Wilkinson Building at Duke University

Academic Departments & Research Centers

Academic Departments

Biomedical Engineering

Duke BME is consistently ranked among the top graduate biomedical engineering programs

Research Areas of Focus

  • Bioelectric Engineering
  • Biomaterials
  • Biomechanics and Mechanobiology
  • Biomedical and Health Data Sciences
  • Biomedical Imaging and Biophotonics
  • Biomedical Technology Design (MedTech)
  • Biosensors and Bioinstrumentation
  • Computational Modeling of Biological Systems
  • Drug and Gene Delivery
  • Immune Engineering
  • Neural Engineering
  • Synthetic and Systems Biology
  • Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Visit bme.duke.edu

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Duke CEE is pursuing discoveries that improve the fundamental health, safety and resilience of society

Research Areas of Focus

  • Computational Mechanics and Scientific Computing
  • Environmental Health Engineering
  • Geomechanics and Geophysics for Energy and the Environment
  • Hydrology and Fluid Dynamics
  • Risk & Resilient Systems

Visit cee.duke.edu

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Duke ECE is conducting advanced research in all major areas of electrical and computer engineering

Research Areas of Focus

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
  • Metamaterials
  • Quantum Computing
  • Nanoelectronic Materials and Devices
  • Sensing and Imaging
  • Trustworthy Computing

Visit ece.duke.edu

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Duke MEMS is designing the future of mechanical systems and materials

Research Areas of Focus

  • Aerodynamics and Aeroelasticity
  • Autonomous Systems
  • Biomechanics and Biomaterials
  • Computation & Artificial Intelligence
  • Energy Systems and Materials
  • Soft Matter and Nanoscale Materials

 

Visit mems.duke.edu

 

Duke MEMS also participates collaboratively in the Duke Materials Initiative and in Duke's University Program in Materials Science and Engineering. More at dmi.duke.edu »


Research Centers

Accelerating Innovation

EnE: Institute for Enterprise Engineering

Duke Engineering's Institute for Enterprise Engineering provides working professionals with high-impact skills

For Working Professionals

  • Executive Short Courses
  • 4-Course Graduate Certificates
  • Online Master's Degrees
  • Through education partner Coursera:
    • Online Certificates
    • Online Specializations

Topic Areas

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
  • Blockchain
  • Computing Fundamentals
  • Cybersecurity
  • Engineering Management
  • Financial Technology (FinTech)
  • Game Design, Development & Innovation

Go to ene.duke.edu »

EngEn: Duke Engineering Entrepreneurship

Duke EngEn is a bold initiative that integrates needs-driven design experiences, entrepreneurial education, startup resources, and a leadership team of successful entrepreneurs to deliver technological solutions to societal needs in health, defense, climate and beyond.

Go to engen.duke.edu »

GUIde Consortium for Aeroelasticity

Government, university and industry (GUI) consortium addressing challenges related to controlling the vibration of bladed disks.

Visit aeromech.pratt.duke.edu »

Advanced Computing & Intelligent Systems

Agile Waveform Design for Communication Networks in Contested Environments UCE

A US Air Force Research Laboratory-Air Force Office of Scientific Research University Center of Excellence

A five-year, $5 million AFOSR program at Duke to develop methodologies for novel waveform design and optimization techniques that are both agile to changing network dynamics and robust to adversaries in contested environments, with provable bounds on performance.

More »

NSF AIICE: Identity-Inclusive Computing Education

A National Science Foundation INCLUDES project

This $10 million NSF project at Duke aims to develop tools and strategies in computing education that increase the entry, retention and course or degree completion rates of high school and undergraduate students from historically underrepresented groups. It is led by led by Nicki Washington, professor of the practice in Computer Science, and Shaundra Daily, professor of the practice in Electrical & Computer Engineering and in Computer Science.

More about AIICE »

NSF ATHENA: Edge Computing Leveraging Next-Generation Networks

Supported by the National Science Foundation

An NSF-supported project led by Duke that brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, statisticians, legal scholars and psychologists from seven universities. It will transform the design, operation and service of future systems from mobile devices to networks. It is committed to educating and developing the workforce, cultivating a diverse next generation of edge computing and network leaders whose core values are driven by ethics and fairness in AI. As a nexus point for the community, this institute will spearhead collaboration and knowledge transfer, translating emerging technical capabilities to new business models and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Go to athena.duke.edu »

IARPA EURIQA: Error-Corrected Universal Reconfigurable Ion-trap Quantum Archetype

Supported by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity

A five-year, $31.9 million IARPA project at Duke to address qubit degradation with ion technology for quantum information applications.

Go to euriqa.pratt.duke.edu »

NSF STAQ: Software-Tailored Architecture for Quantum Codesign

STAQ logo

Supported by the National Science Foundation

A Duke-led, seven-university, $15 million NSF collaboration with the goal of building the world’s first practical quantum computer.

