Championship Run: 2024 year in review
December 16, 2024
From a national championship and record research funding to a major engineering gift and a host of academic awards, 2024 was a banner year for USC.
December 16, 2024
From a national championship and record research funding to a major engineering gift and a host of academic awards, 2024 was a banner year for USC.
December 02, 2024, Chris Horn
One-third of the world’s GDP depends on chemical catalysts, and an industry-university research center led by USC is helping its members better understand how those chemical reaction boosters can be tweaked for peak efficiency.
November 15, 2024, Xinyu Huang
Flooding from hurricanes Helene and Milton inflicted billions of dollars in damage across the Southeast. It caused dozens of electric vehicles and other battery-powered objects, such as scooters and golf carts, to catch fire. Many consumers are unaware of this risk, and lithium-ion batteries are widely used in EVs, e-bikes and cordless power tools. Here is what owners should know about water and the risk of battery fires.
November 15, 2024, Sydnie Taylor
Each fall as the crisp November air sets in, the University of South Carolina comes alive with the spirit of rivalry. While the Carolina-Clemson football game may take center stage, another cherished tradition lights up the campus — literally. This is the annual Tiger Burn, an event nearly as old as the football game itself, fueling the Gamecocks’ spirit and the century-long rivalry between USC and Clemson.
November 13, 2024, Carol J.G. Ward
School of Medicine Columbia researcher Ana Pocivavsek’s new four-year NIH grant will allow her to study the impact of sleep across the lifespan during windows that are critical to brain development, including pregnancy.
October 28, 2024, Valerie Weingart
Two sisters at the University of South Carolina's Honors College are making waves in cybersecurity after both earning prestigious Department of Defense Cyber Service Academy fellowships. Emma and Madeleine McBride, despite taking different paths to computing, are now working to address critical cybersecurity challenges.
October 23, 2024, Craig Brandhorst
The first in his family to attend college, Bill Bloking’s engineering degree prepared him for careers at Exxon and BHP — and for boardrooms around the globe. His William F. Bloking First-Generation Scholars Fund will support Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing students and programs.
September 10, 2024, Craig Brandhorst
Civil engineering graduate Deepal Eliatamby left Sri Lanka to find opportunity and freedom. He found it at USC and is now paying it forward.
September 04, 2024, Rebekah Friedman / photos by Kim Truett
The Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing is named after a family, not a single person. Brothers Alex, Carl and Ray Molinaroli showed us why.
July 02, 2024, Communications and Marketing
In a new round of funding announced by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the University of South Carolina will receive $10.2 million for its efforts to advance battery research. The funding is part of an overall award of $45 million to the SC Nexus consortium, of which USC is a founding member and core partner.
June 26, 2024, Téa Smith
Tamiko Fletcher, computer engineering ’02, didn’t know when she started interning at NASA in 1999 that she’d still be there nearly 25 years later. Now, she's the chief information security officer at John F. Kennedy Space Center and works to to minimize cybersecurity threats to NASA’s ground systems.
June 26, 2024, Collyn Taylor
USC is the top patent-producing university in the state and among the leaders in the SEC.
June 20, 2024, Hannah Cambre
Two University of South Carolina faculty members were recently honored with Fulbright Scholars Awards, which will allow them opportunities to mentor students, conduct research and build relationships with international partners.
June 12, 2024, Chris Horn
A multidisciplinary research team at the University of South Carolina is developing a novel technique for injecting a next-generation therapeutic drug onto damaged heart tissue, a potential breakthrough treatment for millions diagnosed with heart failure.
June 10, 2024, Chris Horn
Jorge Crichigno, professor of integrated information technology in the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, is leading a three-year project to prepare a new generation of cyberwarfare professionals.
June 06, 2024, Gregory Hardy
The University of South Carolina College of Engineering and Computing has a new name that reflects the vision and generosity of generations of the Molinaroli family. The official name, the University of South Carolina Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, was announced on Thursday (June 6) during a signage unveiling ceremony at the college’s Swearingen Engineering Center on Main Street.
