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PMSE Best Poster Award

PMSE Best Poster Awards recognize outstanding posters presented by an undergraduate and/or graduate students during the PMSE poster session at ACS National Meetings

2025 Spring Winners

Graduate Student Best Poster Award Winners

JASON M. KRONENFELD
Stanford University

Scalable microparticle fabrication via r2rCLIP: Enabling a new era of advanced particle applications

Jason M. Kronenfeld is a Chemistry PhD candidate at Stanford University, planning to graduate in August 2025. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from The University of Arizona in 2021, where he trained with Dr. Benjamin J. Renquist on developing a novel treatment for type two diabetes mellitus. At Stanford, Jason is a member of Dr. Joseph M. DeSimone’s research group, focusing on 3D printing research utilizing high-resolution continuous liquid interface production (CLIP). His work spans printer and resin development, roll-to-roll CLIP for scalable micro-fabricated particle production, and enabled translational applications for precisely fabricated components. His research is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Outside the lab, Jason serves as a graduate student representative for the Stanford Committee on Research, is a waltz dance instructor, and is a member of the Stanford Viennese Ball Opening Committee (a student-led waltz performance group). Post-graduation, Jason plans to apply his expertise in polymeric materials to science policy, 3D printing in industry, or a start-up role.

GAYATRI PRAKASH
University of Toronto

Ionic crosslinking of hyaluronic acid into hydrogels using bivalent cations without chemical modification

Gayatri Prakash is a PhD candidate in the Frank Gu Lab at the University of Toronto in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. After receiving her Bachelor’s in Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia, Gayatri worked in the biopharmaceutical industry for two years developing purification processes for the manufacture of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Her research interests now focus on developing a new method for ionically crosslinking hyaluronic acid into hydrogels for biomedical applications. To support her research, Gayatri was awarded the Canada Graduate Scholarship-doctoral, and the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master’s. Her research was also awarded the Connaught Innovation Award. Beyond the lab, Gayatri likes macro photography, enjoys climbing and spending time outdoors hiking.

MIKAELA SADRI
University of Southern Mississippi

Controlling polyolefin-derived vitrimers via crosslinker identity beyond small molecules

Mikaela Sadri is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the School of Polymer Science and Engineering at The University of Southern Mississippi, where she works under the advisement of Dr. Zhe Qiang. She received her bachelor’s degree in Plastics and Composites Engineering from Western Washington University 2020. Her current areas of research include understanding the fundamental structure-property relationships within complex polyolefin-derived vitrimer systems.

PAUL G. H. SMITH
University of Southern Mississippi

Additive manufacturing of carbon materials using polyolefin precursors

Paul G. H. Smith received his Bachelors of Science degree in Plastics and Composites Engineering from Western Washington University in 2019. Currently he is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the School of Polymer Science and Engineering under the advisement of Dr. Zhe Qiang. His current areas of research focus on upcycling polyolefins into structurally complex carbon-matrix composites through additive manufacturing.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS BEST POSTER WINNERS

DELANEY E. MILLER
University of Utah
Tuning crystallinity and uncovering the role of the electrolyte in organic mixed conductor polythiophenes with carboxyl-alkyl side chains

Delaney Miller is a senior undergraduate student majoring in chemistry at the University of Utah. Under the mentorship of Dr. Connor Bischak, her research investigates the structure-property relationships of organic mixed-ionic electronic conductors (OMIECs) for sustainable and biological electronic applications. Committed to science education and outreach, she serves as the President of the ACS Student Chapter at the University of Utah and co-founded a student organization dedicated to increasing diversity in STEM. Delaney plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry, focusing on electrochemistry to develop advanced materials for energy conversion and storage while promoting accessibility in science education.

XI YING
Georgia Institute of Technology

Programmable release of antibody from Oxanorbornadiene-based injectable hydrogels

My name is Xi Ying, and I am a senior undergraduate student at Georgia Tech studying biochemistry. My research focuses on biomaterials and drug delivery, specifically injectable hydrogels for sustained antibody release. My award-winning poster, “Programmable Release of Antibody from Oxanorbornadiene-Based Injectable Hydrogels”, explores the use of OND-based small cross-linkers to enhance hydrogel performance. I am passionate about developing innovative therapeutic solutions and hope to continue exploring biomaterials in future research. Outside of academics, I enjoy traveling and experiencing different cultures, jewelry making and crocheting.

EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER BEST POSTER WINNER

MICHAEL C. BURROUGHS
Stanford Universit
y
Hybrid synthesis of bottlebrush DNA polymers for direct visualization at fluid–solid interfaces

Dr. Michael C. Burroughs is an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. His current research explores the multi-scale dynamics of polymers with complex architectures for applications pertaining to human health and sustainability. Prior to Stanford, Mike obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. While at UCSB, he pioneered advanced rheological techniques to enable simultaneous velocity and concentration measurements of entangled polymer liquids in shear flows. Mike received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University, where he received the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department’s Senior Award for Scholarly Achievement. Recently, he was named a Future Faculty Scholar by the ACS PMSE Division, a 2023 Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar Speaker by the University of Washington’s Department of Chemical Engineering, the Invited Postdoc Talk Competition Winner for Georgia Tech’s Student Polymer Network, and a Rising Star in Soft and Biological Matter by the UChicago and UCSD MRSECs.

Award Details

Awards will be determined at each National ACS Meeting. Each awardee will each receive a $200 award. Awardees will be acknowledged at the PMSE/POLY Awards Ceremony at the ACS National Meeting.

History

The award was established in 2017 to complement the Arthur Doolittle Award for the best presentation at a National Meeting.

Award Selection

Posters are evaluated by a group of judges, selected by the PMSE Executive Committee, during the poster session. Finalists are identified and awardees selected before the conclusion of the poster session.

Past Recipients

Nominations and Award Process

Purpose

PMSE Best Poster Awards was formed to identify and recognize contributions outside of presentations from the PMSE symposia at ACS National Meetings.

Rules of Eligibility and Nomination Process

This award is open to current graduate-level and undergraduate-level poster presenters at an ACS meeting. Presenters must be undergraduate or graduate students at a degree granting university and need to be present during the poster session to be considered for the award. Posters are reviewed and eligibility is determined prior to the ACS National Meeting.

Award Selection

Posters are evaluated by a group of judges solicited from the PMSE Executive Committee during the PMSE/POLY Joint Poster Session held during the ACS National Meeting.

Award Announcement and Nature

Finalists are identified and awardees are selected before the conclusion of the poster session. Awards are given during ACS National Meetings at the PMSE and POLY evening reception.

Awardees will be notified during the show, and pictures are taken next to poster winners at the end of the session. Each awardee will each receive a $200 award. Awardees will be acknowledged at the PMSE/POLY Awards Ceremony at the National ACS Meeting.

Full List of Award Winners

2022 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the Spring 2022 ACS National Meeting. Bios can be found here.

Hannah Dedmon, North Carolina State University

Antiplasticizing Interactions Between Biobased Small Molecules and Polyvinyl Alcohol: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Elina Ghimire, University of Chicago

Trainable Soft Materials Using Dynamic Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Jada Jackman, Drexel University

Interfacial Photopolymerization: Method for High Resolution Digital Processing of Recyclable Thermoplastics

Samuel Kopfinger, University of Chicago

Redox Active Particles with Stimuli Responsive Disulfide Crosslinks for Controlled Electrode Cleaning

Amberly Vu, Stanford University

Comparison of Ureteral Stent Biomaterials: Encrustation Profile in Metabolic and Infectious Artificial Urine Models

