney
Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
Brice Ménard
Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University
“Deep Sea or Deep Space? Observations of structure and diversity in the near-universe and earth’s own deep sea.”
October 15, 2015


A.T. Charlie Johnson
Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
“A ‘Bionic Nose’ to Smell Cancer – From Small Science to Major Applications”
September 17, 2015


LRSM Science CafeCarlos Perez
MSE, University of Pennsylvania
“The Missing Piece: Energy Storage for a Sustainable World”
March 18, 2015


LRSM Science CafeEric Schelter
Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
“Rare Earth Metals: I-phones to Alien Life”
February 18, 2015


LRSM Science CafeDoug Durian
Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
“Grains of Physics”
January 21, 2015


LRSM Science CafeNicholas Kybert
Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
“Nanotube ‘Noses’: Putting Sniffer Dogs out of Business”
December 10, 2014


LRSM Science CafeDavid Salas-de la Cruz, Ph.D., EIT
Rutgers University, Camden
“How 3-D Printing Can Disrupt the Status Quo”
November 5, 2014


LRSM Science CafeIgor Bargatin
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania
“Producing Solar Electricity by Boiling Water … and Electrons!”
October 15, 2014


LRSM Science CafeMatthew J. Lazzara
CBE, University of Pennsylvania
“Personalized Medicine for Cancer”
September 3, 2014


LRSM Science CafeRuss Composto, MSE, University of Pennsylvania
Schuyler Patton, Central High School, Philadelphia
“Eating in a Material World”
April 2, 2014


LRSM Science CafeTim Bechtel
Enviroscan Inc. & University of Pennsylvania
“Fracking, Fracing, or Frac’ing … What is Going on Down There?”
March 5, 2014


LRSM Science CafeWilliam Wunner
Wistar Institute, Philadelphia
“Rabies – A perpetual killer disease of humans challenges scientists, public health officials and governments”
February 12, 2014


LRSM Science CafeEric L. Hume, MD
Penn Orthopaedics Perelman SOM, University of Pennsylvania
“Adventures and Misadventures in Materials and Biology: 50 Years of Hip Replacement Progress”
January 8, 2014


LRSM Science CafeNader Enghetab
Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
“Abracadabra:Making Things Invisible and Seeing the Unseen”
November 13, 2013


LRSM Science CafeMichael Naguib
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University
“Charging your cell phone in two minutes or less: Unlocking the potential of the two-dimensional world.”
October 2, 2013


LRSM Science CafeJanet Monge
University of Pennsylvania Museum/Anthropology
“Forensic Anthropology: Death by Hemlock, Cholera, and Marijuana”
September 4, 2013


Mojca Čepič, Jerneja Pavlin, Maja Pečar
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia “Liquid Crystals and Other Anisotropic Materials – Our Every Day Friends”
June 12, 2013