Penn State College of Engineering
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The Penn State College of Engineering is the
engineering school Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
of the
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
, headquartered at the University Park campus in
University Park, Pennsylvania University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was de ...
. It was established in 1896, under the leadership of George W. Atherton. Today, with 13 academic departments and degree programs, over 11,000 enrolled undergraduate and graduate students (8,166 at the University Park campus, and 3,059 at other campuses), and research expenditures of $124 million for the 2016-2017 academic year, the Penn State College of Engineering is in the top 20 of engineering schools in the United States. It is estimated that at least one out of every fifty engineers in the United States got their
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
from Penn State. Dr. Justin Schwartz currently holds the position of Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering.


History


The Early Years: 1855 – 1895

In 1854, the Pennsylvania legislature granted a charter to The Farmers’ High School. The purpose of the institution, according to the 1859 catalogue, was to “adopt a system of instruction which shall embrace those departments of all sciences which have a practical or theoretical bearing upon agriculture.” The Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society encountered little resistance to the proposal, and the revised charter – dated February 22, 1855 – became the official founding day of what would become Penn State. A legislative appropriation of $25,000 – along with an additional pledge of $25,000, plus funds raised through public subscription and private donation – was used for the construction of the Main Building on 200 acres of in
Centre County Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County comprises the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The lands ...
, near the geographic center of the state. The first class of 69 students was admitted in February 1859.


Pugh’s Establishment of an Engineering Foundation

Evan Pugh Evan Pugh (February 29, 1828 – April 29, 1864) was the first president of the Pennsylvania State University, serving from 1859 until his death in 1864. An agricultural chemist, he was responsible for securing Penn State's designation in 1863 a ...
was selected as the first head of the Farmer's High School, and his appointment began in 1860. Pugh had received his Ph.D. from the University of Goettingen in 1854, and his vision for the Farmers’ High School included an expansion beyond agriculture into fields that would be of benefit to the nation as a whole. Chief among these were engineering and “industrial arts” – subjects which required a high degree of both theoretical and practical knowledge, such as surveying and carpentry. This notion was considered radical at the time since American universities of Pugh's era tended to focus on topics such as ancient languages, philosophy, and rhetoric, which Pugh felt were inadequate for a nation seeking to “tame a hostile natural environment” and maintain economic and political importance upon the global stage. At the time of Pugh's appointment, fewer than 12 universities offered baccalaureate programs in engineering and produced fewer than 200 graduates combined; in most of those curricula, engineering was included as one of several subjects of study, rather than as its own major. The overarching belief was that because engineering was utilitarian and benefitted the many, it was inferior to the classics, which focused on the mental and moral improvement of the student; the prevailing thought – especially at tradition-bound schools such as
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
,
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
, and Dartmouth – was that integrating engineering with classics would subvert the purpose of higher education. In Pugh's time, most engineering programs focused almost exclusively on developing skills within civil engineering – e.g. canals, railroads, bridges – for obvious reasons: the expansion of the nation required knowledge of developing infrastructure. Pugh realized that on-the-job training (the most common form of learning a profession), combined with the nation's economic and geographic growth, would not adequately meet the demand for educated professionals familiar with the “mechanic arts.” The passing of the
Morrill Land-Grant Acts The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or se ...
in July 1862 presented Pugh with the opportunity to help secure the School's future. Under the terms of the Act, a land grant bequeathed upon an institution 30,000 acres for each senator and representative of the institution's state; this land was then to be sold, and the profits of the sale – which could take months or years to be fully realized – would be used to fund colleges with four-year curricula. Pugh was instrumental in securing the school as the sole recipient of all land-grant revenues in 1863, although his untimely death from typhoid in April 1864 resulted in his vision of industrial education being delayed by several decades.


Development of the Mechanic Arts Program

William H. Allen was elected to succeed Pugh in 1864. Allen was a professor of chemistry and natural history at
Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...
. Unlike Pugh, Allen showed little interest in broadening the curriculum, and instead focused on the political challenges the university faced at the time: specifically, a debt of $50,000 (stemming, in part, from the university's inability to dispose of the 780,000 acres of land scrip granted by the Morrill Act) and lobbying efforts from other Pennsylvania colleges challenging university's designation as the commonwealth's sole land-grant institution. The lobbying efforts (and resulting redistribution bill) were defeated in 1865, but left the university in such a dire state financially that mortgage bonds of $80,000 were issued, both to pay off debt and to establish a working fund. The first true champion of the mechanic arts at Penn State was
John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...
, appointed as a professor of mathematics in 1865 and as president of the university in 1866 after Allen's resignation. Fraser's time in the Union army served him well at Penn State, becoming the school's first lecturer in military tactics, and military drill was substituted for farm labor for the students. Fraser aimed to expand upon Pugh's vision, and the first four courses added for the 1868-69 academic year were general science, literature, mechanical and civil engineering, and metallurgy, mineralogy, and mining. Each was a four-year curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Science degree. The falling enrollment numbers of the time – 145 students in 1864-65, 114 in 1866, 82 in 1867, and 30 in 1868, with no class graduating in 1867 – led to a cautious approach to the expansion of the curriculum: the catalogue for the 1868-69 academic year listed mechanical and civil engineering, but the trustees did not hire faculty to provide instruction. After Fraser's resignation in March 1868, the trustees dissolved the new curricula and reduced the total faculty to four (two of whom eventually resigned), and the university faced a severe lack of public confidence in the stability of the institution. Fraser was succeeded by Thomas H. Burrowes, who felt that the intentions of the Morrill Act would be best served by the original setup of the farmers’ high school. Burrowes reinstated manual labor and offered a single course of study. Under the Burrowes system, the Agricultural Course was mandatory, and students were awarded a Bachelor of Scientific Agriculture degree after three years of study. The (optional) fourth year was the Scientific Course, intended for “civil engineers, general mechanics etc.” and leading to a Bachelor of Science degree; despite its name, the Scientific Course included little formal instruction in engineering, and no engineering faculty were hired. A fifth year (also optional) was known as the Literary Course, which closely mirrored the traditional format of a classics education, and culminated in a Bachelor of Arts degree. The agriculture-intensive curriculum had minimal impact on enrollment: the 1870-71 academic year saw 59 enrolled students, 52 of which were in their first or second year of study. The fact that agriculture was insufficient to support an entire college was experienced by many land-grant institutions, and the challenge of incorporating a non-agriculture curriculum reform was exacerbated by the general indifference of the Pennsylvania legislature toward land-grant institutions as a whole. It was felt that, as the school was an instrument of the commonwealth, it should be supported via regular state appropriations; however, critique for curriculum reform was often received from Harrisburg, but not the money necessary to enact it. The financial burden from Allen's administration continued, and Burrowes died of exposure (as a consequence of a mountain outing with students) in February 1871 without seeing his three-course format implemented.


