IMS Polymer Program

Charlotte Chen Receives Grant from NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Posted on May 14, 2024May 14, 2024 by Rhonda Ward

Charlotte Chen ’24 (ENG & CLAS), a senior from Westport, pursuing dual degrees in biomedical engineering and molecular and cell biology has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) grant. Her research in the lab of IMS Polymer Program Director and Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Kelly Burke aims to modify silk films with antibacterial monomers to potentially prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

“Being awarded an NSF-GRFP means that I get a lot more freedom with my doctoral studies– what my research project is, who my research advisors are, and where I want to conduct the research,” says Chen.

She served as president and as a conductor in UConn’s chamber orchestra and played violin in the symphony orchestra. She was a recipient of the Wiliam P. O’Hara Endowed Scholarship which provides funding for an honors student who demonstrates academic achievement, is enrolled full-time in either CLAS or the School of Fine Arts and demonstrates an interest in music.

Charlotte is also the digital editor for The Daily Campus. She will be a doctoral student at Brown in the fall to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering with the long-term goal of a career in the biotech industry.

Benjamin Hsiao Returns to UConn as Polymer Program Distinguished Alumni

Posted on April 26, 2024April 26, 2024 by Rhonda Ward

Drs. Kelly Burke and Jeffrey McCutcheon presents Dr. Benjamin Hsaio with IMS Polymer Program Distinguished Alumni Award. — Drs. Kelly Burke (left) and Jeffrey McCutcheon (right) present Dr. Benjamin Hsaio (center) with IMS Polymer Program Distinguished Alumni Award.

Having earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from National Taiwan University, Benjamin S. Hsiao arrived at the University of Connecticut in 1982 in pursuit of his Ph.D. Under the guidance of Professors Ed Samulski and Montgomery Shaw, Hsiao completed his Materials Science Ph.D. in 1987. He has since built a exceptional reputation and stellar career which the IMS Polymer Program recognized by naming him a Distinguished Alumni. On April 24, 2024, Dr. Hsaio returned to Storrs to deliver a presentation for the program’s Distinguished Alumni Seminar.

Dr. Hsaio completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Massachusetts with a dual focus on chemistry as well as polymer science and engineering. He spent eight years refining his research skills with DuPont before returning to academia as an assistant professor of chemistry at Stony Brook University where his accomplishments include 470 published papers, 40 patents, and the mentorship of 37 doctoral students. Stony Brook University recognized him with the prestigious title, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Additional accomplishments include serving as the Co-founding Director of the Innovative Global Energy Solutions Center and the Director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Integrated Electric Energy Systems at Stony Brook University. A complete biography can be found at: https://www.hsiaoglobal.org/benjamin-s-hsiao.

Dr. Benjamin Hsaio makes his presentation during the IMS Polymer Program Distinguished Alumni Seminar

Dr. Hsiao’s distinguished alumni presentation, From Nanocellulose Technologies to New Circular Solutions for Agriculture, explained his innovative approach to repurposing agricultural waste for the creation of polymer products, .

The reunion of Dr. Hsiao with Prof. Robert Weiss and co-advisor Prof. Montgomery Shaw was joyous and the entire department was eager to meet the esteemed alumni.

Collaborative Research to Develop Filament-Based Hydrogels is Cover for JACS

Posted on April 16, 2024 by Rhonda Ward

Yao Lin JACS cover image In a collaborative effort, researchers from the University of Connecticut (led by Profs. Yao Lin, VJ Kumar and Xudong Yao) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (led by Prof. Jianjun Cheng) have made an advance in the rational design of synthetic polypeptides to develop filament-based hydrogels. The work, conceptualized and realized by the graduate students Tianjian Yang (UConn) and Tianrui Xue (UIUC), has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) and featured as the cover of the March 6 issue.

Building on the recent advancement of autoaccelerated ring-opening polymerization of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs), this study strategically explores a series of random copolymers comprising multiple amino acids, aiming to elucidate the core principles governing gelation pathways of these purpose-designed copolypeptides. The team found that the selection of amino acids steered both the morphology of fibril superstructures and their assembly kinetics, subsequently determining their potential to form sample-spanning networks. Importantly, the viscoelastic properties of the resulting supramolecular hydrogels can be tailored according to the specific copolypeptide composition through modulations in filament densities and lengths. The findings enhance our understanding of directed self-assembly in high molecular weight synthetic copolypeptides, offering valuable insights for the development of synthetic fibrous networks and biomimetic supramolecular materials with custom-designed properties.

