The Learning Factory provides a low-cost resource for industry. 2

Upcoming trade shows. 4

Upcoming events at Penn State. 5

Dr. Craig Grimes explores cheaper solar-cell materials. 6

Nanofabrication Laboratory at Penn State. 7

Licensable Technologies. 8

I n d u s t r i a l R e s e a r c h O f f i c e N e w s l e t t e r S p r i n g 2 0 0 8

Penn State develops research alliance with Mine Safety Appliances Company. page 3

iron hot topics

The Learning Factory provides a low-cost resource for industry —By Gregory Angle

The Learning Factory is one of several facilities at Penn State that enable engineering students to gain real-world experi-ence by working with industry sponsors. It offers compa-

nies a low-cost, low-risk resource for concepts that need prototyp-ing, process improvements, or analysis and testing. According to the new director, Tim Simpson, “The Learning Factory provides a great opportunity for companies to engage Penn State students. The hands-on experience helps to better prepare students to work in industry so that they are further up the learning curve.” The companies sponsoring projects not only get innovative solutions to their problems but also gain a terrific opportunity to recruit stu-dents. “In many ways,” says Simpson, “this is like a ‘reverse’ co-op – instead of the students going out to work at companies, we bring the companies into the University and provide a similar experience to give students real-world, hands-on exposure before they head into the workforce.”

Simpson, a professor of both mechanical engineering and industrial engineering, plans to increase the interdisciplinary design projects for students in the College of Engineering. Not only will students work with different disciplines within the College, but also with students in other colleges. “We’ve had some projects that involve engineering and business students, engineering and IST students, and next year we plan to offer projects for engineering and materials science students,” says Simpson. “Ultimately we’re trying to mimic what the students will do in the real world as best as we can in a university setting.”

For $2500, a company can sponsor a design project for a team of four to six students. The student team receives 40% of the funds for supplies and travel expenses to meet with their sponsor. The remaining amount helps to cover the project showcase, meetings, department facilities and faculty members and staff that are supporting the projects. Simpson says that, “Although we work with companies of various sizes, we provide tremendous benefit to small manufacturers that cannot afford to hire a full-time engineer or team of consultants to support their efforts.” In fact, Simpson reports that nearly half of the companies that sponsor projects are small to mid-size companies.

Companies can submit design projects at the beginning of the spring and fall semesters. The deadline to submit a project for the fall 2008 semester is Friday, August 15. Projects can be submitted directly via The Learning Factory website at www.lf.psu.edu, where companies can outline their project, specify deliverables, and request specific student disciplines. After all projects are submitted, they are distributed to the students for review. Company spon-sors will be invited to attend a kick-off meeting, currently scheduled for August 28, 2008, where they can interact with the engineering students and pitch their project ideas. At the end of the meeting, students will specify their top five projects, which faculty members review before assigning four to six students to each project.

On May 1, 2008, students will present their latest projects at the 27th College of Engineering Project Design Showcase. More than 50 projects will be on display by students in Aerospace, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineer-ing, Electrical, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering. “This is a great opportunity to see the breadth, and more importantly the depth, of the projects and what the students can do in a semester,” says Simpson. The project showcase will occur from 1:00 – 3:30 in the HUB-Robeson Center at Penn State University Park. Following the showcase will be an industry-University networking reception from 4:00 – 6:00 immediately followed by dinner at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. Companies should contact Pam Shawver at (814) 863-6380 or PShawver@psu.edu for more information about the event.

www.lf.psu.edu

The Learn ing Factory

w w w . i r o . p s u . e d u / t h e i r o n2 T h e I R O N

The connection between Penn State and Mine Safety Ap-pliances Company (MSA) reaches back to the beginning of the 20th century. Both Penn State and MSA were

greatly impacted from a single individual, George H. Deike. As a student at Penn State in 1899, Deike formed a six-member drum and bugle corps at the University. This small group grew throughout the years, adding a brass band and eventually replac-ing their brown military style uniforms with blue threads. This select group became known as the “Blue Band” and today con-sists of 309 members. Upon graduation and working as a min-ing engineer, Deike teamed up with John T. Ryan and founded MSA in 1914 to protect those working in the hazardous condi-tions of coal mines. Deike and Ryan partnered with Thomas Edison and developed a battery-powered cap lamp that helped reduce death by explosion in coal mines by 75%. Deike later served on the Penn State Board of Trustees from 1925-1963 and had a campus building named after him in 1965.

