Millennium Café

This talk will introduce the new political-industrial ecology research initiative at the Earth and Environmental Sciences Institute. Political-industrial ecology aims to better embed the resource flows supporting industrial systems, such as energy and agriculture, in their broader political economic and specific geographic contexts. By better understanding the specific ‘ecosystem’ of industrial society, political-industrial ecology can contribute to crafting more environmentally just industrial futures. 

Jennifer Baka  |  Geography
 

In this first climate solutions talk I will discuss how climate change and the push for clean energy might worsen dust-related health problems for miners and look for ways to fill the gaps in knowledge on how mining dust affects health.  This study presents an incontrovertible visual proof of prevalence of nano-sized mineral dust during raw material extraction, utilizing advanced techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM).  The intricate elemental composition of nano-sized particulate identified through EDS analysis reveals the presence of elements such as silica and iron, which are known to contribute to lung pathologies when inhaled over prolonged periods. The outcomes of the statistical analyses reveal significant relationships between particle size and elemental composition, highlighting that smaller particles tend to have higher carbon content, while larger particles exhibit increased concentrations of elements like silica and aluminum. 

Shimin Liu  |  Energy & Mineral Engineering

I will introduce the Center for Gas Turbine Research, Education, and Outreach (GTREO).  Gas turbine engines are one of the largest contributors to the U.S. electric power grid, and are the dominant means of aircraft propulsion. Did you know the temperatures inside some parts of a gas turbine engine are hotter than lava, and that we have two of them at University Park that can produce about 40% of our campus electricity? Come learn about how Penn State’s Center for Gas Turbine Research, Education, and Outreach (GTREO) supports this critical infrastructure machine and learn about opportunities to get involved with the center.

Steve Lynch  |  Mechanical Engineering

The Millennium Café will return October 1, 2024.

In this brief primer on the pioneering work of world-renowned systems scientist Riane Eisler, I hope to offer an ethics-based, constructive critique of contemporary society’s oft-exalted concept of disruptive innovation. To this end, I will introduce the Café community to Eisler’s extraordinarily holistic and integrative analytical tool – the Biocultural Partnership-Domination Lens, along with its related four pillars of partnership: childhood, gender, economics, and narratives. Finally, I will offer an opportunity to participate in a book club that will dive deeper into Eisler’s work, for those who wish to learn more about practical strategies to transcend systems of rigid top-down domination and construct more egalitarian and evolved systems of partnership.

Cole Hons  |  Huck Institutes

Electrospinning is a process to prepare nonwoven fabrics of fine fibers. Control over fiber-scale and fabric-scale structure enables rapid exploration of new polymeric and hybrid materials. I’ll briefly describe “e-spinning” capabilities in our lab, followed by application examples spanning energy, medicine, and consumer products.

Patrick Mather  |  Schreyer Honors College, Chemical Engineering Materials Science & Engineering