9th Excellence in Polymer Graduate Research Symposium

 

New Orleans, LA- April 7-11, 2013

 

 

 

 

The ninth symposium on "Excellence in Polymer Graduate Research" took place at the national ACS meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 7-11, 2013.  The purposes of this symposium were to provide recognition to outstanding graduate students in polymer science and engineering, to foster networking and exposure, and to help develop the careers of future leaders in our field.  We publicized this symposium via the POLY list server, POLY web page, and direct email messages to over 100 departments that are active in polymer research.  We requested that each department nominate one outstanding graduate student to speak on his or her original research in this special symposium.  Each student should fill out an application form and have a nominating letter from the research advisor and a letter from the department head.

 

This year we received a record number of 42 submissions.  We were very pleased with the quality of the papers and the caliber of the students.  The symposium was organized into four half-day oral sessions, a poster session, and a networking social. In the oral sessions on Sunday and Monday 28 students gave talks on their papers, and in the Tuesday poster sessions 14 students presented their work.  These oral and poster sessions went very well.  Many graduate students asked questions during the talks, and it was enjoyable to see them interacting during and after the sessions. 

 

As part of the recognition, each student received a certificate plus a cash award.  We were pleased that Dr. Marinda Li Wu, the 2013 ACS President, personally visited the symposium and spoke to the students for 10 minutes, encouraging them to excel in their work.  Professor Gregory Tew, the 2013 Chair of the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division also came to the symposium and interacted with the students.  A reception followed where the students mingled with the participants of the POLY Undergraduate Symposium.

 

This symposium was organized by the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division (POLY), and cosponsored by Presidential Event (PRES), Young Chemists Committee (YCC), Division of Professional Relations (PROF), and Society Committee on Education (SOCED).  The symposium had the generous support of POLY and Industrial Advisory Board of the Polymer Division (IAB).  The detailed symposium program is attached.

 

Symposium Organizing Committee:
H. N. Cheng (POLY Councilor, USDA)
Christopher Ellison (POLY Member, Univ. of Texas)
Christine Landry-Coltrain (POLY Alternate Councilor, Eastman Kodak)
Timothy E. Long (POLY Past Chair, Virginia Tech)

 

Symposium Program

 

 

Oral Session 1.  Sunday morning (Session Chair:  Christine Landry-Coltrain)  
 

Introductory Remarks  
15230 Synthesis and colloidal polymerization of Janus nanoparticles: New concepts for colloidal monomer design 
 Hill, Lawrence, Univ. of Arizona
16626 Multigeometry Nanoparticle and Multicompartment Superstructure Construction from Block Copolymers – Molecular Design, Assembly Hierarchy, and Kinetics 
 Zhu, Jiahua, Univ. of Delaware - Materials Sci & Eng
10526 Block copolymer templated nitrogen-enriched porous nanocarbons: From synthesis, characterization, to applications 
 Zhong, Mingjiang, Carnegie Mellon U.
17328 Novel Synthetic Approaches for Imidazole Functionalized Copolymers 
 Viswanath, Anand, Univ. of South Carolina
 Intermission  
12909 Surface interactions of functionalized cellulose nanocrystals 
 Way, Amanda, Case Western Reserve U.
15074 Versatile Construction of Polyphosphoester-based Nanostructures for Different Biological Applications 
 Zhang, Shiyi, Washington Univ. in St. Louis
14027 Layer-by-layer assembly of lipid nanocapsules on microneedles for enhanced transcutaneous vaccine delivery 
 DeMuth, Peter, MIT - Biol. Eng.
   
Oral Session 2.  Sunday afternoon (Session Chair:  Chris Ellison, Tim Long)   

 Introductory Remarks  
 Recognition of Poster Presenters  
10548 Polymer micelles for a targeted, magnetothermally triggered drug delivery system 
 Glover, Amanda, U of Alabama
18076 Assembling, disassembling and switching nanoparticles in vivo to program the phamacokinetics of therapeutic and diagnostic delivery vehicles 
 Chien, Miao-Ping, U. California, San Diego
14922 PEGylation density effects on protein binding, macrophage association, biodistribution, and pharmacokinetics, Reuter, Kevin, U. of North Carolina
12967 Self-assembling biomaterials for bone tissue regeneration 
 Shah, Nisarg, MIT - ChE
 Intermission  
13503 Thermoplastic Elastomeric Block-copolymers via Controlled Radical Polymerization of Soybean Oil 
 Hernandez, Nacu, Iowa State - ChE
12549 In situ polymerization via environmentally-borne initiation stimuli 
 Zavada, Scott, U. of Michigan
11937 Phthalaldehyde-benzaldehyde copolymers: Reactivity and functionalization 
 Kaitz, Joshua, U. of Illinois
 Remarks by ACS President Marinda Li Wu, & Photo Session  

