Patsy DeLacey
@patsyd.bsky.social
Science writer covering engineering at UMich 🧪 | Ex gelada monkey researcher | Knitter | Cosmere fan
Corn to jet fuel 🧪
Using the CO2 released during ethanol production to make aviation fuel could reduce carbon intensity by 80% compared to fossil fuels.
Read more here about turning ‘waste’ into an asset
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/from...
Using the CO2 released during ethanol production to make aviation fuel could reduce carbon intensity by 80% compared to fossil fuels.
Read more here about turning ‘waste’ into an asset
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/from...
From waste to asset: Turning ethanol production CO₂ into jet fuel
Manufacturing sustainable aviation fuel with CO₂ byproducts of ethanol production could reduce carbon intensity by more than 80% compared to fossil fuels.
news.engin.umich.edu
November 20, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Corn to jet fuel 🧪
Using the CO2 released during ethanol production to make aviation fuel could reduce carbon intensity by 80% compared to fossil fuels.
Read more here about turning ‘waste’ into an asset
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/from...
Using the CO2 released during ethanol production to make aviation fuel could reduce carbon intensity by 80% compared to fossil fuels.
Read more here about turning ‘waste’ into an asset
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/from...
Pretty plasma for pulverizing PFAS! 🧪
Enjoyed writing up this article about how researchers are aiming to harness the self-organizing patterns that plasmas sometimes form when they interact with water to scale up a technology to destroy PFAS in drinking water.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/harn...
Enjoyed writing up this article about how researchers are aiming to harness the self-organizing patterns that plasmas sometimes form when they interact with water to scale up a technology to destroy PFAS in drinking water.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/harn...
Harnessing intricate, self-organized plasma patterns to destroy PFAS
The first images of plasma-water interactions reveal the electrical forces that could help manipulate patterns to treat larger volumes of drinking water more affordably.
news.engin.umich.edu
November 14, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Pretty plasma for pulverizing PFAS! 🧪
Enjoyed writing up this article about how researchers are aiming to harness the self-organizing patterns that plasmas sometimes form when they interact with water to scale up a technology to destroy PFAS in drinking water.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/harn...
Enjoyed writing up this article about how researchers are aiming to harness the self-organizing patterns that plasmas sometimes form when they interact with water to scale up a technology to destroy PFAS in drinking water.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/11/harn...
🧪 Like atomic-scale spray painting, plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition can now be used for ScAlN.
The technique expands use of the ultra-wide band gap material to complex, 3D structures within next-gen electronic devices.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/new-...
The technique expands use of the ultra-wide band gap material to complex, 3D structures within next-gen electronic devices.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/new-...
New process layers uniform ScAlN on 3D surfaces
Scandium aluminum nitride can now be integrated into high-voltage, high-frequency or piezoelectric devices with plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition.
news.engin.umich.edu
October 17, 2025 at 1:37 PM
🧪 Like atomic-scale spray painting, plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition can now be used for ScAlN.
The technique expands use of the ultra-wide band gap material to complex, 3D structures within next-gen electronic devices.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/new-...
The technique expands use of the ultra-wide band gap material to complex, 3D structures within next-gen electronic devices.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/new-...
🧪 Using nearly a decade of high-speed footage, an unsupervised machine learning approach distinguished 9 distinct precipitation types, including varieties of rain, snow, and mixed-phases.
Results could improve weather forecasting and winter driving safety.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/betw...
Results could improve weather forecasting and winter driving safety.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/betw...
Between rain and snow, machine learning finds 9 precipitation types
Leveraging 1.5M minutes of precipitation data and a nonlinear method to handle complex relationships between variables, the team created a new classification system
news.engin.umich.edu
October 15, 2025 at 5:51 PM
🧪 Using nearly a decade of high-speed footage, an unsupervised machine learning approach distinguished 9 distinct precipitation types, including varieties of rain, snow, and mixed-phases.
Results could improve weather forecasting and winter driving safety.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/betw...
Results could improve weather forecasting and winter driving safety.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/betw...
Halting slow faults 🧪
When computing systems slow rather than fail outright, these slow faults can be tricky to detect.
A new solution adjusts in real time, more efficiently catching and overcoming slow faults.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/a-ne...
When computing systems slow rather than fail outright, these slow faults can be tricky to detect.
A new solution adjusts in real time, more efficiently catching and overcoming slow faults.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/a-ne...
