Innovative Macromolecular Chemistry for Next-Generation Polymer Materials

June 9 - 14, 2019

Chair Brent S. Sumerlin

Vice Chairs Tara Y. Meyer and Robert B. Grubbs

Mount Holyoke College

50 College Street

South Hadley, MA, US

Venue and Travel Information

Conference Description

The 2019 Polymers Gordon Research Conference (GRC) will assemble an international community of scholars from industry, academia, and government to highlight the most recent innovations in polymer chemistry and to discuss how these methods will generate materials used in a wide variety of applications. Synthetic and naturally occurring polymers will be discussed in the oral and poster presentations. Conference topics will focus on new methods for polymer synthesis and innovations in medicine, sustainability, energy, electronics and advanced manufacturing. Significantly, the GRC will provide a number of mechanisms for professional networking through discussion sessions and daily poster sessions. This conference will be preceded by a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), which will enable junior scientists to network and meet current leaders from academia, government, and industry. The most outstanding lectures from the GRS will be highlighted and included in the GRC speaking lineup. Combined, the Polymers GRS and GRC constitute an exciting, influential and important collection of presentations in the field of polymer science.

Related Meeting

This GRC will be held in conjunction with the "Polymers (GRS)" Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). Those interested in attending both meetings must submit an application for the GRS in addition to an application for the GRC. Refer to the associated GRS program page for more information.

Conference Program

Sunday
2:00 pm - 9:00 pm	Arrival and Check-in
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm	Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff / Welcome from the GRC Chair
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm	Macromolecular Nanomaterials Discussion Leader: Joseph Patterson (University of California, Irvine, USA)
7:40 pm - 8:20 pm	Chad Mirkin (Northwestern University, USA) "Tip- and Polymer-Directed Synthesis of Nanoclusters"
8:20 pm - 8:35 pm	Discussion
8:35 pm - 9:15 pm	Arthi Jayaraman (University of Delaware, USA) "Linking Polymer Architecture and Solvent Quality to Nanoscale Structure and Thermodynamics in Polymer Solutions Using Theory, Simulations and Experiments"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Monday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am	Group Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Next-Generation Biomaterials Discussion Leader: Stefanie Sydlik (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
9:00 am - 9:40 am	Bradley Olsen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) "Designing Bioactive Materials Using Protein Design"
9:40 am - 10:00 am	Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am	Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 am	John Matson (Virginia Tech, USA) "Macromolecular and Supramolecular Materials for Signaling Gas Delivery"
11:10 am - 11:30 am	Discussion
11:30 am - 12:10 pm	Matthew Gibson (University of Warwick, United Kingdom) "Extremophile-Inspired Biomaterials for Biologic Storage"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm	The GRC Power Hour™ The GRC Power Hour™ is designed to address challenges women face in science and issues of diversity and inclusion. The program supports the professional growth of all members of our communities by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring. Organizers: Emily Pentzer (Texas A&M University, USA) and Rebekka Klausen (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Light-Driven Polymerization and Functionalization Discussion Leader: Athina Anastasaki (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
7:30 pm - 8:10 pm	Cyrille Boyer (University of New South Wales, Australia) "Visible Light a Powerful Tool for Polymer Synthesis"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm	Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:10 pm	Christopher Bowman (University of Colorado Boulder, USA) "Photoinitiated Dynamic-Covalent Chemistry in Polymer Networks"
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Self-Assembly for Structured Materials Discussion Leader: Jennifer Laaser (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
9:00 am - 9:40 am	Daniel Savin (University of Florida, USA) "Morphology Transitions in Responsive Block Copolymers: Incorporating Molecular Probes and Triggers"
9:40 am - 10:00 am	Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am	Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 am	Ryan Hayward (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA) "Soft Ionic Diodes at the Interface of Ionic Liquid Networks"
11:10 am - 11:30 am	Discussion
11:30 am - 12:10 pm	Chinedum Osuji (University of Pennsylvania, USA) "Organizing Block Copolymers Using Liquid Crystals"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Frontiers of Polymer Synthesis Discussion Leader: Dominik Konkolewicz (Miami University (Ohio), USA)
7:30 pm - 8:10 pm	Eva Harth (University of Houston, USA) "Alpha-Olefins and Vinyl Polar Monomers: Bridging the Gap for Next-Generation Polymeric Materials"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm	Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:10 pm	Krzysztof Matyjaszewski (Carnegie Mellon University, USA) "Why Do We Care About More Active Catalysts for ATRP?"
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Wednesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Polymer Composites for Sensing and Responsive Soft Materials Discussion Leader: Will Gutekunst (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
9:00 am - 9:40 am	LaShanda Korley (University of Delaware, USA) "Interplay of Assembly, Alignment and Architecture in Biologically-Inspired Polymer Composites"
9:40 am - 10:00 am	Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am	Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 am	Shiyong Liu (University of Science and Technology of China, China) "Precision Chemistry Towards New-Generation Smart Functional Materials"
11:10 am - 11:30 am	Discussion
11:30 am - 12:10 pm	Emily Pentzer (Texas A&M University, USA) "Architecting Functional Composites Using 2D Particle Surfactants"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Dinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm	Business Meeting Nominations for the Next Vice Chair; Fill in Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Site and Scheduling Preferences; Election of the Next Vice Chair
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Optoelectronic Polymers Discussion Leader: Darryl Boyd (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, USA)
7:30 pm - 8:10 pm	Dwight Seferos (University of Toronto, Canada) "Redox-Active Polymers and Frameworks"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm	Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:10 pm	Brett Helms (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA) "Macromolecular Nanoionics for Electrochemical Energy Storage"
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Thursday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Grand Challenges in Soft Matter Chemistry Discussion Leader: Frank Leibfarth (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
9:00 am - 9:40 am	Nathan Gianneschi (Northwestern University, USA) "Electron Beam, Meet Soft Matter: Dynamics, Structure and Reactions by Liquid Phase and High Throughput TEM"
9:40 am - 10:00 am	Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am	Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 am	Jeannette Garcia (IBM, USA) "Addressing Environmental Challenges with Chemistry in Industry Research"
11:10 am - 11:30 am	Discussion
11:30 am - 11:50 am	Jeffrey Ting (University of Chicago, USA) "Custom-Built Polyelectrolytes Can Unravel the Birth, Life and Death of Complex Assemblies"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm	Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:20 pm	Jill Williamson (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) "Amidyl Radical-Mediated Polyolefin C-H Functionalization"
12:20 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Keynote Session: Functional Polymers for Smarter Materials Discussion Leader: Philip Costanzo (California Polytechnic State University, USA)
7:30 pm - 8:10 pm	Alexander M. Cruickshank Lecture: Karen Wooley (Texas A&M University, USA) "Natural Product-Derived Functional Polymer Materials"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm	Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:10 pm	Matthew Becker (University of Akron, USA) "Post-Operative Pain Management with Drug-Eluting Degradable Polymer Meshes"
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Friday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am	Departure