Douglas Wolfe

Douglas E. Wolfe, Ph.D., is the associate vice president for Research, director of strategic initiatives (AVPR-SI) within the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (OSVPR) at Penn State. The role of associate vice president for Research, director of strategic initiatives, serves as a key member of the Research leadership team and works in partnership with other leaders to implement research priorities and oversee portions of the institution’s research administration and infrastructure. In this role, Wolfe works with the interim senior vice president for Research and members of the University Research Council to support faculty in their pursuits of extramural funding for strategic research; and oversees the Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO) in support of larger, externally funded interdisciplinary research proposals. Among other responsibilities, he provides leadership and OSVPR representation on internal and external task forces and committees on behalf of the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research to develop recommendations for addressing challenges and opportunities impacting Penn State Research, including managing the strategic plan implementation and delivery process.

Additionally, he works to streamline the Penn State Research infrastructure and engages Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses in research directions. This role also directs the development of information dissemination strategies and training opportunities in support of interdisciplinary and strategic research and works collaboratively across the University to leverage sponsored grants and contract funding with corporate and foundation gifts and grants to expand Penn State Research’s impact.

Wolfe is professor of materials science and engineering; engineering science and mechanics; nuclear engineering; and additive manufacturing and design, and previously served as Metals, Ceramics and Coatings Processing Department Head for the Applied Research Laboratory. Wolfe worked for the Applied Research Laboratory for more than 25 years and has been recognized as an international expert in the field of materials science, focusing on applied research with an emphasis of implementation, transitioning and commercialization. 

Wolfe received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Penn State in 1994, 1996 and 2001 respectively and has more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, 10 patents/patents pending, and 18 invention disclosures, and is a member of several professional societies.

Wolfe is a recognized international expert in the field of materials science whose research activities include the synthesis, processing, and characterization of nano, multilayered, nanostructured, functionally graded, ceramic, and metallic coatings, materials and systems deposited by reactive and ion beam assisted, electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD), cold spray, thermal spray  technologies, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), cathodic arc physical vapor deposition, sputtering (r.f, d.c., magnetron), plating (Ni, Cu, Pt), hybrid processes, and various other PVD processes.  Present work includes the enhancement of coating microstructure and composition to enhance the sensitivity of ionizing radiation such as x-rays and to tailor and improve material properties such as optical materials and coatings, hypersonics, metamaterials, thermal barrier coatings (TBC), erosion resistant coatings, wear resistant, corrosion resistant, diamond like carbon, transition metal nitrides, carbides, and borides, and transition and rare-earth metal oxides for a variety of applications in the aerospace, nuclear, tooling, power, oil and gas, biomedical, and defense industries. Wolfe’s primary area of expertise includes structure-processing-property-performance relationships and the development and processing of monolithic, nanocomposite, nanolayered, and multilayer coatings, nano-grained structural materials, as well as materials characterization using a variety of materials analytical techniques.  Professor Wolfe’s research focuses on applied research with an emphasis of implementation, transitioning and commercialization and have resulted in over $400,000,000 in documented savings for Department of Defense (DoD). Wolfe has been PI or Co-PI on >200 programs at a total funding of over $180,000,000.

Wolfe led a collaborative frontier research team that will be the focus of a nine-year, $60 plus million potential cooperative agreement from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) new Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Matter University Research Alliance program (IIRM-URA). It is a multidisciplinary, multi-organization team led by The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). The overall project consists of three phases, beginning with a five-year research phase. Under this agreement, Penn State created a cooperation-based framework fostering a matrixed environment where leading research scientists and engineers from across the United States and Europe work together to create advances in interactions of ionizing radiation with materials. Working towards these goals addresses DTRA’s mission to identify, adopt, and develop revolutionary breakthroughs that will counter the nuclear and radiological threats of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Penn State led a team of twelve nationally recognized universities and ten partner institutions, national laboratories, and industrial companies. The goal of the IIRM-URA partnership was to conduct fundamental basic and applied research in order to identify, adopt, and develop revolutionary scientific breakthroughs that will reduce, eliminate or counter nuclear and radiological threats of WMD.

This faculty member is associated with the Penn State Intercollege Graduate Degree Program (IGDP) in Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) where a multitude of perspectives and cross-disciplinary collaboration within research is highly valued. Graduate students in the IGDP in MatSE may work with faculty members from across Penn State.