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The Center for Quantitative Imaging (CQI) has launched the Penn State CT Users Group. Open to faculty, students and researchers across all Penn State campuses, the group welcomes those interested in harnessing the power of computed tomography (CT) for their work. All experience levels are encouraged to participate. 

A team from the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering and Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences has received funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation to establish a center named CO2 Storage Modeling, Analytics and Risk Reduction Technologies (CO2-SMART). CO2-SMART will be dedicated to innovation in geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide as a technology to enable industrial decarbonization at scale.

Luis F. Ayala, professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering and holder of the William A. Fustos Family Professorship in Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State, assumed the head of the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State, effective July 1.

A Penn State research team was recently awarded a $4.99 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and assess advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and other critical materials from coal, coal wastes and coal by-products.

A project co-led by two Penn State professors has been selected to receive up to $815,959 from the Grid Deployment Office of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The team will evaluate prospective market design changes to efficiently integrate batteries and other unconventional resources into wholesale electricity markets, with the aim of improving electrical grid reliability.

The EMS Energy Institute held a stainless steel and plastic tubing training workshop on April 5, 2024, at the Institute with a focus on Swagelok materials. Brad Maben, who supports graduate student and faculty research and who routinely assists them in assembling research components, taught the three-hour workshop. 

The Marcellus shale natural gas boom provided the U.S. with an abundant, lower-carbon footprint fossil fuel, but also brought concerns over increased methane emissions. A team led by Penn State researchers has developed a new tool that can estimate the emissions potential of these wells after they are no longer active.

Penn State and Morgan Advanced Materials have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to catalyze research and development of silicon carbide, known as SiC, a semiconductor material that operates more efficiently at high voltages than competing technologies. This agreement includes a new five-year, multimillion-dollar initiative and a commitment by Morgan to become a founding member of the recently launched Penn State Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance, as well as to supply the graphite materials and solutions needed for SiC development to Penn State for use by internal and external partners.

Known for its ability to withstand extreme environments and high voltages, silicon carbide (SiC) is a semiconducting material made up of silicon and carbon atoms arranged into crystals that is increasingly becoming essential to modern technologies like electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, telecommunications infrastructure and microelectronics. To advance the potential of this semiconductor, Penn State recently launched the Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance (SCIA), 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 SiC crystal technology.  

Edward  C. Dowling Jr., president and chief executive officer and board of directors member at Compass Minerals, will give the 2024 G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture in Mineral Engineering at Penn State. His talk, “Challenges and Opportunities of the Critical Minerals Revolution,” will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 19, in the Hub-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium and online via Zoom. A reception will follow the lecture at 5:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall. The event is free and open to the public.