STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Sept. 3 — UNESCO has renewed its backing for the UNESCO Chair on Building Innovation and Manufacturing Capacities through Advanced Technology Education at Penn State for another four years, the university’s College of Engineering announced on Aug. 28. Osama Awadelkarim, a professor of engineering science and mechanics and director of Penn State’s Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU), will keep serving as the UNESCO chairholder, a post he has held since the chair was first established in 2018.
The chair’s mission centers on strengthening scientific research and upgrading the technological skills of the workforce across industrial sectors in UNESCO member states, with a particular focus on education and training in nanotechnology. UNESCO, the United Nations agency that fosters international cooperation in education, science, culture and information, works with its 194 member countries on priorities that span protecting biodiversity, responding to artificial intelligence, advancing quality education, safeguarding heritage and ensuring access to reliable information.
Each UNESCO chair is led by a higher education or research institution and its academic partners, collaborating with UNESCO to advance knowledge in a shared priority area. Awadelkarim brings deep expertise in nanoelectronics and semiconductor technologies to the role. Named a Jefferson Science Fellow in 2006, he worked with the U.S. Department of State, lending technical knowledge to policy formulation and implementation.
Since then, he has championed educational collaborations, including efforts that let remote learners access nanotechnology labs and the development of global curricula. “Nanotechnology is not a specialization; it is a foundational scientific and engineering toolkit,” Awadelkarim said.
“Advances in chip making and AI, energy systems, biotechnology, advanced materials, sensing and quantum technologies all rely on the ability to design, fabricate and characterize materials and devices at the nanoscale.” He pointed to the widening gap between demand and supply in the semiconductor world. “Almost all products that we use, from a microwave oven to mobile phones to advanced computers, utilize chips in one way or another,” he said. “The demand for chips has risen sharply while the chip supply worldwide has fallen significantly short.
Over the past two decades, CNEU and the UNESCO chair have worked to address this need through focused activities.” The renewal extends the chair’s work for four years from the announcement date.