May 16, 2024, Rebekah Friedman
Van Robotics founder Laura Boccanfuso has a vision for improving education, one dancing, smiling, fist-bumping robot at a time.
May 01, 2024, Laura Morris
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1. Researchers at the University of South Carolina are available to discuss multiple aspects of the 2024 hurricane season, including preparation and communication, environmental impact and historical perspectives.
April 25, 2024, Megan Sexton
As the Class of 2024 prepares to walk across the commencement stage, graduates leave the University of South Carolina with memories of enduring friendships, newfound passions, supportive mentors and life-changing experiences.
April 24, 2024, Communications and Marketing
The University of South Carolina is focused on the brain. From autism and aphasia to Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, university researchers are working across several academic disciplines to better understand how the brain works and to develop solutions that will improve people’s health.
April 18, 2024, Communications and Marketing
A passion for helping others has led Shannon DePratter to participate in several service organizations while also completing her degree in biomedical engineering in just three years. The Newberry, South Carolina, native is one of two winners of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award — the university’s highest student honor. She also is a member of the South Carolina Honors College.
April 15, 2024, Gregory Hardy
Ashley Poyner is rapidly learning all about aerospace. As a first-gen student, she is earning her bachelor of science degree in engineering in only three years. A lot of doors also opened thanks to her acceptance into the Boeing Accelerated Leadership Program.
April 03, 2024, Gregory Hardy
University of South Carolina researchers explore how artificial intelligence can be used for advancements in health care, education, manufacturing, energy, disaster management and transportation. They are also helping shape and inform the ethics and policies surrounding these emergent solutions.
March 29, 2024, Communications and Marketing
Three University of South Carolina students were awarded prestigious Goldwater scholarships Friday. They are: Caroline Rucker, a junior biomedical engineering major from Powhatan, Virginia; Jeremiah Tobin, a junior biomedical engineering major from Greenville; and Katelyn Wyandt, a junior computer science major from Summerville, South Carolina. All three are Honors College students studying in the College of Engineering and Computing.
March 28, 2024, Gregory Hardy
April is Autism Acceptance Month. The CDC estimates that 1 out of every 36 eight-year-olds is affected by autism, a lifelong developmental disorder. As South Carolina’s leader in health sciences, USC has researchers across disciplines who specialize in autism.
March 25, 2024, Communications and Marketing
The early technological and social connections Aaron LaBerge made at USC as an electrical and computer engineering student helped drive a tech career that ultimately led him to a sports Emmy and the C-suite at The Walt Disney Company.
March 18, 2024, Laura Morris
USC’s College of Engineering and Computing and the Darla Moore School of Business established a new 4+1 pathway partnership in 2024. This unique collaboration offers students the opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree from engineering and computing and a master’s degree from the Moore School in five years.
March 04, 2024, Téa Smith
Alex Alpert, a fourth-year mechanical engineering major, turned his childhood curiosity for how machines function into a passion for building machines to solve real world issues.
March 01, 2024, Rebekah Friedman
Artificial intelligence is making plenty of headlines these days — and, in some cases, even writing them. Some concerns are valid, some are overblown, but as the global economy embraces the emerging technology, there’s no avoiding the larger conversation. There’s also no denying AI’s real-world potential. For every Sports Illustrated byline scandal or news story about the danger of self-driving cars, there’s an untold story of how AI research promises to change our world for the better, and a lot of that research is happening right here at the University of South Carolina.
March 01, 2024, Communications and Marketing
With only a few short months until summer, it’s time for parents to find summer activities for their children. USC offers a wide variety of summer camps for all ages and all interests from music to soccer, dance and engineering.
February 29, 2024, Chris Horn
An experimental project led by a team of USC engineering researchers could lead to a more efficient process for converting landfill gases into cleaner fuel — and simultaneously deal with a silicone-based compound called siloxane that has become problematic for landfills.
February 29, 2024, Megan Sexton
Engineering professor Sarah Gassman and her team collect road performance data, the rutting and the cracking, and feed that data into a model that gives us better predictions for how a pavement will perform.