2022 Spring Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the Spring 2022 ACS National Meeting.

  • Claire Dingwell, University of Minnesota
    Regiospecific and linear poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) via the ring-opening metathesis polymerization of 3-acetoxy cyclooctene
  • Robert Enright, University of Massachusetts
    Self-wrinkling polymer films via initiated chemical vapor deposition
  • Hayden Houck, Western Washington University
    Chemical and physical tailoring of guanidine-based covalent adaptable networks
  • Mara Kuenen, University of Virginia
    Connecting molecular features of poly(beta-amino ester)s to their degradation and solution behavior to engineer functional materials with controlled lifetimes
  • Jasmine Lim, University of Southern Mississippi
    Attaining infrared photodetection in devices with narrow bandgap conjugated polymers
  • Jaylene Martinez, University of Colorado
    Bonding of membranes by viscous polymers:  Infiltration kinetics and its impact on mechanical integrity of the bonded polymer/membrane structure
  • Kate McConnell, Western Washington University
    Chemical and physical tailoring of guanidine-based covalent adaptable networks
  • Thivani Senathiraja, Iowa State University
    Tuning the intermolecular interactions of sulfonated ionomer via salt in solvent systems

2021 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the Fall 2021 ACS National Meeting.

  • Siyu Xiong, University College of London
    Chitosan composed electrospun nanofibrous members for indoxyl surface sorption
  • Nicole Mandel, Columbia University
    Rotation and translation of single molecular probes in polystyrene near the glass transition
  • Michelle Pomatto, Virginia Tech
    Morphological control of poly(ether ketone ketone) as a means to tailor blocky functionalization in the gel state
  • Vinita Shinde Auburn University
    Recent advances in microcapsule-based self-healing in high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites
  • Cheyenne Liu, University of Southern Mississippi
    Forcing single-chain nanoparticle collapse through hydrophobic solvent interactions in comb copolymers
  • Adam Weiss, University of Chicago
    Using rotational polymer design to direct lysosomal rupture, inflammasome activation, and T-cell responsivity

2020 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the Spring 2021 ACS National Meeting.

Michael Stolberg, MIT
Highly ordered ion conducting polymer electrolytes for decoupled ion transport
Dillan Stengel, San Diego State University
Water-induced beta-sheet crosslinking of alpha-helical-rich spider prey-wrapping silk
Kartik Kumar Rajagopalan and Xiuzhu Zhu, Texas A&M
Temperature-responsive, tunable poly(vinyl alcohol)-borax salogels for shape stabilization of an inorganic phase change materials

2020 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the 2020 ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Congratulations to Whitney Loo, Chan Ho Park, and Isaac Shin as presenters for the best posters.

  1. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
  2. MS 6100, National Institute of Standards Tech, Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
  3. Univ of California, Berkeley, California, United States

Modulating solution viscosity by controlling the polymer morphology in solution from intra- to intermolecular hydrogen bonding [PMSE 357]
Isaac Shin 1, Myungeun Seo 1 2 3

  1. Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea (the Republic of)
  2. Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea (the Republic of)
  3. KAIST Institute for Nanocentury, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea (the Republic of)

Real-time photothermal sensing and therapy using block copolymer-grafted MoS2 nanocomposites
Chan Ho Park 1

  1. KAIST, Daejeon, Korea (the Republic of)

2019 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the 2019 ACS National Meeting in San Diego, CA. Congratulations to Diego Luan Bertuzzi, Jessica Cashman, and Yun Liu as presenters for the best posters.

Synthesis and self-assembly of dendrimer-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) block copolymers containing folates for applications in biosensors and drug delivery systems [PMSE 306]
Diego Luan Bertuzzi,1,2 Catia Ornelas,3 Bradley D Olsen2

  1. Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
  2. Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  3. Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Campinas SP, Brazil

Increased flexibility in polyimide aerogel substrates for conformal, lightweight antennas [PMSE 328]
Jessica Cashman,1 Baochau N Nguyen,2 Bushara Dosa,1 Mary Ann Meador1

  1. NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
  2. Ohio Aerospace Institute, North Royalton, Ohio, United States

Lewis pair-mediated ring-opening polymerization of cyclic disulfides: Building high molar mass polymers with dynamic s–s bonds [PMSE 394]
Yun Liu, Yuan Jia, Qiong Wu, Jeffrey Scott Moore

  1. Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology; Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States

2019 Spring Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the 2019 ACS National Meeting in Orlando, FL.

Increased Thermal Properties of Benzoxazine Polymers Cured with End-group Tosylated Polymers [PMSE 369]

