Our graduate students are integral to the research we conduct, and they also are dedicated to making a difference in communities. Read news of interest to or featuring our graduate students below.
Forty-two graduate students recognized with University awards
Chandima Hevapathiranage and Younes Shekarian are among forty-two graduate students recognized with university awards.
Online energy and sustainability policy degree programs changed this grad’s life
In 2012, Kelli Volkomer was a stay-at-home mom who had been raising her two children for nearly a decade. Today, Volkomer is a two-time Penn State graduate working in the energy industry and she said she’s still just as passionate about creating a better place for her children.
Penn State student awarded Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scholarship
Joy Adul, a graduate student in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State, was one of 20 students selected to receive a scholarship from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Scholarship Programme. The IPCC is the leading international body for assessing climate change.
Penn State students are helping Pennsylvania communities reduce carbon footprint
Penn State students are making an impact on climate change at the local level by helping officials across Pennsylvania track the carbon footprint in their communities and recommending ways to reduce it.
Rock permeability, microquakes link may be a boon for geothermal energy
Using machine learning, researchers at Penn State have tied low-magnitude microearthquakes to the permeability of subsurface rocks beneath the Earth, a discovery that could have implications for improving geothermal energy transfer.
Penn State team wins national competition on use of AI in the energy industry
A team of five graduate students from the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences won first place in the 2024 Chevron National Engineering Competition. The annual competition challenges teams to present novel ideas about contemporary subjects in the petroleum and energy industry, with this year’s topic focused on use cases for implementing artificial intelligence (AI).
Ming Ma receives the international Nico van Wingen Memorial Graduate Fellowship
Ming Ma, a doctoral degree candidate in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME) at Penn State, received the international Nico van Wingen Memorial Graduate Fellowship from the Society for Petroleum Engineers (SPE). The fellowship is given to exceptional doctoral students seeking a career in academia.
Energy and mineral engineering doctoral candidate awarded fellowship grant
Younes Shekarian, a doctoral degree candidate in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, received the SME Ph.D. Fellowship grant from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). The award helps support exceptional doctoral students who are seeking a career in academia.
Student chapter wins Society of Petroleum Engineers Presidential Award
The Penn State Society of Petroleum Engineers student chapter won the 2023 Presidential Award for Outstanding Student Chapter, as recognition for going above and beyond the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) mission to engage the industry, serve local members and the community, and participate in social outreach. The award is the highest honor the society bestows college chapters, with only three U.S. universities receiving the distinction. The award marks a growing recognition for the chapter, which previously won the Student Chapter Excellence Awards in 2022 and 2020.
Mineral engineering doctoral student selected for NSF-sponsored summer school
Amir Eskanlou, a graduate student in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME), has been invited to participate in the Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials (PARADIM) summer school at Cornell University. Eskanlou plans to further his investigations on coal dust with the goal of reducing the negative health impacts during the National Science Foundation-sponsored program.