The John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering helps solve the world’s energy problems through high-quality, innovative teaching, research, and service. From mineral recovery to its use, the department plays a major role in the "power of life." Its mission is to help supply society with an affordable supply of energy and minerals; work to ensure human health and safety; and protect and maintain the quality of the environment.
Department head: Luis Ayala
Associate Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Chiara Lo Prete
Associate Head for Undergraduate Education: Eugene Morgan
Associate Head for Graduate Education: Shimin Liu
Degrees offered: B.S., B.A., M.S., Ph.D., minors, and certificates
Visit Department Website: https://eme.psu.edu
Kat Hogan is a senior majoring in energy engineering, and she found her home as an undergraduate researcher in Penn State’s Center for Critical Minerals. She’s interested in sustainability — particularly in the energy sector — and said critical minerals sourcing is essential to a sustainable future for the energy industry.
The construction of new data centers is shaping up to be a defining issue in the 2026 midterm elections. Politicians in both parties have been distancing themselves from data centers in the face of public discontent around the issue, with public backlash leading to the freezing of dozens of data center projects nationwide this year.
This summer was a time for travel, research, internships and expanding classroom lessons for many students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
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.
Nuclear energy already plays a pivotal role in powering some of the largest economies in the U.S., including Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas, and it could be the key to offsetting a rapidly increasing demand for electricity across the country, according to researchers at Penn State.
Leaders of Penn State's highly ranked mining engineering program attended an announcement at the White House of a proposed $100 million investment from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation.
An opportunity grant for non-tenure-line faculty offered through the Center for Faculty Development and Advancement can be used for professional development, advancing approaches for educating students or for acquiring skills that help improve a program at Penn State. Sekhar Bhattacharyya, associate teaching professor of mining engineering, used it to do all three.
Hamad Hussain will represent both the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as college marshal at the University’s summer 2026 commencement ceremony on Aug. 15 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
With a background in environmental systems, Kaleah Moran sees the mining industry from a side that’s less public-facing. Moran, who earned an undergraduate degree from Penn State in environmental systems engineering (ENVSE) in May, has been spending the summer working at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah, learning how industries mitigate the byproduct selenium, which poses risks to aquatic ecosystems.
Penn State’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Institute of Energy and the Environment recently hosted the AI Data Center Integration to Power Grids Workshop at the Engineering Collaborative Research and Education (ECoRE) Building on the University Park campus.