Dan M. Frangopol to receive honorary doctorate from Luleå University of Technology
Lehigh researchers uncover unexpected motion in drug-delivery robots
One day, tiny swimming robots may travel through the human body to deliver drugs. The medication would target only areas of need—chemotherapy drugs for a tumor, for example—avoiding healthy tissue and minimizing side effects. A research team led by Ebru Demir, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, with collaborators On Shun Pak (Santa Clara University) and Roberto Zenit (Brown University), is studying how tiny robots move through bodily fluids. They recently published a paper in the journal Applied Physics Letters detailing new foundational insights.
Environmental engineering professor named United Nations faculty fellow
Frank E. Curtis awarded two federal grants to advance optimization research
Frank E. Curtis, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) at Lehigh University, has been awarded two federal research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). These awards, totaling more than $675,000, will further support his pioneering work in mathematical optimization, algorithm design, and their applications to pressing challenges in science and engineering.
Lehman honored with 2026 Entrepreneurship and Innovation Faculty Achievement Award
Michael S. Lehman, professor of practice in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics and director of Lehigh University’s Technical Entrepreneurship (TE) program, received the 2026 Entrepreneurship and Innovation Faculty Achievement Award at the annual 2026 Innovate! Celebrate! event on April 28.
Lehigh ISE faculty elected as a Director of the IISE Data Analytics and Information Systems Division
We are pleased to announce that Lehigh ISE Assistant Professor Meng Zhao has been elected as a Director of the Data Analytics and Information Systems Division (DAIS) of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) for 2026-2028.
Vermaak leads NSF DMREF workshop on materials for rotating detonation engines
Recently, MechE Prof. Natasha Vermaak led her team including Profs. L. Valdevit, D. Mumm, X. Shi, at UC Irvine and Prof. M. Taheri-Mousavi at Carnegie Mellon University to host a workshop by invitation only for over 35 leaders in industry, government labs, and academia working at the cutting edge of materials technologies for rotating detonation engines (RDEs) (Figure 1).
Lehigh ISE Faculty Member to Chair the Bilevel Optimization Society
Lehigh ISE Professor Ted Ralphs has been elected Chair-Elect of the Bilevel Optimization Society (BOS). He will serve a one-year term as Chair-Elect before assuming a two-year term as Chair, followed by one year as Past Chair. Bilevel optimization is a field of optimization that addresses hierarchical optimization problems in which a leader (upper level) decides the values of a set of decision variables and a follower (lower level) reacts by solving a problem that depends on the leader’s choice.
National defense program selects Lehigh Engineering professor Keith Moored
Keith Moored, a professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, was recently selected to join the Defense Science Study Group (DSSG), a highly selective program that connects leading academic researchers with U.S. national security challenges. Moored is one of just 18 academics selected from more than 150 nominated by universities across the country for the class of 2027-28.