Poornima Apte

From electricity grids to the human brain, the systems we rely on are vast networks of interacting components, each slightly different from the other. How does such a large group of heterogeneous components act as one and execute their functions? Getting to the answer will need an understanding of who influences whom in the network — and how.
Reconstructing large networks like the human brain with thousands of neuron “nodes” is challenging because each node is complex with many internal varia...

The artificial intelligence hype cycle might be firmly entrenched in industry, but the architecture, engineering, and construction sector has been somewhat slow to adopt the technology.
A global survey of 1,000 AEC professionals from Bluebeam, a developer of solutions and services for AEC professionals, found only 27% of respondents use AI in their operations.
Further reading:
Such cautious behavior is to be expected, said Jeff Sample, senior industry development manager at Bluebeam. After al...

Report on the state of adoption of exoskeletons for the Association for Automation Advancement.

I wrote a research-focused profile for MIT.

What if there were a way to solve one of the most significant obstacles to the use of nuclear energy — the disposal of high-level nuclear waste (HLW)? Dauren Sarsenbayev, a third-year doctoral student at the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) is addressing the challenge as part of his research.

I wrote about how AI nudges in clinical workflows can help physicians and patients.

Thought leadership writing for Salesforce executive.

What if piggybacking on a molecule with a fluorescent marker could tell us not just where the molecule is but how it’s oriented?
The technique could find a whole host of uses — from dynamically tracking cell behavior and understanding the mechanics of Alzheimer’s disease, to studying how polymer layers move in smart materials. I wrote about a pioneering technique in microscopy, a review of a scientific Nature Photonics paper.

Kevin Tong ’22 was understandably delighted as his team prepared for the March launch of the lunar lander Blue Ghost. Just a few years out of Princeton and now working for Firefly Aerospace, he was one of two propulsion systems engineers at Cape Canaveral in Florida who completed the final checks on the lunar lander. “It was pretty cool that I was one of the last people to touch it before it went to space,” he says.

Photo credit: Firefly

I wrote about the architecture of a new agent-driven AI revenue ops platform for Salesforce.

Picture the daily operations in a large warehouse. Robotic systems work here in several different ways. When a truck backs up into a loading dock, an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) might unload packages onto a conveyor belt to route them to specific shelving locations. If the boxes have to be unpacked and sorted immediately, they might move to processing stations where people and robotic systems can cut them open, and pick, sort, and package products for delivery out of the warehouse.

Feature story about fire engineering for Johns Hopkins Engineering magazine
By better understanding heat transfer, Thomas Gernay is making structures SAFIR.
by Poornima Apte

Copywriting for a premium post for ServiceNow about agentic AI. Content was heavily designed.

I reported on the restoration of a Texas habitat for the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The assistant professor in applied economics researches, among other topics, ways to make the benefits of large electrification projects more transparent.
It’s a chicken and egg situation: Should renewable energy projects launch first hoping that transmission lines to pipe generated power to distant places will follow on their heels? Or should the transmission lines be stood up first as a way to attract investments in renewable energy projects? Which comes before the other?