For 20 years, researchers in Robert Prud’homme’s lab have fine-tuned a technology that has revolutionized drug manufacturing, enabling everything from mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines to malaria drugs. The life-saving molecules that treat those diseases are fragile, and they must survive an epic voyage from a lab bench, through the supply chain, into a blood cell. Encapsulation gives them a secure vehicle and a final heading. It’s a delicate craft backed by complex mathematics, and over the arc of his career, Prud’homme has become a master craftsman.

Sujit Datta and Emily Davidson will co-lead a team receiving funding from the Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund. The project aims to reduce urban flooding by developing a new concrete-like material that absorbs rainwater and then releases it slowly back to the environment.

This year’s engineering school Innovation Research Grants are funding efforts to improve plant growth and productivity, better understand bacterial resistance, and create a safe, long-lasting fire-retardant spray.