Polymer Science and Engineering

Research and Education at Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Tech. offers facilities and faculty for research and education in Polymers in several departments spread over the campus. This webpage is an attempt to provide comprehensive database and information about polymer related faculty, students, research, courses and facilities present on the campus.

The list of faculty members is currently up, but complete website will take time, for there are nearly fifty faculty members engaged in research on a very diverse range of areas: synthesis of conjugated polymers; studies on polymer dispersed liquid crystals and liquid crystal elastomers; electronic and optical properties of conducting and conjugated polymers; biomaterials for tissue engineering; molecular dynamics and computer simulations; polymer based nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes, metal particles and cermaic moities; rheology of complex fluids; study of diffusion in membranes; dynamics of rotaxanes and polymers; polymer and composites processing; microemulsions; fiber science; application of advanced characterization methodologies including AFM, NMR, Raman, TEM, FTIR, X-ray, Rheology and Micro-rheology, Confocal Microscopy; Single molecule biophysics and microelectronic packaging.

The students pursue research in polymers while majoring in their home departments. Preliminary information about core courses required in each department is available from course listings of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering. A list of all polymer related courses is being compiled. A bit "dated" compilation of core and elective courses for polymer students is found at http://www.perc.gatech.edu/education.html.

Please come back for more information later (courses, facilities to be added next) and for Georgia Tech personnel, send me every information possible to make this listing complete and comprehensive at gtg256s@mail.gatech.edu 

School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering

Haskell Beckham Associate Professor (Adjunct in Chemistry)

Applications of NMR spectroscopy to polymers and engineered fibrous substances. Diffusion and dynamics of rotaxanes

David G. Bucknall Associate Professor (Joint in Materials Science and Engineering)

Polymer Physics. Polymer interfaces and surfaces, self-assembling structures, neutron scattering and reflectivity, thin films, polymer lithography and nanopatterning, polymer-plasticiser diffusion, industrial inkjet (digital) printing, wetting behaviour, microfluidics.

Wallace W. Carr Professor

Thermal sciences in industrial fiber, carpet and textile processes, and textile digital printing, Polymer processing

Fred L. Cook Professor

Textile and polymer chemistry including crown ethers in anionic polymerizations and resin supports, carbon fiber conversion processes, energy-conserving textile chemical processes and polymer syntheses.

Anselm Griffin Professor and Chair
Supramolecular polymers, liquid crystalline elastomers and negative Poisson's ratio polymers

Karl Jacob Associate Professor
Molecular Modeling

Satish Kumar Professor

Carbon nanotubes based supercapacitors and SWNT/polymer nanocomposites. Electrospinning. High performance polymers.

Malcolm B. Polk Professor Emeritus
Synthesis of liquid crystalline polymers with unusual structures, synthesis and characterization of temperature resistant polymers.

Mary Lynn Realff Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Affairs
Mechanics of textile structures

Mohan Srinivasarao Associate Professor (Adjunct in Chemistry and Center for Nonlinear Science)
Soft Condensed Matter Physics with emphasis on liquid crystals and polymers, Optics, Optical and confocal microscopy, rheology of complex fluids, Gold Nanoparticles, Rotaxanated dyes, Colors in biology, Diffusion into polymers and fibers

Yonathan S. Thio Assistant Professor
Structure and properties of polymers and composites

Wayne C. Tincher Professor Emeritus

Youjiang Wang Professor
Mechanics of composites, yarns, fabrics, and geotextiles; manufacturing processes and characterization of textiles and textile structural composites; fiber reinforced concrete; and textile waste for concrete and soil reinforcement

Donggang Yao Assistant Professor
Polymer microfabrication; micro molding; micro/nano rheology; homo-composites; self-reinforcing polymer processing; biodegradable polymer scaffolds.

School of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Jean-Luc Brédas Professor

Structural, electronic and optical properties of novel  organic and polymeric materials

Lawrence A. Bottomley Professor

Biological applications of scanning probe microscopy, microcantilever and microacoustic array sensors, and electroanalytical chemistry, Force Spectroscopy of Biopolymers

Uwe Bunz Professor

Conjugated Polymers, carbon rich organometallics, polyarylene-ethylenes

David M. Collard Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

Self-assembly in polymers, Supermolecular architectures, liquid crystals, conducting polymers, new functional copolyesters

Robert M. Dickson Associate Professor

Single Molecule Biophysics, Molecules in polymeric environments, optical properties of individual nanoparticles

Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Professor

Physical and Polymer Theory, Non-stationary stochastic dynamics, polymerization dynamics, protien folding

Charles L. Liotta Regents' Professor, Vice Provost for Research and Dean for Graduate Studies

Applied chemical kinetics and catalysis, phase equilibria, reactions and processes in supercritical and near critical fluids, separation processes, applications to environmental control, synthesis of new barrier materials, and applications to novel materials

Andrew Lyon Associate Professor

Soft Materials Chemistry and Physics: Studies of hydrogel nanoparticle bioconjugates, processable photonic crystals, polymeric microlenses, thin films for drug delivery, tunable colloidal crystal optical filters, and fast-responding nanostructured polymer films. 
 

