Jan. 10, 2024

Engineering professor outlines challenges, strategies around ‘forever’ chemicals in Nature Water journal

Water treatment systems in the U.S. are more than a century old, allowing contaminants to pollute our drinking water and cause health problems. There are technologies that would help states and cities filter out these chemicals without having to replace entire treatment systems; however there’s no mandate for governments to install them. Short of that, there are non-technical solutions that could help reduce pollution levels. Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Feng “Frank” Xiao outlined these challenges and strategies in a paper published in a Nature journal, Nature Water. Xiao is specifically looking at ways to treat per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or 'forever' chemicals, which are found in household and industrial products. These chemicals are ending up in our water and causing various medical conditions.

June 29, 2023

Mizzou Engineer develops method to break down PFAS left on water treatment filters

In a recent study, Feng “Frank” Xiao and colleagues at the University of Missouri demonstrate an innovative method using thermal induction heating to rapidly break down PFAS left on the surface of two solid materials — granular activated carbon and anion exchange resins — after these materials have been used to filter PFAS from municipal water systems.

June 28, 2023

Mizzou Engineer outlines system to customize blood supply chain solutions

Blood supply chains can be complicated. On one hand, healthcare providers must make sure they have enough to meet demands, which can be unexpected. On the other hand, roughly 20 million donated platelets are discarded each year because they expire before they’re needed.

May 18, 2023

Smart material prototype challenges Newton’s laws of motion

For more than 10 years, Guoliang Huang, the Huber and Helen Croft Chair in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been investigating the unconventional properties of “metamaterials” — an artificial material that exhibits properties not commonly found in nature as defined by Newton’s laws of motion — in his long-term pursuit of designing an ideal metamaterial. Huang’s goal is to help control the “elastic” energy waves traveling through larger structures — such as an aircraft — without light and small “metastructures.”

April 10, 2023

Team develops technique using humidity to make 3D printing faster, more efficient

A Mizzou Engineering team has devised a new technique that uses humidity to make 3D printing faster and more efficient when fabricating small, complex structures.

March 15, 2023

Team develops technique to segment carbon nanotube forests in images

Mizzou Engineering researchers are another step closer to controlling the properties of carbon nanotubes growing in mass quantities.

Jan. 31, 2023

Study unexpectedly finds only 7 health symptoms directly related to ‘long COVID’

In a new study, a team of University of Missouri researchers made an unexpected discovery: people experiencing long-lasting effects from COVID-19 — known as “long COVID” or post-COVID conditions — are susceptible to developing only seven health symptoms for up to a year following the infection. They are: fast-beating heart, hair loss, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, joint pain and obesity.

Jan. 26, 2023

Mizzou researchers provide direct evidence of localized explosion of aluminum nanoparticle

A Mizzou Engineering team has provided direct evidence of a localized explosion of an aluminum nanoparticle, a mechanism first theorized in 2006.

Nov. 29, 2022

Team develops technique to fabricate electronics onto everyday objects

A Mizzou Engineering team has developed a new technique to fabricate electronics onto everyday objects.

Sep. 21, 2022

Mizzou Engineer using machine learning to solve space debris problem

Companies are launching satellites into orbit at a dizzying pace with no plans to clean them up once they’ve completed their missions. That means dead satellites are floating in space with no one controlling them, leaving them vulnerable to collisions. “Space is becoming more and more crowded,” said Ming Xin, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, “and solutions are becoming more and more urgent.” While studies are underway on best practices to remove space debris, right now there’s no good method to know exactly what’s out there. That’s because once a satellite is no longer in use, it…