I nd u s t r i a l R e s earch O ffice N ewsletter Fall 2009

FieldTurf Partners with Penn State to

Make Fields Safer for Athletes. Page 4

From the Director / Tech

Transfer News Briefs. 2

Penn State and Bayer

Innovation create bio-
absorbable bandage. 3

Penn State and Norfolk

Southern Develop
Battery-Powered Train. 5

Penn State Experimental

and Computational
Convection Lab. 6

Upcoming Events. 7

Innovation Park Featured

Invention: Improve
Turfgrass Cultivation. 8

Cover Photo Credit: Annemarie Mountz

 from the director - Tanna Pugh, Industrial Research Office

A s I sit at my desk to write this letter, I am once again reminded to be thankful for all of the great people working around
me. Penn State is a great institution and so is the Industrial Research Office. It is with pride that I say this. Before we
know it, the holidays will be upon us and we will reflect on all that we have been given. One of the items on the top of my list
is my office staff; they are wonderful people and friends.
In the past two weeks, the IRO staff hosted four corporate visits, two of which included 20 and 30 representatives from
two separate companies. These were large, complex events. One included a customized poster session with more than
100 faculty members and graduate students, individual meetings with our large interdisciplinary institutes, and one-on-one
meetings with faculty researchers.
Without a true team atmosphere, these events would not be as successful or as productive for you, our industrial partners. Everyone
contributed by offering their talents and their time. These efforts often go unnoticed and I share these comments so you know that when you
work with the IRO – you are in good hands.
I invite you to experience a day at Penn State as a guest of the IRO. We will create an agenda that complements your technical interests,
introducing you to some of our best faculty researchers in a very coordinated and organized fashion. We hope that your time on campus will
be productive and that you will find our services of value.
Wishing you the best this holiday season,

T e c h T r a n sf e r
Penn State Names New Vice President for Research
Henry C. “Hank” Foley, dean of Penn State’s College of Information Sci-
ences and Technology, has been named the University’s vice president
for research and dean of the Graduate School.
http://live.psu.edu/story/42763
Penn State Ranked #5 Worldwide in Elsevier Alternative
Energy Research Leadership Study
Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical
information products and services, recently analyzed the scholarly out-
put in alternative energy research from more than 3,000 research insti-
tutions. Penn State ranked 5th worldwide and was the top ranked uni-
versity, following research laboratories: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, and two research laboratories in Germany.
www.elsevier.com
Latest Edition of Research/Penn State Magazine
The upcoming issue of Research/Penn State magazine will include
major features on the successful sequencing of the woolly mammoth
genome; understanding why individuals join—and—leave—terror-
ist organizations; using remote sensing to image and predict volcanic
eruptions; advances in the less invasive treatment of epilepsy; and the
effects of global warming on the health of coral reefs.
www.rps.psu.edu
Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers
NACRO is a network of corporate relations professionals from research
universities, including Tanna Pugh from the Industrial Research Office,
dedicated to providing its members with best practices that further
enable the development of mutually beneficial relationships with in-
dustry. As corporations expand globally but work locally, they seek
the “front door” to an academic institution that a university corporate
relations office can provide. Membership in NACRO is limited to staff
of four-year institutions of higher education (with a focus on research
universities) who devote at least 50% of their time to corporate/indus-
try relations. The next annual meeting will be hosted by the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on August 12 and 13, 2010.
www.nacro.us
N e w s B r i e fs
Penn State Solar Decathlon Results
Penn State finished 16th out of 20 teams in the 2009 Solar Decathlon in
Washington, DC. The competition challenged students to design, build,
and operate the most attractive, effective and energy-efficient solar-
powered house. Penn State ranked third for two of the 10 events in the
competition, engineering and lighting design. Although Penn State’s
home, Natural Fusion, placed well short of their 2007 4th place finish,
many teams this year hired professional contractors to help build the
homes while Penn State students built their home almost entirely
by themselves. The team’s home was completed later than others,
missing key time to produce power.
www.solar.psu.edu
Penn State Receives National Intelligence Award
Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology was
recently designated an Intelligence Community Center of Academic
Excellence by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, paving
the way for IST students to combat cybersecurity threats at the national
level when they graduate. With the designation comes a two-year, $1
million grant from the ODNI with a possible three-year $1.5 million
extension. The funds will be used to further Penn State’s research in
areas related to national security and intelligence, with the goal of
producing students who can become leaders in the U.S. intelligence
community.
http://live.psu.edu/story/42082
Applied Research Lab (ARL) Leases Anechoic Chamber in
Warminster Township
The Applied Communication Technology (ACT) Department at ARL
maintains and operates the Warminster Anechoic Chamber, one of the
largest of its kind, providing a fully controlled environment for their
customers, sponsors, and industrial partners to analyze the entire end-
to-end design of a communication system. The chamber is well-suited
for low frequency antenna characterization (100 Mhz), customized
R&D, fabrication and full-scale system testing.
www.arl.psu.edu

