Millennium Café

Due to the weather conditions on the University Park campus, activities and work activities will be canceled until 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3. The Millennium Café will postpone the scheduled talks until later this month. 

Spider silk is well known for its exceptional strength and flexibility, yet most mechanical studies focus on orb‑weaving spiders. Tarantulas use silk differently: lining burrows, reinforcing habitats, and marking territory,  rather than webbing. As a result, its mechanical performance may differ substantially but remains largely unexplored.  I will present tensile testing results from silk collected across multiple tarantula species. Our initial findings suggest that different tarantula groups produce silk with distinct mechanical “signatures.” I will highlight key results, examine their significance for understanding mechanical variation across species, and outline future directions.

Beth Last | Penn State Behrend

The Spirit of Chocolate Project is a collaboration that blends art, history, and science to tell the 5,000-year story of cacao, its origins with Indigenous communities of the Amazon, its cultural meaning, and its connection to today’s farmers. Drawing on Penn State’s long legacy in cacao and chocolate research, the multimedia project uses visual art, a replica of an ancient cacao vessel, interviews, and even a living cacao tree to invite viewers into the world behind chocolate. We will share how this creative work intersects with our cacao research at Penn State and highlight opportunities for new interdisciplinary collaborations across campus. Chocolate from cacao origins will be available to taste.

Mark Guiltinan & Siela Maximova | Plant Science

Our current internet is a highway of light, classical light composed of billions of photons that carry information coded on an optical beam over fiber optic and wireless networks. In the second quantum revolution currently underway, new quantum phenomena become discernible at the single or few-photon level in so-called quantum light. Striking among these is entanglement between two photons that appear to communicate "instantly" across vast distances—what Einstein called "spooky action at a distance."  They can enable a new era of secure internet and new imaging and sensing modalities. Quantum photonic circuits are also rapidly maturing, enabling chip-based optical computing, optical interconnects that power data centers, and electro-optic communication between quantum computers.  This talk will present a vision for Penn State to become a leading innovator in materials underlying quantum optical technologies, where tremendous challenges and opportunities lie ahead.

Venkat Gopalan | Materials Science & Engineering

I will share a vision for how Penn State can harness artificial intelligence to elevate research, teaching, and operational excellence across the university.  I will outline strategic priorities for integrating AI into academic programs and research infrastructure, as well as opportunities for collaboration that position Penn State as a leader in responsible and impactful AI innovation.

Fotis Sotiropoulos | Penn State Executive Vice President and Provost

Digital twins are more than 3D models; they are dynamic testing grounds for improving how we operate and secure complex systems. In our research, we use them to train incumbent workers, study human-AI collaboration, and simulate cyber threats in safe but realistic environments. I’ll discuss what we’ve learned so far and where cross-campus collaboration could help unlock their full potential.

Jessica Menold | Mechanical Engineering