research News

Researchers in the Penn State College of Engineering received $434,000 from the United States Army to develop additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, techniques for high strength steels and alloys.

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.

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 (PSGC) is currently accepting applications to its graduate research fellowship program.

Reactive molecules, such as free radicals, can be produced in the body after exposure to certain environments or substances and go on to cause cell damage. Antioxidants can minimize this damage by interacting with the radicals before they affect cells.