In this episode, we listen to Joe Mwakiremba, a hardworking and passionate sales representative for Ocean Sole in Kenya, talk about how they are upcycling trashed flip-flop while simultaneously cleaning up the environment and creating stable jobs for many people. Check out these links to YouTube and watch these flip-flops being turned into amazing sculptures! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK-BHZs7GxE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZV9J62Z2Vk If you want to support this project for your business or simply have a uniquely stunning art piece in your home, check out this link to their website ..read more

Today I spoke to Dr Mapula about patents, polymers in wound healing treatment, medicinal plants and empowering women in science particularly in Africa. She is a warm, kind and self driven biomedical researcher and entrepreneur with comprehensive accomplishment in clinical research and tissue engineering.   Please check her page on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-mapula-razwinani-17ba6655/ And see her award as L’Oréal-UNESCO FWIS South Africa National Young Talent 2023: https://www.dut.ac.za/duts-dr-mapula-razwinani-recognised-as-one-of-the-phenomenal-women-scientists/   UNSE ..read more

Today we are talking to Gregory Parisi about harvesting water in variable humidity conditions studying specifically the wetting properties of electrospun polymer materials.  Gregory is a PhD student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and worked as a Fulbright fellow at the AGH-UST Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science in Poland with Urszula Stachewicz, a previous guest on our show.   Please see the link below to the study group that he joined in Poland: http://www.tem.agh.edu.pl/main_new/index.php/en/41-pracownicy/38-dr-eng-urszula-stachewicz   Hope you ..read more

In this episode we talk to Adam Hecht, Co-Founder, Designer and Director of Additive Manufacturing at DiveDesign. He tells us more about what goes into running a 3D company and all the products that they are currently making. He also have some amazing collaborations and interesting projects, from turning trash from the ocean into furniture to helping disabled ducks, dogs and even a Elephant!   Hope you enjoy the conversation!   Here are the links mentioned in the show: https://www.divedesignco.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-hecht-b55959104/ https://www.instagram.com/divedesign ..read more

In this episode we listen to Dr Aurelien Forget talk about his work and research interests. He also shares details about a fun and educative card game that he developed called Macromolecular Games: A Free Radical Polymerization Card Game. This card game is made for anyone that wish to understand polymerization and can even be customized with you own logo or tag that you would like displayed on the cards (great for companies and Universities). The aim of this game is to form polymer chains with the higher molecular weight. Only terminated polymer chains are counted. ​The set is composed of two ..read more

Dr. Tristan Clemons is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Clemons established his lab at USM in 2021 and quickly started exciting research in Soft Matter Science. The Clemons group is multidisciplinary in nature, firmly embedded at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and engineering. His research efforts are aimed at the interface of synthetic and biological molecular self-assembly to provide new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of disease and injury.   Clemons Lab Webpage: https://www.clemonslab.com/   “Proapoptotic Peptide Brush Polyme ..read more

Dr. Barney Grubbs discusses with Jacob the importance of controllably degradable polymers and their significance in improving material sustainability. Dr. Grubbs also talks about his academic journey, taking us all around the United States as he shares his exciting research! The Grubbs research group investigates questions addressing the common ground shared by polymer, organic, and materials chemistry. Guided by physics, theory, and engineering, they design, synthesize, and characterize polymer materials.  Any questions for Alicia and Jacob? They would love for you to reach out! Contact ..read more

Ingmar Van Hengel is a PhD candidate at Delft University in Biomedical Engineering. He also has a mind for business when he created his first startup company called SkinPrint for the treatment of burn wounds using bioprinting to develop skin using the patient's cells and biocompatible natural polymer materials. He then shifted his focus to developing multifunctional 3D implants for orthopedic patients that are longer lasting and can combat bacterial infections. He has continued to grow his expertise in the Digital health field and was a business analyst for PatchAI, which develops intelligent ..read more

Dr. Brooks Abel is an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where the Abel group conducts research at the interfaces of polymer organic chemistry, catalysis, and materials science. Dr. Brooks and his group pursue application-driven polymer chemistry, where the desired chemical identity, physical properties, and end-use of the polymer materials are used to guide the development of new polymerization methods. They also follow a methodology approach to discovering new polymerization reactions to push the field of polymer chemistry towards previously unobtainable control o ..read more

Today we are talking to Dr Laura Frazier, Chief Scientist of TaikiUSA, and Dr Megan Coates, R&D manager at the Stellenbosch Nanofiber Company, about their collaboration and creation of Bōshi Beauty nanofiber-based product line. Stellenbosch Nanofiber Company has been developing nanofiber-based products, including advanced wound dressings, tissue engineering scaffolds and cosmetic products. TaikiUSA is a global leader in skincare and makeup tools. Megan received her PhD in Chemistry at the Rhodes University in South Africa and have been working at the SNC for over 8 years as Research and De ..read more