TMI Newsletter | October 2026

Featured News

“Biphasic electrolytes allow us to combine the high stability of organic electrolytes with the fast ion transport of water-based electrolytes,” said Tianrui (Terry) Zheng, a graduate student in professor Guihua Yu’s research group who led the new research published in Advanced Materials.

Published by Cockrell School of Engineering.

New Low-Waste Method Breaks Down Tough-to-Recycle Plastics

“Before now, people might have avoided using these materials, despite their strength, durability and lightness, because they didn’t have a good way to recycle them,” said Zak Page, a UT associate professor of chemistry and corresponding author on the paper. “Switching to pDCPD might mean the same product can perform better, while also having a longer lifespan before it needs to be recycled. I hope this will encourage more people to consider using pDCPDs.”

Published by the College of Natural Sciences.

Can Salty, Dirty Water Cool Data Centers?

“We’re not waiting for a futuristic technology to come along and solve this problem for us,” said Vaibhav Bahadur, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and one of the leaders of the research published recently in Water Research. “We can solve parts of this problem with the technology we already have; there’s just a cost to it.”

Published by Cockrell School of Engineering.

Yunlan “Emma” Zhang Receives Air Force Young Investigator Program Award

Texas Engineer Yunlan “Emma” Zhang has received the Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s Fiscal Year 2026 Young Investigator Program award, which recognizes promising early-career researchers and encourages their growth through creative research and exposure to Air Force and Space Force mission challenges.

Published by the Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering.

Barista Bot Brainchild of Texas Engineering Grad (& Previous TMI Intern!)

Jason Wang, a recent graduate of the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and previous intern at TMI, is the developer of Remy, a robot designed to make expresso for his company, Saja Drinks.

Published by Cockrell School of Engineering.

A More Comfortable, Longer-Lasting Way to Measure Brain Activity

“The biggest obstacle to practical EEG is not the brain signal itself, but maintaining a comfortable, reliable connection between the scalp and the sensor,” said Huiliang “Evan” Wang, an assistant professor in the Cockrell School’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and senior author of the research published in Science Advances. “MindStretcH was designed to make that connection more stable across hair types, head shapes and repeated use.”

Published by the Cockrell School of Engineering.

Read more!

UT Austin to Host Local Site for National Hackathon

The Machine Learning for Microscopy Hackathon is a global event that brings together students and researchers to tackle real-world microscopy challenges using AI/ML, scientific computing, automation, and related tools. This year, we’ll be hosting a local site at UT Austin, so participants can form teams and work together in person while connecting with the broader global hackathon. We’ll provide a room as well as food and drinks during the event. No microscopy background is required, so students who are more broadly interested in AI, computation, automation, or experimental science are very welcome.

The local UT site will be supported by Dr. Yijin Liu, Dr. Jamie Warner, Dr. Yuebing Zheng, and Dr. Zhantao Chen. Food and drinks will be provided by TMI. More information and registration can be found at https://kaliningroup.github.io/mic_hackathon_3/ and Dr. Liu and Dr. Chen are happy to talk to interested students that might have more questions!

Fall 2026 MSE 397 Seminar Series