Ayesha Nadeem1, Emily A. Brown1, David A. Rider2
1 Department of Chemistry and 2 Department of Engineering & Design, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Fabrication, Optimization, and Analysis of Graphene Oxides Doped Polyvinylidene Flouride Nanocomposite for Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor Application [PMSE 450]

Omari Paul1, A. Thai1, A. Joaquin1, M. Ridley1, S. Jones1, C. Bufford1, A. Falconer1, A. Smith2, A. Ueda3, R. Mu1, F.R. Williams1
1 College of Engineering, Tennessee State University, Tennessee, United States
2 Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, United States
3 Center for Chemistry and Physics of Materials, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Dynamic Control of Hydrogel Crosslinking Through Reversible Sortase-meditated Transpeptidation [PMSE 500]

Matthew R. Arkenberg1, Dustin M. Moore2, Chien-Chi Lin1,2

1 Wheldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States
2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

2018 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the 2018 ACS National Meeting in Boston, MA.

Vapor-printed polymers for flexible electronics
PMSE 557

Won Jun Jo1, Vladimir Bulovic3, Karen Gleason2
1 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
3 Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Role of chain-end association life time in segmental and chain dynamics of associating telechelic polymers
PMSE 501

Kunyue Xing1, Martin Tress1, Pengfei Cao2, Fei Fan1, Shiwang Cheng2, Tomonori Saito2, Alexei P. Sokolov1,2
1 Department of Chemistry, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
2 Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Polymerization induced order-order and disorder-order transitions in diblock copolymer-monomer blends
PMSE 459

Everett Zofchak1,2, Robert Hickey2, Jacob LaNasa2, Wenwen Mei2
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States
2 Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

2018 Spring Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the 2018 ACS National Meeting in New Orleans, LA.

Exploring “click” chemistry to synthesize and characterize cyclic polyethers
PMSE 366

Farihah Haque, Scott M. Grayson
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Synthesis, mechanical, and structural properties of piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride doped with barium titanate nanoparticles
PMSE 379

Akinwunmi Joaquim, Omari Paul, Robert Turner, Ranganathan Parthasarathy, Lizhi Ouyang, Yuri Barnakov, Frances Williams
Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Effect of phase separation on water barrier properties in epoxy/amine thermosetting polymers
PMSE 444

John Vergara2, Ian Donahue2, John J La Scala1, Joshua M Sadler1, Santosh Kumar Yadav2, Giuseppe Palmese2
1 Army Research Lab, RDECOM, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States;
2 Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States

2017 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the 2017 ACS Washington DC National Meeting.

Fluorinated non-planer precursors for enhanced structural arrangement in two-dimensional (2D) azine-linked covalent organic frameworks PMSE 342

Sampath B. Alahakoon, G.T. McCandless, A. Karunathilake, C. Thompson, R. Smaldone
University of Texas at Dallas, United States

Development of phosphate-presenting citrate-based polymer for orthopaedic applications PMSE 397

Qiyao Li, Jinshan Guo and Jian Yang
Pennsylvania State University, United States

Shrink-wrapped encapsulation of proteins and triggered traceless release through reactive self-assembly approach PMSE 465

Kingshuk Dutta, D. Hu, B. Zhao, A. Ribbe, J. Zhuang, S. Thayumanavan
University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States

2017 Spring Best Poster Award Winners

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the Spring 2017 ACS  National Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Structural Characterization of Three-Helix Micelle Delivery Platform for Neurological Disease Treatment PMSE 385

Benson Jung, Joo Cuan Ang, and Ting Xu
UC Berkeley, United States

Physical, thermal, electrochemical and fuel cell performance study of sulfonated poly(phenelyne)s /novel branched polysulfone-based polymer blends PMSE 419

Behrooz Motealleh, Timothy Largier, Fei Huang, and Chris Cornelius
University of Nebraska, United States

Micellar thrombin-binding aptamers as reversible nanoscale anticoagulants PMSE 515

Alexander Roloff, Andrea Carlini, and Nathan Gianneschi
UC San Diego, United States