News

Qisheng Ding admits building a portable escape room on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center is a little out of his comfort zone. He’s a senior majoring in materials science and engineering, so the concept of building a storyline, developing computer coding, wiring lights and other electronics — all housed in a rented tent — was foreign to him. So was working with a team of other engineers outside of his field.

The third annual Energy Days conference will be held this year on May 30 and 31 at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. Energy Days was created in an effort to convene the energy expertise of Penn State and develop partnerships to help improve the affordability, sustainability and security of energy in the future. The conference is open to the public and is free for Penn State students, faculty and staff.

Staff Sgt. Timothy Bowen said he built his career by honing his craft. For the past eight years, Bowen served in the U.S. Army and National Guard, including one year in Iraq. Bowen’s dedication continued as a materials science and engineering major at Penn State. While earning his degree, he worked at the Applied Research Lab and appeared on the dean’s list six times. Bowen is the 2018 recipient of the Outstanding Adult Student Award.

Penn State Greater Allegheny will begin to offer the third year of the Energy Engineering major beginning in Fall 2018. This will be the first 3+1 program  at any Penn State campus and will allow students to remain at Greater Allegheny through their junior year, moving to University Park to complete their final year of study.

Fatimah Altarrah has been named the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ student marshal, the top graduate overall, and Madeline Nyblade has been named the college’s science honor marshal, the top graduate in a non-engineering discipline. They will be recognized during the college’s spring 2018 commencement ceremony, scheduled for 8 p.m., Friday, May 4, in the Pegula Ice Arena.

After 15 weeks of hard work, College of Engineering students displayed their capstone design projects at the Spring 2018 Capstone Design Project Showcase held on April 26 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The National Science Foundation and the United Kingdom's National Environmental Research Council are the forces behind eight new initiatives in Antarctica to determine how quickly a massive glacier could collapse. Penn State is part of two of these projects, GHOST and MELT.

A team of engineers worked diligently for months designing a new passenger car seat for the Ford Motor Company, harnessing years of education to create a finished prototype. But they weren’t professionals working in Detroit — the team members were all undergraduate seniors at Penn State.

Robert Johnson, a Penn State junior majoring in meteorology and atmospheric science, earned first place in the television weathercaster category at the annual Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts competition held April 8-9, in Las Vegas. The awards ceremony took place during this year’s National Association of Broadcasters’ NAB Show. For more than 60 years the BEA has worked with NAB in creating the next generation of media professionals.

Nikhil Bharadwaj had an ingenious idea for improving the tailgating experience for himself and his friends at Penn State football games. Drawing from his love of renewable energy, the senior majoring in energy engineering began drafting plans for a small-scale solar box capable of charging cell phones and powering devices while tailgating at Beaver Stadium. But then he had a better idea.