University of Massachusetts Amherst ~ Polymer Science and Engineering Department
Bradley H.I.P. Materials Group
Harnessing Interfacial Phenomena to Develop New Soft Materials
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!