The Calder Era

The Reverend James Calder was elected as Penn State's fifth president in 1871. Calder eliminated Burrowes’ proposed three-course system and reinstated the four-year curriculum and felt that the Morrill Act envisioned more than simply formal instruction in agriculture, reincorporating several elements of orthodox classical institutions. The university began to offer non-agricultural baccalaureate degrees, and adopted the name Pennsylvania State College in 1874 to reflect the broadened curriculum. No provisions were made for mechanic arts, save for how they related to agriculture and scientific courses. Routine field demonstrations of various farm implements began to be incorporated into the curriculum, and civil engineering coursework was offered only at a high level; labs and practicums were nonexistent, as the “applications of knowledge” available at local businesses (e.g. textile factories, gas and water works, and coal mines) were felt to be sufficient. Meanwhile, colleges and universities across the nation with dedicated engineering departments rose to 70 by 1872 – more than half of which were land-grant endowments – and Penn State continued to lag due to the insistence on imitating classical institutions. The receipts from sale of land scrip were converted to an interest-bearing bond in 1872, leading to (among other things) the abolishing of tuition in 1874: students were instead charged a flat $20 annual fee for fuel, lighting, and janitorial service. Only 14 students graduated during 1875 – 1877, and dissatisfaction with Calder's administration among trustees, faculty, and the legislature led to his resignation in 1879.


Shortlidge and the McKee Interregnum

Joseph Shortlidge Joseph Shortlidge (August 1, 1832 – December 10, 1911) was the sixth president of the Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campu ...
succeeded Calder in 1880, and his first act was to offend trustees, faculty, students, and the general public with his address at the commencement exercises in July 1880. The Shortlidge administration saw the formation of the Wickersham Committee, formed to assist with the massive reform needed to help the college satisfy the needs of the nation's most industrialized state. In Shortlidge's own words, “as an industrial college, we are a failure”; however, the three-professor panel was staffed with faculty whom Shortlidge believed would be lukewarm toward reorganization. The exception proved to be Thornton Osmond, professor of physics, who launched his own unofficial reorganization study – with the support of sympathetic faculty and trustees – due to the slowness of the Wickersham Committee and the entrenched stance of the other faculty on Shortlidge's panel. The very existence of Osmond's “committee” demonstrated how strained relations between the president and faculty had become, and Shortlidge presented his resignation in 1881 “couched in terms so offensive that the rusteesaccepted it forthwith.” Osmond's recommendations were presented to – and almost immediately accepted by – acting president James Y. McKee. The proposed curriculum would include six courses of study: two “general” (scientific and classical holdovers from Calder), four “technical” (agricultural, natural history, chemistry, physics, and civil engineering), and practicums in the mechanic arts. This proposal was accepted by the trustees, who named Louis A. Barnard, a highly-experience civil engineer, to head the department of civil engineering. So confident were the trustees in Osmond's recommendations, and McKee's acceptance of them, that they asked the General Assembly to investigate the affairs of the college, calculating that the probe would vindicate the reorganization efforts and attract more students. When published in February 1882, the report not only vindicated the reorganization efforts, but also urged the Pennsylvania legislature to make “periodic and generous appropriations” to Penn State: “ the state should give it such fostering care as will make it not only an object of just pride, but a source of immeasurable benefit to our sons and daughters.


