Rebecca Bussard, postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Geosciences at Penn State, will give the talk “Mitigating Atmospheric Noise in InSAR Time-series Over Volcanic Targets Using a Convolutional Neural Network,” at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, in 117 Earth and Engineering Sciences Building on the University Park campus and via Zoom.
When a piece of glass is compromised, the signs of strain can be unmistakable. But understanding that process of deformation before failure in metals is a different matter and a longstanding scientific question that Darren Pagan, the Norris B. McFarlane Faculty Career Development Professorship in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, hopes to help answer through a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation.
A tedious process of trial and error is normally required to discover ceramic materials that generate electricity under mechanical stress. Known as piezoelectric ceramics, the valuable next-generation materials can be used to replace batteries in powering small electronic devices, like sensors. To streamline the research process, a team led by materials science researchers at Penn State introduced a new framework that combines an existing artificial intelligence (AI) model with human expertise to uncover these materials.
The AI Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning has awarded 46 grants to Penn State faculty and faculty teams through the inaugural cycle of two instructional innovation grant programs supporting the thoughtful integration of generative artificial intelligence into teaching and learning.
Penn State has selected 16 faculty members for its 2026-27 AI-Aware Faculty Leaders program, a co-sponsored initiative of the AI Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning and the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. The faculty-driven program is designed to help departments, colleges and campuses respond thoughtfully and effectively to the opportunities and challenges artificial intelligence presents for teaching and learning.
The second week of the fall semester offers a chance to visit University museums during the fall “Night at the Museums,” planned for 4 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 3. Organized by the Penn State Museum Consortium, the event will once again include the Penn State trolley, which will provide transportation among the various sites at University Park, courtesy of Penn State Outreach.
As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 19 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.
Heather Stephens, professor of community and economic development and director of the Regional Research Institute at West Virgina University, will give the talk, “The Local Impact of Coal Mining Closures,” at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 2, in 157 Hosler Building on Penn State's University Park campus.
Jennifer Mapes, assistant professor of geography at Kent State, will open the Penn State Department of Geography's fall 2026 Coffee Hour seminar series at noon on Friday, Aug. 28, in 401 Steidle Building Penn State University Park. The talk also will be accessible via Zoom.
Pennsylvania ranks second in U.S. natural gas production, accounting for about one-fifth of U.S. output in 2024, and has one of the most extensive histories of energy extraction in the country. A team of researchers from Penn State is trying to better understand the environmental impacts of these sites — specifically, if fracking is increasing radium content in local drinking water.
