ESC EMCH 514- Innovative Methods for Production Breakthroughs: Emerging Thin-Film Photovoltaics

Wednesday, August 26, 2026; 3:35-4:25 pm
254 Health and Human Development
Speaker: Ivy Mawusi Asuo from

Abstract
Organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells have emerged as a rapidly growing field in 
recent years, as they require more sustainable materials while demonstrating solar efficiency 
comparable to traditional silicon solar cells. Their unique semiconductor properties, including high 
absorption coefficients, ambipolar charge transport, low exciton binding energies, and ferroelectric 
characteristics, also make them suitable for optoelectronic applications. The crystal structures that 
enable these properties depend on manufacturing methods. Additionally, some solution deposition 
methods use antisolvents like chlorobenzene to facilitate the crystallization of thin films. However, 
halide perovskite materials degrade due to moisture, heat, and light. Consequently, the formation of 
metal halide perovskite thin films presents challenges for solution-processed devices, particularly 
under ambient conditions. This talk emphasizes a method for fabricating perovskites under ambient 
conditions by tuning their chemical, optical, and microstructural properties. The crucial role of 
additives and solvent treatment in fabricating perovskite thin films and enhancing their device 
performance will be discussed. It examines the influence of antisolvents on the quality of perovskite 
thin films processed and device performance, providing insights for cost-effective and reliable 
commercial applications. 

Biography
Dr. Ivy M. Asuo is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at 
Pennsylvania State University. She earned a PhD in Energy and Materials Science from the Institut 
National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS-EMT) in Canada. Prior to her PhD, she earned a double 
master's in Functionalized Advanced Materials Engineering under the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship 
from the University of Augsburg, Germany, and the Grenoble Institute for Technology, France. She 
also holds an MSc in Materials Science and Engineering from the African University of Science and 
Technology, Nigeria, and a BSc in Physics from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. She is a cofounder of Pi-Sol Technologies Inc., now WattByWatt Inc., Canada, a spin-off from her graduate 
research. Her research group at Penn State focuses on the synthesis of energy materials, especially 
the solution processing of halide perovskite thin films for optoelectronic devices and photocatalysis.

Hosted by: Lana Fulton,  lub18@psu.edu

Obtaining Mechanistic Insights in Heterogeneous Catalysis from First Principles Simulations and Machine Learning

Thursday, September 3, 2026; 10:35am Capone Learning Auditorium 001 CBEB

Speaker: Brandon Bukowski from Whiting School of Engineering - John Hopkins University

Machine learning tools have tremendous potential to accelerate computationally complex physics-based simulations. One example is the need to accelerate catalyst discovery through first-principles Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. This seminar will encompass how machine learning interatomic potentials accelerate the discovery of kinetic mechanisms in crystalline nanoporous solids that are employed in a wide range of catalytic processes due in part to their tunable micro-environments. Kinetics at intracrystalline sites can be modified by changing pore size, pore architecture, or polarity. These environments impart shape-selectivity that preferentially stabilizes transition states, but the large design space including pore architecture, polarity, and catalytic active site identity preclude comprehensive kinetic studies. DFT describes the electronic states of reactive intermediates and transition states but cannot access the longer length scales necessary to quantify the fluxionality of coadsorbed species or solvents. Classical simulations can accurately simulate these conformational changes but require parameterized values. Machine learning interatomic potentials have emerged as a technique to derive parameterized models from DFT data, and our aim is to adapt these models to predict the entropy and diffusion of reactive intermediates in nanoporous catalysts.

Brandon Bukowski is an Assistant Professor in the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He holds BS and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Purdue University, respectively. At Purdue he was advised by Jeffrey Greeley where he modeled the kinetics of zeolite and supported nanoparticle catalysts using Density Functional Theory and Molecular Dynamics. He performed postdoctoral research at Northwestern University under the supervision of Randall Snurr studying diffusion in nanoporous materials including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and porous polymers. Bukowski started at Johns Hopkins University in July of 2021. He has received a DOE BES Early Career Research Award, an Amazon Research Award, a Doctoral New Investigator grant from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, a Ralph E. Powe award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and a Hopkins Catalyst Award. He is the program chair for the AIChE catalysis and reaction engineering division and past program chair of the Northeast Corridor Zeolite Association.

Hosted by: Angela Dixon,  adc12@psu.edu

Piezoelectric Films for Microelectromechanical Systems

Wednesday, September 2, 2026; 3:35-4:25 pm
254 Health and Human Development
Speaker: SUSAN TROILER-MCKINSTRY from

Piezoelectric thin films are of increasing interest in low voltage microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for sensing, actuation, and energy harvesting. This seminar will discuss how materials are optimized for these applications, as well as examples of the use of piezoelectric films over a wide range of length scales. The key figures of merit for actuators and energy harvesting will be discussed, with emphasis on how to achieve these on practical substrates. For example, control of the domain structure of the ferroelectric material allows the energy harvesting figure of merit for the piezoelectric layer to be increased by factors of 4 – 10. Likewise, control of crystallographic orientation and substrate clamping enables large increases in the figure of merit for actuators. To illustrate the functionality of these films, examples of integration into MEMS structures will also be discussed, including miniaturized ultrasound systems for imaging and particle manipulation, low frequency and non-resonant piezoelectric energy harvesting devices, and adjustable optics for X-ray space telescopes.