 Graduate/Undergraduate Reception  
   
Oral Session 3.  Monday morning (Session Chair:  Tim Long, Christine Landry-Coltrain)

16903 Lithium single-ion conducting polymers with unusual high-voltage stabilities for battery applications 
 Weber, Ryan, U. of Wisconsin
16953 Engineering the multi-length scale structure of conjugated polymer networks for enhanced charge transport in organic photovoltaics
 Newbloom, Gregory, U. of Washingtin
18274 Graphene-assisted growth of vertically oriented oligomeric semiconductor single crystals 
 Wang, Yue (Jessica), UCLA
14089 Nanocomposites of epoxy with covalently modified graphene and carbon nanotubes
 Sydlik, Stefanie, MIT - Chem
 Intermission  
16998 Partially aromatic high-performance polyesters for electronic applications 
 Nelson, Ashley, VPI - Chem
12550 Polarity-switching top coat polymers enable thin film block copolymer orientation control 
 Bates, Christopher, Texas - Chem
10167 Study of strain relaxation to control self-folding of pre-strained polymer sheets
 Liu, Ying, NC State - ChE
   
Oral Session 4.  Monday afternoon (Session Chair:  Chris Ellison)   

18329 Chemsitry and application of ketene functionalized polymers
 Leibfarth, Frank, U. of California, Santa Barbara
11275 Giant Molecular Shape Amphiphiles Based-on Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes: Molecular Design, “Click” Synthesis and Self Assembly
 Li, Yiwen, U. of Akron
18168 Versatile brush architectures for siRNA delivery via controlled polymerization/click chemistry
 Abel, Brooks, Southern Mississippi U.
13573 Generation of complex surfaces through postpolymerization functionalization of surface-bound polymers with an orthogonal, self-sorting click reaction
 Arnold, Rachelle, U. of Georgia
 Intermission  
14245 Synthesis, Characterization, and Transport Properties of Thermally Rearranged Polyimides for Gas Separations
 Smith, Zachary, U. of Texas - ChE
16643 Coacervation in Model Oppositely Charged Polyelectrolyte/Surfactant Mixtures: Effects of Cationic Polymer Charge Density and Alkyl Chain Surfactant Hydrophobicity
 Li, Dongcui, U of Delaware - ChE
17317 Dynamic processes in diblock copolymer micelles with a semi-crystalline core
 Singh, Avantika, U. of Houston
   
   
Poster Session - Tuesday, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

14792 Peptide-directed Assembly of Scaffolds for Applications in Tissue Engineering 
 Ding, Xiaochu, Michigan Technological U.
12601 Biodegradable Brush Polymer-Drug Conjugates for pH-Responsive Release of Doxorubicin
 Yu, Yun, U. of Buffalo
10898 Regioselectively modified pullulan derivatives containing amine and amide groups: potential for biomedical applications 
 Pereira, Junia, VPI-Macro Inst.
17325 Interpenetrating network hydrogels based on poly(N-vinylformamide) and polyacrylamide with controlled charge complexation 
 Suekama, Tiffany, U. of Kansas
10177 Synthesis and Crystallinity of All-Conjugated Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Block Copolymers
 Lin, Yen-Hao, Rice Univ.
10743 Non-covalent incorporation of specific binding sites onto organic transistors via block-copolymer templating 
 Hammock, Mallory, Stanford U.
14652 Self-Assembly and Optoelectronic Properties of a Rod-Rod Semiconducting Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymer containing Poly(3-Hexylthiophene)
 Bhatt, Mahesh, U. of Texas at Dallas
14227 Supercapacitors stabilized with stimuli-responsive osmotic spheres
 Park, Corman, East Michigan
12991 Benzodifurans and more: Modifiable building blocks for the synthesis of conjugated polymers and their application in organic photovoltaic cells
 Kobilka, Brandon, Iowa State - Chem
15484 Responsive colloids: Following the inverse ?-helix-to-coil transition of silica tethered poly(N?-carbobenzyloxy-L-lysine) in m-cresol with a blend of techniques: NMR, DLS, SLS and SAXS
 Rosu, Cornelia, LSU - Chem
15562 Polymerizable Structure-Directing Agents for In-Situ Synthesis of Nanocomposite Networks
 Patil, Nitin, Oklahoma State
16600 Switchable fluorescence of near-infrared nanoparticles via protein interaction
 Jetty, Ragini, Clemson
17315 Stimuli-responsive biphasic-polymer Janus magnetic nanoparticles prepared via electrostatic interactions and surface-confined ATRP
 Vasquez, Erick, Mississippi State
14153 Combined experimental and simulation approach to tailor the microstructures of polymer materials through inclusion complex formation and subsequent release
 Gurarslan, Alper, NC State - Fiber
10287 Self-assembling behavior of cellulose nanoparticles during freeze drying: effect of suspension concentration
 Han, Jingquan, LSU - Renewable Natural Resources