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

Spring 2022 Award Winners

Claire Dingwell
University of Minnesota

Regiospecific and linear poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) via the ring-opening metathesis polymerization of 3-acetoxy cyclooctene

Claire Dingwell was born in Dover, Ohio and graduated from Dover High School in 2013. She attended Carnegie Mellon University and received a B.S. in Chemistry with University Honors in 2017. During her time at Carnegie Mellon, she was advised by Professor Kevin Noonan and performed research in the areas of organic electronics and catalyst-transfer polycondensation. Additionally, she was awarded a Snyder Scholarship to perform mechanochemistry research under Professor Jeffrey Moore at the University of Illinois in 2016. In her free time, Claire was a resident assistant and the president of the Mellon College of Science Student Advisory Council. In 2017, Claire began her graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, advised by Professor Marc Hillmyer. Her research has focused on the synthesis and characterization of model polyolefins and polyolefin copolymers by ring-opening metathesis polymerization. She has also acted as chair of the public relations committee for the Joint Safety Team. After graduation, Claire plans to pursue an industrial research and development career at Avient in Avon Lake, Ohio.

Robert Enright
University of Massachusetts

Self-wrinkling polymer films via initiated chemical vapor deposition

Robert N. Enright is a Ph.D. candidate and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He grew up in Stevens Point, WI and received an A.B. in Chemistry from Ripon College. Robert’s graduate research investigates wrinkling phenomena, stress development, and mechanical properties of polymer films grown by chemical vapor deposition. He has served as vice president of the Polymer Science and Engineering Club at UMass and shares his enthusiasm for materials science through local outreach activities. In his free time, he enjoys wilderness hikes with his Yorkshire Terrier, Ollie.

Hayden Houck
Western Washington University

Chemical and physical tailoring of guanidine-based covalent adaptable networks

Hayden Houck is a 4th-year chemistry major at Western Washington University. When they aren’t making polymers in lab with Kate, they love to go out and enjoy the incredible diversity of flora and fauna around Bellingham. Hayden has loved science from a very young age and has been interested in chemistry specifically since she took her first chemistry class in high school. After completing their undergraduate degree, they plan to continue on to grad school and pursue a Ph.D. in organic chemistry or biochemistry in order to continue participating in research. She really enjoyed attending this spring’s ACS conference and looks forward to attending more conferences in the future.

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

Mara K. Kuenen is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Virginia under the advisement of Rachel Letteri. She obtained a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University in 2018 where she conducted undergraduate research with Jeffrey Csernia and Katsuyuki Wakabayashi. Mara’s research focuses on designing materials with controlled lifetimes to address issues related to plastic waste pollution, drug delivery, patterning of porous materials, and more. Specifically, she studies hydrolytically degradable poly(amino ester)s using a variety of characterization techniques to understand the interplay of solution pH, solution behavior, and degradation. Mara is also working to introduce new functionality into poly(amino ester)s to expand the application space of these polymers. Outside of lab, Mara served as a graduate TA for Chemical Thermodynamics and Staged Unit Operations, for which she received the department TA award, and as the Graduate President of UVA’s chapter of Women in Chemical Engineering (WChE).

Jasmine Lim
University of Southern Mississippi

Attaining infrared photodetection in devices with narrow bandgap conjugated polymers

Jasmine Lim is from Rosemead, CA and received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at San Diego State University in 2017. She is currently a 5th year graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi’s school of polymer science and engineering under the advisement of Dr. Jason D. Azoulay. Her work focuses on the characterization of narrow band gap conjugated polymers synthesized by her research group and their fabrication into infrared organic photodetectors. Currently, she is investigating techniques to reduce the inherent noise in photodetectors.

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

Jaylene is a Chicana from a small, beautiful town called Ojo Sarco, deep within the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Northern New Mexico. She is a first-generation college student, raised by a single mother, who thought earning a Bachelor’s degree was more than enough. Never did she imagine pursuing a PhD would be a part of her journey. But by overcoming adversity and the challenges that come with being a first-generation college student from a small rural town, she graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 2017. She is now a PhD Candidate in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Colorado Boulder under the advisement of Prof. Yifu Ding, awaiting her return to the community she calls home. As an alumnus of TRiO, she can relate to the meaning of what pursuing not only what her dream means, but most importantly the dream of her family. She has been beyond blessed with the opportunity to collaborate with MilliporeSigma as well as the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) – Boulder to study the infiltration kinetics of a thermoplastic polymer in porous filtration membranes. Her graduate degree and thesis project has opened many opportunities to develop new dreams as well as grow and learn as a researcher.