2 T h e IR ON www.iro.psu . e d u / t h e i r o n
Bandage
Dr. Jeff Catchmark, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (right) and Ph.D. Student, Yang Hu (left). Photo Credit: Tom Laird
I
n 2006, representatives from Bayer Innovation attended
an industry Crossover event at Penn State and were
intrigued by a presentation given by Jeff Catchmark,
Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
“We were about to complete our portfolio of wound care
projects,” says Burkhard Fugmann, Vice President of Medical
Technologies/Life Sciences at Bayer Innovation, “and Jeff
had suggested a promising new approach for bio-absorbable
materials.”
Colleagues of Fugmann’s from Bayer MaterialScience
had completed other projects with Penn State and highly
recommended working with the University. Fugmann
also appreciated Catchmark’s reputation as a scientist, his
enthusiasm about his work, and the promising perspectives
of his project proposal. A partnership was formed in 2007.
“Bayer Innovation was interested in bio-absorbable wound
care materials, particularly for chronic wounds,” says
Catchmark. The goal was to develop a material that would
aid in the healing of wounds and would degrade over time.
“This is important for most wounds, but specifically chronic
wounds because you don’t want the healing tissue to
integrate with a non-degradable material such as gauze. After
the wound is healed and you remove the bandage, some of
that gauze might be embedded in the tissue. If you pull at
the gauze, it disturbs the healing tissue. Ideally, you’d like to
have a material that facilitates the healing process but also
vanishes.”
“The solution was to combine a certain nanofiber type of
cellulose with certain cellulose-degrading enzymes,” says
Fugmann. “The research results became the basis of a patent
application.” One of the reasons that this approach works,
Catchmark adds, is because the bio-absorbable material
degrades into glucose. “The glucose just becomes a part of
the sugars in the blood stream.”
Working together, Catchmark and Bayer Innovation solved
Fall 2009
of the Future
technical issues of selecting the enzymes and suspension
compounds that will be compatible with the wound area.
The group also discovered a way to enhance the product’s
manufacturability. “The big crux of the problem, and perhaps
the reason why no one has done this in the past, is if you try
to incorporate enzymes into the material, they become active
and the material starts to degrade,” explains Catchmark. The
risk is that the material will degrade into a sugar solution
before it can be used. “We found that we could freeze dry the
material and preserve the activity. Now, you can simply open
the bandage packet, hydrate the material using sterile water,
and put it on the patient.”
The bandage is now in the testing phase. “We’re hopeful that
a product will be ready to manufacture soon,” Catchmark
says.
The research on the bandage serves as the basis of another
application. “Originally, we were looking at wound care, but
a big issue now is tissue engineering,” Catchmark continues.
“We’re further engineering this bio-absorbable cellulose
material for bone and cartilage regeneration.” He adds that
Bayer is also interested in this research.
Both Catchmark and Fugmann say that the relationships
between their two entities and with the Industrial Research
Office (IRO) have been invaluable to the research.
“Bayer Innovation not only provides good planning guidance,
but you can have good technical discussions with them,”
Catchmark says. “The IRO has also been extraordinarily
helpful in setting up the partnership.”
“A company like Bayer does not do fundamental scientific/
technological work,” adds Fugmann. “We fund applied
research work at universities to gain access to new
technologies, which can lead to new products that the
company can sell through its distribution channels or those of
our commercialization partners.”
Jeff Catchmark | jmc102@psu.edu
T h e IRON 3
 FieldTurf Partners with Penn State
to Make Fields Safer for Athletes
O
n the surface, it seems like a strange partnership – a Penn State turfgrass re-
searcher and a company that specializes in synthetic turf. Yet, both say it is a
partnership that not only makes sense, but could help make athletics safer.

