A distinguished group of Judges from industry, academia, and government laboratories had the task of determining the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Competition at the Spring ACS meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. Congratulations to our three winners, who were also recognized at the POLY/PMSE Awards Reception.
FELIPE FABRICIO PACCI EVARISTO
The Ohio State University
Studying Interactions between Solvated Polymer-grafted Nanoparticles via Coarse-grained Molecular Simulations
Felipe got his bachelor’s degree in geophysics at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2013. He then was a visiting scholar at ETH-Zürich, Switzerland, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a year each. After that, he obtained his master’s degree in physics at the University of Chicago in 2017. Since then, he’s been pursuing his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at The Ohio State University, currently as a member of the Hall group.
Felipe’s experience centers on the computational modeling of various types of physical systems. He currently works on projects using coarse-graining, Molecular Dynamics, Monte Carlo, and fluids Density Functional Theory to study polymeric systems, particularly polymer-grafted nanoparticles, ionomers, and block copolymers.”
ZOE LEQUEUX
University of Southern Mississippi
Incorporation of Reduced Graphene Oxide Decorated with Iron Oxide Particles in Polyurethane Dispersions for Electromagnetic Wave Shielding
Zoë Lequeux is a third-year doctoral candidate in the School of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she works in the research group of Prof. Sarah Morgan. Her research involves tailoring the morphology of polyurethane/graphene oxide nanocomposites to optimize their electromagnetic wave absorption properties and is funded by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. She also has interests in sustainable polymers, specifically in the development of catalysts for polymer blend reprocessing. Zoë completed her undergraduate degree in Independent Engineering at Cornell and performed research in the lab of Prof. Christopher Ober on aqueous ATRP and polymer-grafted nanoparticles. She was also a middle-blocker and right-side hitter on the Cornell Division 1 volleyball team. Zoë is also passionate about Diversity and Inclusion. She serves as President of the Women in Science and Engineering organization and is a member of the Gender Equity Movement in STEM on campus. She is active in outreach and organizing community events.
HONG-GYU SEONG
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Unique Properties of Bottlebrush Polymers at Fluid Interfaces
Hong-Gyu Seong received his Bachelor and Master of Engineering degrees in Chemical Engineering at Inha University under the guidance of Professor Sang Eun Shim in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Subsequently, he moved to the United States to pursue his doctoral studies in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department of the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, where he has been since 2018. His doctoral research, under the guidance of Professors Todd Emrick and Thomas P. Russell, focuses on synthesizing bottlebrush polymers with diverse architectures and non-conventional functionalities, and investigating the nanoscopic structures of these polymers and their macroscopic properties relationship, particularly with regard to their assembly kinetics, in-plane dynamics, and mechanical properties at fluid interfaces.