Department of Materials Science and Engineering | Penn State Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Jim Manchin, induction heating sales manager (left), and Doug Kuzma, general manager of Mesta, pose with one of the two Mesta 50kW Induction Heating Power Supplies.

Adwar Oguttuh, a master's student in art, discusses his artwork with a visitor at the 2025 Graduate Exhibition. Oguttuh received three awards at the event.

Thirty-one graduate students received awards at the 2025 Graduate Exhibition, hosted by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School on Friday, March 28, on the University Park campus.

Research Poster Category — Physical Sciences and Mathematics
First Place: Cyril Chu Fubin Kumachang, Materials Science and Engineering, “Ambient-Processed Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cells from Environmentally Benign Solvents”

“If you sow 1,000 seeds, you’ll get more fruit,” said Nutifafa Doumon, referring to the connections and collaborations formed at the recent NASEM Frontiers symposium. “That’s something that drives me. I’m looking for connections that can drive both parties’ success and research output forward.”

For some pressing research problems, an ocean’s worth of distance isn’t enough to prevent the connection to some common ground. That’s the point behind the annual National Academies U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Symposium.

The research team awarded a $1 million, two-year grant to help revolutionize metal additive manufacturing includes, from left to right: Tao Sun, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern University; and Penn State faculty members Christopher Kube, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics; Andrea Argüelles, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics and of acoustics and affiliate of the Materials Research Institute; and Allison Beese, professor of materials s

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has drastically improved the uniformity and speed of metal parts manufacturing, but the printed parts are often plagued with defects, such as pores, that limit their performance. The process also requires an inspection of each part after printing, which can slow down production and limit where parts can be made.

The 2025 Richard E. Tressler Lecture in Materials will be held at 3:05 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, in 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building on the Penn State University Park campus. Faisal Mohammed Al-Faqeer, senior vice president of liquids to chemicals at Saudi Aramco, will deliver the lecture, “Oil and Gas Sector: Cutting-Edge Advanced Materials for Sustainable Energy.”

John Mauro named head of Department of Materials Science and Engineering

John Mauro, Dorothy Pate Enright Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, has been named head of Penn State’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, effective July 1. Mauro will succeed Susan Sinnott, who has served as the head of the department since 2015.

Urara Hasegawa, assistant professor at Penn State, demonstrates thermogels, special materials that can turn from a liquid into a solid when triggered by heat. New thermogels developed by Hasegawa and her team show promise as a next-generation biomaterials.

Special biomedical materials that can be injected as a liquid and turn into a solid inside our bodies — called thermogels — could provide a less-invasive way to deliver drugs or treat wounds. Scientists at Penn State have developed a new design for these materials that further improves their properties and may hold particular promise for use in tissue regeneration, the researchers said.

The 2025 Richard E. Tressler Lecture in Materials will be held at 3:05 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building on the Penn State University Park campus. Arthur Martin, vice president of research and development for North America at Arkema, will deliver the lecture, “Arkema: Innovative Materials for a Sustainable World” and receive the 2025 R.E. Tressler Award.