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Alumni Profiles
Cell Process Engineer - Apple, Inc.
I am from Orocovis, a small town at the geographical center of Puerto Rico. At the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM) I graduated from Chemical Engineering, as Magna Cum Laude, with a minor in Environmental Engineering.
NRC Postdoc - Air Force Research Lab
I graduated with a PhD from UMass Amherst in May 2016. After graduation, I received a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to work with Dr. Timothy White on liquid crystal elastomers. My education from the Polymer Science and Engineering department has helped me get to where I am today.
I am currently a professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH. I teach Polymer Physics, and Materials Characterization. My research interests include scattering theory, disordered materials, flame synthesis of nano materials, worm-like micelles, polymer topology, and whatever else seems interesting with some industrial focus/interaction.
I have been a professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Maryland since 1992. After graduating from UMass in 1984, I left Amherst for a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at what was then the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Gaithersburg Maryland working with Dr.
I grew up in Montoursville, a small town of about 6,000 residents in the Susquehanna Valley of central Pennsylvania, and graduated high school in 2006. I attended The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) for undergraduate studies, graduating in 2010 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and a minor in Chemistry.
I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. In 2003, I joined PSE under the supervision of Prof. Tom Russell working on templated polymer nanostructures. After receiving my Ph.D. in the summer of 2008, I went to UT Austin with Prof. Paul Barbara as a postdoc for 2 years working on spectroscopy of conjugated polymers.
When considering my experience as a PSE student, one event that clearly stands out was presenting at my first meeting (ACS). Preparing the presentation and actually presenting and getting direct feedback and follow up discussion was an amazing experience. The process of making the jumble of work into a story that I was excited about sharing was a great learning experience. I feel so blessed
Originally from Papillion, Nebraska, I received a B.S. in Polymer Science and Engineering, summa cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University in 2010.
I defended my PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering in August of 2011. During May of that year I networked at ANTEC with a former group member from Alan Lesser’s research group who happened to work at Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, TN. After a phone interview and an onsite interview I received a job offer from Eastman. I was initially tasked with two major projects.
I worked in Professor Coughlin’s research group and graduated in 2016. In my research, I investigated macromolecular design parameters to obtain robust anion conducting membranes with efficient ion conductivity and chemical stability. Currently I work as a senior formulation scientist at Axalta Coatings Systems.
There are so many things I value from my experience in PSE, from the stellar training in polymer research, scientific communication, and life, but I most value the lifelong friends I made during my time in the department.
I was a PSE graduate student twenty years ago working on polymer surfaces and thin films in Tom McCarthy’s research group. Over the years I have had a chance to revisit Amherst many times – and it has always been a positive experience to meet the faculty & staff.
Originally from Needham, MA, I received my BSE from Cornell University in Materials Science and Engineering.
I joined Cornell University in the summer of 1986, four years after graduating from UMASS in PSE and having spent those years working in industry at the Xerox Research Center of Canada. (I am originally from Canada). Today I am a professor in Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell where I have served as department chair, Associate Dean and as interim Dean.
I received my PhD from PSE in September of 2015, under the guidance of Professor Todd Emrick. Support through an Office of Science Graduate Fellowship from the Department of Energy allowed me to work towards enhancing organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology.
After receiving my PhD in 2011, I decided to join industry and be involved in the commercialization of science.
I received my PhD from PSE in 2017. My thesis work, under the guidance of Professors Tom McCarthy and Al Crosby, focused on structure-property relationships of polymeric materials. As a co-advised student, I had the chance to learn aspects of physics, chemistry and engineering.