Vagelos Institute News

Penn’s sixth Energy Week, taking place Feb. 23-27, features events that highlight cross-disciplinary research at Penn and bring in leading industry experts.

The research group of Vagelos Institute faculty member Eric Schelter, Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry, is working toward new technologies to streamline separations of the rare earth elements. Their work has been highlighted in Chemistry World, the news magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Vagelos Institute faculty member Karen Winey, Harold Pender Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and in Materials Science and Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Prof. Winey was honored for contributions to understanding and advancing polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers.

VIEST faculty member Robert Carpick, John Henry Towne Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, joined host Ira Flatow on Science Friday to talk about the tribology of ice and curling. 

VIEST faculty member Dohyung Kim, Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been named a 2025 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The Fellowship, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for early-career researchers, provides $875,000 over five years to support pioneering work in science and engineering. 

The Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology has achieved the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest standard, a rare distinction and just the second Penn building to do so.

With LEED Platinum certification, the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST) represents the highest standard in sustainable building design, underscoring Penn’s ongoing commitment to sustainable design and construction. Other recent building projects at the University of Pennsylvania have earned LEED Gold and Silver certifications. 

A team from the MXenes Synthesis, Tunability and Reactivity (M-STAR) Center for Chemical Innovation, including VIEST faculty members Zahra Fakhraai, Aleksandra Vojvodic, and researchers from their groups, have synthesized and characterized new two-dimensional materials containing up to nine different elements. These new materials have many promising next-generation applications, including consumer electronics, medical devices, and energy storage and conversion.

Research Corporation for Science Advancement has selected 13 outstanding postdoctoral scholars, including Vagelos Institute Postdoctoral Fellow Kunyu Wang, to participate in the second year of its RCSA Fellows Initiative. This initiative aims to increase faculty excellence in the physical sciences through a multiyear program of job search preparation, professional development, and community building.