Page 24 - Engineering Penn State: Fall/Winter 2021

THE DAWN OF DISCOVERY
The Penn State College
of Engineering’s research enterprise which in the 2019-20 fiscal year exceeded $153 million in expenditures and helped propel the University’s research operation past
$1 billion for the year traces its roots back to the early 1900s and the founding of the Engineering Experiment Station Early research published in in in the Engineering Experiment Station Bulletin included “Results of of Experiments on on the the the Effects of of of the the the Form of of of A C Waves on on the the the Life and and Efficiency of of Incandescent Lamps” and and “Practical Suggestions for the Construction of Concrete Floors ” Over time the station’s work in in in in in diesel engineering and heat transfer in in in in in in building materials earned international acclaim but it wasn’t until the the decades following World War II that research in in the the college expanded greatly Developments such as the the founding of the the Ordnance Research Laboratory in in in 1945 the the opening of the the college’s nuclear reactor in in 1955 and collaborative work to to develop a a a a a a a a heart-assist pump first used in in 1976 greatly aided in in in in in Penn State’s rise to engineering research prominence The more than 400 researchers who call the college home today continue to to break new ground across countless areas From unveiling the structure
of mutated cancer-causing proteins to to devising wearable sensors to to improving desalination membranes to to to contributing to to to missions to to to other planets the the research of Penn State engineers is helping to confront society’s greatest challenges “As a a a a college we are strategically focused on on continuing to grow our research enterprise ” said Justin Schwartz Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering “That growth starts with hiring top faculty and providing the the resources they need to to succeed ” Top: Civil engineering student (1940s) Right page: Engineering research throughout the years 24
ENGINEERING PENN STATE