We have become a disposable society that discards old items in favor of new ones. The medical field has done this historically via procedures such as joint replacement and using prosthetics. This talk will highlight opportunities in regenerative engineering, will be an opportunity to hear about forthcoming Huck/MRI seed funding, and will include an invitation to join more in-depth discussions on this topic at Materials Day and the regenerative engineering symposium at PSU.
Computing power has come a long way since we put a man on the moon. Whereas a smartphone is many times more powerful than computers were in 1969, new computers rival the human brain in scientific processes. This talk will discuss applications of new computing technologies to shorten the time required to develop new materials, will be an opportunity to hear about forthcoming ICDS/MRI seed funding, and will include an invitation to join more in-depth discussions on this topic at Materials Day.
While we are all familiar with information preserved on hard disks, DVDs, or paper, a vast array of the materials around us can store and recall memories—sometimes in surprising ways. From my lab's research, I will show a few ways that soft solids and fluidic systems can form detailed memories when they are deformed. Examining a system's capacity to remember reveals surprising connections among disparate forms of living and nonliving matter—and suggests possibilities for making materials more programmable, adaptable, and traceable.
Sixty years ago, President Kennedy alluded to the interdisciplinarity of water challenges and associated solutions when he said, “Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes - one for peace and one for science.” These challenges have grown increasingly acute with the pressures of a burgeoning human population and manifesting climate change, with many needed innovations to be found across disciplines. This talk will highlight the Penn State Water Initiative, which was launched to foster interdisciplinary water-related research and amplify the university’s impact in helping to solve some of the world’s most pressing water challenges.
Andrew Warner | Director, Water Consortium
Understanding how structural materials, particularly metallic alloys, are processed and perform is one of the oldest scientific pursuits and over the past two thousand years, a tremendous amount of empirical knowledge has been developed regarding how we can make and use these materials. However, the understanding we have gained has all been gathered without the ability to ‘watch’ how these materials evolve as they are being processed and used in-service. Due to this short-coming, we still can’t precisely predict how a material will fail, leading to safety issues and economic waste. Similarly, our process of creating new alloy systems still requires a tremendous amount of old-fashioned trial-and-error. However, a new generation of X-ray techniques at synchrotrons and free electron lasers (particle accelerators) are allowing us to look inside these materials as they evolve in 3D. Combined with modern predictive modeling and machine-learning, we are on the precipice of revolutionizing how we use and design alloy systems.
Deb Ehrenthal | Director, Social Science Research Institute
Infant mortality rates in the United States increase as counties become more rural. This mirrors the “rural mortality penalty” among adults, where those living in rural areas have higher mortality rates at every age than those in more urban settings. By analyzing linked and geocoded administrative data, we show that the higher infant mortality rates in rural counties are explained by higher rates of poverty and not by more-limited access to health care or high rates of tobacco use.