We bring life to engineering

Our unique focus to design and develop processes, products and systems using basic biological, environmental science and engineering tools generates solutions to societal problems involving water, food, energy and public health. Students increasingly need to participate in problem-solving across traditional boundaries. Rapid technological changes are an added challenge, with implications driven by diminishing resources and a growing population. We aim to enable our students to drive innovation as our discipline continues to be transformed by our changing world.

News

An oval bacteria with a tail on a purple background.

News

Low-cost microbe can speed biological discovery

To conduct low-cost and scalable synthetic biological experiments, Cornell researchers have created a new version of a microbe to compete economically with E. coli – a bacteria used to synthesize proteins.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Bacteria
A group of green leaves in a pile.

News

Cornell researchers have used high-speed cameras to analyze what happens when raindrops hit a leaf of a wheat plant infected with rust – a pathogenic spore that has decimated crops globally.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

News

Multimedia

Whirligig beetles – the world’s fastest-swimming insect – achieve surprising speeds by employing a strategy shared by fast-swimming marine mammals and water fowl.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Organisms
  • Behavior