February 09, 2024, Gregory Hardy
February is American Heart Month. The University of South Carolina is home to many faculty members who are available to offer their expertise in cardio care and research.
January 24, 2024, Chris Horn
Engineering research teams at USC have progressed in several key areas in the first year of a project to design a non-carbon fuel supply chain for the U.S. Navy. The three-year project aims to reduce the Navy’s carbon dioxide emissions with practical alternative fuels for the next-generation fleet.
January 16, 2024, Chris Horn
Analyzing large datasets of heart rhythms and brain wave activity with AI and machine learning, a team of University of South Carolina professors is making progress toward better understanding of autism spectrum disorder and identification of ASD diagnostic biomarkers.
December 11, 2023, Chris Horn
There’s plenty of activity afoot on the design front for next-generation nuclear power, says Travis Knight, a mechanical engineering professor and program director of nuclear engineering at the University of South Carolina. The key to understanding the new frontier of nuclear power is simple, he says — think small.
December 07, 2023, Megan Sexton
As the December Class of 2023 prepares to walk across the commencement stage, graduates leave the University of South Carolina with memories of enduring friendships, newfound passions, supportive mentors and life-changing experiences.
November 14, 2023, Chris Horn
In the past two years, companies focused on battery development and electric vehicles have invested around $11 billion in the Palmetto State.Many of those firms have research ties with the University of South Carolina, which has more than a dozen faculty members and scores of graduate and undergraduate students engaged in battery and battery-related research.
November 03, 2023, Megan Sexton
First-generation college students come from all sorts of backgrounds and bring a variety of perspectives to campus. At USC, about one-fifth of the student population identifies as first-generation college students, meaning their parents did not earn a four-year college degree.
October 04, 2023, Lauryn Jiles
Engineering students build familia and future success with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
September 27, 2023, Chris Horn
Replicating the shimmering iridescence of a butterfly wing, the hammer-like hardness of a mantis shrimp claw or the strength of mammalian cortical bone is no simple matter. But a chemical engineering scientist and her research team at the University of South Carolina are pioneering 3D-printing methods to create novel soft materials that mimic intricate nanostructures found in nature.
September 14, 2023, Hannah Cambre
This fall, the university launched its digital studies certificate program, which helps undergraduate students gain in-demand digital skills. The certificate is the first in a series of anticipated interdisciplinary programs that are set to roll out in the spring of 2024.
August 21, 2023
For a lot of University of South Carolina students, the realization that this is a special place comes quickly. One walk around the Horseshoe, one time cheering in the stands at Williams-Brice Stadium, and that’s all it takes. But those signature experiences are only a tiny part of what it means to be a Gamecock. Life-altering experiences can be found all over campus and beyond.
July 10, 2023, Christopher Woodley
Civil and environmental engineering researchers examine soil behavior for best practices in building earthquake-resistant structures in South Carolina.
May 31, 2023, Laura Morris
Three University of South Carolina faculty members and five alumni are featured in the Top 50 Women in South Carolina list published May 22 by the website Women We Admire.
May 18, 2023, Lauryn Jiles
The University of South Carolina is one of only six institutions in the country selected to partner with Boeing on its Accelerated Leadership Program, in which a select group of students will gain hands-on learning experience working with engineering projects and innovative technologies
May 10, 2023
Since establishing an Artificial Intelligence Institute in 2019, the university has seen growing interest in the subject across campus. There are now dozens of researchers throughout the university exploring how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to advance fields from health care to manufacturing.
May 10, 2023
Sanjib Sur first became interested in millimeter-wave because of its potential to bring low-cost wireless connectivity to underserved populations. Today, Sur is working on designing next-generation wireless network architectures and ubiquitous sensing techniques that make smart objects truly smart.
May 06, 2023, Michaela Taylor
Sarah Sylvester and the Cocky persona have become incredibly close over her two-year stint as one of the most recognizable mascots in college sports.
April 26, 2023
Chang Liu entered the field of biomedical engineering as an undergraduate with the long-term goal of improving human health care through engineering solutions. Over the past 15 years, his research has touched on multiple life science disciplines, including biomedical engineering, molecular diagnostics, bio-nanotechnology and proteomics.
