Category: Uncategorized

We held the very first Utah Polymer Symposium on May 8 2025 on the University of Utah campus. It was a huge success. Students from UU, Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah State University, and Idaho State University came together for a full day of polymer experience, including industry talks (from GO Composites and 3-Form), “polymer trivia”, and student presentations (best presentation wins cash award). The entire conference was self-funded by donations from local industry.

 

The UP Symposium was organized under the Utah Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society POLY/PMSE Student Chapters. Chen is the co-founding faculty advisor of the Utah chapter.

 

Undergraduate Researchers Kara and Sophie have been awarded Crus Scholarship this summer. Congratulations! Sophie has been exploring 3D printing for ion exchange resins for critical materials. Kara has been studying 3D printing of metal materials. Very important research topics!

In the first two weeks of June 2025, Chen went to east coast for two weeks. He attended DOE VTO Annual Merit Review at DC meeting to discuss the project on recyclable resin for continuous carbon fiber composite materials. Then he attend the Gordon Research Conference on polymer chemistry at South Hadley, Massachusetts. He also gave seminars at University of Delaware, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Formlabs Inc. It is so nice to reconnect old friends and make new friends! The east coast “tour” was fruitful and inspired new research directions and ideas!

Chen was awarded the “Faculty Mini-sabbatical Program” from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He spent the summer in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, learning about new technologies of 3D printing.

Woohoo! We’ve got work to do! This multi-year, multi-PI project assembles a team between University of Utah, Utah State University, Weber State University, and Brigham Young University. Go UTAH!

Congratulations Caleb and Grant! Way to go!

Chen, Grant, and Millie will be speaking at the 2023 MRS Spring Meeting and Exhibit in San Francisco, California, April 10-14. Join us!