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Thandazile Moyo, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State, will give the talk, “Aligning with Recycling as a Strategy for Reliable Critical Metals Supply: Policies, Challenges, and Opportunities in the U.S.,” at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 28, in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus. The talk will also be available via Zoom.

Nelson Y. Dzade, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, has received a 2024 Early Career Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Dzade will use the five-year, $875,000 award to develop a multi-scale framework for predicting and understanding interfaces in solar cells.

Lithium is a critical material for making lithium-ion batteries, which are the backbone of electric vehicles (EVs). EVs have gained increasing attention in recent years due to decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike traditional fossil fuel vehicles, EVs have no CO2 emissions, making them a cleaner and more sustainable option for transportation. As more countries and companies commit to reducing their carbon footprints, the transition towards EVs has accelerated, causing a significant increase in demand for lithium-based chemicals.

Zuleima Karpyn, Donohue Family Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, and associate dean for graduate education and research in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, was recently named a distinguished member by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) at the society’s annual technical conference held in New Orleans.

This fall, the Penn State Mining Engineering program invited engineers worldwide to Pittsburgh for the 7th International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering (ISMSSE). At the symposium, researchers and experts from academia, industry and scientific research institutes shared new concepts and exhibited technical equipment to forward mine safety science and engineering. 

Batteries power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, with their performance hinging on the critical interface between the electrode and electrolyte. Penn State and industry researchers have developed a method to observe this interface at a higher resolution, which could potentially reveal new ways to improve battery efficiency and lifespan.  

The 2024 Nelson W. Taylor Lecture in Materials will be held from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11, in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Heritage Hall at Penn State University Park. The theme of this year’s lecture series is "Materials for Energy Innovation."

The latest episode of the "Growing Impact" podcast explores how researchers are using advanced computation to design catalysts that can accelerate the process of converting carbon dioxide into useful products. Nelson Yaw Dzade, an assistant professor in the John and Willie Leone Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State, is leading the project that is also looking to nature for inspiration on materials to use as catalysts. 

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has awarded $600,000 to Penn State’s Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance (SCIA) to develop a series of educational courses, workshops, and paid academic and industrial internships focused on workforce development in Pennsylvania for the growing semiconductor industry.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Clean Energy Center and Pittsburgh Gateways Corp. will co-develop a state-of-the-art workforce training and career exploration center at Pittsburgh’s 7800 Susquehanna Street, a hub for manufacturing, makers, small businesses, nonprofits and job training. The new facility will be one of two Penn College satellite weatherization and building performance workforce development centers in western Pennsylvania; the college’s Latrobe location opened in 2021.