Melik C. Demirel, professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State, was recently named Lloyd and Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair in Biomimetic Materials by the University’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.
The National Science Foundation has awarded $1.4 million to a team of Penn State scientists to develop a new laboratory at the University with ultra-fast microscopes that will provide a high-resolution look at two-dimensional materials.
Judith A. Todd, P.B. Breneman Department Head Chair and professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of ASM International.
Molten metal sparks shoot across the room, heat radiates from cooling metal beams, the smell of machine oil pervades the air and the pounding sounds of machines echoes off the walls -- it’s not your typical classroom activity, but for 20 materials science and engineering students, experiencing this first-hand gave them a sneak peek into the metals industry and showed them how what they are learning in books and lectures is applied in the real world.
Glass research was the bailiwick of Professor Woldemar Weyl -- one of the founders of the modern science of glass. He was among the first Penn State faculty to bring about a close collaboration between the University and private industry to support basic and applied research. In 1960, Weyl was named one of the first two faculty to receive an Evan Pugh Professorship -- of Glass Technology -- for his many contributions as a researcher. (Mathematics professor Haskell Curry was the other.) Weyl's research on the chemistry and physics of glass led to numerous practical applications and better everyday materials.
Engineering students will display their solutions to industry-posed problems at the Student Design Project Showcase at 1 p.m. on Dec. 12 at the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus of Penn State.
The College of Engineering celebrated a dozen faculty and staff members who have given 25 years of service to Penn State in a ceremony today (Sept. 18) in Kunkle Lounge.
Experts say it takes an estimated 13 trillion watts of energy to power our economies, and by 2050 expect that number to increase to 30 terawatts of power. Jeffrey Brownson, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State, notes that less than one-tenth of one percent of today’s electricity comes from solar photovoltaics. But the path to 30 terawatts, he adds, almost certainly goes through the Sun. Brownson, an expert in photovoltaics and sustainability, is one of a number of Penn State researchers pursuing solar-powered technologies.
He earned worldwide fame as a founder of the modern science of glass. He was among the first Penn State faculty to take an interdisciplinary approach to studying materials science. And he was ahead of his time in advocating an alliance between private industry and academia in supporting basic research. He was Woldemar Weyl, who for 30 years was a teacher and researcher in what is today the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
Graphene, a form of carbon made up of a single layer of carbon atoms in a tight hexagonal arrangement, is sometimes called "atomic-scale chicken wire." Since it was first isolated in the lab in 2004, the material has demonstrated remarkable electronic properties, including theoretical speeds 100 times greater than silicon. But putting graphene into a microchip that could outperform current silicon technology has proven difficult. The answer may lie in new nanoscale systems called two-dimensional layered materials.
One of the benefits students have at a major national research university like Penn State is not only learning from faculty in the classroom but also working alongside them -- in the laboratory or the library -- doing research. Undergraduate students like Christine Theberge and Josh Yeh, who are conducting their own undergraduate research, and those who hold research assistant positions have the opportunity to expand their knowledge in areas of academic interest while developing valuable research skills and relevant work experience.
When Penn State’s Millennium Science Complex (MSC) opened its doors to researchers last fall, it inaugurated a new era of scientific discovery at the intersection of materials science, engineering, nanoscience and the life sciences at Penn State.
Three Penn State-led projects have received more than $1.6 million in combined research and development grants from the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy University Programs.
Last year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was not the largest in history nor is it likely to be the last. But a patent-pending material developed by T.C. (Mike) Chung, professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State, could dramatically reduce the environmental damage of future spills.
"What this University is going to lead will be more than a pioneering research center or an economic engine for Pennsylvania and America for years to come: what you're going to do is lead a modern-day incubator for what sets us apart -- the greatest force that the world has ever known," said President Barack Obama Feb. 3 at Penn State's University Park campus. Watch a brief video summarizing the president's visit and Penn State's research leadership at a new national Energy Innovation Hub.
