A Culture of Interdisciplinary Research
Penn State’s focus on interdisciplinary research comes to fruition at the Materials Research Institute (MRI), thanks to a culture that nurtures strong collaborations across disciplines. MRI supports its affiliated faculty in ways that complement their academic department’s support. This includes access to MRI's cutting-edge facilities and in-house expertise, opening up materials research to go beyond the traditional silos of knowledge and be sparked by other viewpoints and new ideas. Much of this research is carried out in MRI's core facilities: Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium, a U.S. National Science Foundation Materials Innovation Platform and national user facility (2DCC-MIP); the Materials Characterization Laboratory (MCL); and Nanofabrication Laboratory. Within these facilities, we offer the latest in research equipment, such as 2025’s installation of a new transmission electron microscope, a vital tool in characterizing thin films and other materials. This is just part of our investments that also includes adding 50% more cleanroom space and adding additional equipment to meet growing R&D needs.
At MRI, this convergence of disciplines brings together the physical and life sciences with engineering and computation to find solutions for the complex problems facing society today, with an eye towards innovation that will enable us to address whatever the future will bring.
It also enables us to help move these solutions from research concepts to market via five key principles of MRI’s materials work.
MRI does this by... Spanning the Breadth of Materials Research at Penn State and Beyond MRI supports researchers and the numbers back that up:
Along with the amount of researchers, Penn State entities, and external partners, MRI’s research categories...
Encompass the Entire Range of Materials to Meet Modern Societal Challenges
As you read this, you are likely surrounded by materials. The glass in your phone screen, the chips in your laptop, the polymers in your home appliances, the sensors in your HVAC thermostat and home air filters, etc., all had their origins in materials research. MRI supports research in semiconductors, including packaging, new chip materials, photonics, and more. We also are part of the revolution in greener materials, including LionGlass, which is carbon-friendly becausebecause it requires significantly less energy to produce and is much more damage resistant than standard soda lime silicate glass. MRI continues to explore the possibilities in low-energy ceramic production that cold sintering, a method of sintering ceramics that requires much lower temperatures and is participating in the AI revolution via projects like researcher Saptarshi Das’s innovative work in artificial neural networks, including the development of an artificial tongue that “tastes.”
In addition to our direct research, we are also working to...
Create the Materials Workforce of the Future
Education and research are not separate silos, but instead go hand-in-hand as part of the same university mission. At MRI, this includes allowing undergraduate students to have immersive hands-on research experiences that before was limited to graduate students via the MCL’s Undergraduate Fellowship. As for graduate students, currently around 1,200 graduate and doctoral students are involved in MRI-related research. We provide students with a variety of education-focused events to prepare them for life in the workforce. These include the PPG Elevator Pitch Competiton where graduate students learn the valuable skill of being able to communicate their research in a concise way to potential research partners and employers; the MRI Safety Olympics, a fun competition that stresses necessary lab safety skills; Materials Day, an event featuring keynote speakers, breakout sessions, graduate poster session and several networking opportunities; the weekly Millennium Cafe that highlights the best of Penn State research; the Rustum and Della Roy Innovation in Materials Research Awards; and various other webinars, special lectures and more. But we do not limit our education to just college students. MRI’s work on growing Pennsylvania’s materials-related workforce that will be ready to fill living-wage jobs includes being at the helm of the Mid-Atlantic Semiconductor Hub (MASH), a partnership of various semiconductor shareholders in industry and education. MASH includes a major drive to build America’s chip-producing workforce. In addition, a coalition of industry leaders, academic institutions and government support with a focus on becoming the nation's central hub for research, development and workforce training in silicon carbide crystal technology.