Oct 04
Graduate student develops weaponized polymer for cancer drug delivery
According to the National Cancer Institute there were an estimated 1,638,910 new cases of cancer in 2012. Not only is the diagnosis of cancer harrowing for patients, but so are the treatment options they face: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and even bone marrow transplantation. Cancer, along with its treatment, largely impacts the quality of life for many of its victims. (read more...)
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Nov 6
Masoud Safdari and Mehran Tehrani receive NSF Sponsored Travel Award for the 2012 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Conference and Exposition
Masoud Safdari and Mehran Tehrani, both are PhD students at ESM, were awarded two National Science Foundation (NSF) Travel Grants to attend the ASME –IMECE 2012 , Houston, TX. The annual ASME-IMECE is the premier global conference for mechanical engineers. This year 40 students out of 342 applicants were selected for the travel awards. The award recognizes skilled engineering workforce and provides financial support for the grantee to attend the ASME annual conference. (read more...)
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Oct 4
CHEM Welcomes John Matson
The Chemistry Department is delighted to announce that Dr. John B. Matson joined the faculty in Fall 2012 as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Matson earned his B.S. degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Afterward, he earned his Ph.D. from Cal Tech, where he worked with Nobel laureate Prof. Bob Grubbs in the area of catalysis and polymer synthesis. (read more...)
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Oct 18
"New Faculty Position in Nanoscience" (read more...)
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Jun 18
Scientific Meeting at Virginia Tech Will Make More Than $2 Million Economic Impact
More than 1,500 scientists will descend on Virginia Tech beginning June 24 bringing with them not just cutting-edge research information but also an economic boost to the Blacksburg area in excess of $2 million. (read more...)
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Jul 27
Turner Funded for Polymer Research
Professor S. Richard Turner recently received a three year Division of Materials Research NSF grant ($390,000) to explore the synthesis and properties of highly functional alternating copolymers with sterically-congested backbones. The synthesis, solution, and solid state properties of these unique copolymeric materials will be studied. Such copolymers have potential applications ranging from films in optical devices to high surface area polymer particles and membranes for gas storage and gas separations.
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Jun 18
Prof. John Walz Named Dean of Engineering at University of Kentucky
John Y. Walz, professor and department head of chemical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic and State University, has been named the 10th dean of the University of Kentucky College of Engineering, pending approval by the UK Board of Trustees. He is scheduled to begin Sept. 1, 2012. (read more...)
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Apr 01
Sustainable Biomaterials Student Wins Prestigious Graduate Student Award
Daiqiang Xu of the Department of Chemistry recently received the Eastman Graduate
StudentAward from the Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division (CELL) of the
American ChemicalSociety (ACS). Xu, a fourth year student in Professor Kevin Edgar's
group (co-advised by Professor Richard Turner, MII/Chemistry), was chosen from an
international group of nominees based on his outstanding graduate work. Xu studies
the synthesis and structure-property relationships of selectively-substituted cellulose
esters; such materials have great promise for fields as diverse as flat screen TVs and
drug delivery formulations, as well as generating fundamental knowledge that will enable
the design of superior cellulosic materials for a broad variety of applications. The
Eastman award is given to only one student each year, and provides a cash award,
travel support, and the opportunity to make an oral presentation in the highly-attended
awards session of the ACS CELL program. Daiqiang made his presentation in front of a
large group of leaders in polysaccharide chemistry at the recent ACS spring national
meeting in San Diego, California in late March.
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Apr 10
Padma Rajagopalan receives Robert H. Hord Jr. Chemical Engineering Fellowship
Padma Rajagopalan, associate professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been awarded the Robert H. Hord Jr. Chemical Engineering Fellowship. (read more...)
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Mar 3
MII Student's artwork selected as cover for the Journal of Polymer
Science / Polymer Chemistry, Vol. 49, No. 20. Dated October 15, 2011
The effect of trans-1,4-cyclohexylene ring-containing units on the mechanical
properties and relaxation behavior of poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (PAES) is
investigated. The cover art is a representation of a magnified segment of the four
segmented polyester-polysulfone backbones prepared for this study. Details are
presented in the article by B. Zhang and S. R. Turner on Journal of Polymer
Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, Volume 49, Issue 20 page 4316.
