The Millennium Café returns on 8/29! Mark your calendars, 10-11am, every Tuesday in the 3rd floor Café Commons of the Millennium Science Complex. Join researchers from across campus for a stellar cup of coffee and two <10 min interdisciplinary talks. Look for the Café email on Friday with details about upcoming talks.
LIVE music starts @ 9:45: Will Hancock returns with his trusty Martin guitar to strum tunes from the analog era!
Emerging Chemical and Plastic Environmental Contaminants
Hlengilizwe Nyoni | EESL Environmental Contaminants Analytical Laboratory
The Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories (EESL) is a University-wide core user facility managed by the Institutes of Energy and the Environment. Emerging contaminants of varied types are pervasive in the modern world and this talk will introduce the expertise and capabilities available within EESL. Past and current projects involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) analyses will be used to highlight the lab’s capabilities.
Comparing Apples to Apples: Learning from Biology to Differentiate Between Rare Earth Elements
Joseph Cotruvo | Chemistry
Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metals with very similar sizes but unique roles in technologies that are essential for a clean-energy future. As a result, efficiently separating one from another is a long-standing challenge and a modern imperative. In this talk, I will describe some of the fundamental insights that natural rare-earth-binding proteins have yielded into how to differentiate between these very similar elements. I will also illustrate how these insights are guiding the development of protein-based separation processes, towards the holy grail of efficient separation of rare earths adjacent to each other on the periodic table.
We are trialing a special weekly series, “After the Café” immediately following the Millennium Café (9/12 -> 10/31). This will be a casual opportunity to learn about the breadth of analytical capabilities within the Materials Characterization Laboratory (MCL). These brief (30 minute) multi-technique and interdisciplinary talks will highlight applications (not theory) to provide useful insights to novice and experienced researchers working across various science and engineering challenges.
To receive emails for updates for each the Café – you MUST subscribe here (apps.mri.psu.edu/opt/) to receive the weekly emails
Never heard of the Millennium Café?
In May of 2012 the Materials Research Institute launched a weekly interdisciplinary research dialogue (the Millennium Café) fueled by the best coffee and pastries on campus. Since that launch (sans COVID) ~50-100 Penn Staters gather from 10:00 – 11:00 in the 3rd floor Café Commons of the Millennium Science Complex to spend time “unplugged” with colleagues. The Café is nothing like a standard conference/departmental seminar, it is an interdisciplinary “mixer” intended to catalyze new interactions and build community across campus.