St. Louis — The Society of Plastics Engineers recently recognized six students in a research poster competition at the Antec 2024 conference in St. Louis.
Samantha Glidewell of the University of Arkansas received first place for her poster on lignin modification for sustainable alternatives in polyurethane production.
Second place went to Irene Cheon for her poster on plasma- assisted polydopamine-grafted PEEK orthopedic implants for improved osseo integration. Cheon is a student at Columbus High School in Columbus, Ala., who takes classes through the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Moni Mahesh Ghosh of the University of Akron won third place for his poster on upcycling of polyolefin feedstock into usable filter media using plant-based solvents.
Three students received honorable mention:
• Yuta Fukuda of Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Control for his poster on crystalline structure for isotactic polypropylene containing hydrogenated poyl(dicyclopentadiene).
• Cecile Grubb of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville for her poster on investigating effects of shear rate and temperature on injection molding of paper reinforced PP composites.
• Sonia Mendoza of Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., for her poster on a study of 1-methylimidazole as a potential alternative for a legacy catalyst.