News

Roman Engel-Herbert of Penn State Department of Materials Science and Engineering was among the team at eVOxS that developed a method for implementing oxide-thin film materials into the production of new electrical devices. The team just won a Ben Franklin Technology Partners/Central and Northern PA prize.

For as long as he can remember, John Hellmann was interested in science. He excelled in chemistry, physics and other fields but he was most drawn to fields that could be applied to solving real-world problems.

Laureates in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Academy for Global Experience (EMSAGE) program meet with faculty and University leaders to discuss ways to help students get the most out of their student experience. The program highlights elite students who are successful in three of the following areas: scholarship, experiential learning and global literacy, and service.

Two-dimensional materials can be used to create smaller, high-performance transistors traditionally made of silicon, according to Saptarshi Das, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics (ESM) in Penn State’s College of Engineering. 

Piezoelectric materials hold great promise as sensors and as energy harvesters but are normally much less effective at high temperatures, limiting their use in environments such as engines or space exploration. However, a new piezoelectric device developed by a team of researchers from Penn State and QorTek remains highly effective at elevated temperatures.

In September 2019, a US National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported workshop, “The Enrollment Floodgates Are Open—Best Practices in Materials Science and Engineering Undergraduate Education for Rising Enrollments,” was held at The Pennsylvania State University. In attendance were representatives in leadership positions from universities, a variety of companies, national laboratories, and government organizations. This group (Figure 1) met over three days to discuss the steady and significant rise in undergraduate students graduating with degrees in materials science and engineering (MSE) over the last decade as a result of rising enrollments in many existing MSE programs and the creation of new undergraduate programs. The workshop attendees discussed the impact of these changes on the educational mission and opportunities for employment and the establishment of best practices for the future.

Range anxiety, the fear of running out of power before being able to recharge an electric vehicle, may be a thing of the past, according to a team of Penn State engineers who are looking at lithium iron phosphate batteries that have a range of 250 miles with the ability to charge in 10 minutes.

A research team at Penn State aims to develop ultrahigh temperature materials for gas turbine use in the aviation and power generation industries, through computational design, advanced manufacturing techniques and systematic characterization.

Shashank Priya sees a future where instead of throwing away broken electronics, those devices heal themselves, and where machines evolve, even changing their form and function, to adapt to the task at hand.

The NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium is accepting applications for the 2021-22 Undergraduate Scholarship Program. The statewide program awards a limited number of one-year scholarships to rising juniors and seniors who are enrolled full-time at an accredited Pennsylvania college or university.