Patrick Dahl ’12 and Illinois Wesleyan University physics professor Gabriel Spalding were recognized in Physics World magazine for their team’s creation of the first acoustic tractor beam. The tractor beam was named a top-10 breakthrough in physics in 2014.

“The team, which also included Christine Démoré and Mike MacDonald of the University of Dundee, Scotland, was recognized for creating the first acoustic tractor beam by using energy from an ultrasound array to exert force behind a centimeter-sized object and pull it toward the energy source.

“The immediate application of the new tractor beam technology is medical. One goal is to improve ultrasound surgery used to treat and destroy tumors more effectively and efficiently. It could also be used to treat Parkinson’s disease and chronic pain, or to deliver prescription drugs to a precise point in the body or a safe supply of universal donor blood, according to Spalding, who is the B. Charles and Joyce Eichhorn Ames Professor of Physics.”

To learn more about this ground-breaking invention, click here.