Kate McConnell
Western Washington University

Chemical and physical tailoring of guanidine-based covalent adaptable networks

Kate McConnell (she/her), originally from Redmond, WA is a graduating biochemistry major in the honors college at Western Washington University. She joined the Larsen group in January 2020, and since then, she has fallen in love with research, data analysis, and getting to learn skills like polymer synthesis and material testing. Outside of research, Kate loves cooking, playing guitar, and getting outside into the beautiful Pacific Northwest as much as she can. In the fall, Kate will begin a biochemistry PhD program at the University of Texas at Austin. She is looking forward to learning how to design her own experiments, and to eventually pursue a career in biomedical research. Her first ACS conference experience was amazing, and she can’t wait to interact at future meetings with more amazing scientists changing the face of healthcare!

Thivani Senathiraja
Iowa State University

Tuning the intermolecular interactions of sulfonated ionomer via salt in solvent systems

Thivani Senathiraja is a fourth-year PhD student in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Iowa State University under the supervision of Dr. Chris Cornelius. Her research aims to advance basic science related to the design of functional materials and the development of morphology-composition-property-transport relationships related to random and multiblock ionomers. Her dissertation studies morphological transitions of Penta Block Copolymers (PBC) ionomer multi blocks by tuning their intermolecular interactions (complexation of PBC with metal cations; PBC blend preparation with unsulfonated ionomer; and thermal annealing of PBC hybrid nanocomposites) and developing relationships between structure and function. The project takes inspiration from the accelerated research interest in tailoring the properties of the multiblock ionomers fueled by their ability to assemble into various heterogeneous nanoscale structures. These structures’ spatial arrangement and connectivity define film strength, durability, and molecule transport. Systematically designing the spatial arrangement is a key to understanding the structure and property relationships of proton-exchange membranes (PEM)/ionomers. Such a design may solve global challenges and contribute to renewable technologies such as water and energy.

Thivani holds a Btech in Chemical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India, where she was awarded the SPDC fellowship for her excellent academic performance throughout her undergraduate program. Her final year undergraduate research on ‘Adsorption of selective fluoroquinolones by cysteine modified silane magnetic nanocomposite from the aqueous phase’ has been accepted into IJEST, Springer Nature. She is currently the elected president of the Graduate Society of Women Engineers at Iowa State University (GradSWE_ISU), where she strives to nurture and empower the Engineering graduate students community at ISU. She is also an ardent supporter of STEM education and promotes it by organizing and volunteering at several outreach programs targeted at young kids, young adults, and high school teachers.

From left to right (Claire Dingwell, Robert Enright, Hayden Houck, Mara Kuenen)

From left to right (Jasmine Lim, Jaylene Martinez, Kate McConnell, Thivani Senathiraja)

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 National ACS Meeting.

Nominations

Graduate and undergraduates who present posters under the PMSE division during the PMSE/POLY Joint Poster Session are eligible for the award.

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.

Nominations and Award Process

Rules of Eligibility

Graduate and undergraduates who present posters under the PMSE division during the PMSE/POLY Joint Poster Session are eligible for the award.

Award Selection and Award Promotion

Posters are evaluated by a group of judges during the PMSE/POLY Joint Poster Session held during the ACS National Meeting. Finalists are identified and awardees selected before the conclusion of the poster session. Awards are given during ACS National Meetings at the PMSE and POLY evening reception.

Full List of Award Winners

2021 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

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

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.

Polymer dynamics in block copolymer electrolytes detected by neutron spin echo
Whitney Loo ^¹, Antonio Faraone ²_, Nitash P Balsara ³

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
MS 6100, National Institute of Standards Tech, Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
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

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

Real-time photothermal sensing and therapy using block copolymer-grafted MoS₂nanocomposites
Chan Ho Park 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

Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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

NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
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

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

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

Ayesha Nadeem¹, Emily A. Brown¹, David A. Rider²¹Department of Chemistry and ²Department 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
²Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, United States
³Center 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 Lin^1,2

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

2018 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

Vapor-printed polymers for flexible electronics
PMSE 557

Won Jun Jo¹, Vladimir Bulovic³, Karen Gleason²¹Lawrence 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. Sokolov^1,2¹ Department of Chemistry, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
²Chemical 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 Zofchak^1,2, Robert Hickey², Jacob LaNasa², Wenwen Mei²¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States
²Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

2018 Spring Best Poster Award Winners

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 Palmese²¹Army Research Lab, RDECOM, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States;
²Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States

2017 Fall Best Poster Award Winners

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

PMSE Best Poster Award

PMSE Best Poster Award