The company, FieldTurf, is the worldwide leader in synthetic fields, having developed the
new style of turf used in the NFL, and on college and athletic fields around the country.

Even though FieldTurf prides itself on its R&D capabilities, says Darren Gill, Director of
Marketing, the company was also looking for a university partner who can augment
what is currently being done internally. “Truth be told, when we sought out this partner-
ship, we only had one partner in mind, and that was Penn State, largely because of Dr.
McNitt.”

Andrew McNitt, Associate Professor of Soil Sciences-Turfgrass, has conducted research

and developed tools to make natural grass fields safer for athletes. “The new in-fill turfs
came along in the late 1990s, and I work a lot with NFL and college field managers who
were asking me what I thought of the new turf fields,” he explains.

McNitt began to evaluate different configurations of the synthetic turf systems, and in
2001, he decided to do a side-by-side study of natural turf and different synthetic turfs,
which is on-going. “FieldTurf approached us about a partnership to develop an institute
that would magnify the amount of research we were doing.”

In July 2009, the Center for Sports Surface Research was launched within the Depart-
ment of Crop and Soil Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State. Not
only will the Center look at synthetic fields, but it will also research surfaces of running
tracks, basketball floors, and other athletic surfaces.

The Center is generating a lot of interest from potential industry partners, who McNitt
hopes to begin bringing aboard in the spring. He adds that the Center’s research will be
of interest to almost any industry involved in athletics or recreation. For example, re-
search can investigate how the size of a player interacts with turf in order to make safer
cleats. McNitt also predicts that manufacturers of helmets, sports and playground equip-
ment, and infill material will also be interested in research opportunities.

McNitt admits that when he first began his synthetic turf research, many of his col-
leagues in turfgrass were angry. “They saw it as competition,” he says. “Now, synthetic
turf is part of the business, and they need to become educated on it.”

McNitt credits the Industrial Research Office (IRO) for taking the lead in building the
relationship with FieldTurf. “The relationship began through the research I had done be-
fore,” he says, “but the IRO was a big help in formalizing the relationship and getting it to
move forward.” McNitt expects the IRO to be equally helpful in developing relationships
between the Center and industries interested in research partnerships.
Photo Credit: Annemarie Mountz

The partnership between Penn State and FieldTurf is contracted for five years. “We have
aggressive short-term and long-term plans related to research and we feel as though we
are off to a very strong start,” says Gill.

“We’re invigorated,” he adds. “We’re doing something that has never been done in the
sports industry.”
Andrew McNitt | mcnitt@psu.edu