Today MSA has grown to be a global leader in the safety prod-uct industry and has greatly expanded the range of industries they serve. In fact, mining helmets make up only a small per-centage of their total sales. MSA also makes protective equip-ment for workers in the military, fire service, construction, and homeland security industries. The company designs and manufactures air-purifying respiratory equipment, gas masks, ballistic protective products, and head protection gear, much of which carries the MSA brand. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, MSA employs 4,900 associates and maintains operations in more than 40 international locations.

During the past year, Industrial Research Office (IRO) Associate Director Don Mothersbaugh has maintained a close relationship with MSA. Mothersbaugh kept them apprised of the Penn State faculty expertise in coatings, armor, sensors, metamaterials and nanotechnology that could help improve their products. After attracting the attention of Celeste Hort, Advanced Technology Group Principal Engineer at MSA and a Penn State alumnus, the IRO arranged a visit to Penn State.

“Don came to MSA and gave a presentation that really im-pressed us in regards to the amount of industrial and govern-ment research expenditures at Penn State, and of course the var-ious areas of development,” explains Hort. “I am a graduate of Penn State Ceramic Science and Engineering, so I knew some of the faculty already and thus one of the first departments that I wanted to talk with was the Materials Science and Engineering Department.”

In December 2007, Hort and Sam Onuska, Mechanical En-gineer at MSA, joined Mothersbaugh in a meeting with John Hellmann and David Green, both professors of ceramic science and engineering. The group discussed opportunities at Penn State to investigate new technologies that could improve the performance of MSA’s products. MSA has been developing armor for military applications during the past three years. Dr. Hellmann has more than 30 years of experience with armor, and Dr. Green studies the relationships between the fabrication, microstructure and mechanical properties of brittle materials, such as ceramics, glasses and other inorganic materials. MSA was also introduced to Douglas Wolfe and Gregory Dillon of the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory.

On February 6, Penn State and MSA signed a master research agreement, creating a long-term alliance in which multiple project orders can be issued. In fact, the first project has al-ready begun. “The relationship with MSA has been a testament to how well our process works with forward-thinking compa-nies,” said Mothersbaugh.

“I am truly impressed with the capabilities of the Industrial Research Office,” says Hort. “They have been very professional, organized, and have helped me keep on top of the vari-ous exciting new technological developments at Penn State.

MSA is also an industry sponsor of The Learning Factory at Penn State, funding two student projects during the past year. See page 2 for more informa-tion on The Learning Factory.

forging relationships

Mine Safety Appliances CompanyIRO opens the door to materials expertise at Penn State —By Gregory Angle

S p r i n g 2 0 0 8 T h e I R O N 3

NSTI Nanotech / CTSI CleantechBoston, MA • June 1-5, 2008

Due to the success of our previous NSTI Nanotech exhibitions and the networking op-portunities, the Industrial Research Office and Materials Research Institute will exhibit

at the 2008 event for the third consecutive year. Nanotech 2008 will be held in Boston and is the largest and most comprehensive technical and business event in nanotechnology world-wide, with over 30 technical & business symposia. Penn State and its sponsors have invested $75 million in nano-related facilities, equipment, and infrastructure, and more than 90 faculty-led research groups work on cutting-edge science at the nanoscale.

The CTSI Clean Technology conference will be held concurrently in Boston. The Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment will join the IRO to feature research in our core strength areas: vehicle/engine and alternative fuels research, solar energy, wind power, biomass production and utilization, and nuclear energy.

www.iro.psu.edu/nano • www.iro.psu.edu/energy

BIO International ConventionSan Diego, CA • June 17-20, 2008

The Industrial Research Office will represent Penn State in the Pennsylvania Pavilion at BIO 2008 in San Diego. The BIO International Convention is the largest gathering of

biotechnology exhibitors, encompassing more than 1,900 companies, organizations, and in-stitutions representing every aspect of the biotechnology industry. BIO 2007 drew a record 22,366 attendees, a 15% increase over the previous year.

Penn State offers research partnering, training, and educational opportunities in medical devices; drug delivery and discovery; biomaterials; nanobiotechnology; bioinformatics; pharmaceutical and health industry management; and bio-based materials and products for agricultural applications.

www.iro.psu.edu/bio

upcoming trade shows

recent trade show exhibits

A crowd gathers in the Pennsylvania Pavilion at BIO 2007 for a chance to win a hand-craft-ed Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Don Mothersbaugh, Associate Director of the IRO, and Robert Cornwall, Managing Director of the Materials Research Institute exhibit at Nanotech 2007.

