An international team, led by Penn State’s Institute of Energy and the Environment Director Bruce Logan, has developed a new reactor design that efficiently converts carbon dioxide and renewable electricity into methane — the primary component of natural gas — while scaling the system up by roughly an order of magnitude without sacrificing performance.
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218 Steidle Building
By Jamie Oberdick
Herbert A. McKinstry, a pioneering materials scientist, educator, community activist and founding faculty member of Penn State’s Materials Research Laboratory, passed away at the age of 101.
(e) cqd2@psu.edu
N-315 Millennium Science Complex
Robinson, director of the Penn State Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance and director of strategic research initiatives for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, will step into the role effective July 1
126 Land and Water Building
University Park, PA 16802
(e) kat18@psu.edu
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Five Penn State professors have been named Evan Pugh University Professors, an elite and prestigious distinction conferred by the University on only 84 faculty members since the establishment of the designation in 1960.
Nitin Samarth, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics and professor of materials science and engineering, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for distinguished contributions to the physical sciences. He is one of 252 leaders in academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, research and science elected in 2026. The induction ceremony for new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October.
(e) kjt5507@psu.edu
N-345 Millennium Science Complex
