Though engineers and doctors have been hard at work developing breakthroughs such as artificial limbs and therapies for spinal cord injuries, one of the greatest challenges is designing the neural interfaces themselves — the bridge between the body’s nervous system and the medical device.

A paper reviewing the state of the art in biomaterials for neural interfaces is featured on the cover of the journal Advanced Materials.

As part of this effort, a team of Penn State engineers underwent an exhaustive review of the current state of the art in the organic and inorganic biomaterials utilized in neural interfaces.

The team’s paper looks at current microelectrode technologies, advancements in electroactive nanomaterials and the technical and scientific challenges in using nanomaterials to create long-lasting, functional neural interfaces.

The authors include Pouria Fattahi, graduate student in chemical engineering; Guang Yang, graduate student in bioengineering; Gloria Kim, graduate student in bioengineering; and Mohammad Reza Abidian, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, materials science and chemistry.

The result, “A Review of Organic and Inorganic Biomaterials for Neural Interfaces,” is the cover story in the latest issue of Advanced Materials, published on March 26.

The Penn State team’s paper can be found online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201304496/abstract.

Earlier this week, U.S. News & World Report released its “2014 Best Colleges Rankings,” where Penn State was ranked No. 8 among all public national universities and the College of Engineering was ranked No. 19 among undergraduate engineering programs.

U.S. News ranked the following undergraduate programs:

• Aerospace Engineering: 12th
• Chemical Engineering: 17th
• Civil Engineering: 14th
• Engineering Science and Mechanics: 10th
• Industrial Engineering: 6th
• Materials: 10th
• Mechanical Engineering: 16th

The University’s undergraduate programs in biological engineering, bioengineering, computer engineering and electrical engineering were not ranked.

According to U.S. News, the undergraduate results are based solely on the peer judgments of deans and senior faculty who rated each program using a scale of 1 to 5 in a mail survey.

U.S. News does not include the disciplines of architectural engineering, computer science and nuclear engineering as part of its survey.

Lisa Callender, a 2003 chemical engineering alumna, was named the winner of the 2013 Early Career Recognition Award by the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Lisa Callender, a 2003 chemical engineering alumna, was honored with the department’s Early Career Recognition Award.

Callender is operations leader of Dow Chemical Company’s Midland herbicide formulation and packaging facility, one of the largest herbicide facilities in the world. She began her career at Dow as a process engineer.

She remains active at Penn State, assisting with the Women in Engineering Program Orientation, guest lecturing in chemical engineering classes and serving on Dow’s recruiting team.

Established in 2012, the department’s award is designed to honor an outstanding Penn State chemical engineer at the outset of his or her career. The award is based on the recipient’s professional accomplishments, leadership activities and potential for continued success.

Callendar received her award at the department’s 50th anniversary banquet in July.

Penn State chemical engineering alumnus and former faculty member Jack McWhirter rang the opening bell on Wall Street on July 5.

Jack McWhirter, a former chemical engineering faculty member and Penn State alumnus, rang the ceremonial opening bell on Wall Street on July 5.

A YouTube video of the bell ringing can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmKlLSOzHWA.

McWhirter’s trip to the New York Stock Exchange celebrated Campus Crest Communities’ purchase of a 48 percent stake in his student housing company, Copper Beech Townhome Communities.

McWhirter is the founder, president and CEO of Copper Beech, the fifth largest student housing operator in the country, with properties in more than a dozen states. He is president of Mixing and Mass Transfer Technologies LLC and the founder, former president and CEO of Nittany/BullDog BioDiesel LLC.

The chemical engineer began his career with E.I. DuPont de Nemours as a research engineer in 1962 and then manager of research and development for LIGHTNIN Inc. Between 1966 and 1986, McWhirter worked for the Union Carbide Corp. where he ultimately became vice president and general manager of the Environmental System Division and the Union Carbide Agricultural Chemical Co.

From 1986 to 2000, he was a professor of chemical engineering at Penn State. McWhirter holds more than 40 U.S. patents in wastewater treatment and chemical process systems technology and has been widely recognized for his pioneering efforts in the invention, development and commercialization of the UNOX High Purity Oxygen Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment System in the 1960s and 1970s.

He has received a number of awards, including the Penn State Outstanding Engineering Alumnus Award, and in 2008, was honored as one of the 100 preeminent Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era during the centennial celebration of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

This past April, McWhirter was one of only two people to receive the University’s 2013 Graduate School Alumni Society Award Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes graduate alumni who have achieved exceptional success throughout the course of their profession and have demonstrated their loyalty to Penn State and the Alumni Association.