alumni News

Registration is now open for Penn State’s annual Materials Day, to be held Oct. 12-13 as a hybrid event both virtually and on the University Park campus. This year’s theme is "The Intersection of Materials, Manufacturing and Sustainability."  

Each year, the University Staff Advisory Council (USAC) selects three outstanding staff for their accomplishments and contributions to the University and honors them at a celebratory event. 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a renewal of funding for the Materials Innovation Platform (MIP) national user facility at Penn State’s Materials Research Institute (MRI), the Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium (2DCC). The 2DCC is one of four MIPs in the United States and was awarded $20.1 million over five years, an increase of 13% above the initial award in 2016.

Titilayo Shodiya, a graduate of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, was one 16 recipients selected to receive the Alumni Achievement Award from the Penn State Alumni Association. The award recognizes alumni 35 years of age and younger for their extraordinary professional accomplishments. She was honored during a virtual ceremony on April 13.

Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) recognized exceptional students and faculty for their academic excellence, service and leadership during its annual Wilson Awards Celebration, held virtually on Sunday, April 11. The Wilson Awards are named in honor of Matthew and Anne Wilson, major benefactors of the college.

Energy Days, an annual conference that brings together professionals working in all areas of energy, will be held on May 19 and 20. This year’s event will be virtual, and it is free and open to the public. Registration is now open.

The Penn State and materials research communities are mourning the loss of Della M. Roy, emeritus professor of materials science and a founding member of the Penn State Materials Research Laboratory (MRL), now the Materials Research Institute (MRI). Della died on March 27 at age 94. 

A two-day virtual symposium featuring speakers from academia and industry will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, April 14-15, and will discuss the past and future of polymer sciences. The symposium is free and open to the public via Zoom.

The Penn State Alumni Association will recognize 16 outstanding Penn Staters during a virtual ceremony on Tuesday, April 13. Registration is open and free to all Penn Staters, and you can sign up online.

When Peter Heaney, Penn State professor of mineral sciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the Materials Research Institute, was preparing for a graduate seminar in crystallography last spring, he searched for a photo of an unsung hero of materials science and engineering, Walter Friedrich. What he found instead was a buried interview from 1963 with Friedrich that Heaney helped to translate, shining some light on the German scientist’s vital yet forgotten role in a Nobel Prize-winning discovery.