Please join us for the monthly meeting on January 13, 2021, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. This meeting will be held via Zoom. Please register here. There is no charge to participate, but you must register to receive the link.
This month’s featured seminar will be
“The Circular Economy of Plastics”
presented by
Abstract: There is increasing evidence of plastic debris invading all parts of the environment and there has been a recent global disruption of a decades old model for processing recyclable plastic. The plastics lifecycle is facing a major revision. This talk will summarize the current state of the discussion and present some examples of NIST efforts including training programs, measurements and new methods to support smarter design and processing of commodity polymers.
Biography: Kate is Leader of the Polymers and Complex Fluids Group in the Materials Science and Engineering Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Group has projects spanning macromolecular characterization, polyelectrolyte solutions and gels, carbon nanotube separations and emulsions and suspensions. She is currently on assignment developing a Circular Economy program for NIST, where she is engaging the campus in activities related to plastics recycling, new materials design, and environmental impacts of plastic waste. She has been recognized with the President’s Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE), the Arthur S. Flemming Award for public service, the CMU Alumni Achievement Award and as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. She is a former Chair of the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division, serves on the Green Chemistry Institute’s Advisory Board and spent a year in science policy as the Assistant Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President.
Kate earned a BS in chemistry with high honors from The College of William and Mary and MS and PhD degrees in polymer science and chemistry, respectively, from Carnegie Mellon University under Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski.
Kate is currently on assignment leading NIST’s Circular Economy program, where she supports activities related to recycling, materials design, and environmental impacts of plastic waste. Her past research includes combinatorial and high throughput polymer synthesis, microfluidic flow reactors, sustainable polymers, precision polyolefins and densely grafted ‘bottlebrush’ polymers. She has received PECASE, Arthur S. Flemming, and CMU Alumni Achievement Awards and is an ACS Fellow. She also served as the Assistant Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering in OSTP.