SPIE Photonics WestSan Jose, CA • January 22-24, 2008

From January 22-24, the IRO exhibited at SPIE Photonics West along with the Penn

State Materials Research Institute (MRI) and the Electro-Optics Center (EOC). Capabilities of EOC’s Laser Technology Division include basic and applied research in laser physics, materials and devices; custom laser design and prototyping for military, industrial or scientific applications; and semiconductor laser characterization and re-

liability testing, to name a few.

Presentations were given at the conference by several Penn State faculty members. Several papers, as well as the information presented at the ex-hibit, can be found on our website.

On l ine Exh ib i twww.iro.psu.edu/photonicswest

Commercialization of NanoMaterialsPittsburgh, PA • November 11-13, 2007

For the second straight year, the Industrial Research Office and Materials Research In-

stitute exhibited at the Commercialization of NanoMaterials conference in Pittsburgh. The conference addressed the multi-faceted technical, manufacturing and business issues related to the commercialization and rational use of nanomate-rials. Penn State was on-hand to discuss Univer-

sity resources available to help companies use nanotechnology for product improvement and then moving those products into the marketplace. Penn State facilities contain 10,000 square feet of clean room space and 25,000 square feet of lab space. Additionally, the National Nanotechnology In-frastructure Network (NNIN) lab at the University enables fabrication of a wide range of electrical, optical and micromechanical devices.

On l ine Exh ib i twww.iro.psu.edu/cnm

w w w . i r o . p s u . e d u / t h e i r o n4 T h e I R O N

upcoming events at Penn State

College of Engineering Research SymposiumThe Nittany Lion Inn • Penn State University Park • April 1, 2008

The Engineering Graduate Student Council (EGSC) is hosting its 5th Annual College of Engineering Research Symposium (CERS) on Tuesday, April 1, 2008, at The Nittany Lion Inn on the Penn State University Park campus. This event showcases

the cutting-edge and innovative research being conducted at Penn State within engineering and related disciplines. The sympo-sium provides a venue for Penn State graduate and undergraduate students to make oral and poster presentations describing their research in general terms to the Penn State community and the public.

The symposium provides a unique opportunity to recruit students who are intimately involved in research and technology de-velopment. Student presenters will be invited to participate in a private networking/recruitment session with interested industry representatives, which will be held at the conclusion of the symposium. Opportunities also exist for companies to financially sup-port the event in various ways.

www.iro.psu.edu/cers

Microbial Fuel Cell SymposiumPenn State University Park • May 27-29, 2008

Penn State will host the First International Microbial Fuel Cell Symposium from May 27-29. This event will mark the first time that researchers gather from around the world to specifically discuss using microbial fuel cells and microbial electrolysis

cells for electricity and hydrogen production. The topics will include system architecture; methods for increasing current and power densities; exoelectrogenic bacteria ecology and genomics; innovative materials and catalysts; new applications; scaling up; and commercialization. A preconference laboratory workshop, limited to 20 attendees, will be held on May 27 from 1:00 - 3:00. The symposium opening session and plenary talks will begin at 3:00 p.m. on May 27.

www.iro.psu.edu/mfc

College of Engineering Project Design ShowcaseHUB-Robeson Center • Penn State University Park • May 1, 2008

The Learning Factory will hold its 27th student project showcase at Penn State from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. on May 1. More than 50 projects will be on display by students in Aerospace, Bio-

engineering, Chemical, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical, Industrial, and Mechani-cal Engineering. Following the showcase will be an industry-University networking reception from 4:00 – 6:00 followed by dinner at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. See page 2 for more information on The Learning Factory and details on submitting a project for the fall 2008 semester.

www.iro.psu.edu/lf

Materials Day at Penn State —Materials for Energy TechnologiesThe Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel • State College, PA • April 14-15, 2008

Materials Day is an unequalled opportunity to meet the faculty and researchers who make Penn State one of the world’s leading universities for materials research. Dubbed “Materi-

als for Energy Technologies,” Materials Day 2008 will emphasize the role of new materials in the quest for energy independence and environmental sustainability, along with a broad range of other materials applications. Facilities tours, technology transfer opportunities, interactive poster sessions, industry table-top exhibits and plenary lectures from leaders in industry, govern-ment and academia are all part of Materials Day 2008.

www.iro.psu.edu/materialsday

S p r i n g 2 0 0 8 T h e I R O N 5

Solar power is clean, renewable, and evenly distributed around the globe. So why is it still the energy of the future? One reason is the cost of silicon, the basis for most solar-cell

technologies.

