Pennsylvania State University. Materials Research Laboratory

Founded in 1962 by solid state professor Rustum Roy, the Materials Research Lab was an interdisciplinary facility in Penn State's Institute for Science and Engineering. As part of the intercollege research program, affiliates of the Lab worked with physics, chemistry, earth sciences, ceramics, and metallurgy. Financially, research projects were heavily supported by industry, as material technologies are the industrial base of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The facility was unique in its focus on non-metallic materials, with a particular focus on insulation of "ceramic" type solids. In 1993, the name was changed to the Intercollege Materials Research Laboratory with a new focus on diamonds, crystals and ceramics, and cement and concrete. The Lab merged with the Materials Research Institute in 2001 and began planning for a larger facility in 2005.