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Six materials researchers at Penn State have received the 2025 Rustum and Della Roy Innovation in Materials Research Award, recognizing a wide range of research with societal impact. The award is presented by the Materials Research Institute (MRI) for recent interdisciplinary materials research at Penn State that yields innovative and unexpected results.

The Quantum Hub, housed under the Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), has awarded Quantum SuperSEED grants to three Penn State faculty research teams. The program, which invests in high-impact quantum research, is designed to bring together Penn State faculty from across different departments and disciplines to tackle complex research challenges and advance quantum science, engineering and computation.

Since the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified in 1983, roughly 91.4 million people around the world have contracted the virus and an additional 44.1 million have died from related causes. Currently, nearly 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV-1, the version of the virus that causes more than 95% of infections. While significant progress has been made in HIV vaccine research, according to Penn State Professor Dipanjan Pan, there is currently no approved vaccine for HIV. Research is ongoing, though, he said, with multiple preventive and therapeutic strategies under investigation — but some vaccine candidates can cause participants to falsely test HIV-positive, complicating diagnosis and clinical management.

Matias Moreno is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in materials science and engineering in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS). His goal, he said, is to earn a doctoral degree in the field and contribute to sustainable energy technologies that improve access and infrastructure for resource-limited communities.

Penn State’s LionGlass project has reached a major milestone in its partnership with Italian glassmaker Bormioli Luigi, marking one year of collaboration and the signing of a second-year agreement to continue commercialization efforts in the cosmetics packaging industry.

After more than a decade as director of the Penn State Materials Research Institute (MRI), Clive Randall, Evan Pugh University Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, will step down to refocus his efforts to teaching and research. He will remain on as director through the summer of 2026 to help guide the transition. 

A team of researchers at Penn State was awarded a $3 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a graduate training program designed to equip the next generation of engineers and scientists with the tools required to affect transformative change in sustainable materials processing.

Penn State will soon celebrate its 11th GivingTuesday, and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) will be raising money to support the Millennium Scholars Program. The annual event is slated to begin at 6:55 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, and last through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, although early giving has already begun.

A bottled beverage might soon come with a lower carbon footprint thanks to a new partnership between one of the world’s leading glass manufacturers and scientists at Penn State. 

Verallia, the world’s third largest producer of glass containers for food and beverages, has announced a partnership with Penn State to scale up the use of LionGlass, a new family of glass developed by researchers at the University. The company has entered into a research partnership with Penn State to test the new type of glass for use in consumer packaging.

Penn State’s research enterprise continues to grow, despite continued shifts in the federal funding landscape, Senior Vice President for Research Andrew Read said during a conversation with the Penn State community on Nov. 3.