A new tool to manage slow faults
A new library dynamically adjusts to runtime operating slowdowns, reducing performance degradation under varying slow-fault conditions by 65%.
cse.engin.umich.edu
May 7, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Halting slow faults 🧪
When computing systems slow rather than fail outright, these slow faults can be tricky to detect.
A new solution adjusts in real time, more efficiently catching and overcoming slow faults.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/a-ne...
When computing systems slow rather than fail outright, these slow faults can be tricky to detect.
A new solution adjusts in real time, more efficiently catching and overcoming slow faults.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/a-ne...
Boundary setting is healthy for AI models too 🧪
Check out how a new communication-collective system speeds up AI and machine learning training across multiple cloud servers 👇
Presented today at NSDI ‘25
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/perf...
Check out how a new communication-collective system speeds up AI and machine learning training across multiple cloud servers 👇
Presented today at NSDI ‘25
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/perf...
Perfect is the enemy of good for distributed deep learning in the cloud
Leveraging deep learning’s resilience, approximating data lost by allowing some servers to time out speeds up model training while preserving performance.
cse.engin.umich.edu
April 29, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Boundary setting is healthy for AI models too 🧪
Check out how a new communication-collective system speeds up AI and machine learning training across multiple cloud servers 👇
Presented today at NSDI ‘25
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/perf...
Check out how a new communication-collective system speeds up AI and machine learning training across multiple cloud servers 👇
Presented today at NSDI ‘25
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/perf...
A new, straightforward way to make a microgel able to release multiple drugs at different times 🧪
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/04/25/a...
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/04/25/a...
A simpler way to make microgels for programmable drug release - Chemical Engineering
Dunking a calcium alginate microgel in ion baths helps finely tune drug release profiles without complex equipment, opening up microgel synthesis to more researchers.
che.engin.umich.edu
April 28, 2025 at 2:47 PM
A new, straightforward way to make a microgel able to release multiple drugs at different times 🧪
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/04/25/a...
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/04/25/a...
Directing heavy traffic in cloud data centers🚦 🧪
Gigaflow takes a new approach to caching incoming data flows, helping speed up heavy traffic caused by AI and machine learning workloads
Full story below 👇
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/stre...
Gigaflow takes a new approach to caching incoming data flows, helping speed up heavy traffic caused by AI and machine learning workloads
Full story below 👇
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/stre...
Streamlining cloud traffic with a Gigaflow Cache
Gigaflow improves virtual switches for programmable SmartNICs, delivering a 51% higher hit rate and 90% lower misses.
cse.engin.umich.edu
April 8, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Directing heavy traffic in cloud data centers🚦 🧪
Gigaflow takes a new approach to caching incoming data flows, helping speed up heavy traffic caused by AI and machine learning workloads
Full story below 👇
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/stre...
Gigaflow takes a new approach to caching incoming data flows, helping speed up heavy traffic caused by AI and machine learning workloads
Full story below 👇
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/stre...
Capturing carbon and value from biodiesel wastewater 🧪
Researchers test catalyst stability in an electrochemical method that leverages glycerol’s low redox potential to utilize CO2 while producing valuable chemicals like formate.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/21/b...
Researchers test catalyst stability in an electrochemical method that leverages glycerol’s low redox potential to utilize CO2 while producing valuable chemicals like formate.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/21/b...
Biodiesel wastewater treatment: Capturing carbon and valuable chemicals - Civil and Environmental Engineering
A new experimental design tests catalyst stability in an electrochemical method for treating environmental waste streams while capturing valuable co-products
cee.engin.umich.edu
March 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Capturing carbon and value from biodiesel wastewater 🧪
Researchers test catalyst stability in an electrochemical method that leverages glycerol’s low redox potential to utilize CO2 while producing valuable chemicals like formate.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/21/b...
Researchers test catalyst stability in an electrochemical method that leverages glycerol’s low redox potential to utilize CO2 while producing valuable chemicals like formate.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/21/b...
Cheaper wind turbine reliability testing 🧪
A new simulation makes wind turbine reliability testing more affordable and accessible without sacrificing accuracy, helping prevent system failures like dropping a blade.
ioe.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/18/m...
A new simulation makes wind turbine reliability testing more affordable and accessible without sacrificing accuracy, helping prevent system failures like dropping a blade.
ioe.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/18/m...
