Content Administrator | Penn State Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Hometown:

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.

Electric vehicle owners may soon be able to pull into a fueling station, plug their car in, go to the restroom, get a cup of coffee and in 10 minutes, drive out with a fully charged battery, according to a team of engineers.

Bacteria and other swimming microorganisms evolved to thrive in challenging environments, and researchers struggle to mimic their unique abilities for biomedical technologies, but fabrication challenges created a manufacturing bottleneck. Microscopic, 3D-printed, tori — donuts — coated with nickel and platinum may bridge the gap between biological and synthetic swimmers, according to an international team of researchers.

In order to serve the needs of the MatSE community and assist with resolving problems and conflicts, faculty members are periodically appointed to serve as an Ombudsperson.

Joshua Robinson, associate professor of materials science and engineering (MatSE), and Natalie Briggs, doctoral candidate in MatSE, are hoping their accidental discovery could join the list of some of science’s most welcome surprises that revolutionized the way we approach medicine and medical testing.