Recent and Upcoming Events

2024 External Review

On April 22-24, 2024, the institute was evaluated by an external panel of experts as part of a mandatory eight-year review cycle. This review’s objective was to evaluate the institute within an international and national context of education and service and to provide constructive feedback on institute plans. This could include examining the institute’s short-term and long-term goals, the educational experience of graduate and undergraduate students, research accomplishments, service requirements, organization, facilities, and resource allocation decisions.  

Our external visiting panel consisted of four experts: 

• Franklin (Lynn) Orr, Jr., Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor of Petroleum Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University  
• Rodney Andrews, Associate Vice President for Research and Development, Director of Center for Applied Energy Research, and Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky  
• Liang-Shih Fan, Distinguished University Professor, C. John Easton Professor in Engineering, and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University 
• Laura J. Pyrak-Nolte, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and Director, Rock Physics Research Group, Purdue University 

During their visit, Lee Kump, the John Leone Dean in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Sanjay Srinivasan, institute director, welcomed the external visiting panel. They were presented with a focused self-study prepared by the institute, and, during the review, the external visiting panel had meaningful interactions with faculty, staff, and graduate students. Some of these were in the form of individual meetings and some were in the form of judiciously selected groups. The panel also toured the institute’s facilities. On the final day, the panel members prepared a report from the visit with commendations and recommendations.  

External reviews are essential elements in improving the overall quality of education, research productivity and connectivity, and faculty service at the University, and the institute would like to thank the reviewers for their time and thoughtful advice to best advance our goals and mission. 

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Critical minerals’ role in green energy topic of 2024 Shoemaker Lecture

Edward C. Dowling Jr., president and chief executive officer and board of directors’ member at Compass Minerals, gave the 2024 G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture in Mineral Engineering at Penn State. His talk, “Challenges and Opportunities of the Critical Minerals Revolution,” was held on April 19, in the Hub-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium and online via Zoom. A reception followed in Alumni Hall.

The lecture focused on the realities of climate change and how the global need to transition to non-carbon-emitting energy generation, distribution, and utilization creates fundamental national security implications. The transition also drives an order of magnitude demand increase for various critical and essential minerals. Dowling discussed how significant increases in critical and essential mineral production are strategically vital to achieving the desired green energy transition. His lecture presented the scale of critical and essential mineral requirements and focused on the many technical, human resource, jurisdictional, financial, environmental social, and governance challenges and opportunities that the mining industry faces.

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Benefits, risks of a more electrified world discussed at recent workshop

A workshop focusing on the rise of cross-border electricity interconnections—and the high-stake challenges they introduce—was held on April 15, in 603 Barron Innovation Hub. The workshop was also available online via Zoom.

Moderated by Chiara Lo Prete, associate professor of energy economics at Penn State, the workshop, “The Geopolitics of Cross-border Electricity Grids” featured a twelve-person panel of policy and academic experts who discussed the implications of increased international electricity trade implications in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, as well as the impact on research.

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Penn State EMS Energy Institute Open House

The Penn State EMS Energy Institute hosted an open house from 4-7 p.m. on September 27, 2023, on the Penn State University Park campus to introduce faculty, staff, and students to new director Sanjay Srinivasan and to discuss the path of the institute.

The event began with a presentation led by Srinivasan and Bruce Miller, associate director of the institute. Miller presented an overview of the institute with a historical timeline and an overview of the types of fundamental and applied research performed, strategic program areas, and a breakdown of personnel and funding.

Srinivasan highlighted the benefits of being affiliated with the institute and his plans for the institute’s future, which include fostering collaboration, identifying and supporting niche areas, and leveraging resources to better support researchers. He hopes to build a vibrant student community, promote professional development opportunities, and advance students’ research writing and presentation abilities. In addition, he wants to build a stronger infrastructure that better supports collaboration with industry, national laboratories, and other research organizations.

Participants were also led on a tour of several laboratories to get a better look at facilities and research being conducted at the institute. The labs highlighted included some used for critical minerals research, shared analytical labs, and pilot-scale facilities.

https://www.energy.psu.edu/ei-open-house-2023

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Energy Exchange Seminar Series

Energy Exchange is a seminar series hosted by the EMS Energy Institute as part of its outreach mission. The seminars focus on highly relevant energy topics. Energy topics discussed include new innovations in carbon dioxide utilization, clean coal, petroleum and natural gas, fuel cells, and more. Speakers include Penn State faculty as well as government and industry professionals. The Energy Exchange Seminar Series will return in the fall. Please check our website often for updates: energy.psu.edu

This year’s speakers were:

Eugene Morgan Associate Head for Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Program Chair of Energy Engineering, Associate Teaching Professor, in the John Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering “CO2-SMART: A New Industry-University Collaborative Research center for CO2 Storage Modeling, Monitoring, Analytics, and Risk Reduction Technologies” February 8, 2024

Erica Smithwick Director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and Distinguished Professor of Geography “Penn State's Climate Consortium: Partnerships for People and the Planet” March 14, 2024 Sarma Pisupati Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Director of the Center for Critical Minerals (C²M) “Mineral Security Challenges in Meeting the Goal of Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050” March 28, 2024

Thandazile Moyo Assistant Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering “Integrating Sustainability in Minerals and Energy Resource Extraction Education” April 18, 2024 Joshua Robinson Acting Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering “Silicon Carbide: The Critical Semiconductor for the Energy Transition” May 9, 2024