Millennium Café

This fall The Millennium Café is asking the question “What if?” as we discuss issues of morals, ethics, and faith in our scientific communities.  

• What if I knew why a researcher was doing her/his/their research?  
• What if my why is where I can communicate with anyone about anything without data? 
• What if leaving out the why, or focusing on specific whys, is where gaps in ethics occur?  

 It’s all good to ask someone “why,” but how often do you ask yourself the same question?  How well do you examine your own attachment to whats, hows, wheres, and whens.  What if “why” is a part of a building process, an architectural design of sorts, that, if invested in intentionally and consciously, offers an intriguing foundation for communication between science and people?  Why is a natural foundation shaker, so let’s start with ourselves. “What do you believe? Why?”, “What are your rules for research? Why?”, “On your best day, or your worst, what do you believe IN? Why?”  BTWs, the why is where morals and ethics live, and if this conversation does not interest you, ask yourself “why.”  What if science, like morals, ethics, and faith, is a belief, a rule, and a way of being.  If so, maybe science can connect to anyone. Why.....not? 

Susan Russell | School of Theatre

Engineers have been solving problems, overcoming threats, and driving progress for over a millennium but with an inward focus on the connection between engineering and technology. To solve today’s challenges, engineers must partner with experts in all disciplines to build human-centric, culturally appropriate, engaged solutions to societal problems. This is a call to action to encourage Penn State engineers to take a leadership role within the engineering community so that, in partnership with all disciplines, humanity can emerge from today’s chaos stronger and prepared for the next 1000 years.

Although many scientific disciplines routinely use the term “hydrophobic,” understanding this concept often remains a challenge. Inspired by pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry efforts to describe hydrophobic drugs, this presentation highlights a computational strategy to predict and guide the synthesis of polymers.

Rob Mathers | Penn State New Kensington Department of Chemistry

While radiocarbon (¹⁴C) measurement is usually associated with archaeological or paleontological chronology building, the technique has creative applications in astrophysics, oceanic and atmospheric circulation, hydrology, forensics, art history, aerosol and hydrocarbon research, biofuels, soils science, drug enforcement, wildlife conservation, and more.  Penn State’s AMS ¹⁴C laboratory gives researchers access to high-precision AMS ¹⁴C measurements and interdisciplinary collaboration.  This talk will give a sense of the varied and unexpected uses of AMS ¹⁴C that may surprise you.

Brendan Culleton

In situ analysis of bacterial response to various environmental stressors is fundamentally important in fields ranging from life sciences to generation of sustainable energy using microbial fuels. Being scalable, electronic/electrochemical sensing can enable label-free analysis of bacterial behavior to stress, in situ.  In this talk, I will discuss how the response of bacterial cells to stress (osmotic and heat stress as examples) can be monitored using time-dependent impedance spectroscopy, highlight some of the unanswered questions, and how collaboration can hopefully provide new insights.

Strategic planning has paved the way for Penn State's ascension among the ranks of the world’s great research universities. Since the 1980s, Penn State has engaged in strategic planning to strengthen its ability to make careful, informed choices, and to allocate resources based on evidence, judgment, and long-term priorities. In 2016, Penn State published its five-year strategic plan, titled “Our Commitment to Impact,” and plan implementation is underway across the university. In this presentation, Provost Jones will share details about the plan implementation process and some recently funded initiatives that reveal how real-world activities support Penn State’s strategic priorities. Also covered: best practices in strategic planning, as well as pitfalls to avoid; how engagement, collaboration, and innovation by researchers and others university-wide are driving meaningful change; and some key takeaways Dr. Jones has gleaned from his work in higher education leadership.

Nicholas P. Jones | Executive Vice President and Provost