October 2020
Our monthly email newsletter highlights just a few of the many ways that the Penn State College of Engineering works to inspire change and impact tomorrow.
Trustees approve plans and funds for part of engineering expansion
As the next stage of a proposed, decade-long initiative that will transform the College of Engineering and its facilities, the Board of Trustees approved final design plans and funds for a new research and teaching building near the western edge of the Penn State University Park campus.
Architectural engineering researcher to study COVID-19 aerosol transmission
Donghyun Rim, associate professor of architectural engineering, is leading a one-year, $108,000 Rapid Response Research Program COVID-19 study funded by the National Science Foundation to understand how the virus is transmitted in indoor environments.
Penn State's research expenditures top $1 billion mark
With $153 million in research expenditures during the 2019-20 fiscal
year—an increase of $4 million over the previous fiscal year—the College of Engineering helped propel Penn State's research expenditures past $1 billion for the year. The annual total for engineering includes research expenditures on external awards and general funds along with the college’s share from institutes and centers that are centrally managed.
Researchers fuse novel devices with biological inspiration for future AI systems
Penn State computer scientists have received a three-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to explore ways to develop more intelligent and efficient artificial intelligence systems by mimicking the human nervous system through a specific approach called spiking neural networks. 
College of Engineering, three programs rise in U.S. News undergraduate rankings
In the recently released 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs rankings, the College of Engineering ranks number 22 in the country, advancing three places from last year’s report. Three engineering specialty disciplines also climbed in the rankings.


Engineers imitate human hands to make better sensors
An international research team has developed “electronic skin” sensors capable of mimicking the dynamic process of human motion. This work could help severely injured people, such as soldiers, regain the ability to control their movements, as well as contribute to the development of smart robotics, according to Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Early Career Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.

"If you are able to study flies doing what they do best—flying—you can find some incredible solutions that already exist in biology." 

By examining how fruit flies use eye movements to enhance flight control with a staggeringly fast reaction speed—about 30 times faster than the blink of an eye—mechanical engineering researchers have detailed a framework to mimic this ability in robotics.

Algorithm aims to alert consumers before they use illicit online pharmacies

A machine learning algorithm developed by industrial engineering and supply chain and information systems researchers may be able to detect an illicit online pharmacy and warn users before they purchase what might be substandard or even illegal drugs.

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