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Robinson, director of the Penn State Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance and director of strategic research initiatives for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, will step into the role effective July 1

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Five Penn State professors have been named Evan Pugh University Professors, an elite and prestigious distinction conferred by the University on only 84 faculty members since the establishment of the designation in 1960.

Nitin Samarth, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics and professor of materials science and engineering, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for distinguished contributions to the physical sciences. He is one of 252 leaders in academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, research and science elected in 2026. The induction ceremony for new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October.

By Ty Tkacik

By Heather Dehnel

The winners of the 18th annual Materials Visualization Competition (MVC) have been announced. MVC is a scientific visual and artistic competition that celebrates the quality of research in materials at Penn State and promotes awareness of materials science through visualization. MVC is sponsored by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Materials Research Institute.

Hilal Ezgi Toraman, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering and of chemical engineering at Penn State, is one of five faculty recognized as a rising star in chemical engineering by the journal ACS Engineering Au for her work developing fundamental research on the utilization of pyrolysis — a chemical recycling process that heats plastic waste in an oxygen-fr