Developing a quick-acting foam for treating wounds on the battlefield
Materials Research Institute
Our integrated research laboratories turn concepts into prototypes
Birgitt Boschitsch has earned many titles – mechanical engineer, Penn State doctoral student, bourgeoning entrepreneur. But no matter how she’s using her talents, she always remembers why she pursued engineering.
“Day-to-day, I get to work on interesting technological problems,” she said. “But there’s also a long-term societal impact that engineers can have, which is ultimately solving problems for people around the world.”
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $1.8 million to a team of scientists led by John Badding, professor of chemistry, physics, and materials science and engineering at Penn State, to establish the NSF Center for Nanothread Chemistry (CNC). The center will bring together a diverse group of chemists to pioneer research on nanothreads, a new form of carbon molecule.
A team of researchers from Penn State’s Materials Research Institute and the University of Utah has developed a wearable energy harvesting device that could generate energy from the swing of an arm while walking or jogging. The device, about the size of a wristwatch, produces enough power to run a personal health monitoring system.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers, the Materials Characterization Laboratory (MCL) is a fully-staffed, open access, analytical research facility at Penn State's Materials Research Institute charged with enabling researchers from > 40 academic departments. We will highlight a few new/novel capabilities in molecular spectroscopy, x-ray scattering, sample preparation, optical microscopy, and surface analysis.
“Apologia Pro Vita Sua“- Part II in the Morals, Ethics, and Faith in our Science Communities Miniseries
In Part I of this series, Dr. Crystal Ramsey challenged us to consider not just the “what” and the “how” regarding our academic endeavors, but also the “why”. We were encouraged to explore “what if” questions such as:
In the spirit of articulating “why”, I’ve borrowed the title of a work by 19th century British theologian/educator, John Henry Newman; “Apologia Pro Vita Sua” which roughly translates to “a rationale for my life.” I will discuss, with a biographical bend, my wrestling with the contours of a relationship between faith and knowledge, recognizing that the history of the academy, at least in part, suggests the impropriety if not the impossibility of such.
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.
In the latest issue of Focus on Materials, the boundaries between materials science, engineering, and the life sciences are blurring. We offer a glimpse into the fascinating world of “convergence,” where the future of healthcare lies.
To receive a FREE printed issue, subscribe to "Printed Materials" and add/update your mailing address.
View the ONLINE ISSUE HERE
2DLM
ICAT
ATOMIC
CIMP-3D
Energy Institute
HESE
CNS MRSEC
PSIEE
Institute for Cyberscience
CDP
Every organization has different priorities and resources. Directors of the MRI facilities recognizes this and help your company leverage our labs in various ways.
Find out more...
© The Pennsylvania State University
Materials Research Institute
All rights reserved.
The 2DCC-MIP is funded by NSF cooperative agreement DMR-1539916.
MRI is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Registration may be required for some sites.
General inquiries: mri-info@psu.edu | Website inquiries: mri-web@psu.edu
Free subscriptions to newsletters, print publications, and more