4 T h e IRO N www.iro.psu . e d u / t h e i r o n
Penn State and Norfolk
Southern Develop
Battery-Powered Train
I
n September 2009, Norfolk Southern unveiled its NS 999,
a prototype 1,500-horsepower switching locomotive that
relies solely on rechargeable batteries for power. When
the company set out to design and build this all-battery-
powered locomotive, they had little experience with batteries
and the assembly of battery plants. So the company needed
a partner to help with battery research and testing. Gerhard
Thelen, corporate vice president responsible for research and
development, contacted Penn State’s College of Engineering,
and with the assistance from the Industrial Research Office,
representatives from Norfolk Southern spent a day meeting
with faculty members and researchers.
“In that one-day visit, we were able to assess the abilities
of Penn State researchers working in our particular areas
of interest,” says Thelen. “We knew about the difficulties in
managing the batteries properly so you don’t lose the life or
create safety issues. In the visit we had, the researchers con-
vinced us that through testing and modeling, they could come
up with a duty cycle that would optimize the life and prevent
any safety issues from occurring.”
Also, Thelen adds, because of the number of batteries in the
locomotive (over 1,000) and the high cost involved, Norfolk
Southern preferred that testing on charging and discharging
the batteries was done in the lab first.
Thelen and his team are working with Chris Rahn, Professor
of Mechanical Engineering, and Chao-Yang Wang, Distin-
guished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director
of the Electrochemical Engine Center, one of the top fuel
cell and battery research labs in the
country. Partial funding for the
collaborative research project
comes from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Energy.
Wang is researching
battery systems,
particularly look-
ing into how
many charge
and discharge
cycles can be
achieved in
locomotive
operations.
Fall 2009
NS 999 is an entirely electric locomotive that uses a lead-acid energy storage system
comprised of 1,080 12-volt batteries to operate in railroad switching applications
without the use of a diesel engine and with zero exhaust emissions.
“It’s what we call cycle life,” explains Wang, “and that’s very
important because that determines the life of the battery sys-
tem, which is a very expensive component in the locomotive.”
Wang’s research group has been conducting experimental
testing and computer modeling to learn the battery cycle life
and how to extend it.
Rahn’s role in the research is system dynamics. “My job is to
develop the models to be used by systems engineers so they
can analyze the system to see how it is performing—to pre-
dict the state of charge in the actual battery system, for exam-
ple,” says Rahn. “One of the things we’re doing is developing
a meter that will provide the status of every single battery in
the system.”
The team has completed its first year of research and has
received funding for a second year. “During that first year,
we were looking at the actual batteries and testing under dif-
ferent concepts of charging and discharging,” explains Rahn.
“And this will continue.”
They have good models that predict the performance of the
batteries. The next step, Rahn says, is to look at those models
in terms of aging. “One of our questions is, ‘how do you make
this battery pack last for five years?’ That involves under-
standing what causes batteries to age and fail.”
Thelen says that working with Penn State has allowed Norfolk
Southern to advance its research and development opportu-
nities. “We don’t have the capabilities or knowledge that a
university like Penn State has,” he says. “Chao-Yang is one of
the top battery people in the country. Even if we did our own
testing, we wouldn’t have his subject knowledge. And Chris
Rahn’s expertise helps us incorporate that knowledge into the
locomotive.”
With the success of this collaborative effort, Thelen hopes to
develop a closer relationship between Norfolk Southern and
Penn State. “We’re very much interested in having graduates
work for us, and this is a good project to give us visibility.”
Electrochemical Engine Center | http://MTRL1.me.psu.edu
T h e IRO N 5
 Experimental and Computational Convection Lab
Researching Heat Transfer Issues in Gas Turbine Blades
W
hen Karen Thole came to Penn State as the new
Department Head of Mechanical and Nuclear
Engineering, she literally transported her lab with
her. Located in the Research West Building, her Experimental
and Computational Convection Lab (ExCCL) includes a large
wind tunnel and other flow facilities, as well as diagnostics
such as an infrared camera, laser Doppler velocimeter,
particular image velocimeter, and other measurement tools.
“Our lab typically does experiments related to heat transfer
issues in gas turbine blades and vanes,” Thole says. Hotter
gas temperatures lead to more efficient gas turbine
engines, she explains, for both power generation and for
aircraft propulsion. “The engine operation is limited by
the temperature that the blades and vanes in the turbine
can withstand, so we’re always pushing the edge in higher
temperatures.”
Right now, she adds, most gas turbines operate at a condition
where the hot gas is at a temperature higher than the melting
temperature of the blades. “You can get away with that
because of advanced cooling technologies,” she says. “We’re
pushing the envelope to make sure we can get good cooling
methods that can be manufactured and put into blades and
vanes. We’ve developed cooling methods in our laboratory
that are being used on actual turbine airfoils today.”
Gas turbines have many applications including two common
uses: to generate electricity and to fly airplanes. However,
fuel particulates in the case of land-based turbines and dust
particulates in the case of aircraft turbines can pass through
the hot turbine, which affect the cooling methods and do
major damage. “We’re looking to mitigate particle problems
that appear in gas turbine operations,” says Thole.
6 T h e IRO N
Part of Thole’s funding comes from government entities
like the National Science Foundation and the Department
of Energy-University of Turbine Systems Research Program.
“We also receive funding from several industrial partners,”
Thole says. “Our biggest sponsor is Pratt & Whitney, a United
Technologies Company, and we’re a Center of Excellence for
turbine heat transfer.” Other corporate sponsors of ExCCL
include Siemens Energy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
“We’re fortunate to have good relationships with the
people we work with within these industries,” says Thole.
“They are very committed to the projects. We do regular
teleconferences to make sure we’re going down the right
path as the research progresses.”
In return for the support Thole receives from government
and industry funding, the Penn State ExCCL provides
data from the lab to help the companies develop their
analytical and computational models. “They use our data
and our computational fluid dynamics predictions to design
new cooling technologies,” she says. “Those have to be
benchmarked with the right physics so our data makes sure
the right physics are characterized for the engine.”
Thole chose this research path because, she says, “I liked
things that fly, and I wanted to be a mechanical engineer.” Her
post-doctoral research focused on thermal turbine machinery
and that inspired her interest in the subject.
“I enjoy these problems,” she says.
“While it sounds very applied, you
can break down the problems into
fundamentals. Our research provides a
good teaching platform for Penn State
students to learn fundamentals of heat
transfer and fluid mechanics, good
experimental skills, and computational
prediction methods.”
Dr. Karen Thole
She is also quick to credit the Industrial Research Office for
its help in nurturing industry relationships by helping her put
together research agreements. “When I decided I wanted to
be a department head and was looking at different schools,
one of the key aspects was that the school had to be industry-
friendly. Penn State is an industry-friendly university,” she
says.
www.mne.psu.edu/psuexccl
www.iro.psu . e d u / t h e i r o n
 upcoming events

College of Engineering Design Showcase

HUB-Robeson Center • Penn State University Park • December 10, 2009

T he College of Engineering will hold its Fall 2009 Project Showcase at Penn State from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.
on December 10. Students from Aerospace, Bioengineering, Chemical, Computer, Electrical, Industrial,
and Mechanical Engineering will display the results of their industry-sponsored projects that they have
been working on for the semester. The Learning Factory at Penn State coordinates these successful
relationships between the companies and the students. The Summer 2009 edition of The IRON, available
at www.iro.psu.edu/theiron, highlighted a start-up company that developed three innovative products at
The Learning Factory.
www.iro.psu.edu/events

RETECH 2010 - Renewable Energy Technology Conference

Washington Convention Center • Washington, DC • February 3-5, 2010

P enn State will be exhibiting in booth #218 for the third consecutive year at RETECH. Returning to the nation’s capital, RETECH 2010
will include over 3,500 attendees, 250 exhibitors on the trade show floor, and 200 speakers in the business conference. RETECH
offers industry leaders the ability to share their insights, strategies, technologies, new products and staff capabilities with their audi-
ences. The business conference will include 42 sessions in the following six tracks: strategic issues; industry leadership; federal agen-
cies; state and local; international; and university, laboratory, and R&D.
www.iro.psu.edu/energy

Energy & Environment Week

David L. Lawrence Convention Center • Pittsburgh, PA • April 12-16, 2010
A culture change on climate change is taking place in the United States. President Obama’s Recovery
and Reinvestment Act includes more than $60 billion in clean energy investments. The Energy and
Environment Week (EEW) International Conference + Expo focuses on four key areas that will benefit
from the new direction in American energy policy: bioenergy with biomass heat & power and biogas;
energy from waste & secondary raw materials recovery; alternative vehicle fuels including biofuels,
hydrogen & electric mobility; and energy efficiency in industrial processes.
With an expected attendance of more than 150 exhibitors and over 2,000 delegates, EEW 2010 will be
the premier discussion forum and marketplace for this growth sector. Energy and Environment Week is
now held with Energy from Biomass and Waste, co-sponsored by Penn State in 2008 and 2009, and the
Hydrogen Expo US.
www.ee-week.com

TechConnect World Conference & Expo

Anaheim Convention Center • Anaheim, CA • June 21-25, 2010
In 2010, the TechConnect World Conference and Expo will focus on nanotechnologies, clean technologies, and biotechnologies. The
conference will also include a TechConnect IP Forum, dedicated for those that generate new technologies and are looking for firms
that are interested in licensing opportunities, or are looking for investment partners to take their technology to the next stage. Penn
State will be exhibiting at booth #541, highlighting the University’s current research in these areas.

www.iro.psu.edu/TechConnectWorld

Fall 2009 T h e IR ON 7
 The Innovation Park at Penn State
Featured Invention
Innovation Park at Penn State is a 118-acre
business park that provides companies with
multiple real estate options and access
to Penn State resources and the support
services.
www.innovationpark.psu.edu

Use of Solid-Phase Buffer to Improve

Turfgrass Cultivation
U.S. Patent 7,485,171
Inventor: Jonathan Lynch, Professor of Plant Nutrition
Penn State Invention Disclosure No. 2813

Background
Turfgrass is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Annual turf-
grass seed sales are second only to corn in the United States and rank above
Industrial Research Office Newsletter soybean and wheat combined. Turfgrass is cultivated in residences, road-
sides, municipal areas, and recreational areas, notably golf courses. Golf
greens are typically grown under high fertility and are irrigated. Because the
Subscribe to the e-Edition of The IRON at
turf is mowed at 2-5 mm, the primary stresses in this system are tempera-
www.iro.psu.edu/theiron.
ture and physical disturbances. Disease pressure is often minimized by the
application of pesticides. In order to maintain turfgrass quality, golf courses
The IRON is published three times per year: Spring, often employ intensive irrigation and fertilization programs.
Summer, and Fall.
Invention Description
Industrial Research Office This invention creates a phosphorus buffering system (PBS) at specific depths
The Pennsylvania State University in the soil, by which phosphorus concentrations in the soil solution are held
119 Technology Center at a steady level by chemical equilibrium between solid-phase and solution-
University Park, PA 16802 phase phosphorus. By holding the solution-phase phosphorus at a low level,
814-865-9519 phosphorus leaching through the soil is greatly reduced, and a steady supply
of phosphorus to plant roots is assured, regardless of plant growth rate. The
iro@psu.edu
PBS can be recharged on an as-need-basis.
www.iro.psu.edu
Other Patents and Licensable Technologies in this Portfolio
Send comments or suggestions for The IRON to: • Solid-Phase P Buffer for Sustained, Low-Leaching P Fertilization of Plants
Gregory Angle, gregangle@psu.edu (U.S. Patent 5,693,119 • Penn State Disclosure #1269)
Marketing Associate • Solid-Phase Phosphorus Buffer for Sustained, Low-Leaching Phospho-
rus Fertilization of Field-Grown Plants (U.S. Patent No. 6,287,357 • Penn
State Disclosure #2115)

Contact
This publication is available in alternative media on request. The Penn- Matthew Smith, Senior Technology Licensing Officer
sylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons
Intellectual Property Office
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