We are the UMass Amherst Student Chapter affiliated with the Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) and Polymer Chemistry (POLY) Divisions of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Our goal is to provide opportunities for students to facilitate their growth scientifically and professionally. This will be achieved through events including professional development clinics, hosting seminar speakers, and company tours/talks. We also co-host events in conjunction with existing groups within the UMass PSE department such as PSE Club, Mentoring Committees, and the Outreach groups. These events will enable students, post-docs, faculty, and staff to interact in both academic and social settings, and will be advertised in polymer-oriented departments. Our organization serves as an inter-departmental and inter-university tool for students to make connections with other institutions that conduct polymer and soft material research, and inspire academic and research collaborations. In addition, our chapter collaborates with other ACS PMSE/POLY student chapters to bring additional events to the UMass Amherst community.
Last academic year, we were delighted to be a part of the 2021 Macromolecular Summer Seminar Series featuring 36 expert speakers from universities across the country. We additionally hosted a “Random Walks from a PhD series” during the summer, designed to bring in PMSE/POLY Fellows as well as PSE alum to give seminars at PSE. During the fall semester, we enjoyed events like Apple Picking with PMSE/POLY, departmental friendsgiving, as well as co-hosting a coffee hour with the Fall 2021 3M Diversity speaker, Dr. Michelle Gaines!
We are thankful for the support of the PSE Community and were proud to be recognized as the PMSE POLY 2021 Outstanding New Chapter. We hope to continue bringing great events to PSE and the UMass Community!
For questions or comments please reach out to our 2023 - 2024 Officers:
President: Anne Radzanowski
Vice President: Roshni John Chethalen
Secretary: Bachir Messikh
Treasurer: Justin Ho