Leading voices from across the aerospace industry and academia gathered in Florence, Italy for the panel titled "Engineering Innovation Enabling Scientific Research," examining how advances in engineering are unlocking new scientific missions and how ambitious science goals are, in turn, driving engineering breakthroughs.

The panel, moderated by Alison Nordt, Director of Space Sciences & Instrumentation at Lockheed Martin Space's Advanced Technology Center, brought together six panellists to discuss the evolving relationship between space science and systems engineering: Marius Anger (Aalto University), Jon Arenberg (Northrop Grumman), Mayra Montrose (L3Harris), Giampiero Di Paolo (Thales Alenia Space Italia), Steve Squyres (Blue Origin) and Eric Stallmer (Voyager).

A new simulation study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests winter canola could be profitable and environmentally beneficial if added to a conventional corn-soy rotation in the U.S. Midwest. 

Researchers have developed a flexible optical computing system capable of tackling problems beyond the reach of previous designs.

 - Researchers at Princeton engineering developed a math framework for construction of adjustable shells that snap into different configurations. Each configuration is stable — it can maintain its position and resist outside force without additional locking mechanisms. The method has applications in robotics, space exploration and construction.

- Shells, thin structures with a curved surface, are a highly efficient method for supporting loads over wide areas, like airplane wings. Shells exist in nature, as eggshells or skulls, in the built environment as bridges and machine parts, and in ancient buildings like the Roman Pantheon and the Hagia Sophia.

- Taking inspiration from curved-crease origami and concepts from differential geometry, the team developed guidelines for curved, multi-stable structures. Based on geometry, the work does not require specific shapes or exotic construction materials. The team built robots to explore the concept of snapping curved folds which can be controlled with magnetic fields, without needing any onboard motors or electronics.

Understanding how heart muscle cells stop dividing and acquire the characteristics needed to sustain lifelong cardiac function remains one of the greatest challenges in cardiovascular biology. Leveraging human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology, a team led by Associate Professor Yoshinori Yoshida (Department of Clinical Application, CiRA, Kyoto University) and Associate Professor Antonio Lucena-Cacace  (WPI-PRIMe, The University of Osaka) has identified PRDM16 as an important regulator governing the balance between proliferation and maturation in human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.

Diallyl disulfide is an organosulfur compound derived from garlic, and R-carvone is a monoterpenoid derived from spearmint. Researchers processed these compounds into oil-in-water nanoemulsions and applied it to the adzuki bean beetle—a known legume pest. The researchers found that the nanoemulsions were highly toxic against the pest, suggesting that they could be a promising environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic pest-control agents.