Penn State officials announced that the university has opened a new glass research center that aims to advance innovation in the glass industry.
The Center for Glass Research’s (CGR) mission is to advance glass technologies through new tools and approaches. The research center combines experience from various researchers at Penn State, Alfred University and the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
“United by a shared commitment to innovation, CGR plans to integrate fundamental research with cutting-edge experimental and computational methods to tackle the most pressing challenges facing the glass industry today,” says Maziar Montazerian, managing director of CGR and assistant research professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State.
According to a Penn State news release, the partnering universities are no strangers to glass research. The schools had previously worked together via support from the United States National Science Foundation. The news release states that the collaboration helped create “lasting partnerships with key United States glass industry leaders and made substantial contributions to basic science, manufacturing, defense and biomedical technologies.”
John Mauro, department head of Materials Science and Engineering and Dorothy Pate Enright Professor, says that the glass industry today faces urgent demands (decarbonization, advanced performance requirements and an expanding customer base) that must be addressed. New tools, such as real-time sensing, machine learning and advanced simulations of non-equilibrium materials, offer ways to meet these challenges.
“Together, Penn State, Alfred University and Missouri S&T form an ideal team,” says Montazerian. “Each institution brings unique strengths to the table, and by joining forces, each institution can systematically tackle the most complex scientific problems facing the glass industry today, problems no single institution could solve alone. This revitalized center represents a significant step forward for glass research, and we’re proud to be part of it.”
CGR will host a kickoff meeting on October 29.