Seth Marder Professor (Joint with Material Science and Engineering)

Synthesis, and evaluation of polymeric, organic, and organometallic materials for both second- and third-order nonlinear (NLO) optical studies and applications, Design 1) chrompohores for photorefractive polymers, 2) infrared absorbing dyes for electronics, photonics, and medicine, 3)electron transfer active molecules and 4) dyes with two-photon and multi-photon absorption

Joseph W. Perry Professor

Physical, polymers and material chemistry and Optical science, nonlinear optical absorption

Arthur J. Ragauskas Associate Professor

Green chemistry of biopolymers including: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.

Laren M. Tolbert Professor

Electroactive polymers, photoexcited photon transfer, radical cations, cabionion chemistry, etc.

Marcus Weck Assistant Professor

Self Assembled Copolymers, conjugated polymers, design and synthesis of transition metal catalyst supports, nanoporous membranes based on peptide residues and novel supports in solution phase chemistry

School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Allen, Sue Allen Bidstrup Professor and Associate Chair for Student Initiatives

Structure, processing, and mechanical properties of polymers esp used in electronic packaging and interconnection

Breedveld, Victor Assistant Professor

Structure and rheology of complex fluids, microrheology

Deng, Yulin Associate Professor

Colloid and surface science and engineering, polymer synthesis, biodegradable polymers, papermaking and paper recycling, and nanomaterial synthesis and self-assembling

Gallivan, Martha A. Assistant Professor

Engineering of process systems at molecular scales, Nanostructured crystals and polymer blends

Henderson, Clifford H. Associate Professor

Materials for next-generation lithography (NGL) applications, simulation and modeling of photoresist performance, graft polymerization at solid surfaces, spin-on and photo-definable metal films, and the formation of ultra-thin polymer films.

Jones, Christopher W. Assistant Professor (and School of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Catalysis, Molecular Engineering of Materials, and Polymerization

Koros, William J. Professor and Roberto C. Goizueta Chair

Membranes and barrier materials, formation and application of polymeric, ceramic and carbon membranes, penetrant history of temperature dependent phenomena

Ludovice, Peter J. Associate Professor

Computer Simulation on polymeric systems. Trans-membrane proteins, relaxation and gas diffusion in polymer glasses and polymers for microelectronics applications, new simulation protocols to more efficiently model highly viscous systems.

Meredith, Carlson J. Assistant Professor

Advanced polymer thin films and colloids research incorporating (1) combinatorial and high-throughput experimental methods and (2) computer simulation

Muzzy, John Professor and Chairman of the Multidisciplinary Polymer Engineering Program

Composite materials properties and processing; characterization and modeling thermoplastic composite processes, investigating new techniques for coating carbon fibers, and analyzing the micromechanics of composites.

Nair, Sankar Assistant Professor

Engineering novel materials and devices for understanding structure property relationships and for applications: single-molecule sensors, hydrophilic and thermally conductive adsorbents for energy management, and nanocomposite membranes for separations

Schork, Joseph H. Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies

Dynamics and control of reacting systems, including the development of mathematical models, on-line sensors, digital control schemes, and novel reactor configurations for polymerization, and other reaction systems

School of Materials Science and Engineering

Rina Tannenbaum Associate Professor

Nanocomposites and polymer interfaces, nanoenergetic structural materials, self-assembled monolayers as intrinsically conducting molecular adhesives for circuit boards

Rao Tummala Pettit Chair Professor and Director of NSF Packaging Research Center
Director of the Microelectronic Systems Electronic Packaging Research Center

C. P. Wong Regents' Professor

Polymeric materials, high Tc ceramics, materials reaction mechanism, IC encapsulation, in particular, hermetic equivalent plastic packaging, electronic manufacturing packaging processes, interfacial adhesions, PWB, SMT assembly, components reliability and nano-functional materials, nanocomposites, lotus effect coatings, ultrahigh K and Q materials for embedded passives.

Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering

Julia E. Babensee Assistant Professor

immunology,tissue engineering,biomaterials,drug delivery,dendritic cells

Gang Bao Professor

cellular biomechanics, biomolecular engineering

Ravi Bellamkonda Associate Professor

Neural Tissue Engineering, Targeted Drug Delivery for Brain Tumor Therapy, Peripheral & Central Nerve Regeneration, Electrode-Brain Interfaces, Long circulating contrast agents, Polymeric Biomaterials

Todd C. McDevitt Assistant Professor

Cell and tissue engineering, stem cell engineering, biomaterials

Niren Murthy Assistant Professor

drug delivery, polymer chemistry, immunology, vaccine development

Shuming Nie Associate Professor

BioMEMS/bionanotechnology, bioimaging and biomaterials for tissue engineering

Yadong Wang Assistant Professor

Biomaterials synthesis methodology, Tissue engineering of vital organs, Cancer Technology