More efficient wind turbine reliability simulation - Industrial & Operations Engineering
A University of Michigan-led team developed a method to make virtual testing of wind turbine components more affordable and reliable.
ioe.engin.umich.edu
March 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Cheaper wind turbine reliability testing 🧪
A new simulation makes wind turbine reliability testing more affordable and accessible without sacrificing accuracy, helping prevent system failures like dropping a blade.
ioe.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/18/m...
A new simulation makes wind turbine reliability testing more affordable and accessible without sacrificing accuracy, helping prevent system failures like dropping a blade.
ioe.engin.umich.edu/2025/03/18/m...
AI for social scientists 🧪
Natural language processing (NLP) can help social scientists keep up with the fast pace of digital communication, extracting the human behaviors that underlie social media posts, text messages or zoom transcripts.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/how-...
Natural language processing (NLP) can help social scientists keep up with the fast pace of digital communication, extracting the human behaviors that underlie social media posts, text messages or zoom transcripts.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/how-...
How AI tools can help us understand human behavior
Natural language processing tools can help social scientists process larger and longer-term text datasets to keep up with fast-paced digital communication.
cse.engin.umich.edu
March 13, 2025 at 2:12 PM
AI for social scientists 🧪
Natural language processing (NLP) can help social scientists keep up with the fast pace of digital communication, extracting the human behaviors that underlie social media posts, text messages or zoom transcripts.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/how-...
Natural language processing (NLP) can help social scientists keep up with the fast pace of digital communication, extracting the human behaviors that underlie social media posts, text messages or zoom transcripts.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/how-...
A time-based fingerprint exposes an internet censorship evasion tactic 🧪
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/coun...
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/coun...
Countering a flaw in anti-censorship tools to improve global internet freedom
A time-based fingerprint can expose obfuscation proxies, prompting the need for new techniques to protect information access
cse.engin.umich.edu
March 12, 2025 at 5:46 PM
A time-based fingerprint exposes an internet censorship evasion tactic 🧪
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/coun...
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/coun...
AC units balance the grid 🧪
Residential AC units in Austin, Texas balanced electricity supply and demand without sacrificing comfort.
Using small distributed energy sources rather than power plant output to grid balance can improve stability and help integrate wind and solar.
myumi.ch/E8xNJ
Residential AC units in Austin, Texas balanced electricity supply and demand without sacrificing comfort.
Using small distributed energy sources rather than power plant output to grid balance can improve stability and help integrate wind and solar.
myumi.ch/E8xNJ
Home AC units can balance the electrical grid without impacting comfort
A real-world frequency regulation experiment demonstrates that managing AC units can help actively balance electricity supply and demand.
myumi.ch
March 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
AC units balance the grid 🧪
Residential AC units in Austin, Texas balanced electricity supply and demand without sacrificing comfort.
Using small distributed energy sources rather than power plant output to grid balance can improve stability and help integrate wind and solar.
myumi.ch/E8xNJ
Residential AC units in Austin, Texas balanced electricity supply and demand without sacrificing comfort.
Using small distributed energy sources rather than power plant output to grid balance can improve stability and help integrate wind and solar.
myumi.ch/E8xNJ
Sponge-like implant helps develop a treatment for a MS-like condition in mice 🧪
The implant captures immune cells, providing a close look at cell communication outside the CNS.
Results helped develop a targeted nanoparticle treatment that slowed or stopped disease progression.
myumi.ch/nyMn5
The implant captures immune cells, providing a close look at cell communication outside the CNS.
Results helped develop a targeted nanoparticle treatment that slowed or stopped disease progression.
myumi.ch/nyMn5
Multiple sclerosis: Cell-catching implant helps identify successful treatment in mice
The implant attracts diseased immune cells, enabling researchers to study and target them with a nanoparticle-based treatment.
myumi.ch
February 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Sponge-like implant helps develop a treatment for a MS-like condition in mice 🧪
The implant captures immune cells, providing a close look at cell communication outside the CNS.
Results helped develop a targeted nanoparticle treatment that slowed or stopped disease progression.
myumi.ch/nyMn5
The implant captures immune cells, providing a close look at cell communication outside the CNS.
Results helped develop a targeted nanoparticle treatment that slowed or stopped disease progression.
myumi.ch/nyMn5
Sensors with a sense of time 🧪
A system of time-aware sensors can map out chemical concentrations within long, narrow tubes according to simulations.
Memristors act like a ticking clock until they collide with the target chemical, switching off the timer.
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/02/03/t...
A system of time-aware sensors can map out chemical concentrations within long, narrow tubes according to simulations.
