Penn State Harrisburg to host Research and Discovery Day on April 22

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - The Office of Research and Outreach at Penn State Harrisburg will host the annual Research and Discovery Day on Wednesday, April 22. 

The event will celebrate the continued growth of the college's research enterprise and, for the first time, offer programming focused on strengthening collaboration among the college institutes and centers. The program will also provide an overview of strategic initiatives and programs that have increased interdisciplinary collaborations among the schools and between Harrisburg faculty and faculty across Penn State colleges and institutes.

The event comes as the college reaches record levels of research productivity. In fiscal year 2025, Penn State Harrisburg had $9.8 million in research expenditures, a 32% increase over the previous year - and that growth has continued into the current fiscal year.

Research and Discovery Day is free and open to all Penn State faculty and staff. The event will showcase current areas of research and scholarly activities at the college and will recognize faculty contributions in their respective fields.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon in the Morrison Gallery, Room 120 of the Madlyn L. Hanes Library.

This year's program includes three events:

Research Growth and Impact Celebration

The Research Growth and Impact Celebration will provide an overall look at research activities, expansion and growth at Penn State Harrisburg, and feature an awards celebration. Faculty and staff recipients of sponsored projects will also be recognized. Five awards will be presented to faculty recipients:

• Excellence in Community Impact Research Award
• Excellence in Research Collaboration Award
• Outstanding Research and Scholarly Achievement Award
• Outstanding Early Career Scholar Award
• Highly Cited Publications

Centers Connection and Engagement Forum

The new Centers Connection and Engagement Forum will foster collaboration across institutes, centers and faculty. Each participating director will present on their institute's or center's mission, ongoing collaborations and strategic initiatives. Presentations will be made by the following research units and their directors:

• Institute of State and Regional Affairs - Philip Sirinides, director
• Center for Survey Research - Steph Wehnau, director
• Pennsylvania State Data Center - Jennifer Shultz, director
• Pennsylvania Center for Latino Research - Shaunté DePaso, industry relations coordinator
• Douglas W. Pollock Center for Addiction Outreach and Research - Weston Kensinger, director
• Recycling Markets Center - Bob Bylone, executive director
• Central Pennsylvania Research and Teaching Laboratory for Biofuels - Sairam Rudrabhatla, director
• Pennsylvania Center for Folklore - Anthony Buccitelli, director
• Center for Signal Integrity - Aldo Morales and Sedig Agili, co-directors
• Lambert Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship - Melissa Orr, director
• Smart Homes Research Initiative - Anilchandra Attaluri, director
• Capital Area Institute for Mathematics and Science - Elizabeth Ann Kirman, co-director

Collaboration Café

The program will conclude with the Collaboration Café, a networking session designed to spark new research partnerships among faculty. The session will include facilitated discussions on emerging focus areas, including health and artificial intelligence, data science and public policy, immersive technologies and engineering, the humanities and social sciences, sustainability and energy, and other interdisciplinary topics. Lunch will be served during the Collaboration Café.

For more information, contact the Office of Research and Outreach at Penn State Harrisburg.