A solar cell works by converting sunlight to electricity. When sun-light strikes the cell’s semiconductor (typically silicon) surface, some of that light is absorbed, knocking loose electrons from the silicon atoms, allowing them to flow freely within the solid’s mo-lecular matrix. The built-in presence of an electrical field draws these free electrons in the same direction, creating a current which exits the cell through a conducting wire.

The best commercially available silicon cells con-vert sunlight at a rate of 14-16 percent. “But sili-con takes a great deal of energy to produce,” says Craig Grimes, “and we get that energy by burning coal. If you look at the economics of it, solar cells have a hard time catching up.”

That’s why in recent years researchers including Grimes, an en-gineering professor at Penn State, have been looking for cheaper solar-cell materials. One that shows promise is titanium oxide.

Titanium is a metal, plentiful in the Earth’s crust. Exposed to oxy-gen, it becomes titanium oxide, commonly seen as a white pow-der that’s used to make white paint and sunscreen. “It’s real cheap stuff,” Grimes says. It is also a semiconductor.

For solar cells, “The conventional approach has been to use a paste made up of nanoparticles of titanium oxide, something you squeegee onto a glass substrate as a thin film,” Grimes says. The nanoparticles create increased surface area, which improves the light absorption. But the arrangement of those particles is random, which means too many electrons get lost on the way to the cell’s conducting wire.

“An electron has to go from particle to particle to particle,” Grimes explains. “You can see how many hops it has to make, depending on the thickness of the film—it’s many thousands. And every time that electron makes a hop, it has a chance to recombine, generating heat instead of useful work.”

In 2001, Grimes happened on a different approach, a simple chem-ical etching process that turns a flat titanium surface into a densely packed forest of tiny metal oxide tubes, each about 46 nanometers across. This highly ordered arrangement, it turns out, brings with it some unique sensing and charge-transfer properties. In addition to being able to pick up infinitessimal traces of gases, the nanotubes are great for transporting electrons.

To make a solar cell, Grimes and his group take a piece of conduc-tive glass and sputter on a layer of titanium, then dip the structure into an acid bath charged with a mild electric current. The combi-nation of acid and oxygen eats away at the metal, leaving the neat array of nanotubes. “They’re so uniform it’s almost scary,” Grimes says.

Next the tubes are heated in oxygen until they crystallize and become transparent. Coated with a light-absorbing dye, the see-through array becomes the cell’s negative electrode. When sun-light shines through the glass, the energy falls on the dye mol-ecules and electrons are knocked free. Before they have a chance to recombine, the tube structure of the titanium oxide ferries them directly to the conducting wire.

“It’s the perfect material architecture,” Grimes notes. “You have these pipes which electrons just love to travel up and down. They’re effectively electron superhighways.”

In a paper published in Nano Letters in January 2006, Grimes and company reported a three percent photoconversion rate using nanotube arrays 360 nanometers tall, the tallest they had “grown” at that time. That initial result was enough to create a stir in so-lar energy circles. “The conversion efficiency is proportional to the length of the tubes,” Grimes explains. The taller the tube, the greater the amount of light absorbed and the number of electrons transported. Achieving three percent efficiency with such short tubes suggests the technology has real potential.

In fact, Grimes recently reported an increase to 7.2 percent effi-ciency; but further increases will require taller tubes, which in turn means starting with a thicker deposit of titanium. That’s the current hold-up, he says. Although he and his team have produced uniform arrays over six micrometers (that’s 6,000 nanometers) tall from titanium foil—”which should suffice for a new world’s record in efficiency,” he says—getting them to adhere to the glass substrate of a solar cell has proved a bit tricky.

“It’s been frustrating to be stuck on something so seemingly sim-ple as adhesion, but I’m confident we’ll figure it out,” Grimes says. “When we do, I think 18 percent efficiency is within our reach. And that’s with a relatively easy fabrication system that is com-mercially viable.”

Whether that would be enough to win the race for a cheaper al-ternative to silicon is not clear, he acknowledges. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned working with new solar cell technologies it’s that there are an awful lot details to be worked out.