Memristors act like a ticking clock until they collide with the target chemical, switching off the timer.
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/02/03/t...
Thousands of tiny, time-aware sensors collectively map chemical concentrations within narrow tubes - Chemical Engineering
A new framework optimizes a system of sensors that remember when they collided with a target chemical while flowing through hard-to-reach areas
che.engin.umich.edu
February 3, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Sensors with a sense of time 🧪
A system of time-aware sensors can map out chemical concentrations within long, narrow tubes according to simulations.
Memristors act like a ticking clock until they collide with the target chemical, switching off the timer.
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/02/03/t...
A system of time-aware sensors can map out chemical concentrations within long, narrow tubes according to simulations.
Memristors act like a ticking clock until they collide with the target chemical, switching off the timer.
che.engin.umich.edu/2025/02/03/t...
Reposted by Patsy DeLacey
An interactive tool evaluates the most efficient carbon-neutral aircraft for various flight scenarios, comparing battery-electric, hydrogen, and synthetic fuel options based on energy consumption. doi.org/g83j3x
Interactive tool helps find most efficient carbon-neutral aircraft for your flight
OK, we admit, we're a long way from a carbon-free grid—but when we have one, what's the most efficient way to use that energy to fly planes?
techxplore.com
January 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM
An interactive tool evaluates the most efficient carbon-neutral aircraft for various flight scenarios, comparing battery-electric, hydrogen, and synthetic fuel options based on energy consumption. doi.org/g83j3x
Given a carbon-free grid, what’s the most efficient air travel? 🧪
An interactive tool finds the best option given the distance, speed and payload.
Battery powered aircrafts are best for short flights, while hydrogen options win out for longer flights.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/find...
An interactive tool finds the best option given the distance, speed and payload.
Battery powered aircrafts are best for short flights, while hydrogen options win out for longer flights.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/find...
Finding the most efficient carbon-neutral aircraft for your flight
Sustainable aviation doesn't have a one-size-fits-all solution, but an interactive tool can identify the right fit given the flight distance, speed and payload.
news.engin.umich.edu
January 29, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Given a carbon-free grid, what’s the most efficient air travel? 🧪
An interactive tool finds the best option given the distance, speed and payload.
Battery powered aircrafts are best for short flights, while hydrogen options win out for longer flights.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/find...
An interactive tool finds the best option given the distance, speed and payload.
Battery powered aircrafts are best for short flights, while hydrogen options win out for longer flights.
news.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/find...
Reposted by Patsy DeLacey
PRESS RELEASE: New water purification technology helps turn seawater into drinking water without tons of chemicals and extra reverse osmosis steps. 💧🧪news.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/new-...
New water purification technology helps turn seawater into drinking water without tons of chemicals
Cutting acid and base treatments from conventional desalination plants could save billions of dollars globally, making seawater a more affordable option for drinking water.
news.engin.umich.edu
January 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
PRESS RELEASE: New water purification technology helps turn seawater into drinking water without tons of chemicals and extra reverse osmosis steps. 💧🧪news.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/new-...
Transparent AI for nuclear engineers 🧪 ☢️
Nuclear regulators need a way to validate AI models. Starting to crack open the AI ‘black box’, a new open source python package includes explainability features and helps engineers create AI tools from their data.
ners.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/22/s...
Nuclear regulators need a way to validate AI models. Starting to crack open the AI ‘black box’, a new open source python package includes explainability features and helps engineers create AI tools from their data.
ners.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/22/s...
Streamlining AI development for transparent nuclear engineering models - Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences
A new tool simplifies machine learning development for nuclear engineers while incorporating model explainability features to help improve transparency.
ners.engin.umich.edu
January 22, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Transparent AI for nuclear engineers 🧪 ☢️
Nuclear regulators need a way to validate AI models. Starting to crack open the AI ‘black box’, a new open source python package includes explainability features and helps engineers create AI tools from their data.
ners.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/22/s...
Nuclear regulators need a way to validate AI models. Starting to crack open the AI ‘black box’, a new open source python package includes explainability features and helps engineers create AI tools from their data.
ners.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/22/s...
Greener cement: An electrochemical method produces calcium carbonate, the primary cement feedstock, while capturing CO2 from the air. 🧪
If used at full capacity, the process could reduce cement industry global CO2 emissions from 8% to 3%.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/10/s...
If used at full capacity, the process could reduce cement industry global CO2 emissions from 8% to 3%.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/10/s...
