Penn State President Eric Barron talked with Ishana Shekhawat, grad student in mechanical engineering and founder of PlayPhysio, about entrepreneurship and small business development on a recent episode of "Digging Deeper."
FEBRUARY 2017
FEATURES
Presidential Early Career Award 
for Michael Tonks

The assistant professor of mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering was selected by former U.S. President Barack Obama to receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, t he highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists in the early stages of their careers.

Tonks is one of 102 awardees for 2017. >>
NSF CAREER Award Provides $500K to Develop New Class of Synthetic Optical Materials 

Chris Giebink, the Charles K. Etner Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, received the award for his project, "Non-Hermitian Organic Photonics."  >>
Predictive Kinetic Model Paves the Way for Designing Microbial Factories

Researchers in Penn State's  Chemical and Biological Systems Optimization Lab have developed a near genome-scale kinetic model of Escherichia coli's metabolic processes, which will allow scientists to quickly and efficiently use computer modeling to predict the effects that multiple gene interventions have on the microbial factories.

"This could eventually be transformative in our ability to reliably design novel overproducing microbial strains," said  Costas D. Maranas, Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical Engineering.  >>  
Using Stem Cells to Regenerate the External Layer of a Human Heart

A process using human stem cells can generate the cells that cover the external surface of a human heart -- epicardium cells -- according to a multidisciplinary team of researchers.

Xiaojun Lance Lian, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and biology, is leading the study at Penn State.  >>  
Distinguished Professorships for Karen Thole and Anand Sivasubramaniam 

Penn State's Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs has named Karen Thole and Anand Sivasubramaniam as distinguished professors. 
 
Distinguished professors are acknowledged leaders in their fields of research or creative activity; demonstrate significant leadership in raising the University's standards in teaching, research, or creative activity and service; and exhibit excellent teaching skills.
 
Read more about Karen Thole.  >> 
 
Read more about  Anand Sivasubramaniam. >>
DOE Grant to Develop Deeper Crop Roots

Paul Heinemann, head of the agricultural and biological engineering department, is on a team of researchers that received a $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, to design a low-cost, integrated system that can identify and screen for high-yielding, deeper-rooted crops. >>
RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS
  • Forbes names Huanyu (Larry) Cheng to 30 Under 30 Science list  >>  
  • American Concrete Institute elects Farshad Rajabipour a Fellow >>
  • IEEE Education Society Helen Plants Award for the Leonhard Center >>
  • AIMBE Fellowships for Yong Wang and Pak Kin Wong >>
  • NAHB Outstanding Junior Educator Award for Brian Wolfgang >>
  • Thomson Reuters recognizes Bruce Logan as Highly Cited Researcher >>
  • U.S. News and World Report ranks Penn State World Campus No. 4 for best online graduate engineering programs >>
  • Minerals, Metals and Materials Society Fellowship for Long-Qing Chen >>
  • Paul Morrow Professorship for Tim Simpson >>
  • Dean's Fellowships for six engineering faculty >>
  • MilliporeSigma's Life Science Award in Bioseparations for Ying Li >>
  • Traffic Control Device Challenge win for civil engineering grad students >>
AROUND THE COLLEGE
  • Project to develop computational tools for coupled human-natural systems >>
  • College of Engineering seed grants for multidisciplinary research efforts >>
  • ENGINE grants support innovation and entrepreneurship >>
  • Penn State partners with Tsinghua University to sponsor Sino-U.S. Conference on Quality, Analytics and Innovations >>
  • Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute designated as automated vehicle proving ground >>
  • Mechanical engineering junior helps 3-D printing course take off >>
  • Fulbright Scholar Joan Redwing travels to Sweden to study new transistor materials >>
  • Student group promotes interdisciplinary collaboration to build drones >>
  • Jim Myers to retire as director of Penn State's Facilities Engineering Institute >>
UPCOMING EVENTS

MARCH 1-2
25th Annual  Pennsylvania Housing Research Center Conference >>

MARCH 5-11
Spring Break

APRIL 4
College of Engineering Research Symposium >>

APRIL 27 
College of Engineering Design Showcase  >>

MAY 22-23
Penn State Energy Days  >>
 
Take a quick survey for us  >>
STAY CONNECTED: