Weekly Wrap: Innovation Hub seed grants; Facebook emoticons; WPSU fundraiser

A look back at the top stories for the week of Feb. 4

Kris Torisky, a junior at Penn State majoring in mechanical engineering, left, met with Desmond Okpei, a recruiter from Hilti North America, during Penn State's annual Spring Career Days at the Bryce Jordan Center. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

This week's top stories from across Penn State:

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SEED GRANTS: Penn State announced $200,000 in new seed grant funding as part of the University's Invent Penn State Initiative. The four campuses receiving grants — Beaver, DuBois, Greater Allegheny and Hazleton — bring to 21 the number of Innovation Hubs across the Commonwealth.

CREAMERY CHEESE: The Penn State Berkey Creamery took home a slice of the glory in the Cheese Competition held during the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg last month.

LOVE ACTUALLY: Facebook's additional emoticons — love, haha, sad, angry and wow — are making it more complex for marketers and social media users to know exactly how people are reacting to their posts. A new computer model uses an AI technique called, "supervised learning," to better understand reactions.

BREAST CANCER, EXERCISE STUDY: Connie Rogers, associate professor of nutrition and physiology, was awarded a scientific research grant by the American Institute for Cancer Research. Rogers' project will examine the effects of exercise and weight maintenance in breast cancer progression and metastases.

RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS: A team led by a Penn State faculty member has started an 11-month study of broadband access in rural Pennsylvania, an endeavor that amounts to a fact-finding mission that could impact hundreds of thousands of residents of the Commonwealth.

CONNOISSEUR’S DINNER AND AUCTION: A renowned chef will share his unique Italian cuisine at a Feb. 10 event to help support public television. Nick Stellino, whose PBS cooking show, “Nick Stellino: Storyteller,” premiered in August, will prepare a four-course meal during WPSU Penn State’s 26th annual Connoisseur’s Dinner and Auction.

Last Updated February 8, 2018