Sustainable cement: An electrochemical process to help neutralize cement industry CO2 emissions - Civil and Environmental Engineering
The reaction produces carbon-negative calcium carbonate to replace limestone as the primary feedstock and green hydrogen as the fuel for cement kilns
cee.engin.umich.edu
January 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Greener cement: An electrochemical method produces calcium carbonate, the primary cement feedstock, while capturing CO2 from the air. 🧪
If used at full capacity, the process could reduce cement industry global CO2 emissions from 8% to 3%.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/10/s...
If used at full capacity, the process could reduce cement industry global CO2 emissions from 8% to 3%.
cee.engin.umich.edu/2025/01/10/s...
Machine learning advances the search for methane storage solutions, promoting use as a cleaner vehicle fuel 🧪
A new tool evaluated 84,000 covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a porous material that condenses methane to its surface.
me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/...
A new tool evaluated 84,000 covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a porous material that condenses methane to its surface.
me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/...
A tool to optimize methane storage solutions – Mechanical Engineering
me.engin.umich.edu
January 10, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Machine learning advances the search for methane storage solutions, promoting use as a cleaner vehicle fuel 🧪
A new tool evaluated 84,000 covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a porous material that condenses methane to its surface.
me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/...
A new tool evaluated 84,000 covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a porous material that condenses methane to its surface.
me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/...
Two aligned solar probes helped researchers track changes in the Sun’s magnetic field. 🧪
As the magnetic field loses steam, it accelerates the surrounding solar wind. Results can help improve space weather predictions and potential impacts on Earth.
clasp.engin.umich.edu/2024/12/19/w...
As the magnetic field loses steam, it accelerates the surrounding solar wind. Results can help improve space weather predictions and potential impacts on Earth.
clasp.engin.umich.edu/2024/12/19/w...
When Solar Probes Align: Data Confirms the Sun’s Magnetic Field Accelerates Solar Wind - Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering
A new study led by University of Michigan researchers published in The Astrophysical Journal confirms the sun's magnetic field accelerates solar wind as it relaxes.
clasp.engin.umich.edu
December 19, 2024 at 6:14 PM
Two aligned solar probes helped researchers track changes in the Sun’s magnetic field. 🧪
As the magnetic field loses steam, it accelerates the surrounding solar wind. Results can help improve space weather predictions and potential impacts on Earth.
clasp.engin.umich.edu/2024/12/19/w...
As the magnetic field loses steam, it accelerates the surrounding solar wind. Results can help improve space weather predictions and potential impacts on Earth.
clasp.engin.umich.edu/2024/12/19/w...
A new self-supervised learning model learns both object identity and pose using unlabeled image triplets, mimicking robotic vision.
🧪
This paves the way for more intuitive interactions between tech like robots and self-driving cars and the physical world.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/help...
🧪
This paves the way for more intuitive interactions between tech like robots and self-driving cars and the physical world.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/help...
Helping machine learning models identify objects in any pose
A new self-supervised learning benchmark and dataset improve pose estimation, paving the way for more intuitive interactions between technology and the physical world.
cse.engin.umich.edu
December 17, 2024 at 3:45 PM
A new self-supervised learning model learns both object identity and pose using unlabeled image triplets, mimicking robotic vision.
🧪
This paves the way for more intuitive interactions between tech like robots and self-driving cars and the physical world.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/help...
🧪
This paves the way for more intuitive interactions between tech like robots and self-driving cars and the physical world.
cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/help...
A new diffusion model reconstructed high-quality, sparse-view 3D CT images, moving towards use in low radiation dose medical imaging. 🧪
The paper will be presented this afternoon at NeurIPS in Vancouver, BC.
ece.engin.umich.edu/stories/new-...
The paper will be presented this afternoon at NeurIPS in Vancouver, BC.
ece.engin.umich.edu/stories/new-...
New generative AI model can reconstruct a high-quality, sparse-view 3D CT scan with a much lower X-ray dose
Improvements move the deep learning technique towards use in 3D medical imaging.
ece.engin.umich.edu
December 11, 2024 at 5:19 PM
A new diffusion model reconstructed high-quality, sparse-view 3D CT images, moving towards use in low radiation dose medical imaging. 🧪
The paper will be presented this afternoon at NeurIPS in Vancouver, BC.
ece.engin.umich.edu/stories/new-...
The paper will be presented this afternoon at NeurIPS in Vancouver, BC.
ece.engin.umich.edu/stories/new-...