Atherton and the Birth of the College of Engineering

The appointment of George Atherton as president in 1882 created an era of extraordinary stability and growth for Penn State. Top priority was given to enlarging the engineering program, and Atherton immediately approved an equipment expenditure of $3,000 for practicums and laboratory sessions. Atherton held strongly to the view that Penn State should be an engineering and industrial institution, rather than a classical one, and that classics should not be a “leading object” in a college curriculum. The logical conclusion of this was that mechanic arts were also to be placed on par with agriculture, given the rapid industrialization of the nation. All students now took identical coursework during their freshman and sophomore years, with a specialization in engineering reserved for their junior and senior years. Additionally, short courses (three in agriculture, one in chemistry, one in mining, and one in elementary mechanics) began to be offered, with no admission or degree requirements. Despite the improvements to the civil engineering curriculum, Atherton knew that further evolution was needed. To that end, he challenged Louis Reber, a mathematics instructor, to attend MIT for graduate work in mechanical engineering – and to pay particular attention to the processes and procedures used for engineering education – in order to develop Penn State's two-year mechanic arts program into a four-year mechanical engineering curriculum. Reber took to the challenge, and also studied engineering education methods in use at
Worcester Polytechnic Institute '' , mottoeng = "Theory and Practice" , established = , former_name = Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science (1865-1886) , type = Private research university , endowme ...
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Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...
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Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
, and the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
to establish a baseline for Penn State's program, which at that time consisted of mechanical drawing, woodworking, and carpentry. Reber also supervised the installation of a forge and foundry, and in 1884 asked for $3,500 to construct new building solely devoted to mechanic arts; Atherton immediately approved Reber's request, and the resulting building was the first structure erected for purely academic purposes. Machinery and equipment for the building were purchased at reduced prices from equipment manufacturers based on the advertising potential and inherent goodwill to be found in labeling items “for educational purposes.” In addition to providing instruction, the mechanical engineering department also managed the pumphouse, steam heating plant, and (beginning in 1887) the fifty-horsepower steam engine and generator used to power the incandescent lighting at the campus. The students thus gained practical experience via the chores required to manage and maintain these machines. The creation of the mechanical engineering curriculum segregated students into “general” and “technical” paths (not entirely dissimilar to modern-day general education and major-specific instruction requirements), and the curriculum featured what is now considered “typical” coursework in science and mathematics, as well as several practicums (one for each of the fall, winter, and spring terms) to develop skills such as drawing, pattern making, surveying, chemistry, mechanics, forging, and machine construction. Thornton Osmond also issued recommendations that electrical engineering be spun off into its own field (it had previously resided in the physics department); Atherton approved this request, and the Department of Physics and Electrotechnics was created in 1887 to explore the practical applications of electricity. The revised engineering curricula proved popular: of the 92 students enrolled for the 1887-88 academic year, over 35% were in engineering (18 mechanical, 15 civil). The subsequent year's enrollment rose to 113, of which 42% in engineering (22 mechanical, 17 civil, 9 electrical). The growing popularity of the engineering curricula also required physical growth of the campus. In 1891, $100,000 was allotted to construct a building devoted entirely to engineering. This building, named Main Engineering, was dedicated on February 22, 1893, with most of the dedication speech focused on the importance of an engineering education to national prosperity and progress. Additional machinery, including Allis-Chalmers
triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...
(extensively modified for laboratory instruction and experimentation), was purchased and installed. The engineering program continued to expand its offerings: in 1893, the trustees approved the addition of a course in mining engineering, with Magnus C. Ihlseng (formerly of the Colorado School of Mines) named professor and department head. Electrical engineering fully split from Physics and Electrotechnics, becoming its own department headed by John Price Jackson –who, at age 24, is easily the youngest department head on campus. By 1890, Main Engineering housed four engineering departments (civil, mechanical, mining, and electrical) in space originally intended for two. Increases in enrollment remained unceasing: in the 1890-91 academic year there were 127 undergraduates, 73 of which are in engineering (37 civil, 19 mechanical, 17 electrotechnical); by 1893, this had increased to 181 students, 128 in engineering (57 electrical, 44 mechanical, 18 civil, 9 mining). Needless to say, the overcrowding became problematic. Coursework expansions were also underway. The department of civil engineering began to include instruction in sanitary and hydraulic engineering; however, students still did not yet have the opportunity to specialize in specific facet of desired profession outside of lab and thesis work. In 1894, a new curriculum requirement was added: all freshmen, sophomore, and junior engineering students were required to take a two-week summer course to gain field experience via visits to coal mines, railroad shops, foundries, power stations, and similar businesses. This marked the first offering of a summer session in Penn State history. The increasing demand led to the formation of seven schools within Penn State. The Second Morrill Act (1890) gave each land-grant institution $15,000, which increased at a rate of $1,000 per year (to a maximum of $25,000), to be invested in instruction in agriculture, mechanic arts, etc. with “specific reference to their applications in the industry of life.” Engineering absorbed most of the at the expense of development of non-technical curricula. Atherton remained convinced that the college should increase instruction in liberal studies for all students, to become “ enof broad culture and good citizen ” To that end, the establishment of the seven schools was intended to eliminate duplication of instruction and resources while also encouraging and facilitating cooperation among related departments. Perhaps most importantly, it also shifted the burden of administration from the president's office onto the deans. Louis Reber became the first dean of the school of engineering, which exercised authority over the civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering departments. The mining engineering curriculum formed the core for the School of Mines, with Magnus Ihlseng named as dean.


Student body

The College of Engineering student body is relatively large, with a total of 8,166
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...
and 1,441 graduate students enrolled at University Park at the start of the Fall 2016 semester. The average class size for courses within the engineering majors is 25 students, and engineering students account for 21% of the total number of students in the Schreyer Honors College. The average SAT score for accepted applicants is 1450 on the 1600 SAT, or 2086 on the 2400 SAT. The average GPA of applicants is 3.6. For the 2015-2016 academic year, the college awarded 1,712 undergraduate and 471 graduate degrees in engineering disciplines.


Academic rankings and degrees offered

The Penn State College of Engineering offers
bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...
(B.S.),
master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
(M.S.), and
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
(Ph.D.) degrees in several majors.
Master of Engineering A Master of Engineering (abbreviated MEng, M.E. or M.Eng.) is either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering. International variations Australia In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research deg ...
(M.Eng.) degrees are offered in certain subjects as a professional degree. All majors listed below offer bachelor's degrees for their undergraduate programs. The M.S. degrees offered typically require research work culminating in a thesis (traditional M.S.), although some departments offer a non-thesis M.S. option. Several certificate options are also offered, including Engineering and Community Engagement; engineering design, housing, international engineering, nanotechnology; and space systems engineering. Certain majors (such as surveying engineering and several engineering technology disciplines) are only offered at Penn State commonwealth campuses, whereas other disciplines (such as environmental systems engineering, materials science and engineering, mining engineering, and petroleum and natural gas engineering) are offered through the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The departments of Materials Science and Engineering,
Mining Engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...
, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Environmental Systems Engineering, and Energy Engineering are under the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The Department of Materials Science & Engineering is ranked #10 nationally, and the petroleum engineering program is ranked #4 nationally. The most recent rankingsfor Penn State's undergraduate engineering programs are: The most recent rankings for Penn State's graduate engineering programs are: The College of Engineering is also highly ranked at the program level:


Starting salaries by major and return on investment

The median starting salaries for graduates with a bachelor's degree from the College of Engineering range from approximately $57,000 to over $83,000, depending on major, with bachelor's degree graduates from several majors earning a median salary of over $60,000. The college is ranked #19 in terms of best return on investment, with a thirty-year net average ROI of $789,300.


