News: CBE

A paper from the You Research Group titled, Dynamic energy management of a sustainable residential microcogeneration system based on a hydrogen fuel cell is applied to a stand-alone cold-climate dwelling house" was selected at the cover of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (March 1, 2021). DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08725. The cover art can be seen here: https://pubs.acs.org/pb-assets/images/_journalCovers/ascecg/ascecg_v009i008.jpg?0.5821419799796796 To read more about the You Research Group, please visit: peese.org. Read more

This work investigates the activation requirements for SARS-CoV-2 host-cell entry. SARS-CoV-2 entry is mediated by its spike (S) protein, and previous studies indicate that it has a novel S1/S2 site not before seen in SARS-like CoV that can be cleaved by furin-like proteases. Here, we show that S1/S2 cleavage expands SARS-CoV-2 entry into Calu-3 cells, a model lung cell line, but reduces SARS-CoV-2 entry into Vero E6, a model cell culture line. This S1/S2 cleavage was observed to be cleaved by proteases beyond furin and as a result of weak furin specificity, we offer thoughts on how it... Read more

The project is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Porotto and Moscona labs at Columbia and the Alabi lab at Cornell, which was launched in 2015. The collaboration paired the Columbia group’s virology research with Alabi’s work in engineering multifunctional macromolecules, with the initial goal of targeting the flu virus. Read more

Professor David Putnam has been named the inaugural Associate Dean for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Read more

Tester, Jefferson W., Croll Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. For leadership in development of novel renewable energy systems. Read more

The project is the latest iteration of an ongoing collaboration between Matthew DeLisa, the William L. Lewis Professor in the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and director of the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology, and Michael Jewett, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University and director of Northwestern’s Center for Synthetic Biology, both co-senior authors of the paper. Read more

Tobias Hanrath, the Marjorie L. Hart ’50 Professor in Engineering, in the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and David Erickson, the S.C. Thomas Sze Director of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, had both applied independently for grants from NEXUS-NY – a clean energy business accelerator funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Read more

“For the past several years, I have been pursuing multi-scale systems engineering,” You says. “We address problems ranging from molecular and materials design to climate change, using computing and systems technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.” He’s tracking down every missed opportunity, every point where energy leaks from a system, and finding ways to plug the hole. Read more

The heat of the earth is a vast untapped resource that could be used to heat not just homes but entire communities. Heating exceeds 20% of fossil fuel consumption across northern tiers of North America, Europe, Asia, and we need a low-carbon alternative. Shifting to electrical sources is not an efficient solution. Cornell University plans to do this through a project known as Earth Source Heat. Engineers at Cornell University are planning to utilize geothermal heat from intermediate temperature rocks (60-100°C) as a source of direct-use energy. This is a significant part of Cornell’s overall... Read more

Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor in Energy Systems Engineering and a Croll Sesquicentennial Fellow in the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Ning Zhao, a doctoral student in the Process-Energy-Environmental Systems Engineering (PEESE) lab, examined a variety of carbon-neutral energy systems and decarbonization methods after the state passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) in July 2019. Read more