News Briefs

The Fall 2020 edition focuses on the Lehigh Engineering community's response to the ongoing challenges surrounding the COVID-19 crisis

Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Alpha Omega Epsilon (A.O.E.), and Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) are partnering to host the fourth annual Women in STEM dinner on Thursday, October 22, beginning at 5:30 pm. The event, which will be held virtually this year, serves to encourage discussion about what it means to be a minority in STEM. Students, faculty, and STEM professionals are invited to attend. 

Each October since 1879, Lehigh has commemorated Founder Asa Packer and the magnitude of his impact with a celebration.

Lehigh has again been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s outstanding research universities.

In its recently released "2021 Best Colleges" rankings, Lehigh ranks No. 49 among 389 institutions across the United States that offer undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees.

The U.S. News overall ranking takes into account a number of factors that include graduation and retention rates, class size, SAT scores, student excellence, academic reputation, and alumni giving.

Ben T. Yen, 88, professor emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, passed away on September 15, 2020, having led a prolific research career focused on structure and bridge evaluation and repair. 

Yen joined the engineering faculty in the mid-1960s after completing master’s and doctoral degrees at Lehigh. He continued his service as a mentor following his retirement in 2001, endowing the Yen Family Fellowship, which has supported numerous graduate students pursuing advanced research.

The following note was sent to Rossin College students and the extended Lehigh Engineering community by Steve DeWeerth, dean, Sabrina Jedlicka, associate dean, and Susan Perry, assistant dean, at the start of the Fall 2020 semester. 

Lehigh received the 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for its Greer Scholars, RARE and Women in Engineering PreLUsion programs. The award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Organic solar cells are ideal for use in flexible electronics because of the inherently malleable nature of semiconducting polymers. Recent research on the interplay between processing, thermodynamics, and mechanical stability of typical photoactive layers in organic cells is providing a deeper understanding of these high-potential materials.

Rick Blum, Robert W. Wieseman Professor of Electrical and Computer engineering and former grad student Jake Perazzone '17G '20 PhD are members of a research team recently awarded a patent for "inventing a practical method for Army wireless devices to covertly authenticate and communicate," as announced by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory.

According to the news release: 

The U.S.