Research Highlights

UMass Lowell researchers average $23 million in annual funding from federal agencies, industry and other sources. Their research informs and influences their teaching. In the same way, interaction with students increases their enthusiasm for research.

UMass Lowell scientists have recently developed:

• a way to encapsulate drugs in a newly created polymer that actually works faster and better than the drug by itself
• polymer-based solar cells that convert natural or artificial light into electricity and are incorporated into fabric or flexible electronics
• biodegradable hollow nanospheres that allow drugs to be absorbed directly through the skin
• a Smart Bandage that speeds up healing with the use of natural growth factors 
• a new material made from recycled rubber and plastic, that makes a better plastic product—and leaves fewer junk tires littering the landscape  
• nanofibers and quantum dots—two new inventions in nanotechnology that take us into the realm of the very, very small