Happy holidays to all the members and supporters of the group and special welcome to our newest group members!

Our commercialization efforts around our NSF-funded research in carbon dioxide copolymers was announced by the State of Ohio’s Innovation Hub with the Polymer Industry Cluster.  In collaboration with our industry partners Synthomer, we are thrilled to be part of Akron’s next chapter of butadiene copolymers for a more secure and sustainable polymer industry!

Dr. Eagan featured on a panel with Mayor Malik, Bounce Innovation Hub, and Goodyear at the Global Polymer Summit discussing the Akron Polymer Industry Cluster.  The ambitions, activities, and roles of academics in the innovation pipeline were covered and can be further learned about on the PIC website.

Brennan won “Outstanding Student Presentation” award at this year’s annual Center for Tire Research conference.  A well-deserved recognition from the Industrial Advisory Board of CenTiRe!

Thanks to WM for opening their doors to our undergraduate Sustainable Polymers class and polymer recycling researchers. Seeing the separators and material quality in-person gives real perspective on the scale of the issue!

A gorgeous afternoon apple picking as a group.  Kudos to all the members who cooked up homemade apple pies, ciders, and pastries!

Greatly pleased to share that the group has maintained the highest of safety standards and was awarded the best lab award for the second year in a row!

Enjoyed some great sights of all three Goodyear blimps circling our Polymer building.

Our University of Akron team “The Valve Vanguards” marched alongside the Great Akron AHA heart walk fundraiser. Thanks to Ebrahim, Luke, and Yuliana for leading the charge in the lab and the community!

Our group made a great showing volunteering with the City of Akron’s Polymer Industry Cluster to promote polymers in our community. Special shout out to the Synthomer Foundation for supporting our outreach activities.

Congrats to Stacey and Alexis on graduating with honors and on their great presentations at the Williams Honors College research symposium!

Congrats to our amazing undergraduate group ESW for their awards from UAkron’s EXL center. The group was recognized for their extensive community education, engagement, and sustainability initiatives!

Yuliana presented our work on synthetic polymer heart valve development at the AHA foundation’s Go Red for Women event at Northeast Ohio Medical School.

Keaton shared our exciting findings about CO2-based recyclable composites at ACS this spring. All the speakers in this session reported tremendous work!

In support of the Junior Achievement of Ohio and the Akron Polymer Industry Cluster our undergraduate engage with 9-12th graders in Northeast Ohio about futures in the polymer industry. Special thanks to the PIC and the Synthomer Foundation for supporting this student group!

Annual trivia faceoff between the “alkoxy silanes” vs “team 2” at Missing Falls Brewery.

The group’s first hooding ceremony for our PhDs graduates. Congrats to Satej, Abhishek, Gavan, and all of UAkron’s graduates of 2024!

The group’s annual holiday party and white elephant gift exchange at The Green Dragon Inn in Akron. Making its 3rd appearance in the gift exchange was the coveted cheese-maker…

The PC3 event with the Greater Akron Chamber brought together over 50 member companies and hundreds of students and prospective scientists to learn more about the opportunities in the polymer industry. Group member Keaton presented his research and passion for polymer science to over 100 high school students.

Dr. Eagan received recognition from our American Chemical Society local section. The honorarium was complete with a public dinner, scientific discussion, and was well attended by local colleagues, current group members, and former graduates.

Honored to have received recognition as one of Akron’s 30 for the future leaders. Check out all the tremendous individuals in this cohort here!

The undergraduate recycling group Zipps Precious Plastics kicked off their first general body meeting of ’24 with a new group of plastic recyclers! Check out their keychain manufacturing and more on their instagram:

Special thanks to the Synthomer Foundation for their financial support of the group’s outreach activities on plastic sustainability!

Congrats to Snehal for wrapping up a very successful REU project and presenting at the NOURS symposium at Kent State University.

Congrats to Arsalaan for his recognition by the Society of Plastics Engineers for his research and extensive service to the society as a leader in Akron’s local section.