April 24, 2023, Megan Sexton
The University of South Carolina’s master’s in international business program retained its spot as the best in the country for the 10th consecutive year, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate School rankings released Tuesday (April 25).
April 21, 2023, Hannah Cambre
The Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning is celebrating the Graduation with Leadership Distinction Program's tenth anniversary. Take a look at some of the earliest graduates with leadership distinction.
March 08, 2023, Téa Smith
Since its inception, the Artificial Intelligence Institute of South Carolina has fostered multiple partnerships to infuse artificial intelligence expertise into the framework of research at USC. Founding director Amit Sheth and the five new faculty he helped recruit have secured funding for a growing team of over 40 researchers.
March 07, 2023, Chris Horn
In their drive to develop new catalysts for energy production, Jochen Lauterbach's research team is using artificial intelligence to improve the process of finding novel combinations of catalyst materials.
February 17, 2023, Megan Sexton
Researchers from the College of Engineering and Computing and the Arnold School of Public Health are studying how a person’s walking speed affects health and well being.
February 13, 2023, Carol J.G. Ward
The University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collections in a partnership with the History Division of the Marine Corps is digitizing films shot by more than 50 Marine combat cameramen during the Battle of Iwo Jima, which began Feb. 19, 1945. The goal is to provide public access to the video and expand historical understanding.
January 26, 2023, Kyndel Lee
Miss USA Morgan Romano knows all too well that only 28% of the STEM workforce is made up of women, and she's using her platform to spark interests in young girls and help create a pipeline for more women to purse careers in the STEM fields.
January 12, 2023, Megan Sexton
From policy-making surrounding cleaner energy technologies to researching better ways to make and store electricity to studying advanced nuclear materials for interplanetary space travel, University of South Carolina researchers are advancing the transition to a changing energy landscape.
December 13, 2022, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina will launch a first of its kind interdisciplinary certificate program in Digital Studies, giving students the opportunity to gain in-demand digital skills that prepare them for careers in every field.
December 09, 2022, Téa Smith
On his way to earning his Ph.D. in computer science, Manas Gaur has worked to integrate more "human knowledge" into artificial intelligence. His work has applications in a wide range of fields from mental health care to autonomous driving.
December 02, 2022, Chris Horn
Maggie Kemp grew up a five-minute drive from windswept Assateague Island National Seashore on the Maryland coast, and that locale inspired her undergraduate research pursuits and plans for graduate school at USC.
December 01, 2022, Rebekah Friedman
December graduate Sarah Anne Livingston didn’t just ace her engineering classes. She also engineered her future by racking up a whopping six internships with three different companies.
November 30, 2022, Kyndel Lee
USC researcher Melissa Moss has studied Alzheimer's disease for decades, and she's coming closer to finding medicines that will help patients keep their memories longer.
November 28, 2022, Hannah Cambre
As a new faculty member at USC, Stanley Ling hopes to use simulations to address fundamental questions about physics that are still troubling engineers — those questions that have not been resolved by repeatedly reproducing physical results in a laboratory.
November 16, 2022, Michaela Taylor
A 30-foot tiger set ablaze could be the stuff of nightmares but for University of South Carolina students, it’s a typical Monday before Thanksgiving break.
November 04, 2022, Megan Sexton
There is no typical first-generation college student. Some come from immigrant families, some from households where family members didn’t graduate from high school. But all add energy and variety to the University of South Carolina campus.
November 04, 2022, Megan Sexton
There is no typical first-generation college student. Some come from immigrant families, some from households where family members didn’t graduate from high school. But all add energy and variety to the University of South Carolina campus.
November 02, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
Civil and environmental engineering professor Juan Caicedo teaches his students statistics, physics, calculus and other tools they will need, but most importantly how to think like engineers.
October 05, 2022, CJ Tamasco and Michaela Taylor
Inspired by the popular photography social media app VSCO, the student uses her own money to purchase buckets of flowers, which she then “drops” around campus, inviting passersby to take one for themselves or pass one along to someone else.
