The 2020 Nelson W. Taylor Lecture Series in Materials Science and Engineering will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium on Penn State’s University Park campus. The theme of this year’s lecture series is “Materials to Enhance Human Health.”
Cato T. Laurencin, a renowned orthopedic surgeon and scientist at the University of Connecticut, will give the keynote “Regenerative engineering: the future of tissue regeneration” at 11:15 a.m. Laurencin is director of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Science and CEO of the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translational in Regenerative Engineering.
His presentation will concentrate on regenerative engineering — a convergence of advanced materials science, stem cell science, physics, developmental biology and clinical translation. Laurencin focuses on musculoskeletal tissue regeneration involving a transdisciplinary approach.
The Nelson W. Taylor Lecture in Materials, sponsored by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, also includes three additional talks by Penn State faculty. All talks are free and open to the public.
Scott Medina, assistant professor in biomedical engineering, will give the lecture “Designing ‘living’ materials through biomimetic self-assembly” at 8:30 a.m.
James Adair, professor of biomedical engineering and pharmacology, will give the lecture “Calcium phosphosilicate nanoparticles: a novel material for drug delivery, bioimaging and theranostics” at 9:25 a.m.
Deb Kelly, Lloyd & Dottie Foehr Huck Chair in Molecular Biophysics and director of the Center for Structural Oncology, will give the lecture “An Instagram view of the nanoworld” at 10:20 a.m.
For more information, visit https://www.matse.psu.edu/2020Taylor online.
The Nelson W. Taylor Lecture Series in Materials Science and Engineering honors the memory of Nelson W. Taylor (1869-1965) who was head of Penn State's Department of Ceramics from 1933-1943. During his tenure as department head, Taylor refined the ceramics undergraduate curriculum, strengthened the graduate program, expanded ties with industry and was able to attract important scientists to the faculty. He is recognized as the individual most responsible for establishing the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as a major center for ceramics research. The Nelson W. Taylor Lecture Series was established in 1969 and has consistently attracted scientists of international prominence.