Tuesday, March 5, 2024 10:00 AM to 10:45 AM · 45 min. (Central Daylight Savings Time)
Location: Landmark Ballroom

Summary

TBA

About the Speaker

Prof. Ehrig obtained his doctorate at RWTH Aachen University; Germany; in 1998. In 2000 he was employed by Weidmann Plastics Technology AG; Switzerland; where he became Director Technical Engineering for the Automotive Division. In 2005 Prof. Ehrig found a new institute called Institute of Material Technology and Plastics Processing (IWK); Switzerland; which now consists of 54 employees. Beside research he gives lectures in several courses of material science and plastics technology.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024 8:05 AM to 8:45 AM · 40 min. (Central Daylight Savings Time)
Location: Landmark Ballroom

Summary

Polymeric materials are key enablers in aerospace, mechanical, civil, and environmental engineering, such as reverse osmosis membranes for water treatment and desalination, coatings for building skins, and antifouling materials, etc. Nevertheless, the design and development of innovative polymers have been an experimental-driven and trial-and-error process guided by experience, intuition, and conceptual insights. This Edisonian approach is often costly, slow, biased towards certain chemical space domains, and limited to relatively small-scale studies, which may easily miss promising compounds. A grand challenge in designing these polymeric materials is the vast design space on the order of 10100, defined by the almost infinite combinations of chemical elements, molecular structures, and synthesis conditions. To tackle this challenge, I will present our recent works on developing a data-driven molecular simulation strategy that can efficiently discover and design novel polymers with unprecedented yet predictable combinations of properties. Specifically, we use machine-learning techniques to build a meaningful chemistry-property relation for polymeric materials. Then, we utilize generative adversarial networks, combined with Reinforcement Learning models, for the inverse molecular design of innovative polymers. Eventually, we apply the experimentally validated molecular dynamics simulations to verify these molecular designs. We expect this work can address a wide range of scientific questions in computational materials design and synthesis-structure-property relationships for polymeric materials. It will also benefit the broader scientific community and industry, which are interested in developing new types of polymers for medical, automotive, packaging, building and construction applications.

About the Speaker

Dr. Li joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August 2022 as an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. From 2015 to 2022, he was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut and was promoted to Associate Professor. He received his Ph.D. in 2015 from Northwestern University, focusing on the multiscale modeling of soft matter and related biomedical applications. His current research interests are: multiscale modeling, computational materials design, mechanics and physics of polymers, and machine learning-accelerated polymer design. Dr. Li’s achievements in research have been widely recognized by fellowships and awards, including ACS Polymeric Material Science and Engineering (PMSE) Young Investigator Award (2023), NSF CAREER Award (2021), Air Force’s Young Investigator Award (2020), 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award (2020), ASME Haythornthwaite Young Investigator Award (2019), NSF CISE Research Initiation Initiative Award (2018) and multiple best paper awards from major conferences. He has authored and co-authored more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, including Science Advances, Physical Review Letters, ACS Nano, Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, and Macromolecules, etc. He has been invited as a reviewer for more than 100 international journals, such as Nature Communications and Science Advances. Dr. Li’s lab is currently supported by multi-million-dollar grants and contracts from NSF, AFOSR, AFRL, ONR, DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration, DOE/National Alliance for Water Innovation, and industries.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024 8:45 AM to 9:30 AM · 45 min. (Central Daylight Savings Time)
Location: Landmark Ballroom

Summary

Polyethylene (PE) resins are versatile materials that can be used for various applications, such as packaging, infrastructure, consumer, transportation, and health and hygiene. They offer low carbon, light weight, and cost effective solutions that satisfy the needs of manufacturers, brand owners, and end users. However, the market is changing and demanding more low-carbon, circular, and renewable solutions, influenced by regulations, consumer preferences, and brand commitments. This talk will provide an overview of a technology framework that can serve as a template for the industry to achieve its sustainability targets.

About the Speaker

Harpreet Singh is the R&D Director for Global Polyethylene Product, Catalyst and Characterization R&D group. This group is responsible for developing new and sustainable products and measurement science tools for Dow’s Polyethylene (PE) and Univation franchise catering to Packaging, Infrastructure, transportation, and consumer markets.

Prior to this role, Harpreet led the P&SPH Commercial Technology and Scale up R&D group in Europe. In this capacity he was responsible for scale up and commercialization of new products and processes, spanning from base hydrocarbons and comonomers to PE, Elastomers, High Pressure and Wire & Cable polymers. He has held various leadership roles in Dow’s R&D Division in North America prior to moving to Europe.

Harpreet joined Dow in 2010. Before joining Dow, Harpreet worked at GE Plastics (now Sabic) and ThyssenKrupp Uhde. At GE Plastics, he developed advanced process technologies to manufacture new intermediates for resins and new polymers, and managed projects to scale-up new technology from laboratory scale through pilot scale and commercial implementation. At ThyssenKrupp Uhde, he worked on basic and detailed engineering packages for chlor-alkali and petrochemical industries.

Harpreet received both his M.S and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in India. He has 19 granted patents and 5 journal publications.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024 10:45 AM to 11:30 AM · 45 min. (Central Daylight Savings Time)
Location: Landmark Ballroom

Summary

The REMADE Institute invests in research and development (R&D) to develop technology solutions to accelerate the circularity of materials including polymers, fibers, metals, and electronics scrap. Technology solutions that increase the circularity of materials will significantly contribute to an increase in energy efficiency, an increase in materials use efficiency and a reduction of GHG emissions in the domestic manufacturing sector. This presentation will briefly highlight the mission of REMADE and will focus on discussing REMADE R&D that will enhance the increased recycling of polymers. The current R&D portfolio includes projects across the value-chain of polymer recovery, separation by mechanical processing, conversion by chemical processing and process control for integration of recycled polymers into product manufacturing.

About the Speaker

Ed has been with the REMADE Institute since December 2017. He is responsible for developing initiatives and managing technology R&D projects that are focused on recovery and recycling of materials and integration of recycled materials into the manufacturing supply chain. He is also responsible for evaluating the performance metrics (e.g., embodied energy saved, emissions reduction and material conservation) of the projects and the REMADE research portfolio. Prior to joining REMADE, Ed was with Argonne National Laboratory for 32 years and served as the Director of the Energy Systems Division for 10 years. During his career at Argonne, his research focused on the development of sustainable manufacturing processes, in collaboration with the iron and steel, aluminum, chemicals and polymers, automotive and recycling industries. He holds 14 patents and has authored more than 125 papers on energy and sustainable technology. His work has been recognized through numerous awards including the University of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award and the Intellectual Law Property Association of Chicago Inventor of the Year Award, among others.