Laboratory and Research Centers

In addition to intradepartmental research, Penn State College of Engineering faculty and students also conduct research through interdisciplinary research centers and interdisciplinary research institutes:


Interdisciplinary research units

* Applied Research Laboratory (ARL): a DOD designated U.S. Navy University Affiliated Research Center and the university's largest research unit * Battery and Energy Storage Technology Center (BEST): specializing in the emerging research field of energy storage * Center for Acoustics and Vibration (CAV): a group of nine laboratories performing interdisciplinary research into areas such as active and passive vibration control, adaptive structures, rotorcraft acoustics, underwater acoustics, and flow-induced noise and vibration *Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences: a collection of institutes and Centers of Excellence performing research into fields such as ecology, bioinformatics, integrative and biomedical physiology, neuroscience, statistical genetics, and plant biology, among numerous others * Institute for Computational Science: a high-performance computing facility capable of performing advanced simulation, statistical modeling, data analysis, data mining, and data mining * Materials Research Institute: an interdisciplinary institute undertaking research efforts into 2D materials (e.g.
graphene Graphene () is an allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure.
) and coatings, 3D printing, additive manufacturing, humanitarian materials, nanoscale electromagnetics, nanofibers, optical metamaterials, and piezoelectric thin films, among others * Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment: an interdisciplinary unit focusing research efforts on future energy supply (including solar photoconversion and
wind energy Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
, as well as economic effects of energy generation), smart energy systems, health and environmental effects of energy, ecosystem effects of energy, and water and
biogeochemical cycle A biogeochemical cycle (or more generally a cycle of matter) is the pathway by which a chemical substance cycles (is turned over or moves through) the biotic and the abiotic compartments of Earth. The biotic compartment is the biosphere and the ...
s


Institutes

*Energy Engineering and Environmental Institute (E3I): focuses on topics such as water purification, remote sensing platforms for environmental studies, biofuels production in order to promote the development of sustainable technologies * Facilities Engineering Institute: aims to advance facilities engineering objectives through applied research, and provides facilities engineering services and education programs, as well as energy management services to several Pennsylvania state agencies, the federal government, and several nonprofit organizations *Institute for Networking and Security Research (INSR): offering expertise in mobile networking, protocol design, performance analysis, wireless communication, networked application,
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
security, secure operating systems, secure
wireless ad hoc network A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...
s, and secure telecommunication systems *Institute for Natural Gas Research: an integration of over two dozen research centers across all Penn State campuses, focused on transition to low-carbon energy supplies through unconventional oil and gas applications *Larson Transportation Institute: a premier transportation research center hosting the Bus Research and Testing Center, the Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies, and the Northeast Center of Excellence for Pavement Technology


Centers and laboratories

*Center for Combustion, Power, and Propulsion: an internationally focused and collaborative center dedicated to the improved understanding of combustion fundamentals and application of combustion science to advanced technologies, including advanced power generation, energetic materials, and molecular dynamics modeling *Center for e-Design: a joint coalition consisting of seven universities and several industry and government organizations, focusing on establishing new design tools to generate high-quality products at reduced cost *Center for Health Organization Transformation: a cooperative research center funded by the
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
focusing on supporting healthcare management, clinical, and
information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
innovations *Center for Innovative Materials Processing Through Direct Digital Deposition (CIMP-3D): dedicated to advancing and deploying additive manufacturing technology of metallic and advanced material systems to critical components and structures *Center for Innovative Sintered Products: a center focused on the development of new technology for sintered material,
particulates Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The ter ...
, refractory, and hard materials *Center for Multiscale Wave-Materials Interactions: a multidisciplinary center focused on the interactions of materials subjected to individual wavelengths and combinations of waves *Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization: an
NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...
-funded Advanced Technology Education Center dedicated to the research and development of
nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...
, including the incorporation of nanotechnology into both education and industry applications *Center for Neural Engineering: an inter-college research center dedicated to the development of the next generation of medical smart devices for clinical treatments of diseases of the brain *Center for Service Enterprise Engineering: the first U.S. academic center dedicated entirely to the study and practice of service engineering, focusing on the study, design, and implementation of
revenue management Revenue management is the application of disciplined analytics that predict consumer behaviour at the micro-market levels and optimize product availability, leveraging price elasticity to maximize revenue growth and thereby, profit. The primary ...
,
workforce planning The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...
, and
service quality Service quality (SQ), in its contemporary conceptualisation, is a comparison of perceived expectations (E) of a service with perceived performance (P), giving rise to the equation SQ=P-E. This conceptualistion of service quality has its origins in ...
management; the Center focuses primarily on the hospitality, recreation, transportation, telecommunication, and security sectors *Communications and Space Sciences Laboratory: an interdisciplinary research center focusing on electromagnetic phenomena for probing the dynamics of the atmosphere and ionosphere, as well as the study of electromagnetic phenomena such as pulse propagation and scattering and the design of antennae *Electrochemical Engine Center: focused on conducting fundamental and applied research on fuel cells and advanced battery and energy storage technologies for electrochemical power devices, including electric propulsion and stationary power generation, as well as personal and portable electronics *High Pressure Combustion Laboratory: focused on conducting fundamental and applied research on gaseous, solid, liquid, and gel propellants for rocket and gun propulsion systems, as well as metal combustion and solid fuels for ramjets and hybrid propulsion systems, ablation/erosion of rocket nozzle materials, insulation, and heat shield materials *Housing Research Center: dedicated to serving the homebuilding industry through the improvement of the quality and affordability of housing *Hydrogen Energy Center: an interdisciplinary center focused on hydrogen-based production and consumption technologies in an effort to promote hydrogen-centric efforts of sustainable energy production, including the conversion of biomass sources to energy and the development of new hydrogen storage technologies *Indoor Environment Center: focused on interdisciplinary research in the areas of indoor air quality, aerobiological engineering, acoustics, and illumination in a sustainable context *Microsystems Design Laboratory: focused on the development of special-purpose computers, design automation tools, leakage power management, intelligent computer architectures, ultra-low power computing, data center computing, and hardware security *Radiation Science and Engineering Center: established to manage the university's nuclear research facilities, and to provide safe nuclear analytical and testing facilities to the university, government agencies, and corporations * Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence: one of three Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence in the United States, the VLRCOE engages in projects related the advancement of
rotary-wing A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The Internati ...
aircraft, including dynamics, aerodynamics,
aeromechanics Aeromechanics is the science about mechanics that deals with the motion of air and other gases, involving aerodynamics, thermophysics and aerostatics. It is the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of gases (especially air) and their eff ...
, acoustics, flight control, icing, HUMS, smart structures, advanced materials, active noise and vibration control, drivetrain technologies, and advanced aircraft design *Wireless Communications and Networking Laboratory: dedicated to research in wireless communication technology, wireless networking, and information theory to develop secure, high-capacity, high-reliability wireless communication technology


