News

Fatimah Altarrah has been named the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ student marshal, the top graduate overall, and Madeline Nyblade has been named the college’s science honor marshal, the top graduate in a non-engineering discipline. They will be recognized during the college’s spring 2018 commencement ceremony, scheduled for 8 p.m., Friday, May 4, in the Pegula Ice Arena.

Robert Johnson, a Penn State junior majoring in meteorology and atmospheric science, earned first place in the television weathercaster category at the annual Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts competition held April 8-9, in Las Vegas. The awards ceremony took place during this year’s National Association of Broadcasters’ NAB Show. For more than 60 years the BEA has worked with NAB in creating the next generation of media professionals.

A team of engineers worked diligently for months designing a new passenger car seat for the Ford Motor Company, harnessing years of education to create a finished prototype. But they weren’t professionals working in Detroit — the team members were all undergraduate seniors at Penn State.

The National Science Foundation and the United Kingdom's National Environmental Research Council are the forces behind eight new initiatives in Antarctica to determine how quickly a massive glacier could collapse. Penn State is part of two of these projects, GHOST and MELT.

After 15 weeks of hard work, College of Engineering students displayed their capstone design projects at the Spring 2018 Capstone Design Project Showcase held on April 26 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Nikhil Bharadwaj had an ingenious idea for improving the tailgating experience for himself and his friends at Penn State football games. Drawing from his love of renewable energy, the senior majoring in energy engineering began drafting plans for a small-scale solar box capable of charging cell phones and powering devices while tailgating at Beaver Stadium. But then he had a better idea.

Tight-knit friendships have allowed a group of female students to excel in a field that has traditionally been male dominated, materials science and engineering. Throughout their time at Penn State, these students took on leadership roles, conducted research, represented Penn State at national conferences and prepared for the start of their careers.

The Honorable Kathleen A. "Katie" McGinty will deliver the address for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) undergraduate graduation ceremony. The ceremony will be held at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 4, in Pegula Ice Arena on Penn State’s University Park campus.

The Penn State student team won first place in the Suburban Single-Family Housing Contest of the U.S. Department of Energy Race to Zero Student Design Competition on April 22.

Ancient Mayan civilization in Central America, which collapsed around 1,000 years ago, is being brought to life in a new Penn State project. Two doctoral students in geography, Jiawei Huang and Arif Masrur, have recreated the Mayan ruins of Cahal Pech, in Belize, using virtual reality.