“Materials matter at a human level:” highlights from Materials Day

By Cara Aungst Photo: Penn State On October 20-21, Materials Day at Penn State showcased two things that University excels in: breakthroughs in materials science, and collaborating with industry and government entities to propel innovations into the marketplace. This year’s event, which was held in person after a two-year hiatus, focused on research discoveries being […]
Targeting the world’s most difficult challenges

By Holly Riddle Penn State is frequently ranked as one of the top research universities in the world. Earlier this year, the National Science Foundation ranked Penn State as 22nd in the country in total research expenditures, fourth for “breadth and depth of research enterprise,” first for work in materials science, second in materials engineering […]
Happy Valley: Home of the smart chip?

By Jeff Cavanaugh Across the globe, people rely on smart technology every second of the day, but current security technology within smart devices is lacking in energy conservation and overall efficiency. A team of Penn State researchers hopes to change that. Photo: Kelby Hochreither, Penn State A team of Penn State researchers led by Saptarshi […]
Six student startups, $15k each and 13 weeks of focus

By Cara Aungst Six Penn State student startups each received a $15,000 grant and participated in Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank programming this summer as part of the 2022 Summer Founders Program. Credit: Penn State. This summer, six Penn State student startups participated in a 13-week accelerator in a bid to jumpstart their […]
Research discovery on waste heat could yield innovative new energy source

By Timothy Kelly The Earth and Mineral Sciences Energy Institute, Penn State University. Photo: T. Kelly Waste heat is the unused heat given to the surrounding environment (in the form of thermal energy) by a heat engine in a thermodynamic process in which it converts heat to useful work. Recovering and recycling waste heat has […]
How Penn State’s materials research discoveries are impacting society

By Cara Aungst Materials Day 2022, the annual marquee event for materials-related interdisciplinary science and engineering at Penn State, will be held Oct. 20-21, 2022, at Penn State’s HUB and Millennium Science Complex. The event will be held in-person this year after being held virtually for the past two years. This year’s theme is “Materials […]
Penn State ranked in top 25 American public institutions

Photo: Penn State/Christie Clancy. Penn State topped rankings in U.S. News’ annual “Best Colleges” ranking for 2022-23, released on Sept. 12. In the study, Penn State is in the top 25 among American Association of Universities public institutions, 31st among national public universities and 77th overall among 443 institutions included in the “National Universities” ranking. […]
Happy Valley ready for a health care renaissance

By Holly Swanson Credit: Provided by Geisinger When Wendy Oakes made the decision to return to State College from San Francisco, she knew what to expect. Her college years at Penn State and frequent return trips to Happy Valley gave her a taste of the year-round festivals, sporting events, music and art productions and plenty […]
Big ticket fun makes Happy Valley one of the top places to live

By Cara Aungst Happy Valley just ranked as one of the top places to live in the United States, again. The Livability rating was based on economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and health care. But what the study did not take into account is the pinch-me level of big ticket […]