Polymer Chemistry

Dr. John Goodenough is a Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, and holds the Virginia H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering. Dr. Goodenough's research into the relationships between the chemistry, structure, and electronic/ionic properties of solids addresses fundamental solid state problems in order to design new materials that can enable an engineering function. For example, his work on ionic transport in solid electrolytes and on mixed electronic/ionic conductors has enabled realization of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery used in cellular telephones and laptop computers; it also continues to provide alternative materials for the realization of a medium-temperature solid oxide fuel cell and an oxygen-permeation membrane. His group grows single-crystal specimens as well as synthesizing new ceramic materials. Chemical and structural characterization of his materials accompanies an array of fundamental measurements in which high pressure as well as temperature and chemical composition are used as variables. Technical materials are also studied for engineering performance. In addition to developing new materials for energy conversion and storage, Goodenough has been uncovering the physical mechanisms responsible for unusual physical phenomena such as high temperature superconductivity and the colossal magnetoresistance that occur at the crossover from localized to itinerant electronic behavior. Dr. Goodenough is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the nation's highest honor for engineering professionals. He is a recipient of the 2009 Enrico Fermi Award, laureate of the 2001 Japan Prize, and a foreign member of the Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas, y Naturales of Spain and the Royal Society of England.

Electronic and Photonic Materials, Energy Materials, Transition-metal oxides; lithium ion batteries; fuel cells; oxygen-permeation membranes

Jin Ho Lee, graduated Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Utah, U. S. A. with Ph. D. degree in 1988. Since 1993, he is a professor in the Department of Advanced Materials, Hannam University, South Korea. He was a President of Korean Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society (KTERMS) (2012) and served as Conference Chair in Asia-Pacific Meeting of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Societies (TERMIS-AP) (2014).

His research area includes biomaterials for tissue engineering and bioactive molecules delivery. He published more than 220 Scientific research papers, 35 Book chapters, and 55 patents.

Cornelia Gabriela Palivan was born in Brasov, Romania where she was educated until University level. She obtained both her BSc (1982) and MSc (1983) degrees at the University of Bucharest. After 7 years at the Institute of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Research, Bucharest, as project leader in various drug research oriented projects, Cornelia took up a position as Teaching Assistant at the University of Bucharest. Between 1992 - 1994, she made the experimental part of her PhD under the supervision of Professor Michel Geoffroy at the University of Geneva where her long held interest in Electron Paramagnetic Resonance of metal complexes began. In 1995, she gained her PhD degrees with Summa cum Laudae at the University of Bucharest, under the supervision of Professor Voicu Grecu. Two years later, Cornelia was appointed as a University Lecturer at Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest. In 1999, she moved to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Basel where she was involved in projects using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance to characterise paramagnetic centers in free radicals, metal complexes, and proteins. The introduction to pulse EPR methods was made during her research stage with Professor Arthur Schweiger at the ETH Zurich (2003-2004). She returned to Basel in 2004, as Senior Group Leader in the group of Prof. Wolfgang Meier, and started to develop new hybrid materials at the nanoscale by combining self-assembling copolymers with compounds possessing biological activity, such as enzymes and enzyme-mimics. Currently Cornelia is Professor in Physical Chemistry of the University of Basel, and the expertise of her group lies in particular in the design of bio-synthetic hybrid systems (nanoreactors, processors, electron-transfer nanodevices, and metal-exposed polymer membranes). Cornelia was awarded a number of fellowships during her career: Royal Society fellowship, EC-COST research fellowship, and TEMPUS mobility fellowship, supporting her collaboration with Dr. Bernard Goodman, at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, UK (1992, 1993, and 1998). In 1999 she was Academic guest at the Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva. In addition to research which is run jointly with Professor Wolfgang Meier, Cornelia is scientific reviewer for Elsevier, Wiley, and ACS publications, and is involved in organising the Swiss Soft Days workshops (since 2010).

Cornelia G.Palivan research interests include to develop new hybrid materials at the nanoscale by combining self-assembling copolymers with compounds possessing biological activity, such as enzymes and enzyme-mimics. Currently Cornelia is Professor in Physical Chemistry of the University of Basel, and the expertise of her group lies in particular in the design of bio-synthetic hybrid systems (nanoreactors, processors, electron-transfer nanodevices, and metal-exposed polymer membranes).

Aleš Ručigaj has completed his PhD at the age of 27 years from Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and continues his work as a Professor and researcher.

His current work is oriented around the field of benzoxazines and their appliance in self-healing processes.

Hee-Woo Rhee obtained his PhD at the age of 32 years from University of Connecticut, USA in 1987 and then joined KIST, Korea. He moved to Sogang University in 1993 and has served as a professor. He is a full professor now and also has been serving as a director of Sogang-Samsung Display Research Center supported by Samsung Display Company, Korea. He has published more than 202 papers in reputed journals, 3 books and 77 registered/filed patents. He is now serving as a lead guest editor for special issue of International Journal of Polymer Science.

Polymer Electrolytes,Electrolytes,Dye-sensitized Solar Cells,Polymerization,Fuel Cells,Battery,Materials

Marc Devocelle has completed his PhD at the University of Lille (France) under contract with a pharmaceutical company. He subsequently joined RCSI in 1999 as a postdoctoral researcher and became manager of the Peptide Synthesis Laboratory in 2000. He has since been appointed as a Lecturer in 2004, a Senior Lecturer in 2008 and an Associate Professor of Chemistry in 2014. His laboratory is involved in over 25 collaborations with 14 academic groups across 8 HEIs in Ireland, 2 SMEs and 1 MNC.

Research interests include the synthesis, modification and labelling of peptides and peptidomimetics, used as chemical tools for the investigation of cell signalling pathways and lead discovery; the synthesis of biomolecule-peptide and polymer-peptide conjugates, for the generation of delivery systems and/or of prodrugs; the synthesis of chemical libraries for lead optimisation.