STAQ involves physicists, computer scientists and engineers from Duke, the University of Maryland, the University of Chicago, Tufts University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of New Mexico.

Visit staq.pratt.duke.edu »

QSA: Quantum Systems Accelerator

A US Department of Energy Quantum Information Science Research Center

Duke is one of 14 U.S. institutions in a five-year, $115 million effort by DOE to forge the technological solutions needed to harness quantum information science for discoveries that benefit the world.

More about QSA at Duke »

Spectator Qubit MURI

A US Army Research Office Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative

This team of researchers, led by Duke, received more than $9 million from the ARO to investigate the “spectator qubit” approach to improving quantum computing systems.

More about Spectator Qubit MURI »

Materials Discovery & Development

DMI: Duke Materials Initiative

Duke Materials Initiative logoDMI provides strategic leadership by harnessing the distinct combination of interdisciplinary expertise in technical and societal disciplines, research focus, development of advanced experimental and computational tools and paradigm-shifting education available at Duke.

Visit dmi.duke.edu »

SPICES: Spinodal-Hardened High-Entropy Ceramics MURI

An Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative

Led by Duke, ONR SPICES MURI will create AI tools to design recipes for a new class of materials tailored to super-hard, high-temperature applications. Read an article about SPICES research »

Visit materials.duke.edu »

Meta-Imaging MURI

A US Air Force Office of Scientific Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative

This AFOSR MURI, led by Duke, exploits breakthroughs in the fields of metasurfaces, computational design, fundamental modal optics, and information theory to enable a new paradigm for sensing, processing and computing by utilizing metasurfaces to detect additional degrees of freedom of the light field and process the information at the speed of light—all while reducing the size and weight of imaging systems.

Visit meta-imaging.pratt.duke.edu »

CMIP: Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics

CMIP logoA Duke research enterprise exploring the capabilities and limitations of electromagnetic metamaterials.

Visit metamaterials.duke.edu »

FIP: Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics

FIP logoA Duke-based research and training effort focused on information science, quantum optics, optoelectronics, information spaces and biophotonics.

Visit fitzpatrick.duke.edu »

X-Ray Diffraction Scanner

Sponsored by the US Department of Homeland Security

Designing and developing a new type of security scanner that can detect an object's shape and molecular composition.

More about the Duke X-Ray Diffraction Scanner »

Personal, Environmental & Population Health

CAGT: Advanced Genomic Technologies

Duke CAGT Logo

CAGT at Duke is a team of world-leading engineers, scientists, and physicians working to integrate advanced genomic technologies, adapt them to help unravel disease biology, and discover new drug targets to catalyze a more robust biotechnology enterprise.

Visit cagt.pratt.duke.edu »

NIH CBTE: Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering

CBTE logo

Supported by the National Institutes of Health

CBTE, supported by the NIH National Institute for General Medical Science, coordinates interdisciplinary discovery and training across three areas: protein engineering, cellular engineering and tissue engineering.

Visit cbte.pratt.duke.edu »

IGVF Characterization Center

Supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute

An $8.6 million award from the NHGRI Impact of Genomic Variation on Function (IGVF) Consortium funds the IGVF Characterization Center at Duke. It is designed to be a generator of data informing how genetic variation impacts gene regulation and phenotypes.

More about IGVF Characterization Center at Duke »

DARPA MEMENTO: Mapping Epigenetic Memory of Exposure to Observe

Supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Led by co-principal investigators at Duke with expertise in biomedical engineering and infectious disease medicine. DARPA-supported Memento is working to develop a genetic test for exposure to weapons of mass destruction.

More about MEMENTO »

WaSH-AID: Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Infectious Disease

Sponsored in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

WaSH-AID facilitates the development and sustainable deployment of novel technology-based health solutions for developing regions across the globe.Wash-AID logo

Visit washaid.pratt.duke.edu »

Resilient Systems & the Environment

NSF PreMiEr: ERC for Precision Microbiome Engineering

NSF PreMiEr logoAn NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC)

The NFS Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering, or PreMiEr, aims to develop diagnostic tools and engineering approaches that promote building designs for preventing the colonization of harmful bacteria, fungi or viruses while encouraging beneficial microorganisms.

PreMiEr is funded by a five-year, $26 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), renewable for a second five-year, $26 million term.

More about NSF PreMiEr »

NSF INFRAMES: Assessing Materials for Environmental Sustainability

A National Science Foundation AccelNET program

Building on the work of the Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT), this five-year, $1.6 million NSF program of US and international partners will create a network of networks to address questions about the environmental impacts of novel materials.

More about INFRAMES »

Duke Center on Risk

A multidisciplinary group developing innovative methods, technologies, policies, and practices to confront risks faced by society, both familiar and emerging, including climate change, pollution, pandemic disease, food safety, cyber‐attacks, financial shocks, accidents, and terrorism.

More about the Center on Risk »