News

Fungi into the future

Penn State researchers have aided the state’s important mushroom industry for nearly 100 years, and they’re still going strong. But mushrooms aren’t just for eating anymore. Read more

Penn State undergraduate students thrive in iPRISM research internship program

This summer, four undergraduate students from four different departments and two colleges at Penn State investigated new engineered living materials — materials that exhibit life-like features — for eight weeks in Germany. Read more

Beyond Smart Materials

Penn State’s Living Materials team is working across departments and continents to engineer adaptive, self-powering, living materials that respond to their environment. Read more

Penn State adaptive screen system for buildings featured in Lisbon Triennale

A Penn State-designed window screen system that automatically changes its shape based on indoor and outdoor environmental conditions is part of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal through Dec. 5. Read more

Designed to Adapt: Living materials are the future of sustainable building

Working together across disciplines, researchers from Penn State and the University of Freiburg are applying materials that adapt, respond to the environment, self-power, and regenerate to meet the challenges of adaptive architecture. Read more

Student-led virtual event strengthens Penn State-Freiburg Partnership

The Convergence Center for Living Multifunctional Material Systems (LiMC2), in partnership with the University of Freiburg’s Cluster of Excellence for Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) recently hosted a graduate student-focused interactive workshop and poster session on June 21 to 22.  Read more

Stuckeman School researchers receive interdisciplinary research grant

Elena Vazquez, an architecture doctoral candidate, and José Duarte, director of the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing, were recently awarded the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Upjohn Research Initiative grant for $25,000 to help further their research. Read more

Penn State, University of Freiburg announce joint seed-grant recipients

The Convergence Center for Living Multifunctional Material Systems (LiMC2), in partnership with the University of Freiburg’s Cluster of Excellence for Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS), has announced the recipients of the inaugural Living Multifunctional Materials Collaborative Research Seed Grant ProgramThree joint faculty teams from Penn State and University of Freiburg were selected for the program.
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Four research projects advancing climate action, from earthen materials to embodied carbon calculators

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the winners of this year’s Upjohn Research Initiative, providing up to $30,000 to four research projects advancing sustainable architecture and design.

June 9 webinar to focus on adaptive architecture research, collaboration

The June 9 webinar will focus on adaptive architecture research, a critical component in the pursuit of the sustainable, equitable and resource-efficient future of the built environment.
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Smart materials could pose solution for big-data bottleneck in future cities

New paper on smart materials that can sense environmental changes and respond accordingly — without externally transferring data.

Penn State, University of Freiburg to deepen ties at Virtual Materials Day

The meeting, focused on the convergence of materials and life, will take place Nov. 10-11
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Mechanical engineering grad student charges ahead through research

Award-winning doctoral student Xiaoyue Zhao explores how smart materials can harness triboelectricity to power small electronics
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Living materials webinar partners Penn State, University of Freiburg researchers

More than 100 registered participants met July 22-23 for a virtual webinar organized by the Convergence Center for Living Multifunctional Material Systems (LiMC2). The webinar brought together researchers from Penn State and the University of Freiburg, and focused on three emerging topics in living materials, namely materials for sensing and diagnostics, smart buildings and adaptive architecture, and advanced manufacturing.
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Penn State, University of Freiburg living materials partnership begins virtually

The universities signed an agreement for a joint center late last summer
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Penn State, University of Freiburg to participate in live talk

International Cooperation in Science and Research during COVID-19: The new normal in the U.S. and Germany
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