“Ultimately it will be the market that sorts them out.”

faculty spotlight

Titania nanotubes could pave the way to cheaper solar cells —By David Pacchioli

E lectronSuperhighwaysfrom Research | Penn State, www.rps.psu.edu

Dr. Craig Grimes

w w w . i r o . p s u . e d u / t h e i r o n6 T h e I R O N

Penn State’s Nanofabrication Laboratory is one of thirteen university partners of the NSF-funded National Nano-technology Infrastructure Network (NNIN). The NNIN

sites allow businesses and industry access to technology, instru-mentation, and expertise not otherwise readily available outside academia.

Each of the partners has a particular area of expertise. At Penn State, that exper-tise centers on materials and chemical technolo-gies at the molecular scale with unique strengths that include chemical and mo-lecular patterning, self-as-sembly, and complex ferro-electric oxide materials and devices. The Nanofabrica-tion Laboratory is made up of three clean room facili-

ties located in the Materials Research Institute (MRI), Mate-rials Research Laboratory, and Electrical Engineering West Buildings.

“We work with a diverse set of materials,” says Theresa Mayer, associate director of MRI and site director of the Penn State NNIN site. “Our facilities are well equipped to work with ma-terials that are not permitted in most semiconductor manufac-turing facilities or are otherwise difficult to process.” General capabilities include optical photolithography, electron-beam lithography, nanoimprinting, thin film deposition of metals, dielectrics, and polymers, wet and dry chemical etching, and characterization.

The focal point of the NNIN, Mayer adds, is outreach to out-side companies. Several Ph.D.-level technical liaisons are on staff to provide a contact point between the company and the campus facilities.

“Any intellectual property that is developed by a company em-ployee using the Nanofabrication Laboratory belongs to the

company, and not the University,” Mayer comments. Compa-nies are not required to set up a formal research program with a faculty member to use the Nanofabrication Laboratory, al-though, Mayer adds, the NNIN staff often direct companies to faculty members who are able to assist with their longer term research and development needs.

To use the Nanofabrication Laboratory, the businesses should have research and development problems that couldn’t be solved at a foundry. “Part of the agreement is that we don’t compete with foundries,” says Mayer.

Companies wanting to use the clean room and equipment have several options available. Their own researchers can become trained users of the facility, allowing them to conduct their own research. If they aren’t able to send someone to the site, com-panies can work remotely with process engineers. The pro-cess engineers come from different departments and disciplines around campus, including experts in the lab’s specialty. Many companies tend to combine those options by working on site but also working remotely through the technical liaisons and process engineers.

The nanofabrication facilities are available to any company or business that has a need. “We have companies that use the clean room for a single process step and are here for a couple of hours,” says Mayer, “and we have companies that are in-volved in complex device fabrication that takes a long period of time.”

Currently, the Nanofabrication Laboratory works with approxi-mately 80 national or international external users annually, but Mayer says there is no limit to how many companies can use the facilities. In fact, she would like to see that number rise because she believes the NNIN labs give companies another avenue of research.

“If you have the funding to cover the instrument usage fees,” says Mayer, “you can be off and running within three weeks after submitting your application to us.”

www.mri.psu.edu/facilities/nnin

research spotlight

Nanofabrication Laboratory at Penn StateOffering companies another avenue of research—By Sue Marquette Poremba

S p r i n g 2 0 0 8 T h e I R O N 7

Send comments or suggestions for The IRON to:Gregory Angle, gregangle@psu.eduMarketing Coordinator, Industrial Research Office

This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. RES 08-41.

Penn State Licensable TechnologiesBelow is a list of inventions that resulted from Penn State’s materials research. These inventions are available for licensing through the Penn State Intellectual Property Office. For more information on the these and other technologies, read The IRON online at www.iro.psu.edu/theiron.

3-D Printing Rapid Manufacture of Near Net Shape •Ceramic Materials

Electrically Assisted Metal Forging Process•

High Surface Area Carbon for Ultracapacitors and Other •Applications

Methods of Patterning a Surface Using Single and •Multilayer Molecular Films

MicrofluidicsThree-DimensionalHydrodynamicFocusing•Device

ModifiedKNNbasedlead-freematerialswithbroad•temperature usage range

Novel Process to Synthesize Colloidal Molecules•

Synthesis of Nano-sized Alpha-Alumina•

complete descriptions online atwww.iro.psu.edu/theiron

Subscribe to the e-Edition of The IRON atwww.iro.psu.edu/theiron.

Look for our Summer 2008 issue in July.

I n d u s t r i a l R e s e a r c h O f f i c e N e w s l e t t e r

The Pennsylvania State UniversityIndustrial Research Office119 Technology CenterUniversity Park, PA 16802