Millennium Café

Modern technologies, from electric vehicles to wind turbines, depend on rare earth elements and other critical minerals that are extremely difficult to separate due to their nearly identical chemical properties. In this talk, I will show how we can reprogram cellulose, nature’s most abundant biopolymer, at the nanoscale to selectively capture specific rare earth elements and precious metals from complex mixtures by precisely engineering its chemistry and structure. This new class of bio-derived separation platform is sustainable, highly selective, and scalable, offering a transformative pathway for critical mineral recovery and circular manufacturing.

Amir Sheikhi | Chemical Engineering

Evolving regulations and consumer expectations are driving the food packaging industry to adopt new can coating chemistries, but evaluating how these coatings interact with food ingredients remains slow, empirical, and limited in mechanistic insight. We combined optical profilometry (microscopy) with unsupervised AI to automatically detect and classify coating defects across 1,000+ unlabeled images, linking defect types to the food ingredients that drive them and showing that image-derived features can predict results from conventional analytical techniques -- building predictive tools as a step toward rational design for next-generation food contact coatings.

Stiphany Tieu | Materials Science & Engineering

Effective industry outreach is built on preparation, credibility, and relationship‑building over time. Drawing on lessons from years in both academia and industry, this presentation offers practical guidance on making strong first impressions, engaging companies strategically, and starting collaborations that can grow into long‑term partnerships. Attendees will leave with actionable tips they can apply immediately to strengthen industry connections and expand the impact of their research.

Dave Fecko | MRI Industry Collaborations Director

Volumetric defects in additively manufactured components remain a major barrier to their safe adoption in critical applications. This talk shows how we can guide machine learning (ML) models by encoding the underlying wave physics, allowing us to quantify volumetric porosity from raw ultrasonic signals and to image defects with unprecedented resolution. By combining physics-based models with ML, we move toward faster, more reliable, and more automated quality control.

Michail Skiadopoulos | Engineering Science and Mechanics

Breakthrough research doesn’t change the world if no one hears about it. The Researcher to Rockstar initiative helps Penn State researchers learn how to communicate their discoveries, connect with industry and collaborators, and expand the reach of their work beyond traditional academic channels. In this short talk, we’ll share how researchers can amplify their impact without becoming full-time marketers (and offering Penn State resources to help amplify your message).

Todd Price | Office of the Senior VP for Research

This talk will overview recent research on human tendency to over-trust and under-trust AI. It will describe the role played by cognitive heuristics (or mental shortcuts) in shaping user perceptions, with a particular focus on machine heuristic. With data from experiments comparing human and AI sources and gatekeepers, it will delineate the effect of both positive and negative machine heuristics upon user trust. Finally, it will suggest ways to mitigate the effect of heuristics and achieve better trust calibration.

S. Shyam Sundar | Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications