News | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Image Caption

Photo Credit
Tyler Lastovich / Unsplash
Lithium-ion batteries power everything from cell phones to laptops

Lithium shows its metal, paving the way for better batteries

Friday, April 18, 2025

Lithium-ion batteries today are nearly ubiquitous, powering everything from cell phones to laptops. Small wonder, then, that scientists are continually trying to develop safer and more energy-efficient battery technology.

A research collaborative including UC Santa Barbara materials and mechanical engineer, battery expert Jeff Sakamoto, recently revealed key insights into solid electrolytes being tested for use in all-solid-state batteries.

Image Caption

Photo Credit
Sakkmesterke vi Adobe Stock
Fruit fly larvae will reorient themselves toward the negative pole of an electric field.

Scientists discover that fruit fly larvae can sense electric fields

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

While it may be an unfamiliar sensation to humans, electroreception is relatively commonplace in the animal kingdom. Sharks, bees and even the platypus all share this ability to detect electric fields in their environment.

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have just added fruit flies to that list. A team of researchers led by Matthieu Louis found that fruit fly larvae can sense electric fields and navigate toward the negative electric potential using a small set of sensory neurons in their head.

New microCT machine unites biologists and materials scientists

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

A versatile new device will soon come to campus thanks to an interdepartmental collaboration between biologists and engineers.

Image Caption

Photo Credit Brian Long/UCSB
Disk-shaped robots can act collectively to accomplish tasks such as lifting and manipulating objects, or supporting weight

How to get a robot collective to act like a smart material

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara and TU Dresden are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology.

Akinwole Akinbolagbe Black History Month

Black Student Stories: Akinwole Akinbolagbe

Thursday, February 13, 2025

In honor of Black History Month, the COE spoke with a handful of Black students who represent the next generation of innovators and leaders in engineering. Akinwole Akinbolagbe, an undergraduate mechanical engineering student, shared with us his inspirations, his experience as the only Black male undergrad in his year, and finding his community on campus.

Image Caption

Researchers who captured fluid finding its way through a maze now understand what drove the counterintuitive phenomenon.

UCSB Researchers Solve A Fluid -Mechanics Mystery

Monday, February 3, 2025

Seven years ago, UC Santa Barbara researchers caught an unexpected phenomenon on film: A pool of red dye that somehow “knew” how to solve a maze filled with milk. Propelled forward by a couple drops of soap, it unerringly found its way, avoiding dead ends and even making 90 degree turns in its path toward the exit.