interdisciplinary innovation

Nov 16, 2015

New Tech Helps Handlers Monitor Health, Well-Being of Guide Dogs

An interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers has developed a device that allows people who are blind to monitor their guide dogs, in order to keep tabs on the health and well-being of their canine companions. 

Nov 12, 2015

Toilets, Pit Latrines and Adventures in Human Waste

According to Francis de los Reyes III, the problem with World Toilet Day is that it focuses almost entirely on toilets. And he's working on that. 

Oct 21, 2015

From Exoplanets to Rainbow Station: Using Lasers to Print in Four Dimensions

In 2010, Michael Escuti received funding from NSF to study and make novel hologram technologies. He created a tool with applications from studying alien worlds to making cellphones more energy efficient. 

Oct 12, 2015

Online Tool Aims to Help Researchers Sift Through 15 Centuries of Data

Digital humanities scholars are launching a powerful new system to help researchers more quickly and accurately sift through hundreds of thousands of archives and articles related to materials dating from 450 A.D. to the 20th century. 

Sep 29, 2015

Brilliant Innovators

Two of the brightest young researchers within NC State’s College of Engineering have been producing outstanding work for years. Now they’ve won the acclaim of two of the world’s most influential technology magazines. 

Sep 29, 2015

Researchers Disguise Drugs as Platelets to Target Cancer

Researchers have for the first time developed a technique that coats anticancer drugs in membranes made from a patient’s own platelets, allowing the drugs to last longer in the body and attack both primary cancer tumors and the circulating tumor cells that can cause a cancer to metastasize. 

Sep 29, 2015

Modeling Tool IDs Genes That Control Stress Response in Plants

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a modeling algorithm that is able to identify genes associated with specific biological functions in plants. The modeling tool will help plant biologists target individual genes that control how plants respond to drought, high temperatures or other environmental stressors. 

Sep 23, 2015

Bozkurt Named to Popular Science’s ‘Brilliant 10’

Alper Bozkurt, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is honored for his work establishing the foundations of the “internet of bionic things” in areas ranging from human-animal communication to insect biobots to human health monitoring devices. 

Sep 9, 2015

From the Lab Bench to the Beer Glass

A team of NC State scientists is using wild yeasts to brew new beers -- and the results are both surprising and delicious. 

Aug 19, 2015

Vomiting Device Offers First Direct Evidence That Vomit Aerosolizes Norovirus-Like Particles

Using a vomiting device of their creation, researchers are reporting the first direct evidence that vomiting can aerosolize virus particles similar to human norovirus. 

Aug 19, 2015

The Vomiting Machine: How Researchers Are Using Fake Barf to Help Protect Public Health

Tucked away in a quiet lab on NC State’s Raleigh campus is something that looks like a glorified air compressor with a grotesque clay face. It’s called “the vomiting machine” and it does exactly what you think it does. 

Aug 18, 2015

Biomedical Engineer Zhen Gu Named to Tech Review’s Top Innovators Under 35

Zhen Gu, an assistant professor in NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill’s joint biomedical engineering program, has been named one of MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35” for his work on developing novel drug-delivery systems for treating cancer and diabetes. 

Apr 15, 2015

Researchers Can Trace Dust Samples Using Fungal DNA

Researchers have developed a statistical model that allows them to tell where a dust sample came from within the continental United States based on the DNA of fungi found in the sample. The work offers law enforcement a new forensic biology tool. 

Feb 25, 2015

Re-creating ‘A Creative Protest’

No recording of Martin Luther King's "Fill Up the Jails" sermon exists. A group of digital humanities researchers is working to resurrect it using immersive digital tools and the Hunt Library. 

Feb 2, 2015

Under the Skin: Big Data at Work

Big data: it's a search for lots of needles in many, many haystacks. In the bioinformatics faculty cluster, NC State researchers mine data for clues to cystic fibrosis, human responses to toxins and more.