News Story

Bergbreiter to attend NAE U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

Associate Professor Sarah Bergbreiter (ME/ISR) is one of 83 of the nation's outstanding young engineers invited to attend the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) 2014 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in Irvine, Calif., Sept. 11–13. This 20th anniversary edition of the symposium will be hosted at the National Academies’ Beckman Center and will cover cutting-edge developments in next-generation robotics, frontiers in materials for batteries, shale gas and oil, and technologies for the heart.

Bergbreiter’s research interests are in microrobotics, micro-electro-mechanical systems, microactuators, soft robotics, robot locomotion, networked centimeter-scale robots and millimeter-scale power systems. She came to the University of Maryland in 2008 and earned tenure in 2014. Bergbreiter is the recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2013; an NSF CAREER Award for "Microrobot Legs for Fast Locomotion over Rough Terrain,” in 2011; and a DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2008. She also is the principal investigator for an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates in microrobotics. NSF’s Science Nation online magazine recently featured Bergbreiter’s work in the video, ”As Fast as their tiny ‘bot’ legs will carry them!”.

About the symposium
NAE's U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium is a three-day meeting that brings together a select group of the nation's outstanding young engineers (aged 30-45) from industry, academia, and government to discuss pioneering technical and leading-edge research in a variety of engineering fields. The annual event provides an opportunity for leading young engineers to learn about cutting-edge developments in fields other than their own, thereby facilitating cross-disciplinary collaboration and the transfer of new approaches and techniques. Through both formal sessions and informal discussions, the meetings have proven an effective mechanism for the establishment of cross-disciplinary and cross-sector contacts among future engineering leaders.

“The USFOE symposium is the perfect network for these talented, early-career engineers to develop those personal and professional relationships that will shape their work and ultimately impact our world,” said former University of Maryland President and current NAE President C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr.

Established in 1964, the NAE is an independent, nonprofit institution that provides leadership and guidance to the nation on the application of engineering resources to vital issues.

| Learn more about NAE’s Frontiers in Engineering programming |

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