Online registration for the upcoming Spring 2019 Polymer Symposium to be held May 14 - 16, 2019 is now open. Event information can be found on the CUMIRP Event webpage of the CUMIRP website.
Awareness of the importance of Sustainability is evolving at unprecedented rates. Polymer science will play a key role in contributing to more sustainable materials, and to the greater utilization of renewable energy. Researchers are increasingly concerned with feedstock origins and the degradation behavior of large-scale polymer materials, such as used for packaging. Focus on use of renewable resources for production of polymers is growing, as are opportunities for new monomer design and development such as incorporation of novel main-chain functionality to facilitate tunable or triggered polymer degradation. Additionally, life cycle assessments have become progressively more important in terms of environmental impact for a product from its cradle (raw materials extraction), to the grave (or end of life), with expanded focus on factors such as depletion of resources and overall global warming potential. Diminishing reserves of fossil-fuels and the environmental impact of their combustion necessitates the need for more sustainable sources of energy. Development of battery and fuel cell technology present important challenges to polymer science. Numerous advancements in energy storage and utilization devices have been achieved recently, thanks in part to polymer science and engineering.