Penn State Energy and Environment News

Penn State-led Global Building Network at forefront of building performance

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A large-scale interdisciplinary effort led by Penn State, called the Global Building Network, is underway to create high-performance buildings, which are buildings capable of achieving net-zero carbon-based energy usage while increasing occupant performance and reducing health risks.

Microgrids, major changes: Professor leading effort to redesign power grid

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When Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard in 2012, entire city skylines went completely black with the curious exception of a few small areas still emitting light, thanks to their use of combined heat and power systems, a key component to microgrids. Jim Freihaut, professor of architectural engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, sees these microgrids not as exceptions but as the norm of the future.

New IEE leaders mindful of energy, environmental challenges

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Bruce Logan and Erica Smithwick have been named associate directors for the Institutes of Energy and the Environment.

College of Engineering announces faculty promotions

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Fourteen Penn State College of Engineering faculty members have been selected for promotions, effective July 1, 2019.

Penn State promotions in academic rank, effective July 1, 2019

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The following is a list of academic promotions for tenured and tenure-line faculty members at Penn State, effective July 1.

Civil and environmental engineering announces tenure for five faculty members

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Five Penn State Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty members have been selected for promotion and/or tenure, effective July 1, 2019.

Engineering professor awarded $1.1M grant to increase efficiency of organic LEDs

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Chris Giebink, associate professor of electrical engineering at Penn State, has been awarded a two-year, $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for his research in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The research is focused on increasing the efficiency of OLEDs used for room lighting.

Penn State EnvironMentors team wins first place in national competition

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A team of Penn State faculty, students and local high schoolers took first place at the 2019 EnvironMentors National Science Fair in Washington, D.C. EnvironMentors is a program that pairs university faculty and undergraduates with underrepresented high schoolers who want to gain research experience before college.

Penn State team places first in Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition

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An interdisciplinary team of 17 Penn State students recently placed first overall in the 2019 Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition, a contest designed to challenge undergraduate students to create unique solutions to complex wind energy projects. This is Penn State’s fourth victory in the competition in the last six years.

Institutes of Energy and the Environment announces seed grant recipients

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The 2018–19 Institutes of Energy and the Environment seed grant recipients have been awarded to 18 groups of interdisciplinary researchers at Penn State.

'Materials from First Principles' theme for 2019 Nelson W. Taylor Lecture Series

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The 2019 Nelson W. Taylor Lecture Series in Materials Science and Engineering will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, April 11 in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium on Penn State’s University Park campus. The theme of this year’s lecture series is “Materials from First Principles.”

Researchers look for successful end to power grid failures

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Anyone who has experienced an extended power outage knows that the effects can go well beyond inconvenient and become outright dangerous. Luckily, with the help of a $999,000 NSF Cyber Physical Systems grant, Nilanjan Ray Chaudhuri, assistant professor in electrical engineering, is working on research to prevent failures in the power grid and enable a quick recovery when they do occur.