September 22, 2022, Mafe Balthazar
Innovative technology and design, academic advancement and his students are things John Gerdes is passionate about. As the new faculty principal of the Rhodos Fellows living learning community, Gerdes hopes to build a supportive atmosphere that encourages curiosity and supports the creativity of his students.
September 09, 2022, Megan Sexton
The University of South Carolina has the top first-year student experience of any public college in the country and the best international business program, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual undergraduate rankings.
July 27, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
Michael Amiridis is a proven leader with the resume to match. But if you want to know what makes the university’s 30th president so successful, ask the people who have worked alongside him.
July 18, 2022, Chris Horn
It’s one thing to be late for a haircut because of a crossing train. But when Yu Qian spotted an ambulance with lights flashing and siren blaring — but blocked by a train — he put his civil engineering expertise to work.
July 12, 2022
Since establishing an Artificial Intelligence Institute in 2019, the university has seen growing interest in the subject across campus. There are now dozens of researchers throughout the university exploring how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to advance fields from health care to manufacturing.
June 20, 2022, Abe Danaher
This is Michael Sutton’s lifetime achievement award. His Major League Baseball Hall of Fame induction. His Heisman Trophy; maybe even his Nobel Prize. When Sutton receives the 2022 Timoshenko Medal on Nov. 2, he will officially be recognized as one of the greatest scientists the field of applied mechanics has ever seen.
June 16, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
Associate professor of integrated information technology Jorge Chrichigno builds a virtual “playground” for IT education.
June 14, 2022, Page Ivey
Brenden Chavis, an informatics Ph.D. student in the College of Engineering and Computing, is able to pay for his own education thanks to programs funded by Fluor Corp.
June 06, 2022, Megan Sexton
Pooyan Jamshidi first became interested in robotics when he was about 10 years old, his imagination captured by the single book about the topic available in the small library in his elementary school in Iran. He now is an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at UofSC and a visiting researcher at Google.
June 01, 2022, Chris Horn
For the past 10 years, Fabio Matta, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been engineering earthen building blocks made from local soil. Up close, the blocks don’t look like anything special, but their simplicity is the appeal — the blocks don’t require firing in energy-intensive kiln furnaces and can stand up to the worst Mother Nature can throw at them.
May 03, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
When computer engineering major Dimitri Amiridis crosses the stage at commencement this spring, the South Carolina Honors College graduate will become the third member of his family with a degree from the University of South Carolina. The only member of his immediate family not to hold a degree from his new alma mater? Dimitri’s father, university President-elect Michael Amiridis.
May 02, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
Incoming University of South Carolina President Michael Amiridis is going to miss the University of Illinois Chicago, but he has zero misgivings about the new job. In fact, the former UofSC faculty member-turned-administrator is thrilled to return to the campus where he cut his academic teeth.
April 21, 2022, Communications and Marketing
Mechanical engineering major Gabriel Nossar Carrilho is using what he’s learned at the University of South Carolina to serve the campus community, the Latinx community and even people in his native South America in need of clean water. For his efforts, Carrilho has been awarded the university’s top leadership award — the 2022 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.
April 12, 2022, Allen Wallace
On April 9, nearly 2,000 University of South Carolina students spent the day dancing together, closing more than a year of work with a huge success as they raised $931,016 to support the Child Life program at Prisma Health Children's Hospital.
March 07, 2022, Savannah Bennett
With only a few short months until summer, it’s time for parents to find summer activities for their children. UofSC offers a wide variety of summer camps for all interests from music to soccer and dance to engineering.
February 28, 2022, Chris Horn
A new water sampling aerial drone developed by University of South Carolina professors has six motors, four pumps, two batteries, one six-foot-long collection hose and a zero-carbon footprint. But this proof-of-concept machine could become even more impressive if the team is able to secure NSF funding for a new level of capability.
November 19, 2021, Craig Brandhorst
Adel Nasiri joined the University of South Carolina as a distinguished professor of electrical engineering in August, following a 16-year career at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research on energy conversion, microgrids and batteries has taken on added import as sustainability, efficiency and resilience efforts ramp up during the age of climate change.
