More than 30 middle and high school students from Tioga Explorers Inc., an engineering outreach program based in Owego, New York, toured various STEM-related facilities at the University Park campus on April 14 as part of Engineering Explorers Day.
To encourage emerging Penn State engineers to better understand the importance of cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment, the Engineering Leadership Development program provides students with opportunities to experience different cultures.
The baobab tree, commonly called the tree of life, is a staple in many rural African communities. Every component of the tree is beneficial in some way – providing sustenance and income to the people in these communities. However, the tree’s fruit, made up of seeds, pulp and fiber, is difficult to process. The current method of using a mortar and pestle is very difficult and inefficient. For the last five years, Penn State students in the Engineering Leadership Development (ELD) minor have worked to alleviate this by designing and building a baobab-processing machine as their minor capstone project.
An ongoing effort that gives Penn State students the opportunity to work in international virtual teams has expanded to include another school, Taibah University in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Mathew Burrows, director of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Foresight Initiative, will present "Envisioning 2030: U.S. Strategy for the Coming Technology Revolution" at 4:35 p.m. on Jan. 29 in 220 Hammond Building.
A team of five students from the College of Engineering and the College of Agricultural Sciences won the 2011 Ag Business Springboard Competition. Students traveled to Benin, Africa, in May to get a first-hand look at how a village cooperative proceses baobab fruit. The team designed a machine they hope will increase the cooperative's productivity. The winning team was chosen on Nov. 14 out of five finalist groups and was awarded the $5,000 grand prize.
Retired Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and current Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, will present "Strategic Leadership Challenges for the 21st Century" from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 9, in the HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus.
The College of Engineering has won two 2011 CUPPIE Awards from CUPRAP, the Association of Communicators in Education. The college won a bronze award in the feature story category for the article "'Miracle Tree' May Provide Clean Water to Developing Countries." The college also won a bronze award in the print publications/cover category for the fall Engineering Penn State alumni magazine.
