Research Thrust Areas
Bioengineering | Nanotechnology | Information Science and Technology | Energy and Enviornment
“These are no ordinary times. The world of the 21st century is very different than the 20th century and brings with it enormous challenges – challenges whose scale and difficulty are huge and frequently global.”
Charles Vest, President
National Academy of Engineering
From tissue engineering and biomaterials to superconducting devices to grid computing to corrosion and energy conservation technology, U.Va. Engineering School faculty and graduate students in more than 40 centers, consortium and labs are creating solutions to real-world problems. They are leading the way to addressing challenges that face us as a nation and as a world community.
Our interdisciplinary research environment that includes top-ranked business and medical schools, enable faculty in the U.Va. Engineering School to respond to emerging needs in many fields, including our thrust areas of bioengineering, nanotechnology, information science and technology and energy and the environment. These thrust areas build on substantial strengths within the Engineering School while capitalizing on expertise throughout the University of Virginia.
Bioengineering
We are on the verge of a new era in medicine, with the ability to correct the underlying causes of diseases — not just their symptoms — to regenerate damaged tissue and organs and to devise therapies that are customized to the individual. Our world-class bioengineering group is playing a critical role in these advances. The Department of Biomedical Engineering is housed in a cutting-edge, 155,000-square-foot biomedical engineering and biomedical science building.
Research strengths include:
- Cardiovascular bioengineering
- Biomedical and molecular imaging
- Cellular and molecular bioengineering
- Tissue engineering and biomaterials
- Neural and bioelectric systems
- Mysculoskeletal bioengineering
- Computational systems bioengineering
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is opening the way to unprecedented control of materials, allowing us to create structures and design processes at all scales with precise, dependable and, in many instances, novel properties. Wilsdorf Hall, a cutting-edge facility specially designed for nanotechnology research, reflects the depth of our determination to break new ground in the field.
Research strengths include:
- Next-generation electric devices
- Nanoscale lithography and nanoprinting
- Nanoscale biomachines
- Surface and interface engineering
- Superconducting devices
- TeraHertz technology
- Spintronics
- Micro Electro-Mechanical Systesms (MEMS)
- Nano- and Surface Science
Information Science and Technology
One cannot overstate the transformative power of information science and engineering. It is unique among disciplines in its potential to promote major advances in all fields. Planning is under way for Rice Hall, a state-of-the-art facility that will incorporate laboratories, classrooms, offices, and collaborative meeting space that can be dynamically reconfigured to support new ideas and projects. This facility is expected to open in May 2011.
Research strengths include:
- Biometrics
- Cybersecurity
- Data mining
- Grid computing
- Information assurance
- Real-time and embedded systems
- Software engineering
- Human-machine interfaces
Energy and Environment
With the world’s growing population, dependence on carbon-based fuels, and concerns about global climate change, the interface between human beings and the natural world must be more fully and responsively managed. Read more.
Research strengths include:
- Energy conservation technology and methodology
- Intermodal transportatoin systems
- Applied enviornmental microbiology
- Alternative energy forms and utilization
- Corrosion
- Catalysis and catalytic materials
- Global water quality and supply
- Andres Clarens
- Lisa Colosi
- Joanna Curran
- Garrick Louis
- Winston Lung
- James Smith
- Public policy and ethics
- Nanostructured Materials For Energy Conversion
- Mechanical Safety and Reliability in Extreme Energy Enviornments