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The Bayer Corporation Fellowship for Excellence in Graduate Study in Macromolecular Science and Engineering acknowledges the most accomplished Ph.D. student in their third year of study for scholarship, quality, and research productivity. The 2009 Fellowship was awarded to Matthew Gawryla. Yijian Lin received First Runner-Up.
Matt, a graduate student directed by Professor David Schiraldi, started as a graduate student in January of 2006 after completing his B.S. in polymer chemistry at the Rochester Institute of Technology. During his first semester he helped set up the laboratory which is now used for the undergraduate polymer processing lab (EMAC 372) and many of Schiraldi group’s research activities. In the summer of 2006 he began mentoring several students ranging from high school level to college seniors. He has mentored at least 5 students every semester since, and won the Graduate Dean’s award for teaching as a result.
In addition to his own laboratory work, many of the student projects Matt designed and/or mentored have been, or will be published in peer reviewed journals. Matt currently has 4 publications in print, has 3 that will be submitted this month, and is expected to be author on more than 15 papers as a result of his research here at CWRU. Matt’s research has also resulted in 2 patent applications, with 13 additional disclosures submitted to the CWRU TTO. Matt has presented his work in the form of several poster presentations and recently gave a well-received oral presentation at the Fall ACS meeting in Philadelphia, PA. A total of 25 major conference talks/posters will have been co-authored by Matt as he completes his Ph.D. in an estimated 3.5 years.
Beyond the numbers, Matt’s level of understanding in his area of research has allowed him to help devise projects for other graduate students as well as being a vital source of information when looking for corporate partners. His knowledge is not limited strictly to freeze-drying of materials as he has helped all the students within my group advance their projects ranging from fuel cells to nanocomposites, even coming up with several projects which can be completed by future students. The research group's physical laboratory facilities have greatly benefited from Matt’s leadership, which involved renovating much of the basement laboratory following recommendations (and with project management) by Matt.
Current efforts in visualizing structure formation in situ while producing clay aerogels reflects Matt’s initiative to design flow cells with imaging capabilities. Integration of this structure work with rheology in water (below 0°C) is providing crucial insights into how/why these low density structures are produced, and will serve as the basis of an NSF grant proposal. Structure/mechanical property data developed by Matt is currently be included in a new NSF grant proposal jointly with collaborators at Clark-Atlanta University. The magnitude of Matt’s contribution then is not only careful execution of laboratory work, but establishment of the fundamental underpinnings of our future research and potential funding. For his many contributions, Matt recently was awarded a Provost’s Innovation Fellowship, joining his first place finish at last year’s Research ShowCase poster program.
Yijian, under the direction of Professor Anne Hiltner, has been a graduate student in the department since Fall 2005. His PhD research focuses on the biaxial orientation of polypropylene. Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film has been a commercially important product family for many years and the subject of considerable research. Despite the impressive body of existing knowledge, Yijian took advantage of the unusual stretching facility in the department to make original contributions. In particular, he demonstrated a fundamental relationship between the oxygen permeability, an important performance property, and the molecular mobility of the amorphous phase. Currently, he is pursuing research on microlayered polypropylene that could vastly expand the property spectrum of BOPP film. His productivity as a researcher is indicated by the number of publications listed on his CV.
Yijian is an excellent student with a 4.0 GPA. His interpersonal skills are demonstrated by his success as an undergraduate mentor. The project he planned and directed during the summer 2008 with an undergraduate student, Victoria Yakovleva, resulted in a peer-reviewed publication.
As Bayer finalists, Matt and Yijian presented excellent award seminars to the Department on “Ice Templated Materials: Structure, Function, and Properties” and “Improving Properties of Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) by Incorporating Confined Crystallization of PEO Nanolayers,” respectively.
We congratulate both students and applaud them for their hard work, creativity, and important contributions to the field of polymer science and to the Department. |