Student organizations

The College of Engineering hosts over fifty student-run organizations that encompass both national honors societies as well as specialized student-interest projects and competitions. These organizations encourage professional development, networking, recognition for outstanding academic achievement, and the opportunity to apply theoretical instruction to practical problems. Several organizations also feature periodic speaker meetings, which introduce students to current developments and trends in their field of study. These organizations include: * Alpha Nu Sigma Nuclear Science and Engineering Honor Society: the national honor society for nuclear engineering, a competitive academic honor society established to recognize the top 25% of juniors and top 1/3 of seniors in their peer group. *
Alpha Pi Mu Alpha Pi Mu () is an American honor society for Industrial and Systems Engineering students. All chapters are based in the United States, with the exception of one university in Puerto Rico which is an unincorporated territory of the United S ...
: A competitive academic honor society for industrial and systems engineering. Eligibility is limited to the top fifth of juniors (with a minimum GPA requirement of 3.20) and the top third of seniors (with a minimum GPA requirement of 3.00). Graduate students are eligible by recommendation from a department head. *
American Foundry Society The American Foundry Society (AFS) is a professional, technical and trade association for foundries and the broader metal casting industry. The society promotes the interests of foundries to policymakers, provides training for foundry workers, ...
(AFS): A professional society that aims to promote sustainability, industry stewardship, workforce development, development of castings, technical innovation, and education. * AHS International: Formerly the American Helicopter Society, AHS is the world's only nonprofit technical society for scientists, engineers, researchers, and industry professionals involved in the development of vertical flight. AHS also hosts an annual design competition open to undergraduate and graduate students from around the world, with a particular emphasis on non-traditional vertical flight applications. *
AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...
: The world's foremost professional society for the field of
aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
. AIAA also hosts an annual aircraft design competition open to undergraduate and graduate students worldwide. * American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE): A professional organization established to distinguish chemical engineering as a profession separate from chemists and mechanical engineers. The Penn State chapter of AIChE supports professional networking, research, and outreach among its student members. *
American Nuclear Society The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines. ANS is composed of three communities ...
: A nonprofit professional development organization concerned with nuclear engineering and the development of nuclear consensus standards. *
American Society for Quality The American Society for Quality (ASQ), formerly the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), is a society of quality professionals, with nearly 80,000 members. History ASQC was established on 16 February 1946 by 253 members in Milwaukee, ...
* American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE): An international technical and educational society of agricultural and biological engineering, ASABE has spent over a century focusing on developing sustainable solutions to meet the demands of an ever-growing population. The Penn State ASABE chapter focuses on agricultural education, environmental cleanup, and social events for its student members and the surrounding community, as well as professional networking. * American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE): An international nonprofit professional society dedicated to advancing the state of the art of civil engineering. The Penn State chapter of ASCE also focuses on hands-on projects for its student members, including Concrete Canoe and Bridges to Prosperity. * American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): An international professional organization dedicated to the advancement of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration technologies and installations since 1894. In addition to professional conferences, ASHRAE also offers several certifications in the design, modeling, commissioning, and energy assessment of facilities. * American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): An international professional organization promoting multidisciplinary engineering, ASME is equal parts engineering society, R&D organization, and a standards organization. The Penn State chapter of ASME focuses on professional networking, leadership development, hands-on projects, design competitions, community volunteer work, and social interaction for its members. * American Solar Energy Society (ASES): The American affiliate of the International Solar Energy Society and formed to advance the education, outreach, and policy of sustainable energy. The Penn State chapter of ASES involves students in the design and modeling of solar energy systems, and gives students the opportunity to participate in several hands-on projects such as a solar picnic table and a solar tracker. * Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): The world's largest scientific and educational computing society, offering both professional and student awards and development opportunities in the field of computing. The Penn State ACM chapter hosts a number of events, including CodePSU, an outreach event intended to develop computer programming skills among university members in a challenging and competitive environment. * Association of Women in Computing at Penn State (AWC): A professional organization for women in computing, and a member of the Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals, dedicated to the advancement of women in computing and the encouragement of women to pursue computing-relating careers. The Penn State chapter of AWC focuses on mentoring and tutoring, social events, hosting
Girls Who Code Girls Who Code (also known as GWC) is an international nonprofit organization that aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science. The organization works toward closing the gender employment difference in computing. They h ...
-related events, and attendance of the Grace Hopper conference. * Audio Engineering Society (AES): The only worldwide professional and standards organization dedicated exclusively to audio technology, AES is composed of engineers, scientists, and other audio professionals, including acousticians, audiologists, and academic researchers. The Penn State chapter of AES focuses on education, tutoring, speaker meetings, and equipment demonstration amongst its student members. * Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES): A professional society for students, researchers, and industry professionals within the field of biomedical engineering. The Penn State chapter of BMES focuses on professional and social networking, as well as academic development opportunities for its student members. * Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society: The national honor society for civil engineering, currently consisting of over 100,000 members nationwide. * Design Build Institute of America (DBIA): A professional organization dedicated to the teaching and promotion of best practices in the design and build process, focusing on design and construction services. * Engineering Ambassadors: A professional and outreach organization focusing on inspiring middle and high school students toward a career in engineering. * Engineering and Applied Sciences Interest House (EASI): The EASI (pronounced "easy") is a community-focused networking organization located in on-campus residence halls focused on connecting students with similar engineering and science classes, inspirations, and ideas. Members are encouraged to form various tutelage groups and participate in academic and campus outreach and social events. * Engineering Graduate Student Council (EGSC): A professional development and networking organization focused on the promotion and enhancement of graduate studies within the Penn State community. EGSC also provides an open communication forum for students, faculty, researchers, and administration staff. * Engineering House (E-House): A live-in community focused on supporting student projects and activities, and providing students with leadership and social engagement opportunities. * Engineering Leadership Society (ELS): A community-driven organization focused on innovation, leadership, and professional development. ELS encourages development of socially-relevant technologies and hands-on competitions, including participation in the
Rube Goldberg Machine Contest The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is a contest in which students ages 8-18 build devices to complete a simple task in a minimum of twenty steps and a maximum of seventy five, in the style of American cartoonist Rube Goldberg. The contest is held b ...
. * Engineering Orientation Network (EON): A community and mentorship organization focusing on acclimating new students to life at Penn State, and providing opportunities for networking, social engagement, and professional development. EON also provides incoming freshmen with mentors within their selected major, as well as a pre-term orientation sessions that include activity fairs, design competitions, and prizes. * Engineering Undergraduate Council (EUC): An administrative- and communications-focused organization that aims to connect student ideas and concerns with faculty and administrative staff, and also serves as part of the Academic Integrity Council. * Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW): The Penn State chapter of a nonprofit organization involving students in technical design projects focusing on sustainability, environmental, and clean technology issues. Projects are often enacted within the local community, although at times they may be international in scope. * Engineers Without Borders (EWB): One of several global chapters focused on applying engineering principles to international development work, specifically with serving the needs of disadvantaged communities and peoples worldwide. *
Eta Kappa Nu Eta Kappa Nu () or IEEE-HKN is the international honor society of the Computer Science and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "The organization promotes excellence in the profession and in education through an emphasis ...