November 17, 2021, Michael Ettlemyer
The COVID-19 pandemic created challenges to the quality of care not only by increasing the number of patients needing mental health treatment, but also by moving many appointments and communications from in-person to telehealth.
September 15, 2021, Page Ivey
Mandy Elmore realized early in her career as an engineer that part of her responsibility to the profession was to share her love of engineering, math and science with the next generation. The three-time UofSC graduate is now dean for the Engineering and Industrial Technology Division at Tri-County Technical College.
September 13, 2021, Megan Sexton
The University of South Carolina has the top first-year student experience of any public college in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual undergraduate rankings. UofSC also retained its No. 1 ranking in international business for the 23rd straight year.
August 31, 2021, Chris Horn
Lizzie Gandy one day will regale her grandchildren with stories about the years she strapped on a hard hat and rode a helicopter to her job on the biggest moored oil platform in the world, anchored deep in the Gulf of Mexico. In her latest position, Gandy doesn’t have to endure the same grind as before when she was supervising hundreds of oil platform workers in the open water. But she continues to find satisfaction in the work that a mechanical engineering degree from South Carolina in 1992 made possible.
June 18, 2021, Chris Horn
Pooyan Jamshidi, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering, is a principal investigator on a three-year $500,000 NSF collaborative grant to develop the intelligence and computing capabilities for a smart device dubbed SmartSight. The platform will enable on-device artificial intelligence to improve real-time perception for blind and visually-impaired users.
June 16, 2021, Megan Sexton
As a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, Melissa Moss combines both engineering theory and hands-on learning in the classroom. She was chosen as a Mungo undergraduate teaching award winner.
June 15, 2021, Chris Horn
Simulation and computing is a mainstay in engineering design, a mathematical modeling process that allows engineers to predict the behavior of a machine or system in real-world conditions. But if the datasets are huge and complex, modeling can take days or even weeks to sort out. That’s why Yi Wang is using a method called reduced-order models to speed things up.
April 30, 2021, Audrey Hill
The Office of Sustainability along with mechanical engineering students worked together to create a sustainable solution for providing power to events at UofSC. The solar trailer is a converted, movable trailer that is able to store energy from the sun and power electrical equipment.
April 21, 2021, Chris Woodley
South Carolina College of Social Work professor Sue Levkoff and College of Arts and Sciences professor Alan White established the South Carolina - Advancing Diversity in Aging Research (SC-ADAR) program to address the lack of diversity among scientific experts.
April 15, 2021, Chris Horn
Sydney Womack’s calendar has been booked nearly solid during her four years at South Carolina and little wonder — she majored in biomedical engineering, minored in mathematics, earned a performance certificate in the School of Music, conducted undergraduate research and co-authored a scholarly article and three poster presentations. She also attended football, basketball and baseball games whenever she could, held leadership positions in two engineering student societies and regularly volunteered to pitch STEM career opportunities to high school students.
April 07, 2021, Madyn G. Coakley
With only a few short months until summer, it’s time for parents to find summer activities to enhance the lives and bolster the minds of their children. Fortunately, UofSC offers a wide variety of summer camps for all interests from computer science and engineering to music and dance.
March 31, 2021, Carol J.G.Ward
Research opportunities, passionate faculty mentors and the chance to explore diverse interests drew the University of South Carolina’s 2021 Goldwater Scholarship recipients to the Columbia campus. The prestigious scholarships are awarded annually to undergraduate STEM majors across the country who are interested in pursuing research careers in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering.
March 29, 2021, Megan Sexton
The School of Medicine Columbia is the top medical program in the country for graduates who are practicing in areas where there is a shortage of health care professionals, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate School rankings. The rankings also show that UofSC is now home to more than 60 nationally ranked programs.
March 05, 2021, Elizabeth A. Regan
Health information and technology expert Elizabeth A. Regan writes for The Conversation about the flaws that COVID-19 has revealed about the U.S. health care system. Regan is chair of integrated information technology and an associate professor in the College of Engineering and Computing.