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Penn State has named the inaugural Innovation to Impact Awards recipients, recognizing faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs and partners whose work exemplifies the University’s commitment to translating research into real-world impact.

The Innovation Trailblazer Award honors early‑career faculty and staff whose creativity, inventorship and entrepreneurial drive accelerate the translation of Penn State research to market. The 2025 Innovation Trailblazer Award recognizes Nicholas Clark, assistant research professor in materials science and engineering, for his early-career leadership in the scientific and commercial advancement of LionGlass, a revolutionary, low-carbon glass technology developed at Penn State.

Penn State ranked in 49 out of 55 subjects in the 2026 World University Rankings by Subject, released March 25 by London-based QS, one of the major three international organizations that annually rank academic institutions. 

The QS subject rankings are based on academic and employer reputation surveys; research output, sourced from information analytics company Elsevier; and international research network, which examines a university’s sustained international research collaboration.

Wearing a bonnet and historic period dress at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, Penn State student Irena Potochny stayed steadily in-character as a maple syrup–making pioneer while engaging with the curious minds of community members during the annual Maple Harvest Festival on March 21-22.

Lee Kump, the John Leone Dean of the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS), has announced his decision to step down as dean, effective June 30. Kump, who has served as dean for nearly nine years and is celebrating 40 years of service to the college and University in 2026, will remain at Penn State as professor of geosciences on the College of EMS faculty after his deanship concludes.

Making computer chips smaller is not just about better design. It also depends on a critical step in manufacturing called patterning, where nanoscale structures are carved into materials to form the circuits inside everything from smartphones to advanced sensors.  

Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) recognized exceptional staff at its annual Dean’s Staff Appreciation Luncheon held in December 2025 at the Nittany Lion Inn. The awards program consists of three annual awards, the Future Star Award, Circle of Excellence, and the EMS Ambassador. The Charles Hosler  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Staff Award was also recognized.

Allison Beese, professor of materials science and engineering and of mechanical engineering at Penn State, has been named the senior associate director of Penn State’s new National Security Institute. She will begin her appointment on May 15.

DNA, the genetic blueprints in every living organism, is nature’s most efficient storage mechanism, capable of storing about 215 million gigabytes of data per gram. That storage capacity, if applied to electronics, could enable significantly more efficient data centers, speedier data processing and the ability to process far more complicated data. The trick to making this technological leap is getting DNA, a biological material, to work with electronics. A team led by Penn State researchers has figured out how to bridge the wide compatibility gap.

A stretchy, conductive type of plastic could help power the next generation of implantable biomedical devices, like longer-lasting pacemakers or glucose monitors, according to Enrique Gomez, professor of chemical engineering at Penn State.

In the race to lighter, safer and more efficient electronics — from electric vehicles to transcontinental energy grids — one component literally holds the power: the polymer capacitor. Seen in such applications as medical defibrillators, polymer capacitors are responsible for quick bursts of energy and stabilizing power rather than holding large amounts of energy, as opposed to the slower, steadier energy of a battery. However, current state-of-the-art polymer capacitors cannot survive beyond 212 degrees Fahrenheit (F), which the air around a typical car engine can hit during summer months and an overworked data center can surpass on any given day.