Electrical Engineering Honor Society: The international honor society for electrical and computer engineering, now an organizational unit of IEEE. The Penn State chapter of Eta Kappa Nu consists of the top 33% of seniors and top 25% of juniors within the majors of electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science. * Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES): An interdisciplinary professional organization focused on promoting a knowledge exchange of human characteristics that are relevant to system and device design. * Illuminating Engineering Society (IES): Part of the department of Architectural Engineering, the Penn State chapter of IES is an interdisciplinary professional organization dedicated to promoting the art and science of lighting. * Industrial Engineering Graduate Student Association (IEGA): An academic and social group focused on providing academic mentorship and a social platform for students to interact with peers and faculty. * Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS): An international professional society focused on operations research, management science, and data analytics. The Penn State chapter of INFORMS aims to provide applications of operations research and management science to fields such as transportation, banking, manufacturing, insurance, healthcare, and supply chain management. * Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): The largest professional organization for electrical, computer, electronics, radio, and associated engineering disciplines, with a focus on the educational and technical development of electrical and electronics engineering. The Penn State chapter of IEEE hosts career fairs, speaker events, professional networking events, hands-on workshops, and social and community events throughout the year. * Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE): Formerly the Institute of Industrial Engineers, IISE is a professional society dedicated to supporting the industrial engineering profession, with a particular focus on quality and productivity improvements. The Penn State chapter of IISE provides leadership development, as well as professional networking and academic and social events. * Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE): An international educational and scientific society of transportation professionals, with a focus on the application of technical and scientific efforts to meet the mobility and safety needs of the ground transportation industry. The Penn State chapter of ITE focuses on the promotion and advancement of transportation and traffic engineering, professional networking, partnership with consulting firms on traffic and mobility research projects, and social engagement. * International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE): An international organization connecting students with opportunities to perform technical work abroad in one of over 80 countries, with sessions lasting from four weeks to eighteen months. IASTE aims to provide students with both technical experience and cultural education. The Penn State chapter of IASTE seeks to provide student members with internships, hands-on technical experience, and a deepening of its members' cultural understanding. * Lunar Lion: A privately funded organization seeking to design, develop, launch, and deploy a spacecraft onto the lunar surface. * National Association of Home Builders (NAHB): One of the largest trade societies in the country, consisting primarily of home builders and remodelers, as well as mortgage and building products and services professionals. * National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): A national networking organization focused on the recruitment and retention of black and minority engineers in academia and industry. The Penn State chapter of NSBE focuses on professional networking, leadership development, social engagement. * North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT): A multidisciplinary professional society focused on reducing the environmental and social cost of trenching, including the development of standards, educational programs, training, and research and development. * Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society: An academic society recognizing excellence in the field of chemical engineering, open to juniors and seniors with a GPA of at least 3.5. The Penn State chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon focuses on providing quality developmental opportunities for the professional development of its members, including mentoring, tutoring, community outreach programs, and professional networking. * Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team: A hands-on project team that competes in the Advanced Vehicle Technology competitions hosted by the United States Department of Energy. Teams re-engineer donor vehicles with hybrid-electric and other cutting-edge technologies to gain improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions. * Penn State Formula SAE – Penn State Racing: A hands-on project team that participates in the annual
Formula SAE Formula SAE is a student design competition organized by SAE International (previously known as the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE). The competition was started in 1980 by the SAE student branch at the University of Texas at Austin after ...
competition, which requires the design, fabrication, and testing of a formula-style race car in several events, including acceleration, autocross, and endurance. * Penn State Robotics Club: A multidisciplinary club dedicated to the design, building, testing, and deploying of robotics for a variety of applications. * Penn State Surveying Society: An organization dedicated to providing instruction in the discipline of
surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
to student members. Activities within the organization also include fundraising, community outreach, campus service projects, professional development, and social engagement. *
Phi Sigma Rho Phi Sigma Rho (), also known as Phi Rho or PSR, is a social sorority for individuals who identify as female or non-binary in science, engineering, and engineering technologies. The sorority was founded in 1984 at Purdue University. The first ch ...
: The national sorority for women in engineering and engineering technology, focused on engaging female engineering students within the Greek community while excelling in their academic progress. The Penn State chapter of Phi Sigma Rho aims to develop high standards of personal integrity and respect, and promotes academic support and social engagement amongst its members. *
Pi Tau Sigma Pi Tau Sigma () is an international honor society in the field of mechanical engineering, with most chapters established in the United States. It honors mechanical engineering students who have exemplified the "principles of scholarship, characte ...
Mechanical Engineering Honor Society: An academic honor society open to both undergraduate and graduate students, based on academic achievement as well as engineering ability, personality, scholarship, and likelihood of future success. For undergraduates, eligibility is limited to the top 25% of the student's class for juniors and the top 35% of the student's class for seniors. * Society of Engineering Science (SES): A national professional organization aiming to promote the exchange of information pertinent to the field of engineering science. The Penn State chapter of SES is focused primarily on the needs of Engineering Science majors, but open to all engineering majors. * Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE): A professional, technical, and networking group created to serve as role models for the Hispanic community. SHPE chapters are also actively involved in raising awareness of the need for STEM graduates and professionals in order to enable the U.S. to maintain a strong economic and technical advantage in the global marketplace. The Penn State chapter of SHPE focuses on leadership and professional development, community outreach, and social engagement for its members. * Society of Women Engineers (SWE): A nonprofit service, educational, and professional organization focused on the development of women in the engineering and engineering technology fields. * Partnership for Achieving Construction Excellence (PACE): An educational and professional organization focused on improving partnerships between the university and the construction industry through innovation and technological development. *
Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...
Engineering Honor Society: The oldest engineering honor society in the United States, honoring students with a demonstrated history of academic achievement, personal development, and professional integrity. The Penn State chapter of TBP is by invitation-only, and is open to undergraduate students in the top eighth of their class, or seniors within the top fifth of their class. The semester-long candidacy process also requires successful completion of interviews and participation in several chapter activities and community work. * Theme Park Engineering Group (TPEG): A professional development organization providing opportunities to collaborate with working professionals of the theme park industry. TPEG also provides opportunities for real-world experience on design projects, as well as networking and social engagement with other students, faculty, and industry professionals. *
Triangle Fraternity (Truth Conquers All) , maxim = , colors = Old Rose Gray , symbol = Engineers' transit , flower = White chrysanthemum , flag = , jewel = , publication = ''Triangle Review'' , philanthropy = FIRST , chapters = 38 Active 4 Colonies , members = 1,200 ...
: A national social fraternity, with membership limited to students majoring in engineering, architecture, mathematics, and the physical, biological, and computer sciences. The Penn State chapter of Triangle focuses on academic and professional development, as well as leadership development, community service, and social and professional networking. * Undergraduate Research Society (URS): A STEM-focused organization open to undergraduate students of all majors, focused on helping interested students find research opportunities via professional networking, peer mentoring, faculty networking, and career development activities. * Unmanned Aerial Systems Club: An interdisciplinary organization focused on the design, build, and study of unmanned aerial systems as a method of helping each student attain their educational, personal, and professional goals. The club also participates in various competitive events hosted by
AUVSI The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, also known as AUVSI, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the unmanned systems and robotics industry through communication, education and lea ...
, specifically the Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition, which requires the design, fabrication, integration, and demonstration of an unmanned aircraft capable of autonomous flight and navigation.