Yuliana attended the international conference of the Polymer Processing Society in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia and placed 1st in the poster session with her work on polyolefin block copolymers!

Satej took home the Judges’ Vote Award for his pitch on a startup company producing recyclable thermosets!

Congrats to our three group members who were recognized by the UA LIFE Awards!  These awards are given to students who work to advance UA’s Legacy, Integrity, Fellowship, and Excellence.

Yuliana Ospina Yepes received the Graduate Excellence and Leadership Award

Megan Mitchell took home the 50 hour service challenge and A-Key Gold Award

Delora Grace Allen was recognized with the A-Key Gold Award.

Satej presented his work on CO2-based vitrimers at the annual Covestro poster session and was selected as one of the top presenters.  Way to go Satej and all the other PhD students who presented their work.  Special thanks to the generous support of Covestro in sponsoring premier polymer education and research here at Akron!

Our undergraduate honors colloquium “Sustainable Plastics” and PhD researchers had the chance to tour the new state-of-the-art WasteManagement facility in Akron that automates sorting of the region’s recycling bins.  Thanks to them for opening their doors and the Ohio EPA for supporting the region’s recycling infrastructure!

Our undergraduate Megan presents her exciting findings on high strength polymers at the College of Arts and Science’s poster session, a perfect finale before moving on to graduate school!

A small meet-up at ACS New Orleans with alumni and current students.  Congrats to Arsalaan for taking home 3rd place in the POLY-division Sci-Mix poster session!

The ESW team makes a showing at the ACCESS STEM event, engaging with our youth and public school about STEM careers.  Learn more at www.acessinc.org and special thanks to our supporters at the Synthomer Foundation!

Happy birthday to our newest group member Sruthi!

Arsalaan presented an oral seminar on polyolefin elastomers for biomedical applications and won 3rd prize in the poster session!

Happy birthday wishes to Yuliana and Jonah!

Arlo Claus brings presents to the group for our annual gift exchange.  Complete with end of the year Karaoke!

The student organization put on the absolute best holiday party this year!  Complete with a talent show… where Satej appears to be serenading Prof. Miyoshi and Chatanya.

Yuliana, Brennan, and Arsalaan represent the group at SPE-VinylTec this year in Akron.

The student organization of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering hosted a costume contest halloween party this year.  First prize went to The Grim Reaper “Polymer Physics”.  Even Wallace Carothers made an appearance!

After completing NSF I-Corps Keaton’s business pitch on sustainable composites takes home the big check!

Special congratulations to Nehemiah Hughes, Kaiden Mauck, and Darelle Thornton on their excellent summer research on the chemistry of materials.  Thanks to the Synthomer Foundation and the American Chemical Society Project SEED program for their financial support of these talented individuals!

Satej representing the group at ACS this fall with an oral presentation on his CO2-based vitrimers.

Megan Mitchell completed her summer research on degradable thermosets! She was selected for giving an oral presentation at the symposium and will continue the work as part of her honors thesis.

Derek successfully defended his thesis today marking the first PhD from the lab. Followed by a group “Escape Room”… is there a metaphor in that? Congrats Derek!

Yuliana’s poster on synthetic polymer heart valve materials wins first place at the UA Graduate School Research Symposium!

ACS Indianapolis trip was excellent. Great job to all our student presenters, with a special shoutout to Keaton receiving 1st place in the polymer division Sci-Mix poster session!

Nothing screams “happy holidays” like hurling some polyurethane at wooden pins!

Chris Kim presented his summer research as part of the NSF’s REU program and was selected for an oral presentation!

Our undergraduate recycling group ZPP yields a great haul of HDPE bottle caps from local public schools.  Time to compression mold some key chains!

The tradition of Groundhog’s Day trivia and games continues this year… along with the tradition of Walter collapsing the tower!

Terrific presentations from our high school visiting scholar Amelia on cleaning up our PET recycling streams, and all the other St. Vincent/St. Mary’s researchers!