Brain-inspired computing could tackle big problems in a small way
Materials Research Institute
Our integrated research laboratories turn concepts into prototypes
By discovering a way to combine lithium salts with ceramics, researchers in the Penn State College of Engineering and the Penn State Materials Research Institute may have created a new class of materials for longer-lasting batteries. According to researchers, the composite nature of the batteries could make recycling easier, reducing landfill waste.
Every scientific discovery has one thing in common: It started with a question. But, as Penn State materials scientist Jeffrey Catchmark will attest, sometimes the most ingenious answers come from questions you didn’t even know to ask.
Catchmark is developing new biomaterials by manipulating compounds found in nature. His research with biomaterials began with a single question: Is there an eco-friendly alternative to styrofoam?
Our brains are surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, which has an important role in transporting waste out of the brain. Failures in this waste transport process contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases but the dynamics of this process are poorly understood. I will talk about recent work looking at the micro-scale drivers of cerebrospinal fluid circulation, and the impact of blocking outflow pathways on waste transport.
“The Air we Breathe: Atmospheric Particulate Impacts on Climate and Human Health”
Aerosol particles impact the climate system through their interactions with light and clouds while also impacting human health by causing inflammation in the lungs. The Freedman group focuses on laboratory studies of aerosol physical and chemical properties, and in recent years, we have begun incorporating materials chemistry into our studies of ice nucleation and phase transitions under confinement. I am looking for ways in which our research may be applied more broadly in materials science and for applications to human health.
Quantum at Penn State - An overview of quantum information science, quantum materials, and quantum sensing.
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Penn State’s investment in its interdisciplinary research institutes, including the Materials Research Institute (MRI), has created a culture of strong collaborations across disciplines. At Penn State, many researchers have the support of both their academic departments and the university-wide institutes, such as MRI. By encouraging crosscutting research, MRI and its sister institutes open up traditional silos of knowledge to the stimulus of other viewpoints and new ideas. This mingling of disciplines, often called “convergence,” brings together the physical and life sciences with engineering and computation to solve the most complex problems facing society today and in the future.
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