Administrator

Imagine, Fall 2019 MatSE newsletter

Five materials research students pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees earned fellowship offers from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

The program aims to support “outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or in STEM education,” according to nsf.gov.

Students receive three years of support within a five-year fellowship period during their graduate education by proving they have “potential for significant research achievements.” The NSF estimates that 1,500 awards are made each year, with anticipated funding of $138,000 per award.

Materials science and engineering programs have traditionally been considered to be “boutique” options with small enrollment numbers and manageable resources, but in the past ten years that has changed. At Penn State, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) has seen a 175 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment, but it isn’t just Penn State MatSE that is exploding, the same trends are occurring in programs all across the country.

Seeing this trend, Allen Kimel, associate head for Undergraduate Studies, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Penn State, and Susan Sinnott, professor and head, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Penn State, published a paper in the MRS Bulletin “The Materials Science and Engineering Undergraduate Enrollment Floodgates Are Open” in April 2018.

Based on that paper and with funding from National Science Foundation, Kimel and Sinnott brought together many of the stakeholders affected by the rising growth in MatSE at the Materials Science Undergraduate Education Conference: "The Enrollment Floodgates Are Open—Best Practices in Materials Science and Engineering Undergraduate Education for Rising Enrollments."

As Penn State students left campus for spring break in 1987, Beth Jordon '84, '86g was finalizing her plans for her wedding to Larry Hancock '83, '88g. On March 7, Beth walked down the aisle in Eisenhower Chapel and married her former lab partner, Larry.

Beth and Larry celebrated their nuptials with graduate students and faculty from polymer science as the DJ that worked at the Shandygaff (the place of their first date) provided the music. They had their wedding photos taken at the Nittany Lion Shrine by a photographer that covered Penn State football, and of course, their wedding colors were blue and white.

Fast forward thirty plus years, and Beth and Larry Hancock are still as blue and white as they were the day they were wed.

Thanks to Beth and Larry for answering the same set of questions in a "She Said ... He Said" edition of Alumni Spotlight. 

This year our staff costume theme is cereal. Click here to vote for your favorite costume! 

Vote by 8:00 p.m. on October 31, 2019.

Winner will be announced on November 1, 2019 on Penn State MatSE Facebook.

The MatSE Cereal Characters - Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Trix Bunny, Tony the Tiger and Captain Crunch

"Trix are for kids, silly rabbit!" - Trix Rabbit
Hayley Colyer, graduate program coordinator

"Crunch-a-tize me cap'n!" - Captain Crunch
Katina Posney, administrative support coordinator

"The taste you can see" - Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Meg Abplanalp, undergraduate academic adviser and recruiter

"They're Gr-r-reat!" - Frosted Flakes
Sadie Spicer, administrative coordinator for Dr. Jon-Paul Maria and for Dr. Shashank Priya

Click here to vote for your favorite costume! Vote by 8:00 p.m. on October 31, 2019.