Penn State has named the inaugural Innovation to Impact Awards recipients, recognizing faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs and partners whose work exemplifies the University’s commitment to translating research into real-world impact.

Presented by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research, the awards celebrate achievements in inventorship, commercialization, entrepreneurship and strategic partnerships over the previous year. Honorees were recognized during an awards gala held at the Nittany Lion Inn on March 25.

Qian Zhang, a doctoral student in Penn State’s John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME), has been awarded the Nico van Wingen Memorial Graduate Fellowship in petroleum engineering by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Foundation. Zhang will receive $5,000 per year for up to four years to support her research on unconventional reservoirs and enhanced oil recovery.

The inaugural Penn State-Ghana Research Partnerships Seed Grant Program has awarded nine projects that aim to fuel global impact, including crop disease surveillance, removing heavy metals from mining wastewater and understanding multimodal traffic streams.

Associate Research Professor Joel Morrison, a member of the EMS Energy Institute for more than 25 years, retired from Penn State in June 2025. He remains the fund administrator for the West Penn Energy Fund, a nonprofit that fosters sustainable energy, and is now an associate research professor emeritus at the University. 

Outdoor air pollution is estimated to contribute to more than 100,000 premature deaths in the United States each year, according to the National Weather Service. Accurate air quality forecasts — designed to protect public health, alerting communities to dangerous levels of pollutants linked to asthma attacks, heart disease and premature death — are critical for helping people limit exposure and for guiding regulatory action.

Two Penn State faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Members of the class of 2026 include Barbara J. Arnold, chair and professor of practice of mining engineering in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, and Qiming Zhang, Harvey F. Brush Chair and Professor of Electrical Engineering.

Solar power continues to grow — accounting for most new capacity added to U.S. electric grids in 2024 — but the mid-1950s technology most often used to capture the sun’s energy comes with environmental costs.

As temperatures rise and water supplies drop, public policy could bolster municipal water provisions under pressure. But one policy prescription — pushing conservation — will likely be insufficient as a standalone fix to sustain some reservoirs, according to research led by scientists at Penn State.

Professor Sarma V. Pisupati, director of the Center for Critical Minerals at Penn State, capped 2025 with a top honor at an alma mater. The Osmania University College of Technology Alumni Association granted Pisupati its highest distinction — the Distinguished Alumnus Award — and hosted him as a distinguished guest and speaker at an alumni gathering Dec. 21 at the campus in Hyderabad, India.

The Center for CO2 Storage Modeling, Analytics, and Risk Reduction Technologies (CO2-SMART) — a  partnership with the University of Southern California (USC) focused on the development of practical strategies for underground carbon dioxide storage — has grown to involve faculty researchers across Penn State, with plans taking shape for a workshop in 2026.