Events

Sep 10

Towards Sustainable, Bio-Sourced Polymers

Capone Learning Auditorium (CBEB 001)
10:35am

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Kristala L.J. Prather is the Arthur D. Little Professor and Department Head in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. She received an S.B. degree from MIT in 1994 and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (1999), and worked 4 years in BioProcess Research and Development at the Merck Research Labs prior to joining the faculty of MIT.  Her research interests are centered on the design and assembly of recombinant microorganisms for the production of small molecules, with additional efforts in novel bioprocess design approaches.  Prather’s honors include the Charles Thom Award of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (2017), the Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE, 2021), and the Marvin J. Johnson Award (BIOT Division, American Chemical Society, 2024).  Additional honors include selection as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2014-2015), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS; 2018), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE; 2020), and AIChE (2020), and election to the National Academy of Engineering (2025). 

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Sep 16

ESM/MATSE Career Fair


6:00-8:00 pm 102 ECoRE

Meet students from the ESM and MATSE departments! We are seeking company representatives to meet our students during the career fair. Please RSVP below.

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Sep 16

Seeing the Invisible Order in Biological Materials using a Nonlinear Vibrational Spectroscopy Technique

254 Health and Human Development
3:35-4:25 pm

E SC/E MCH 514 graduate Seminar

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Dr. Seong H. Kim is the Department Head and Walter L. Robb Family Endowed Chair in the Robert V. Waltemyer Department of Chemical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. A globally recognized expert in surface science and tribology, Dr. Kim’s research spans a wide range of materials including silicate glasses, natural biopolymers, and advanced carbon coatings. His work has significantly advanced the understanding of surface chemistry, mechanochemistry, and the durability of materials under environmental and mechanical stresses. His recent research focuses on characterizing invisible subsurface damage in glass, tribochemical reactions at sliding interfaces, and the structural analysis of natural materials using advanced spectroscopic techniques. Dr. Kim’s interdisciplinary approach continues to influence both fundamental science and industrial applications, particularly in the fields of nuclear waste management, display glass technology, and sustainable materials. Dr. Kim earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University and completed postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. Since joining Penn State in 2001, he has held numerous leadership roles and was named a Distinguished Professor in 2021. He has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications (with h-index of 78), wrote textbook Surface and Interface Analysis: Principles and Applications, and is a Fellow of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers.

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Sep 17

Multi-Scale Modeling and Optimization for Electrification-based Decarbonization of the Chemical Industry

Capone Learning Auditorium (CBEB 001)
10:35am

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Dharik S. Mallapragada is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Center for Urban Science and Progress, at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering. He leads the Sustainable Energy Transitions Group, whose research focuses on the design and optimization of technologies for energy and industrial system decarbonization and on developing computational methods, including open-source energy system models, to analyze how technology, resource constraints, and policies shape the energy transition. Prior to NYU, Prof. Mallapragada was a researcher at the MIT Energy Initiative, where he began his academic research career after spending nearly five years in the energy and chemical industry working on a range of sustainability-focused research topics. Prof. Mallapragada holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India.

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Sep 23

How Safe Is Safe Enough? Ensuring Safety and Resilience in Critical Infrastructure Control Systems

254 Health and Human Development
3:35-4:25 pm

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Sep 30

Scaling Photonic Computing Across Device, Architecture, and System Levels

254 Health and Human Development
3:35-4:25 pm

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Oct 07

Breaking the Memory Wall with Optical Interconnects and In-Memory Computing

254 Health and Human Development
3:35-4:25 pm

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BIO: Ning Li is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Materials Research Institute at The Pennsylvania State University. He was a research staff member at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center from 2010 to 2022. His research experience includes photonic components and links for communications and interconnects, heterogeneous integration of materials and devices for new applications, nonvolatile memories for in-memory computing. He was awarded more than 250 U.S. patents, many High Value Patent Awards, and multiple Master Inventor Awards. He published in scientific journals and conferences including Nature Photonics, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Optical Fiber Communication (OFC), etc. His work has been featured on Nature Research Highlight, Semiconductor Today, etc. He received his BS degree from Tsinghua University and PhD degree from The University of Texas at Austin.

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Oct 08

Engineering Nanomembranes for Molecular and Ion Separations

Capone Learning Auditorium (CBEB 001)
10:35am

Additional Information:

Dr. Haiqing Lin is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. His research elucidates structure-property relationships of polymeric membranes for gas, liquid, and ion separations, with the end goal of addressing key challenges in energy and sustainability. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005 and then joined Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) as a Senior Research Scientist. He led the successful development of PolarisTM membranes for CO2 removal from syngas. In 2013, he began his career at the University at Buffalo as an assistant professor and was promoted to professor in 2021.

 

Dr. Lin has published nearly 180 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and he is a co-inventor of 10 US patents and patent applications. He was a recipient of the 2016 NSF CAREER Award and the 2025 AIChE Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology.

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Oct 14

Modern Applications of Quantitative Ultrasound for Medical Research

254 Health and Human Development
3:35-4:25 pm

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Nov 04

Ultrasonic Imaging to Reveal the Physics of Earthquake Precursors

254 Health and Human Development
3:35-4:25 pm

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Dec 02

Manipulating defect structure and behavior through segregation-induced complexion transitions

254 Health and Human Development
3:35-4:25 pm

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About

The Penn State Waltemyer Department of Chemical Engineering, established in 1948, is recognized as one of the largest and most influential chemical engineering departments in the nation.

The department is built upon the fundamentals of academic integrity, innovation in research, and commitment to the advancement of industry.

Waltemyer Department of Chemical Engineering

121 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA 16802

Phone: 814-865-2574