START+ Lab ribbon cutting celebrates new facilities, research capabilities

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Steady Thermal Aero Research Turbine (START) Lab hosted a ribbon-cutting event and open house on Aug. 28 to showcase and celebrate the advanced capabilities of the newly renovated and expanded START+ facilities.

The START Lab was founded at Penn State in 2012 through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy-National Energy Technology Lab and Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business. The turbine research facility was designed to perform turbine aerodynamic and heat transfer studies, along with instrumentation development and integration of additive manufacturing to increase research agility while advancing turbine technologies.

In September 2024, the Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Finance and Investment approved a proposal to complete a 13,000-square-foot addition and renovation at the Lidia Manson Building at CATO Park. The $23.6 million project was jointly funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, Pratt & Whitney, the Department of Energy-National Energy Technology Lab, the Penn State College of Engineering, the Penn State Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and the START Lab.

“With investments in a new research facility, we need to ensure that we are positively impacting the lives of students using the facility, improving the research and scholarship that come from the facility and increasing that research’s real-world impact,” said Andrew Read, senior vice president for research at Penn State. “The START+ facility is an example of an extraordinary collaboration between our partners at Pratt & Whitney and the federal government that will meet all three of these goals — the students here will work on the cutting edge of science and technology and conduct research that will make a huge difference in a host of industries.”

The project scope included a complex building addition, prioritizing noise and thermal management, comprising electrical and compressor rooms, research space, a control room and other support spaces. The increased capability for START+ enables research in the areas of new turbine cycles and smaller cores on turbine efficiency. Additional work under the combined expansion project will evaluate the influence that alternative fuels have on combustor-turbine interactions to target improved fuel efficiency and hardware durability.

“This START+ building represents a new capability for collaborative research positioning Penn State for the future of propulsion and power in the gas turbine sector,” said Reid Berdanier, Bryant Early Career Professor and director of the START laboratory. “Research performed in the new START+ facility will bridge the gap between existing turbine test facilities and full-scale development engines.”

The ribbon-cutting event included an open house reception and tours of the new facilities. Partners in attendance included Michael Thacker, senior vice president of Engineering and Technology at Pratt & Whitney; Robert Schrecengost, director of Power, Fuels and Chemicals division at the U.S. Department of Energy; and Anna Oldani, chief scientific and technical adviser at the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Penn State sets a benchmark for successful collaborations between government, academia and industry,” Thacker said. “We're proud to have been a founding member of the START facility, which served as a unique space for critical research. With the expansion of the facility to START+, flow capability has been increased by about three times, allowing us to stay on the cutting edge of innovative turbine technologies.”

The reception followed the launch event for Penn State’s National Security Institute hosted earlier in the day. The START Lab and its new START+ facility will serve a critical role in supporting various ongoing and future-facing research projects occurring through the new institute.

“For many years, the Penn State College of Engineering has been setting national standards for turbine research, from incorporating additive manufacturing into the development and research processes to making turbine engines more efficient and durable,” said Thomas F. La Porta, interim Harold and Inge Marcus Dean in the College of Engineering. “These expansions and renovations provide our researchers with the facilities needed to stay at the cutting edge of turbine research.”