science

Penn State York to host robotics competition Jan. 19

1/17/13

More than 300 middle and high school students will descend on Penn State York for the FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) South Central PA Regional Qualifier, "Ring It Up," a robotics competition, to be held from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, in the Joe and Rosie Ruhl Student Community Center at the campus. Opening ceremonies are at 10 a.m. followed by competitions throughout the day. Prior to the ceremony, teams will have an opportunity to get organized, register their robots, and prepare for competition. This is the third time the campus has hosted this event. The competition is open to the public to watch and it is free.

Thirty-five teams with up to 10 members each from as far away as New York, New Jersey, and Delaware and as near as Sonoma Academy in York and SciTech High School in Harrisburg are registered for the event. The "Ring It Up!" competition features a task-oriented robotics event where teams are asked to perform a variety of maneuvers with their robots and this particular game is a variation of tic-tac-toe.

December 2012

12/3/12

Photo of the Day set for December 2012. Penn State's University Park campus.

Smith symposium set for Nov. 10 at Penn State York

11/8/12

More than 50 students and faculty members are registered for Penn State York's fifth Smith Undergraduate Science Research Symposium (SUSR12), set for Saturday, Nov. 10, at the campus. Science students and faculty of the 19 Penn State campuses were invited to participate and attend the SUSR12. Previous symposiums were held at Penn State York in October 2002 and 2006 and November 2008 and 2010. The symposium begins at 8 a.m. in the Conference Center of the Main Classroom Building. A symposium featuring undergraduate science research was the brainchild of Haiduke Sarafian, John T. and Paige S. Smith Professor of Science and professor of physics at Penn State York. The idea of the symposium was proposed in 2002 and was supported by the campus. Symposiums are held every other year.

Association for Women in Science to host career event

9/12/12

The Association for Women in Science of Hershey will host its second career event on Jan. 24 and 25 at the University Conference Center on the campus of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The event will start with a keynote lecture by Stephen G. Lisberger, chair of the Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, on Jan. 24, followed by a series of seminars on Jan. 25. Talks will be focused on different career issues that involve anyone in science and medicine. A detailed program will be distributed in November.

Research project at Penn State York involved lizards and parasites

9/5/12

Studying parasites is something that Anne M. Vardo-Zalik loves. Vardo-Zalik, an assistant professor of biology at Penn State York, spent the summer in California collecting samples relevant to the study of the western fence lizard and conducting research on how the malaria parasite impacts the species. She prefers to work with natural parasite-host systems and for the past 10 years has monitored the lizards and tried to determine how parasites and their hosts (the lizards) survive over time.

For a portion of the summer, Vardo-Zalik was assisted by Victoria Motz, a senior at Penn State York studying life science. Motz worked side-by-side with Vardo-Zalik.

Video: 'Did They Get it Right?' looks at 'Contagion'

7/9/12

In 2011 director Steven Soderbergh offered viewers the film "Contagion," a release that considers what could occur if a pandemic virus infected the United States and the rest of the world. Could this happen in real life? Penn State Assistant Professor of Biology Marcel Salathe talks about this question and others in this episode of "Did They Get It Right?"

Penn State mourns alumni leader and philanthropist Verne Willaman

6/29/12

Penn State and the Eberly College of Science have lost a leading advocate and supporter with the passing of Verne M. Willaman, a class of 1951 graduate and retired chairman and president of Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation. Willaman, whose philanthropy and volunteer leadership helped the University's life sciences and molecular biology programs to gain international prominence, died recently at his home in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Science-U Summer Camp 2012

6/28/12

A look at the Jr. Sleuth Summer Camp, part of Penn State's Science-U summer camp series designed to introduce children to a variety of sciences through fun and educational experiments.
Eberly College of Science.

Spring commencement at Penn State York

Program encourages girls to pursue careers using math and science

5/4/12

Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gigabytes: Classrooms of the 21st Century, Cell-A-Bration, Dazzling Databases, "Sparkling" with Chemistry, DNA Detectives, and The Science of Color in Cosmetics are just a few of the workshops being offered this year during the 16th annual program to encourage young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) on Friday, May 11 at Penn State York. Pathways to Your Future: Exploring STEM Careers begins at 8:45 a.m. in the Conference Center of the Main Classroom Building on campus. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

Seventh grade girls, their teachers, and some parents representing 26 schools (public, private, charter, and cyber) will take part in this career awareness program. Some 315 people (students, parents, and teachers) will be participating in the free program.

Forensic science program forms partnership with Life Technologies

4/12/12

The Penn State Forensic Science program recently signed a corporate sponsorship agreement with Life Technologies to work on forensic DNA research projects for the company. Life Technologies Corporation is a global biotechnology company dedicated to improving the human condition. In exchange for the research, Life Technologies provided the program with instrumentation, software and reagents valued at $350,000 that will be used in the research and as educational tools for students.

Annual Jeremy Herbstritt 5K to be held April 16

4/12/12

Registration is open for the sixth annual Jeremy Herbstritt 5K Run/Walk, an event honoring the Penn State engineering alumnus who died at the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. The 5K Run/Walk will begin at 6:30 p.m. on April 16 at the Intramural Building on Curtin Road on the University Park campus of Penn State.

Penn State Tumblr blog collects bold science images, news for teens

3/8/12

A Penn State Tumblr blog launched this winter showcases for a young audience the University's research and teaching in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Big Black Glasses gears its content and design to a pre-college crowd. With a name that highlights Tumblr-trending topics such as "geek chic" and "nerdy swag," the blog features University research in a boldly visual manner. Regularly updated with current material, it uses dynamic images, short animations and intriguing STEM subjects that intersect with pop culture. Drawing from the rich resources of Penn State research, Big Black Glasses also features NASA, Scientific American, Wired Magazine and other scientific sources.

Campus to host York County Science and Engineering Fair March 5-7

2/29/12

Penn State York will host the 29th annual York County Science and Engineering Fair set for Monday through Wednesday, March 5 to 7, in the Joe and Rosie Ruhl Student Community Center. More than 200 projects will be judged during the event. Projects are open for public view from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7.

Graduate astrobiology course for science educators at Abington

2/17/12

One of the joys and challenges of teaching is the process of developing activities for students. This summer, Penn State Abington will offer science educators the opportunity to explore the world of astrobiology while creating engaging projects for their classrooms.

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