Mobile Edition
Print
Get the Mag
Weekly Updates[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Each year, the Macromolecular Science and Engineering Division (MSED) sponsors an award that recognizes research excellence by two graduate students working in polymer science and engineering in Canada. The MSED is pleased to announce that this award has once again been co-sponsored by LANXESS Inc. The award has a value of $1,000, and provides up to $500 for travel to a Canadian conference for each winner. The 2009 competition was one of the fiercest of the past few years, with 13 outstanding applications having been received from across Canada. The two winners of this year's competition are Mark Ingratta, from The University of Waterloo (under the supervision of Jean Duhamel, MCIC), and Timothy Kelly, MCIC, from The University of British Columbia (under the supervision of Michael Wolf, MCIC).
Mark Ingratta completed his BSc in polymer materials engineering from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo, and remained there to pursue his PhD in the Duhamel research group. His thesis, entitled "Aspects of Polymer Chain Dynamics in Solution Studied using Fluorescence," described methods for detailed characterization of chromophore-labeled macromolecules through the use of fluorescence spectroscopy. "My research established that quantitative information on the chain dynamics of polymers and polypeptides could be obtained even when a chromophore and its quencher are randomly attached along the polymer backbone. This finding will hopefully open up new possibilities and experiments for polymer chemists who are interested in polymer chain dynamics" states Ingratta. The careful work that Ingratta did during his graduate studies has impacted the types of polymers (polypeptides) being sold by commercial suppliers, and how their structures are reported. "Mark has certainly performed extremely well at Waterloo as a graduate student," states Duhamel. He adds that Ingratta has a "wonderful personality which, combined with the depth of knowledge he has accumulated in his six years of graduate work, makes him also an outstanding teacher." Currently, Ingratta is working as a postdoctoral researcher with Patric Jannasch at Lund University in Sweden, where he investigates the synthesis and characterization of novel polymer electrolyte membranes for use in hydrogen fuel cells. Ingratta was awarded a European Union Scholarship in order to pursue his postdoctoral studies. His career aspirations include polymer and materials chemistry at a university or in industry.
Timothy Kelly, completed his BSc at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2004, and then moved to The University of British Columbia for his graduate training. During his doctoral research, Kelly focused on the preparation and characterization of hybrid polymer materials composed of microspheres in which one component is a conjugated polymer. According to Kelly, these microparticles exhibit enhanced optoelectronic properties, and can be self-assembled into opaline arrays. "This gives rise to entirely new optical properties due to Bragg diffraction from the lattice planes of the opal. Thus, by carefully controlling the morphology of the polymer by using these templates, both new and enhanced properties can be achieved" states Kelly. These new materials have potential applications as conducting photonic crystals, and in energy storage devices such as supercapacitors. Wolf, Kelly's research supervisor, states that "the depth of Tim's knowledge of chemistry is extremely impressive, and the rapidity with which he has made things happen in the lab is simply extraordinary." He adds that Kelly is "... a natural leader by example, and clearly has the maturity needed to ultimately direct an independent research effort." In addition to the MSED/LANXESS Graduate Award, Kelly has been the recipient of the Julie Payette Scholarship from NSERC, and was funded by an NSERC CGS-D Award. Kelly's future research interests remain in the area of materials and polymer science. More specifically, they include the fields of conjugated polymers, colloid chemistry, mesoporous host-guest composites, as well as opals and photonic crystals. Upon completion of his PhD, he will be moving to the University of California, San Diego, to start a post-doctoral fellowship with Michael J. Sailor in the area of porous silicon environmental sensors.
For further information about the MSED/ LANXESS Graduate Award, contact Alex Adronov, MCIC, Department of Chemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON or adronov@mcmaster.ca.
FEED