Susan Trolier-McKinstry is an Evan Pugh University Professor and Steward S. Flaschen Professor of Ceramic Science and Engineering, and Professor of Electrical Engineering.  Her main research interests include thin films for dielectric and piezoelectric applications.  She directs both the Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics and the Center for Three-Dimensional Ferroelectric Microelectronics. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Ceramic Society, IEEE, and the Materials Research Society, and an academician of the World Academy of Ceramics. She currently serves as an associate editor for Applied Physics Letters.  She was 2017 President of the Materials Research Society; previously she served as president of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society, as well as Keramos. 

Hosted by: Lana Fulton,  lub18@psu.edu

Towards Sustainable, Bio-Sourced Polymers

Thursday, September 10, 2026; 10:35am Capone Learning Auditorium 001 CBEB

Speaker: Kristala Prather from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT

Polymeric materials are a key innovation that has greatly impacted our society, yet their production presents challenges from beginning to end. Materials synthesis overwhelmingly originates from fossil-derived feedstocks and incurs high energy use, while the end products accumulate in the environment and are harmful to ecosystems. We have taken a collaborative approach to addressing this challenge by seeking to design biodegradable materials that can be produced from bio-derived monomers.  This talk will describe opportunities and obstacles for both synthesis and biodegradation.

Hosted by: Angela Dixon,  adc12@psu.edu

Multi-Scale Modeling and Optimization for Electrification-based Decarbonization of the Chemical Industry

Thursday, September 17, 2026; 10:35am Capone Learning Auditorium 001 CBEB

Speaker: Dharik Mallapragada from New York University - NYU

The continued expansion of variable renewable electricity (VRE) deployment in the power grid is spurring interest in electrification-based decarbonization of chemical processes, which can take multiple forms including electrification of process heat and electrochemical systems that use electricity as the driving force for chemical reactions. These technology options must be evaluated alongside the operational dynamics of grids, which are simultaneously accommodating growing VRE supply and increasing demands from other end-uses (e.g., AI data centers). Here, we discuss the use of multi-scale modeling and optimization methods to inform the design of electrification technologies and their integration within industrial processes and the grid.

First, we discuss the design of internal electric resistance heated reactors for high-temperature, endothermic chemical reactions such as ethane steam cracking to produce ethylene, a key platform chemical. We show that the added design and operational degrees of freedom of such reactors can increase ethylene yields and reduce reactor size compared to conventional fossil-fuel fired reactors. However, these gains could also be accompanied by accelerated cooking, motivating the development of multi-scale, multi-objective optimization methods to evaluate reactor design and operation.

Second, we address a key barrier to industrial electrification-based decarbonization: accessing sufficient quantities of clean electricity in a cost-competitive manner. We will make the case for a new process design paradigm that departs from the conventional steady-state design basis by accounting for the value of operational flexibility in response to electricity supply dynamics. Through a water electrolysis case study, we will show how co-optimization of design and operation can identify flexible processes that are more economical than steady-state alternatives. However, achieving low carbon intensity via process electrification during the mid-transition, while the grid remains insufficiently decarbonized, may require additional clean energy procurement on behalf of the consumer. We evaluate different procurement strategies and find that their cost and emissions outcomes are sensitive to process flexibility as well as grid context and associated policies. This underscores the importance of integrated industrial-power system modeling to identify viable electrification pathways.

Dharik S. Mallapragada is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Center for Urban Science and Progress, at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering. He leads the Sustainable Energy Transitions Group, whose research focuses on the design and optimization of technologies for energy and industrial system decarbonization and on developing computational methods, including open-source energy system models, to analyze how technology, resource constraints, and policies shape the energy transition. Prior to NYU, Prof. Mallapragada was a researcher at the MIT Energy Initiative, where he began his academic research career after spending nearly five years in the energy and chemical industry working on a range of sustainability-focused research topics. Prof. Mallapragada holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India.

Hosted by: Angela Dixon,  adc12@psu.edu

How Safe Is Safe Enough? Ensuring Safety and Resilience in Critical Infrastructure Control Systems

Wednesday, September 16, 2026; 3:35-4:25 pm
254 Health and Human Development
Speaker: ROMULO MEIRA GOES from

Abstract: Critical infrastructure control systems (CIS), such as energy, transportation, and manufacturing, are expected to operate safely despite uncertain environments, unexpected failures, cyberattacks, and AI-enabled decision-making. Although modern control and verification techniques can provide safety guarantees, these guarantees are only as reliable as the assumptions on which they are built. In this talk, we focus on three questions: (1) How safe is a system when its environment deviates from the assumptions used during design? (2) Can a system recover safe operation after a disruption while continuing to function? (3) How can we leverage emerging AI technologies without sacrificing safety guarantees?

To address these questions, we use supervisory control theory of discrete-event systems to develop new methodologies for robustness analysis of controllers, recovery strategy synthesis, and AI-assisted decision verification. These methodologies enable engineers to characterize safe operating envelopes of controllers, identify realistic vulnerabilities, design controllers that restore safe operation, and formally validate AI-generated plans before deployment. We demonstrate how these methods enhance the safety and resilience of CIS through case studies in manufacturing systems.

Bio: Rômulo Meira-Góes is an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Pennsylvania State University. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher working with Eunsuk Kang, Stavros Tripakis, and Stéphane Lafortune at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan. In 2022, he received the CPS Rising Stars Award from the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2020, working with Stéphane Lafortune. Prior to the University of Michigan, he earned his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná - Curitiba in 2015.

Hosted by: Lana Fulton,  lub18@psu.edu