University of Massachusetts Amherst ~ Polymer Science and Engineering Department
Bradley H.I.P. Materials Group
Harnessing Interfacial Phenomena to Develop New Soft Materials
Summer 2021:
July: Heather leads a panel discussion on outreach in STEM education during the virtual PSE 55 Reunion event.
June: Geneva McElvaine joins the group for the summer as part of the PSE Advancing Science and Engineering for Diverse Scholars (ASCENDS) REU program. Welcome!
Spring 2021:
May: Sam graduates with his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. Congratulations Sam on your graduation! Sam will continue working with the group this summer before he heads to the University of Chicago for graduate school.
May: The Bradley group participates in the CUMIRP Spring Symposium. Heather gave an oral presentation and Robert, June, and Alex presented posters. Alex was awarded the runner-up prize in the poster competition!
May: Madelyne Golec joins the team to support administrative duties of the research group. Welcome!
May: Robert and June present posters at the MIT Polymer Day.
April: Sam and Nick present their completed undergraduate Honors Theses. Congratulations on all you accomplished in your research projects!
April: Heather presents her work at the virtual ACS National Meeting.
April: Nick is recognized as a Spring 2021 “Rising Researcher” by the University. Congratulations Nick!
March: Robert, Alex, June, and Laura present at the APS March Meeting.
March: Nick is awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Congratulations Nick!
February: Laura gives a virtual Polymer Physics Seminar at Pennsylvania State University.
February: Heather is part of the student leadership committee of the TriSci, a group of graduate students aimed at promoting science communication and advocacy, which has been awarded a 2021 Civic Engagement Microgrant Initiative by Research!America and the Rita Allen Foundation. Congratulations!
February: Laura gives a virtual seminar in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
January: Heather and Alex participate in the virtual ASPIRE outreach program hosted by the department.
Fall 2020:
December: Nick was awarded 1st place in the Science as Art Competition at the Fall 2020 MRS Meeting for his submission titled “Jellyfish Janus Particle”. The artwork was the result of a collaboration with Heather who captured the original electron micrograph and Kyle Schoenberg, a UMass ChemE junior, who did the false coloring of the image. Congratulations!
December: Myounguk and Nolan join the group. Welcome to the team!
December: Laura receives an ARO Young Investigator Award.
November: Nick won 1st place in the Materials Engineering & Sciences II group of the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition at the 2020 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Conference. Nicholas was also awarded the AIChE 2019-2020 Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Academic Excellence Award. Congratulations Nick!
October: Robert gives an oral presentation at the CUMIRP Fall Polymer Event.
September: June and Nick's paper titled "Nematic colloids at liquid crystal–air interfaces via photopolymerization" is published in Soft Matter.
Summer 2020:
August: Laura presents at the first ACS Virtual Meeting in a Broadcast Session on "Surface, Interface, and Coating Materials". Thank you to the session organizers and PMSE Division leadership for all their efforts organizing the virtual meeting!
June: Robert presents his research at the UMass Center for Evolutionary Materials (CEM) seminar series on bioinspired materials.
June: Laboratory re-opened with modified capacity to accommodate social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June: Laura hosts a round-table discussion at BASF NORA summer meeting. It was great to exchange ideas!
Spring 2020:
March: Laboratory closure due to COVID-19.
March: Robert and June present their presentations originally planned for the APS March Meeting (cancelled) at the department symposium.
March: Heather cohosts “The Civic Scientist: Translating Your Research Training to Broaden Your Impact” professional panel with UMass OPD and the student group TriSci. The panel examined the intersectionality of science and politics by fostering a discussion between scientists working in public engagement and MA state representatives.
February: Heather’s paper titled “Probing the morphology evolution of chemically anisotropic colloids prepared by homopolymerization- and copolymerization-induced phase separation” is published in Polymer Chemistry. Her artwork was also selected for the issue's front cover!
February: Heather is sponsored by UMass to attend the AAAS Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering Workshop in Washington, D.C. March 2020 (cancelled).
February: Heather participates in the Westfield High School Science, Technology, and Engineering Fair as a volunteer judge.
January: June, Heather, and Robert teach polymer science and engineering to MA high school students in the PSE’s interactive ASPIRE program.
Fall 2019:
December: Alex and Eva join the group. Welcome!
October: Heather presents a poster on “Anisotropic Colloids by Heterogeneous Polymerizations” at the 2019 NORA Meets BASF Challenges Workshop in Cambridge, MA.
October: Laura presents Heather’s research on colloid synthesis at the Fall Polymer Event hosted by the Center for UMass / Industry Research on Polymers.
September: Laura receives an AFOSR Young Investigator Award.
Summer 2019:
August: The group celebrates the end of summer with a mini golf outing!
August: UMass Amherst is awarded a NSF MRI grant for a variable pressure SEM. The proposal team was David Hoagland (PI), Laura Bradley (co-PI), Paul Katz (co-PI), Alexander Ribbe (co-PI), and Jessica Schiffman (co-PI).
June: Laura attends the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Day with her award sponsor, Ying Lin.
June: Laura participates in the SMART Workshop at UPenn celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Lee SMART Lab (https://www.seas.upenn.edu/~leegroup/index.html). It was fantastic to meet new members of the group and reunite with lab alumni!
May: The group facilitates laboratory activities for 8th graders from Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle School
Spring 2019:
April: Heather presents science as art in the 2019 Research Art-Science Exhibit at the UMass W.E.B. du Bois Media Library.
April: Robert and Laura facilitate demonstrations at the Amherst Elementary Science Night. The PSE Club and Outreach Program organized three demonstrations that were a big hit with attendees of all ages!
April: Heather receives “Honorable Mention” on her NSF-GRFP application. Congratulations!
April: Laura gives an invited talk at ACS in the PMSE symposium on "Autonomous Processes Chemomechanics and Active Matter Using Polymers and Soft Materials".
January: Laura participates as a panelist at the APS Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) hosted by UMass Amherst. The conference was a great success!
January: Collaborative paper with Jim Watkins (PSE) titled "Copolymer Solid-State Electrolytes for 3D Microbatteries via Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition" is published in ACS Applied Interfaces & Materials.
Fall 2018:
December: Laura receives an NSF CAREER Award!
November: Cornelia (visiting student) and Nick (ChE undergraduate) join the group. Welcome!
October: Laura gives an invited seminar in Condensed Matter at Tufts University
October: Laura presents at the PSE Fall Polymer Event
Summer 2018:
July: Chapter titled "Anisotropic particles at fluid-fluid interfaces (experiment)" is published in Anisotropic Particle Assemblies. Editors: Ning Wu, Daeyeon Lee, and Alberto Striolo
June: Laura receives an ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Grant
Spring 2018:
April: Robert receives the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations!
March: Laura receives 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award.
February: June is selected by the PSE faculty to receive the 2017-2018 Arkema Fellowship. Congratulations!
January: June, Heather, and Robert teach polymer science and engineering to MA high school students in the PSE’s interactive ASPIRE program.
January: Sam (ChE undergraduate) joins the lab. Welcome to the team!
January: Custom-built initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) system arrives!
Fall 2017:
December: PSE graduate students Heather, June, and Robert join the lab. Welcome to the team!
October: Teresa and Ochuwa (ChE undergraduates) join the group. Welcome!
September: Launch of the Bradley H.I.P Materials Group!