The research was supported by NSF grants awarded to Yao Lin at UConn (DMR 1809497 and 2210590) and Jianjun Cheng at UIUC (CHE 1905097).

College of Engineering Poster Competition

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Rhonda Ward

Antigoni Konstantinou (Materials Science), Max Wondolowski (civil Engineering), and Wei Ruan (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)

Two Institute of Materials Science students received recognition at the College of Engineering’s 10th Annual Poster Competition. Held on February 23, the competition included 95 posters from UConn engineering students.

Chemical & Biomolecular Ph.D. student, Wei Ruan from the Burke Laboratory of Polymeric Materials received 3^rd place prize with the poster entitled “High Throughput Fabrication of Thin Electrocaloric Materials Films Enabled by Additive Manufacturing”.

Antigoni Konstantinou with her 1st place poster

Materials Science Ph.D. student, Antigoni Konstantinou, from The Electrical Insulation Research Center, received the highly esteemed 1^st place prize with the poster, “2D Coating for Insulation of Variable Frequency Drives.”

Xueju “Sophie” Wang Receives 2024 ONR Young Investigator Award

Posted on October 30, 2023October 30, 2023 by Rhonda Ward

Xueju “Sophie” Wang has been awarded an Office of Naval Research (ONR) 2024 Young Investigator Award in the category Ocean Battlespace Sensing. The Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department of ONR explores science and technology in the areas of oceanographic and meteorological observations, modeling, and prediction in the battlespace environment; submarine detection and classification (anti-submarine warfare); and mine warfare applications for detecting and neutralizing mines in both the ocean and littoral environment.

One of 24 recipients in various categories, Dr. Wang’s research, entitled A Soft Intelligent Robot for Self-digging, Multi-modal Sensing, and In Situ Marine Sediment Analysis, was recognized by the Littoral Geosciences and subcategory. The Littoral Geosciences and Optics program supports basic and applied research for expeditionary warfare, naval special warfare, mine warfare and antisubmarine warfare in shelf, near-shore, estuarine, riverine, and riparian environments, with a particular emphasis on robust 4D prediction of environmental characteristics in denied, distant or remote environments.

Dr. Wang earned a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2016. She joined the faculty of the Materials Science and Engineering Department (MSE) in 2020 with an appointment in the Institute of Materials Science (IMS). Since then, she has earned extensive recognition for her research including the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award in 2022; the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Trailblazer Award, also in 2022; and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Orr Early Career Award in 2021 among others.

Wang’s research focuses on soft, stimuli-responsive materials and multifunctional structures; multistability of reconfigurable, magnetically responsive structures, flexible/pressure-tolerant/bio-integrated electronics, soft robotics and intelligent systems; and in-situ/environmental operando experimental techniques. Her research has been published extensively.

Zaili Hou Completes his Polymer Ph.D.

Posted on October 4, 2023October 4, 2023 by Rhonda Ward

*Dr. Zaili Hou completed his Ph.D. in Polymer Science in March 2023*

After completing a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Lanzhou University in Gansu province, China, Zaili Hou became a Polymer Ph.D. student in the UConn IMS Polymer Program. With a desire to focus his research on hybrid functional materials, Zaili joined Dr. Luyi Sun’s research group in 2018.

Hybrid functional materials, which consist of two or more distinct components with unique physical and chemical properties, exhibit synergistic properties, making them highly versatile and suitable for applications in various fields, including energy, healthcare, optics, and electronics. Zaili’s research led him to his dissertation topic, “Hybrid Functional Materials with Multiscale Architecture Design.” He successfully defended his dissertation in March 2023 and earned his doctoral degree as a result.

Reflecting on his time at UConn Zaili noted that he received excellent training and felt a strong sense of community during his time in the UConn IMS Polymer Program, which left him with a very positive overall experience. He says he appreciated access to the numerous core labs in IMS and the training available from the technical staff. He felt that direct access to the instrumentation in those labs gave him a better understanding of the science and contributed to his successful research. He also emphasized that the multi-disciplinary foundation of IMS helped create a community with multiple perspectives on the research. In addition to disciplinary diversity, Zaili also enjoyed the cultural diversity found in IMS. This helped him learn about various religions, philosophies, and cultural practices around the world.

With a desire to contribute to a better planet, Zaili began his career with World Centric, a company dedicated to sustainable products. World Centric is creating compostable and sustainable products to help reduce plastic waste that currently pollutes our planet.

“I’m very excited about making contributions to this important cause and making practical applications of polymer science to real world issues,” Zaili said.