Penn State Energy and Environment News

Fiber-optic cables capture thunderquake rumbles

| psu.edu

Underground fiber-optic cables, like those that connect the world through phone and internet service, hold untapped potential for monitoring severe weather, according to scientists.

Applied Optoelectronics and Photonics Lab takes top Tech Tournament honors

| psu.edu

Chris Giebink, associate professor of electrical engineering, and his Applied Optoelectronics & Photonics Lab at Penn State, recently took first place and $75,000 in the Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference’s Tech Tournament competition, for the lab's “nanoporous antireflection coatings.”

Symposium to explore the future of solar energy

| psu.edu

A symposium on the future of solar energy, featuring experts from Penn State as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California Merced, and Princeton University, will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, in 100 Life Sciences Building, University Park.

Mechanical engineering professor named ASME fellow

| psu.edu

Paris von Lockette, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State, has been named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Mechanical engineering professors to help develop a universal 3D printer

| psu.edu

Researchers in the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering have been awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the science underlying a universal 3D printer.

New engineering courses highlight innovation in manufacturing

| psu.edu

The Penn State Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering will introduce two new graduate courses on the future of manufacturing and nanotechnology during the spring semester.

Nanoporous Antireflection Coatings secures $75,000 in tech tournament

| psu.edu

Representatives from 12 startups took the stage for the 2019 Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference Tech Tournament to make their pitch for up to $75,000 in cash to help their organizations take the next step to commercialization.

Recycling rates could rise significantly with this simple tweak

| theconversation.com

Consumers are much more likely to recycle their waste after viewing messages showing the products it might turn into.

New AI app predicts climate change stress for farmers in Africa

| psu.edu

A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool available for free in a smartphone app can predict near-term crop productivity for farmers in Africa and may help them protect their staple crops — such as maize, cassava and beans — in the face of climate warming, according to Penn State researchers. The team will unveil the new tool — which will work with their existing AI assistant, called “PlantVillage Nuru” — to coincide with the United Nations Climate Action Summit held today (Sept. 23) at the U.N. Headquarters in New York City.

The new geographers: Six faculty hires are driving the future of the field

| psu.edu

Six new tenure-line geography faculty started this fall in the Department of Geography. They conduct research on a wide variety of subjects including water, climate change, natural hazards, remote sensing, social networks, data mining, economics, and inequality and diversity.

How the Borland Project Space emphasizes sustainability practices through arts research

| collegian.psu.edu

Room 125 of the Borland Building brings Penn State students, faculty and community members together to witness non-traditional art forms focused on sustainability practices in research.

Building materials researcher joins architectural engineering

| psu.edu

Juan Pablo “JP” Gevaudan, an experimental cement chemist and current Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow, joined Penn State’s Department of Architectural Engineering on Aug. 16 as an affiliate professor. A member of the department’s structural engineering group, he will become a tenure-track assistant professor on July 1, 2021.