One of the hallmarks of Duke Engineering research is not just pushing a field’s boundaries of knowledge forward, but reimagining their entire dimensions. An excellent example of this ethos in action is a very unusual robot design unveiled recently by Boyuan Chen. This 20-legged, omnidirectional robot not only proved extremely capable (while capturing the imagination of thousands on social media), it offered proof-of-concept for a new design principle called dynamic symmetry. Rather than building robots that look like everyday animals, this design principle opens doors to robots designed from a deeper principle.

Building on Duke Engineering’s strong legacy of building professional master’s programs that attract incredible students while meeting emerging industry needs, I’m excited to share the launch of our Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering program. Led by Jon Reifschneider, the new degree will provide our graduates with the skills and insights essential for the design and control of robust systems spanning across the physical, cyber and social domains. I can’t wait to see what complex societal problems they’ll help solve through a thorough understanding of system dynamics.

"We all started in exactly the same place in exactly the same rooms in Hudson Hall and all ended up in really, really different places."

Claire Hawthorne, CEE '06
on how her class’s experiences shaped where they are now 20 years later

When a local Durham middle school’s STEM club needed a competition to attend to meet school requirements, Duke Engineering faculty stepped up. By leveraging existing partnerships and leaning on efforts from Shana McAlexander, the first annual “Innovation for Humanity” expo was held this past summer. The program brought together 14 competitive teams of students from three local middle schools to take on four STEM-based challenges connected to real-world issues. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who helped put on such an impactful event!