Electrical energy has transformed human civilization and has brought many technological advances and comforts to human beings while leaving damaging footprints to the environment we live in. Our research focuses on "Energy Conversion Materials" and how they can be applied to various platforms towards more sustainable energy.
Bed Poudel
Materials Science & Engineering
Flooding remains the most devastating and costly natural hazard in Pennsylvania. The dynamic nature of flood risk highlights the importance of interdisciplinary approaches—combining hydrology, data science/3D technologies, policy, health, food security, and community impact and engagement—are critical for effective response and mitigation.
Maurie Kelly
Institute of Energy and the Environment
Established in 2022 by the Penn State College of Medicine, the LION Clinic is a mobile health clinic with a three-part mission of Service-Education-Research. The clinic aims to serve medically underserved communities by providing health care services, educate medical students through hands-on and student-led care provision, and facilitate community-engaged research on rural population health. In this talk, I will describe how our team has used a unique hybrid of research and service to build trust with underserved communities, explore community-identified needs and desires, and adapt the clinic model to respond to those needs and desires.
Kristina Brant | Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education
Introducing new opportunities aimed at helping graduate students 1) broaden their understanding of how engineering, law and policy intersect and how science/technology can shape policy as well as how policy shapes science; and 2) gain access to hands-on opportunities in bridging research to practice and policy with local governments and non-profits. And, for STEM graduates to serve as non-partisan science policy advisors to the PA legislature and advisory bodies.
Christine Kirchhoff | Law, Policy, Engineering
Space-based spectrometers rely on a critical component to decode light from distant stars, galaxies, and exoplanets: diffraction gratings. At Penn State’s Nanofabrication Lab, we use electron-beam lithography to craft these gratings with extreme precision, customizing them for NASA’s most ambitious missions. This technology unlocks new designs for astronomical spectrometers, enabling missions that were previously impractical. I will share how our work helps push the boundaries of what is possible in space science.
Fabien Grise
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Nature’s photosynthesis shows how light can efficiently power complex chemical reactions—a concept that inspires modern photoredox catalysis. While small molecule photocatalysts have revolutionized organic synthesis, major bottlenecks remain in the efficiency and purification of these processes. We have developed novel homogeneous, recyclable polymer-based photocatalysts for various applications. Here, I will discuss our organic and metal-based homogeneous polymer-based photocatalysts that embrace some key design elements to accelerate photoredox reactions offering a promising route toward more sustainable chemical synthesis.
Shweta Gaikwad
Chemisty