Fueling Innovation

Read the latest stories about how the University of Illinois System is fueling innovation at home in Illinois and beyond.

Senior author Mohammad Asadi said the battery design could store 1 kWh/kg or more, four times more than current Li-ion batteries. 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign geologists are part of a team that has developed new computer models to help researchers better forecast volcanic eruptions. More...

Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed soft robotic devices driven by neuromuscular tissue that triggers when stimulated by light – bringing mechanical engineering one step closer to developing autonomous biobots. More...

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and at Argonne National Laboratory have designed a new lithium-air battery that works in a natural air environment and still functioned after a record-breaking 750 charge/discharge cycles. More...

A team of UIUC researchers have been awarded a $2.7M grant to investigate the conversion of swine manure and food waste into materials for road pavement and roof shingles.

Rsearchers at UIUC have developed an instrument that can be clipped on to a smartphone to rapidly test for Zika virus in a single droplet of blood. 

Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago have built a cost-effective artificial leaf that can capture carbon dioxide at rates 100 times better than current systems.

The Rantoul Village Board approved a lease agreement with the University of Illinois on Tuesday night that is the latest step toward construction of a multimillion-dollar autonomous-transportation testing facility and track on the grounds of the former Chanute Air Force Base.

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) building on the north end of campus is the university’s first zero-energy-certified facility. All of the energy comes from solar panels on the roof and a solar farm in Savoy.

For the first time, RIPE researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have proven that multigene bioengineering of photosynthesis increases the yield of a major food crop in field trials.

A team of researchers led by Meenesh Singh at UIC has discovered a way to convert 100% of carbon dioxide captured from industrial exhaust into ethylene, a key building block for plastic products.  

A new tool uses an interactive database of geographic and genetic information to help authorities quickly identify where the confiscated tusks of African elephants were originally poached. More...

A new seizure-monitoring baseball cap could help doctors diagnose patients with epilepsy more quickly and comprehensively. The innovation is called Epicap. 

A new study by UIC researchers shows that it is possible to manipulate individual atoms so that they begin working in a collective pattern that has the potential to become superconducting at higher temperatures. More...

Lithium-air batteries, according to UIC researchers, could be even more efficient and provide more charge with the incorporation of advanced catalysts made from two-dimensional materials. More...

The Department of Energy has granted $2 million over three years to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and two partners to develop plastic that can be recycled perpetually, reducing waste and pollution from single-use plastics. 

Surgeons at UI Health have demonstrated that obese patients with Type 1 diabetes can safely receive a pancreas transplant when the surgery is performed robotically. More...

For farmers, GPS-guided equipment makes easier work of planting and harvesting thousands of acres each season. Now, thanks to a partnership between UIUC’s Center for Digital Agriculture, and robotics start-up EarthSense, some of the work is being assigned to machines of a much smaller scale.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign collaborated with Kyushu University researchers to develop a system that can de-ice surfaces in seconds. More...

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to show that lithium-carbon dioxide batteries can be designed to operate in a fully rechargeable manner. More...

The project's goal is to get accurate data that can be used for designing opportunities to bring high-speed internet to all of rural Illinois.

Ruixuan Gao, UIC assistant professor of chemistry and biological sciences, is one of three researchers recently selected to receive funding from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience for his project that could advance the ability to analyze brain function.

UIC's new 57,500-square-foot building will add depth and breadth to the university’s expanding engineering footprint. It will house engineers investigating phenomena on a scale from the very large to the exceedingly small. More...

A team of students from the UIC chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World designed and built a solar charging station for Gemma, an electric vehicle used by the Office of Planning, Sustainability and Project Management.

A team at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is designing Virtual Archaeology, a classroom and laboratory course that will allow students to experience an archaeology field dig without leaving campus. More...

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign engineers introduce a micrhochip inductor capable of tens of millitesla-level magnetic induction in a new study. More...

As a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Aadeel Akhtar began working on a bionic prosthetic hand concept that would be faster, more functional, and more affordable than alternatives on the market. 

PURE - Personalized Unique Rolling Experience - is a hands-free wheelchair that rolls on a ball or “spherical” wheel. The rider simply leans in the desired direction of travel.

The University of Illinois Chicago has been selected to join the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage, a U.S. Department of Energy-funded center focused on building the tools necessary to create scalable, distributed and fault-tolerant quantum computer systems.

Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago have created a solar-powered electrochemical reaction that not only uses wastewater to make ammonia, but also achieves a solar-to-fuel efficiency that is 10 times better than any other comparable technology.  

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will host two new artificial intelligence institutes funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

NETenergy, a clean tech startup company based on technology developed and licensed by UIC, will commercialize its unique hybrid, super-efficient air-conditioning system with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. More...

Researchers at the Unviersity of Illinois at Chicago, part of a NASA team of scientists, presented a nuclear-powered tunnelbot solution to drill below the icy surface of Europa, Jupiter's moon, for possible evidence of life. More...

Two UIC researchers have been named to the inaugural class of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium Entrepreneurial Fellows program. 

UIC College of Engineering faculty members Sudip K. Mazumder and Mohammad B. Shadmand believe these substations will detect power grid anomalies faster, and will better resist cyberattacks on the power grid.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign electrical and computer engineering professor Viktor Gruev led a study demonstrating underwater global positioning made possible by a bio-inspired camera that mimics the eyes of a mantis shrimp. More...

New research by a Carle Illinois College of Medicine student may unlock new naturally occurring treatments for patients with hair loss. 

The researchers successfully turned an abandoned oil and gas well into a geothermal energy storage system, repurposing a once-polluting resource extraction site into what they say amounts to a green energy battery.

CBS Chicago goes inside the UIC Advanced Materials and Microstructures Lab, where researchers are researching how to make stronger metals.

IBM and The Grainger College of Engineering at UIUC plan to launch a large-scale collaboration designed to increase access to technology education and skill development, and to combine the strengths of academia and the industrial sector to spur breakthroughs in emerging areas of technology.

A University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign team developed a web app that can identify drug compounds that will accumulate in Gram-negative bacteria. More...

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have developed a new drug that prevents blood clots without causing an increased risk of bleeding, a common side effect of all antiplatelet medications currently available.

A new microscopy technique developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago allows researchers to visualize liquids at the nanoscale level — about 10 times more resolution than with traditional transmission electron microscopy — for the first time. More...

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of a property in downtown Springfield that will become the new University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Center.

A team of chemical and biomolecular engineering researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a new material that helps split water molecules for hydrogen fuel production. More...

By gaining control over shape, size and composition during synthetic molecule assembly, researchers can begin to probe how these factors influence the function of soft materials. Finding these answers could help advance virology, drug delivery development and the creation of new materials.  More...

Wearable Tech is a 400-level course at UIC where students dream it, build it and patients benefit. It is the brainchild of clinical associate professor Hananeh Esmailbeigi.

UIC researchers have developed a longer-lasting alternative to conventional deicers, like those used on airplanes. They say it could also benefit other industries.

Chemical engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago are investigating new methods to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cement manufacturing.

UIC engineers have been awarded just over $1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Alliance for Water Innovation to build a system that selectively removes and destroys poly- and perfluorinated substances, commonly called PFAS, from industrial and municipal wastewaters.