Notable alumni

The College of Engineering has over 100,000 living engineering alumni. The Penn State Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) is the oldest active alumni group at The Pennsylvania State University. Notable alumni include: * Benson L. Dutton (1933, Civil Engineering), the first
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
to graduate from Penn State's College of Engineering. *William E. Deifenderfer (1938, Mechanical Engineering), Senior Vice President of
United Technologies United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...
. *Stephen Lawroski (1939 M.S., 1943 Ph.D., Chemical Engineering), former chemical engineer on the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
and participant of the
Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...
program. Appointed to the general advisory committee of Atomic Energy Commission by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, also serving on the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards before retiring as Associate Director of
Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...
. *Benjamin Paul Blasingame (1940), manager of Delco Electronics and Air Force Colonel who worked on engineering and research teams at
The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
advocating for the development of the
turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
jet engine, and served as Chief Guidance Officer in the Air Force missile development program. His career included the development of booster-rocket guidance systems, gyro-stabilized firing systems, and
inertial navigation system An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity (dire ...
s for commercial airliners and military transports, and has received a
Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service is the highest award that is presented by the Secretary of Defense, to a private citizen, politician, non-career federal employee, or foreign national. It is presented for exception ...
, a
NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal NASA's Exceptional Public Service Medal is a United States government awarded to any non-Government individual or to an individual who was not a Government employee during the period in which the service was performed for sustained performance th ...
, the
Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...
, a Presidential
Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...
, and is a member of the
National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...
. * David E. Pergrin (1940, Civil Engineering), commanding officer of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion who served in the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Remagen during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. *Jacob M. Geist (1942 M.S., Chemical Engineering), a major contributor to cryogenics process safety for
liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
. *Karl H. Norris (1942, Agricultural Engineering), whose work contributed to the discovery of
phytochrome Phytochromes are a class of photoreceptor in plants, bacteria and fungi used to detect light. They are sensitive to light in the red and far-red region of the visible spectrum and can be classed as either Type I, which are activated by far-re ...
. *Max S. Peters (1942 B.S., 1947 M.S., 1949 Ph.D., Chemical Engineering), National Academy of Engineering inductee and leading air pollution researcher whose studies led to the development of the catalytic converter. * Donald R. F. Harleman (1943, Civil Engineering), internationally recognized expert in water quality and waste treatment who led harbor cleanup efforts in numerous countries worldwide. *Lee Strohl Gaumer, Jr. (1948, Chemical Engineering), former Technical Director of Air Products and responsible for the liquefaction of hydrogen for the
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
and
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
programs. Gaumer also worked on the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
and at the
White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...
while serving in the
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. Gaumer also received numerous awards during his career, including the Distinguished Engineers Award (
National Society of Professional Engineers The National Society of Professional Engineers (abbreviate as NSPE) is a professional association representing licensed professional engineers in the United States. NSPE is the recognized voice and advocate of licensed Professional Engineers repr ...
) and the Apollo Achievement Award (
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
), and served as a Fellow of the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was actually established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as a profession independent of chemists and mechanical engineer ...
and a Member of the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
. * Harry Lawroski (1950 B.S., 1956 M.S., 1959 Ph.D., Chemical Engineering), former president of the American Nuclear Society. *Russel H. Herman, Jr. (1951, Chemical Engineering), former president and
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...
Eastern, an
Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
company, and former Executive Vice President of Esso Europe. *
John H. Sinfelt John H. Sinfelt (February 18, 1931 in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, Munson, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania – May 28, 2011 in Morristown, New Jersey) was an American chemical engineer whose research on catalytic reforming was responsible for t ...
(1951 B.S., 1953 M.S., 1954 Ph.D., Chemical Engineering), whose research on catalytic reforming led to the development of unleaded gasoline. *William L. Weiss (1951, Industrial Engineering), former Chairman and CEO of
Ameritech AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly known as Ameritech Corporation (and before that American Information Technologies Corporation), is an American telecommunications company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T divestiture. Ameritech was one of the se ...
, one of the
Baby Bells The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 19 ...
formed after the 1984 AT&T divestiture. *Thomas D. Larson (1952 B.S., 1959 M.S., 1962 Ph.D., Civil Engineering), former Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, former Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, and Director of the Pennsylvania Transportation and Safety Center. *John C. Villforth (1952 B.S., 1954 M.S., Sanitary Engineering), Chief Engineer of the
US Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...
Commissioned Corps. * Lincoln A. Warrell (1953, Chemical Engineering), owner of several confectionary companies and inductee of the Candy Hall of Fame. * Paul J. Weitz, Jr. (1954, Aerospace Engineering), naval
test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...
