McKelvey School of Engineering

James Friend, of the University of California, San Diego, has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science in the McKelvey School of Engineering. His appointment will begin in 2026.

An interdisciplinary research team at Washington University in St. Louis has found that variability in sleep patterns in people experiencing pregnancy can effectively predict preterm birth.

John Gleaves, a professor emeritus at the McKelvey School of Engineering, died June 2. He was 79.

Eight recent alumni and one current student of Washington University in St. Louis earned Fulbright awards to travel abroad to teach English or to conduct research in the 2025-26 academic year. The program recognizes talented leaders and scholars who are committed to promoting global collaboration and understanding.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are using machine learning to better predict who will experience persistent pain after surgery.

Zhen He, an environmental engineer at WashU, received the 2025 Frederick George Pohland Medal from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

To help understand air pollution health effects, researchers in St. Louis quantified how the amount of submicron particles in the air has changed over the past 25 years.

Discover some of the many environmental projects currently underway among WashU’s graduate student community, the ‘research engine of the university.’

Kahan Chavda, BSBME ’16, co-founder of Inversa, a company pioneering the field of ethically harvested leathers, workshops with Sam Fox School students on how engineering and fashion design can support endangered ecosystems.

Environmental engineers at WashU have developed hydrogels to transform wastewater nutrients into useful feedstocks and fertilizers.