Business and industry can engage with Penn State Behrend faculty and students for sponsored research and development through:

Short-Term Research Projects

These projects do not involve the exchange or development of intellectual property and include:

  • Services involving analysis, evaluation, classification, diagnostics, or interpretation of a client's data, samples, mechanisms, procedures, or products
  • Access to school resources, either personnel and/or equipment.

Longer-Term Research Projects

These projects involve intellectual property and include:

  • An assigned principal investigator (PI) for the project
  • Protection for the University and for the sponsor on issues of publication, intellectual property, publicity, and the use of project results
  • Access to school resources during the development of fundamental basic research

Black School of Business Innovation through Collaboration Teams

These projects engage the School of Business and its students in faculty-led teams and may include:

  • Assistance for existing businesses and start-ups with product market analyses, new product pricing strategies, new markets for existing products, improved processes, marketing strategies, and targeting of new opportunities for growth
  • Detailed analyses performed by undergraduate and graduate students under the direction of a faculty expert

Research contacts by academic school:

School of Engineering:
Jason Williams
Associate Teaching Professor of Engineering
814-898-6142
[email protected]

Black School of Business:
Dr. Kenneth Louie
Associate Professor of Economics
Director of the Economic Research Institute of Erie
814-898-6265
[email protected]

Dr. Kathleen Noce
Teaching Professor of MIS
Director of Partnership Erie
814-898-6508
[email protected]

School of Science:
Dr. Michael Rutter
Associate Director, School of Science
Associate Professor of Statistics
814-898-6272
[email protected]

School of Humanities & Social Sciences:
Dr. Victoria Kazmerski
Associate Professor of Psychology
814-898-6246
[email protected]

For general inquiries, contact:

Dr. Amy Bridger
Assistant Dean for Innovation and Corporate Strategy
Assistant Research Professor of Higher Education Strategy
814-898-6756
[email protected]

Jacob Marsh
Industry Relations Coordinator
814-898-6987
[email protected]