A cohort of Penn faculty members visited colleges and industrial plants on a tour through Pennsylvania last week.
During the three-day trip, which served as phase two of the Penn Commonwealth-Engaged Scholars Program, the team traveled 800 miles to areas in South Central, Southwestern, and Northern Pennsylvania. Cohort members spoke to The Daily Pennsylvanian about the initiative’s goal to advance the University’s role as an “interwoven” institution across the state.
“We saw this as a chance to connect our faculty and professional staff with the Commonwealth, and demonstrate our commitment to the University’s strategic framework and principle of practice,” professor of pediatrics David Hill explained.
SNF Paideia Program Fellows Director Lia Howard, one of the four PCES project leads, discussed the initiative’s goal to “extend” Penn’s reach beyond the West Philadelphia community.
“The arrow is bidirectional — learning about the state and having them learn a little bit about how Penn could engage better with the state,” Howard explained.
Office of Government and Community Affairs Assistant Vice President Michael Smith, another of the project’s leads, added that a “through line” of the tour was understanding workforce challenges.
Despite these challenges posing a “real problem” to the state, Smith expressed that it was “encouraging” to see that industries are “sharing a commitment” to expand Pennsylvania’s economy by implementing various solutions.
The cohort visited a solar power and natural gas power plant during the trip, according to Hill. The gas plant, he added, will be the largest of its kind in the United States.
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“We learned a lot about the logistics of large scale construction projects, but also the potential economic benefits, both in job creation and energy production,” Hill explained.
The team also stopped in Pittsburgh, where cohort members visited the mayor’s office to discuss “emerging” industries targeting population growth, according to Hill. In the same city, they visited a hardwood cabinetry factory which informed the group about how recent tariffs have been “helping” the industry.
The tour also made its way to Carnegie Mellon University to meet with educators and discuss effective methods to teach artificial intelligence and robotics technologies to students.
Finally, the cohort visited the Pennsylvania College of Technology, an affiliate of Pennsylvania State University, where they explored engineering and innovation centers.
The trip was funded by Penn’s inaugural “Draw Down the Lightning” grant — which was awarded in 2025 to 12 initiatives that “exemplify” the University’s “engaged ethos.”
The statewide tour concluded the second part of the PCES program’s three-step process. The group first conducted a series of on-campus learning initiatives to explore specific issues in the Commonwealth. Next, PCES scholars will use their newfound knowledge to develop projects that “benefit” Pennsylvania.
“The piece I’m very eager to see,” Smith told the DP, is “developing innovative solutions for the challenges and opportunities before Pennsylvanians.”