, NASA astronaut, and Commander of
STS-6 STS-6 was the sixth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the maiden flight of the . Launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 4, 1983, the mission deployed the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-1, into orbit, before landing at Edwards A ...
, the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. *Frank Gabron (1955 M.S., Mechanical Engineering), senior combustion research engineer at
United Technologies Corporation United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...
and responsible for initial development of the combustion technology used in the
RL-10 The RL10 is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine built in the United States by Aerojet Rocketdyne that burns cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. Modern versions produce up to of thrust per engine in vacuum. Three RL10 ve ...
rocket engine. Gabron also earned a NASA Achievement Award for his work on the development of equipment used during the
Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
space flights. * Albertus D. Welliver (1956, Mechanical Engineering), former Vice President of
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
and manager of the
Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap bet ...
airliner. *James E. Marley (1957, Aerospace Engineering), former CEO of AMP Industrial prior to its acquisition by
Tyco International Tyco International plc was a security systems company incorporated in the Republic of Ireland, with operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, United States (Tyco International (US) Inc.). Tyco International was composed of two major bu ...
, now
TE Connectivity TE Connectivity is an American Swiss-domiciled technology company that designs and manufactures connectors and sensors for several industries, such as automotive, industrial equipment, data communication systems, aerospace, defense, medical, o ...
. *Ted T. Szabo (1958 Ph.D., Chemical Engineering),
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
survivor and Division President of
Union Carbide Corporation Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...
. * John J. Yeosock (1959, Industrial Engineering),
Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and commander of the 3rd U.S. Army during
Operation Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
and
Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
. * Gerard M. Faeth (1961 M.S., 1964 Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering), principal investigator for numerous combustion experiments on
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
missions, author of over 230 journal papers and 200 conference papers, and presenter of over 200 invited lectures. *
Guion Bluford Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. (born November 22, 1942) is an American aerospace engineer, retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer and fighter pilot, and former NASA astronaut in which capacity he became the second person of African descent to ...
(1964, Aerospace Engineering),
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
, former
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
, and the first
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
in
space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
. *
Harold W. Gehman, Jr. Harold Webster Gehman Jr. (born October 15, 1942) is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (SACLANT), Commander-in-Chief of the United States Joint Forces Command, one of the Unit ...
(1965, Industrial Engineering) served as commander-in-chief of the
U.S. Joint Forces Command United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense. USJFCOM was a functional command that provided specific services to the military. The last commander was Army Gen. Ray Odi ...
and
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic until he retired in 2000. In 2003 he was appointed to head the investigation of the
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster The Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster was a fatal accident in the United States space program that occurred on February 1, 2003. During the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texa ...
. *Thomas A. Bathgate (1970, Architectural Engineering), President and CEO of PWI Engineering and leader in
sustainable engineering Sustainable engineering is the process of designing or operating systems such that they use energy and resources sustainably, in other words, at a rate that does not compromise the natural environment, or the ability of future generations to meet ...
and energy conservation efforts for building complexes since 1973. *Gregory Lucier (1986, Industrial Engineering), president and CEO of
Invitrogen Invitrogen is one of several brands under the Thermo Fisher Scientific corporation. The product line includes various subbrands of biotechnology products, such as machines and consumables for polymerase chain reaction, reverse transcription, cl ...
. * Mark Alpert (1980, Environmental Engineering), president of Integrated Delivery Solutions. Former faculty include Amos E. Neyhart, a
traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road ...
education pioneer and creator of the first
driver education Driver's education, driver education, driving education, driver's ed, driving tuition or driving lessons is a formal class or program that prepares a new driver to obtain a learner's permit or driver's license. The formal class program may also ...
classes in the United States in 1933. Inyong Ham, a Penn State professor (1958–95) and an IIE Fellow, was known for his development of group technology and research on the use of computers in manufacturing and process planning.


Firsts

* First accredited in 1936, Architectural Engineering program at Penn State is nation's oldest continuously accredited curriculum in this field. * In 1923, professor Paul Schweitzer started one of the first systematic research programs in diesel engineering in United States. * In 1909, the first Industrial Engineering academic department and baccalaureate program in the nation were established at Penn State. * In 1960, Penn State established the first national curriculum in solid-state technology and in 1962 created the interdisciplinary materials research laboratory. * In 1965, Penn State Aerospace engineer Barnes W. McCormick led a research team that made the first
wake turbulence Wake turbulence is a disturbance in the atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes variety of elements, the most significant of which are wingtip vortices and jetwash. Jetwash refers to the rapidly moving g ...
measurements behind a full-scale airplane.


References


External links


Official site
{{authority control Pennsylvania State University colleges Engineering universities and colleges in Pennsylvania Universities and colleges in Centre County, Pennsylvania 1896 establishments in Pennsylvania