Cleveland — More than 100 attendees came to Case Western Reserve University on Feb. 26 in search of the future of polymer research.
The Polymer Initiative of Northeast Ohio (PINO) Conference was held on that date at CWRU in Cleveland. The annual event is organized by graduate students at the school's Macromolecular Science & Engineering Department.
The department, founded in 1963, was the first of its kind in the United States. Companies sponsoring the 2024 event included Owens Corning, Avient Corp., PPG, Bridgestone, Saint-Gobain, Sherwin-Williams Co., Parker Hannifin Corp. and Celanese Corp. Several of those firms are based in Ohio, which conference organizers said is home to almost 3,000 polymer-focused companies and almost $50 billion in annual polymer related shipments.
The conference also hosted a research poster contest and acted as an informal polymers job fair for students from CWRU and other colleges.
PINO Executive Director Hector Gomez Jimenez, a third year Ph.D. student at CWRU, said Ph.D. candidates can benefit from researching companies they might want to work for.
"Take a look at their financial filings and how they present themselves," he added. "What are their leadership styles, communication skills and strengths? Is it a successful environment for engineers?"
PINO Logistics Director Mandy Zheng, a second year Ph.D. student at CWRU, said job candidates are looking for companies than can provide work/life balance and that value the importance of mental health as a way to lower potential burnout.
Poster presentations at the event included a study of burst pressure performance on polystyrene/acrylic pipe and tubing by CWRU Ph.D. candidate Negar Shaghaghi. The product tested also has a 50 percent PS cap layer.
The pipe and tubing being tested was made via multilayer coextrusion, which is a focus of research at CWRU. Shaghaghi said PS isn't the best material for the application tested, but it was used as a means to better measure burst pressure and improve future products.
Krishnaroop Chaudhuri of the University of Cincinnati also presented on the penetration of contaminants into block copolymer coatings. His research, partly funded by the U.S. Naval Research Lab, showed that increased fluorination slows down penetration of water, dyes or other chemical agents.