Princeton Engineering

Cheese-making, a key step from hunting to farming in early civilization, happened earlier than previously thought, according to a Princeton researcher who pursued the meaning of perforated bits of clay pots for 30 years.

At the fourth annual Science Holiday Lecture held at Princeton Saturday, Dec. 15, Professor Howard Stone invited children from the community to become part of the demonstration on stage. This year's focus was on the workings of light and color. (Video by Laurel Masten Cantor)

The annual holiday science lecture led by Professor Howard Stone dazzled children who learned about amazing properties of light, and were often called upon to act out important concepts in physics.

A collaboration between Princeton engineers and the Princeton Plasma Physics lab is creating a more accurate understanding of how building materials such as black or white roofs affect energy use.

Serguei Bagrianski (above) assembled a prototype dome to test a new type of concrete in the EQuad courtyard last fall. Bagrianski, who is pursuing a master’s degree in architecture after receiving his master’s in civil engineering, is testing shapes that would allow builders to use fiber-reinforced concrete to construct structural shells. If he is successful, the technique would be cheaper than using steel for domes and it would result in a segmented appearance for the shell. &ldqu

Carter Cleveland ’09, founder of Art.sy, says that as an undergraduate he was always interested in subjects such as dance and art history. “At one point I was tempted to switch into art history to escape the huge engineering workload...”

As Adam Stasiw moves through a dance, he creates a pattern of movement, timing and form. As a computer science major, Stasiw wanted to view that pattern through a mathematical filter.

The Cantor Set is a mathematical puzzle in which segments are repeatedly removed from a line, while the number of points left remains the same. Philip Holmes, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, begins his sonnet “Gaps” with an almost arithmetical recitation of the Cantor Set that quickly expands to apply its strange perspective to the greater world. Like much of Holmes’ poetry, “Gaps” doesn’t seek to mirror the world. It is

The Flock Logic dance project began after Susan Marshall, an internationally renowned choreographer, attended a 2009 lecture on groups and collective motion by Naomi Leonard ’85, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Marshall, who had recently joined the Princeton faculty as a professor of dance, listened as Leonard explained how simple rules given to individuals can result in complex motion patterns in groups such as fish schools or bird flocks. Leonard uses the principles

A archeologist and computer scientist teamed up to teach a course in which students started with archaeological data and built plausible renderings of four buildings in Cyprus. The work became part of an exhibit at the Princeton University Art Museum.

Rebecca Fiebrink, Ph.D. ’11, is a music teacher, although she doesn’t teach students how to play instruments. Instead, Fiebrink, who is an assistant professor of computer science, teaches instruments how to play for their users. “We are researching ways that technology has the ability to allow people who are not musically trained to express themselves musically,” she said. “We are trying to offer people a way to go beyond sitting and listening and being passive con

Art was not something that Bianca DiGiovanni thought she would create when she decided to pursue an engineering degree, but when the civil and environmental engineering department offered a drawing class in combination with the Lewis Center for the Arts, she decided to give it a try. “I thought maybe I would find out I was a brilliant artist,” DiGiovanni, a sophomore, said with a laugh. “I found out otherwise, but I did learn a lot.” Drawing sessions for engineering s

The original Moog synthesizer, a staple of ’70s music, had its heyday long before senior Jeffrey Snyder learned to play the keyboard, but Snyder loved that warm ’70s sound.

George Scherer’s tours of campus are not typical. Instead of beauty, he points to deterioration, or at least the type of wear and tear that comes from years of exposure. “My students like to tell me they always thought Princeton had such a beautiful campus — until they take my course,” Scherer jokes. Scherer, the William L. Knapp ’47 Professor of Civil Engineering, is an expert in stone: how to repair it, restore it and protect it from damage. His research group h

“The art spoke to me.” This comment, which caused me pause when I first read it, came from a liberal arts student in an evaluation of CEE 102 “Engineering in the Modern World.” Since the 1990s, I have enjoyed co-teaching CEE 102 with Professor David Billington ’50. Billington, who recently retired, invented CEE 102 in 1985 to educate the whole campus about the major role that engineering plays in shaping our world. I was pleased by this student’s comment b

For drivers entering campus along Washington Road, the Streicker Bridge passes without much notice. A thin ribbon of concrete and steel spun over a single delicate arch, the bridge’s elegant but understated design does not receive as much attention as some of the University’s more recognizable monuments. In a way, that is a tribute to the designers who worked to match the bridge to the woods and steep hills surrounding it. With bridge supports that are weathered and branched to rese

Engineering is often seen as the most utilitarian of disciplines, a field in which aesthetics takes a back seat to function. But a group of teachers and scholars have recently begun holding annual conferences at Princeton to challenge that view. To the International Network for Structural Art, engineering has a clear aesthetic defined by elegance, efficiency and economy. “It takes a creative spring in an engineer’s mind to come up with a solution,” said Maria Garlock, an assoc

Kaitlin Stouffer, a computer science major, was one of two Princeton seniors named recipients of the Daniel M. Sachs Class of 1960 Graduating Scholarship, one of the highest awards given to Princeton undergraduates.

Princeton researchers have found a simple and economical way to nearly triple the efficiency of organic solar cells, the cheap and flexible plastic devices that many scientists believe could be the future of solar power.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has named three faculty members of the School of Engineering and Applied Science as fellows, an honor bestowed for distinguished work in advancing science or its applications.

This virtual 3-D walkthrough of four principal buildings uncovered during Princeton University's archaeological excavations in Cyprus is part of the Princeton Art Museum's City of Gold exhibit.