This is my favorite time of year because everyone is back on campus. In central Pennsylvania, we are enjoying a spectacular show of fall foliage with vibrant displays of gold, crimson, and terracotta against the backdrop of blue and white Happy Valley sky.
This fall is particularly special at Penn State as we continue to celebrate the 115th anniversary of the founding of what is now the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE), as well as celebrating the 125th anniversary of the establishment of what is now the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS).
In September, our department gathered for the commemorative photo featured on the front page. After the photos, we celebrated with a Creamery ice cream social. In October, we welcomed the 125th Anniversary Fellows to campus to honor their accomplishments and celebrate the founding of our amazing college.
I am delighted to share with you some recent accomplishments and recognitions received by our faculty: Long-Qing Chen, Hamer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, received the FMD John Bardeen Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS); Mauricio Terrones, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics, Professor of Chemistry and MatSE, was named Evan Pugh University Professor; Professor Emeritus David Allara was awarded the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience; and, John Mauro, Dorothy Pate Enright Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Education, received the Fiat Lux Award from Alfred University and was the Wulff Lecturer at MIT. Also, I was honored to be recognized with the AVS Medard W. Welch Award.
I am also proud to share a few of our recent accomplishments by MatSE students: Jessica Sly, graduate student, won the Alfred R. Cooper Award from the American Ceramic Society; Cesar Nieves, graduate student, NSF Research Fellow, won third place at the 14th PacRim/GOMD poster competition; and Meddelin Setiawan, undergraduate student, won third place in the MS&T undergraduate poster competition.
I’d like to extend congratulations to Corning Inc., one of the world's leading innovators in materials science, on being named Penn State’s 2022 Corporate Partner of the Year.
The research stories highlighted in this issue include stories about MatSE faculty members selected for two recently funded Energy Frontier Research Centers, research reporting for the first time the unique microstructure of a novel ferroelectric material, enabling the development of lead-free piezoelectric materials, and a newly developed model that may serve as a bridge between quantum mechanical calculations at the atomic scale and devices, which could enable next-generation technologies.
Every time our newsletter is produced, choosing which stories to share in this medium is very difficult, because there are so many wonderful things going on in MatSE at Penn State. I invite you to stay connected with MatSE by visiting our website (matse.psu.edu) and following us on social media.
It is always a pleasure to share our news with you, and I hope you will share your news with us by emailing me at sinnott@matse.psu.edu or calling me at 814-863-3117.
Susan B. Sinnott
Professor and Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
To read more about stories mentioned above visit Imagine, Fall 2022.