COLLABORATIONS WITH INDUSTRY & OTHER SECTORS

An integral part of the polymer research program at the University of Massachusetts is the close coupling of academic research to industrial and government institutions. Over 40 companies and government agencies are tied into the polymer research effort at the University through 57 contracts. These institutions span a very large range of interests including high tech companies like Hewlett-Packard, materials suppliers such as Amoco, DuPont and Hoechst-Celanese, consumer and health oriented corporations such as Alza, Procter and Gamble and Bayer, and government organizations such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Environmental Technology for Waste Prevention Institute. Directed and unrestricted research support through the Center for UMass-Industry Research on Polymers (CUMIRP; $1.8M) and from corporate fellowships and unrestricted gifts ($120,000) totals approximately $1.9 million per year and accounts for nearly one-third of the research support for the faculty.

Center for UMass-Industry Research on Polymers (CUMIRP)

The CUMIRP program is an extremely effective link between the UMass polymer research community and industrial organizations that manufacture or use polymeric materials. Founded in 1980, CUMIRP, the oldest NSF-supported Industry-University Cooperative Research Center, has as its mission to stimulate innovation in polymer science and engineering by promoting, coordinating and funding research collaborations between the University of Massachusetts and industry. Representatives of the member companies visit campus twice per year for technical discussion of CUMIRP-supported research. CUMIRP has a three part research structure based on the level of intellectual property required by the external sponsor. Research efforts are further grouped into co-operative research clusters comprised of institutions that share common research interests and goals. Research clusters have proven to be a very effective means of leveraging research investments and maximizing the impact of faculty research efforts. The MRSEC works closely with CUMIRP in several respects. The Center and CUMIRP have mutual interests: i) the Industrial Visitors Program, which, under CUMIRP and MRSEC sponsorship, will host extended (typically two-week) visits to the University by scientists employed by the member companies, ii) the graduate-level Excellence in Polymer Education Program, and iii) arrangement of industrial participation in the dissertation committees of Center-supported students. The cooperative management structure also facilitates planning of the annual Research Reviews of the CUMIRP and MRSEC programs.

The Center has continuing collaborative efforts with academic and industrial scientists internationally. These collaborations augment the efforts at the Center, leveraging the funds supporting the Center, provide insight to emerging areas in different sectors and give students the opportunity to conduct thesis research in laboratories with a different perspective and approach to research.

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Industry Liaison and Economic Development (ILED)

ILED's mission is to maximize the value of UMASS Amherst as a partner to industry and as a contributor to an economically successful state and region. We do this by applying professional attention to the quality and productivity of relationships and initiatives that can benefit the university.

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Honeywell Technologies

Coughlin has established a research effort with Richard Heath to investigate new silica supported catalyst technologies that are being developed by Honeywell. These efforts include Coughlin’s design, construction, and testing of a novel mini-scale gas-phase reactor. Coughlin is now using this to perform multiple reactions simultaneously in a pseudo-combinatorial screening approach. This research was, in part, associated with the Focused Research Group and now will benefit from efforts in Seed 1.

Procter & Gamble

In an effort stemming from research on supercritical fluids (IRG-II), Winter has established a collaborative effort with Patrick Corrigan at Procter & Gamble to investigate porous polyethylene. Using the crystals in the polyethylene as crosslinks, the structural integrity of foams produced by the decompression of supercritical CO2 and ethane dissolved within the polymer will be investigated.

Kodak

In a joint effort between John Pochan at Kodak and Emrick in IRG-I and IRG-III, new sensor technologies are being developed using semiconductor nanoparticles. By manipulating the organic and polymer surface functionalization, this collaboration, in concert with research efforts at the Center, is aimed at developing extremely high sensitivity sensory devices that, due to high surface area alone, should amplify sensor response by orders of magnitude.

Sensor Research And Development Corporation

SRDC in Bangor, ME, produce sensors based on surface acoustic waves (SAW) devices on quartz substrates. Currently, these devices are fabricated by wetting polymers on the SAW devices and observing the response after exposure to a specific stimulus. In a collaborative effort, McCarthy in IRG-1 and Juha- Matti Leväsilami at SRDC will work to modify quartz surfaces to maximize the adsorption of polyvinylalcohol (PVOH). These thin PVOH films will be modified in two ways. First, the PVOH will be chemically anchored to the surface using functional chlorosilanes. Secondly, the PVOH films will be modified with reagents that react with alcohols. This approach represents a viable route to amplify the response and selectivity of SAW-based devices.

Rhodia

In collaboration with Virginie Ponsinet of Rhodia, Russell will investigate the surface ordering and microdomain orientation in thin films of polystyrene-polyacrylic acid block copolymers P(S-b-AA). An area of particular interest in this work relates to the ideas developed in IRG-I on controlling domain orientation through use of balanced interfacial interactions. These materials are of particular interest due to the water-solubility of the PAA. Consequently, applications will be pursued based on asymmetric diblock copolymers where PAA is the minor component. In principle, a completely solid, non-porous membrane can be fabricated, which will be characterized and tested by Ponsinet and Russell. In collaboration with Ahmed Mourchid and Mathieu Joanicot at the Rhodia complex Fluids Laboratory, Bhatia focused on the use of block polyelectrolytes for applications in coatings, oil recovery, and personal care products. Current collaborative projects include: self-assembly of modified P(S-b-AA) in aqueous media, rheology of block polyelectrolyte-surfactant complexes, and shear-instabilities in solutions. Rhodia has contributed materials and partially supports one graduate student in the Bhatia lab.

Presstek

Presstek, Inc. of Hudson, NH, is a commercial producer of offset printing plates that are imaged on-press by arrays of diode lasers. McCarthy has collaborated with Presstek for over 8 years on the design and composition of Presstek’s current printing plates. The commercial image plate is a polyester film coated with Ti and poly(dimethylsiloxane), PDMS. Current research with Presstek overlaps with the proposed research in IRG-I in that the Ti interlayers between the polyester and PDMS are being chemically modified to promote adhesion and pattern transfer. The design of supramolecular structures using layer-by-layer deposition or transfer polymerization methods offers unique opportunities in designing the interlayers. The general techniques developed by IRG-I will be implemented within the Presstek research program and tested in prototype plates by Presstek. Presstek routinely generates gradient surfaces as test patterns, which provides IRG-I a unique opportunity to use Presstek’s technology, in combination with surface chemistries, to prepare novel gradient surfaces.

National Instutute Of Standards And Technology

This collective effort between investigators at NIST and Russell will use methodologies developed in IRG-I to prepare nanoporous films of PS on either silicon or gold substrates. Within these templates Au and/or silicon oxide nanoposts will be grown. The matrix will be removed, leaving an array of nanoposts with precise lateral and vertical dimensions. These simple surfaces will act as resting sites for phospholipid membranes on the Au using alkane thiol tethers. Anne Plant and Susan Krueger (Biotechnology Division, NIST) will assemble alpha hemolysin, a pore forming protein, on the membrane from 7 protomers to form a beta-barrel transmembrane protein (TMP) with a 2.5 nm diameter pore, as shown schematically. With Chuck Majkrzak (Reactor Radiation Division, NIST), neutron reflectivity will then be used to measure the absolute location of the transmembrane protein within the lipid bilayer with 0.1 nm resolution. Only through the combined experimental expertise in IRG-I on surfaces with neutron reflectivity and the biological expertise at NIST can such a detailed study be performed with sufficient precision to ensure success. NIST will provide support for one graduate student who will conduct research at both the University of Massachusetts and NIST, providing a unique learning experience for the student.