Macromolecular science is the study of the synthesis, structure, processing, properties and use of polymers. These giant molecules are the basis of synthetic materials including plastics, fibers, rubber, films, paints, membranes, and adhesives.
Founded in 1963 as the first department for education and research in polymers in the nation, and recognized around the world as one of the best polymer programs in existence, the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University is a world leader is all areas of polymer science and engineering. As the first accredited undergraduate program in the United States in this field, the department continues to provide cutting-edge education in this exciting field.
We look forward to meeting you in person to discuss how we can assist you achieve your goals and dreams in your engineering education.
David Schiraldi
Chair, Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering
Case Western Reserve University’s Eric Baer, PhD, and his colleagues have created an artificial lens that mimics a healthy 5-yearold’s eye.
The Gradient Refractive Index lens, or GRIN lens, gradually bends light as it passes through layers of two kinds of polymers, each just nanometers thick. Every one of the polymers has a different refractive index, which means light travels through them at different speeds.
Unlike eyeglasses, the lens can maintain focus across its surface—in practice, to the corners of the eye—and also can focus near and far.
In principle, squid should be a flop.
With no bones, the sea creatures' bodies are soft and squishy. But their beaks – yes, squid have beaks – are rock-hard and knife-edged, like an eagle's, the better to rip apart their prey. A squid's beak, made of one of nature's toughest materials, easily slices through a fish's spine.
Two Case School of Engineering faculty members are among the first professors to receive the university's newest recognition of faculty achievement: the Distinguished Research Awards.
Hatsuo "Ken" Ishida, professor of macromolecular science and engineering, and Zehra Meral Ozsoyoglu, the Andrew R. Jennings Professor of Computing, were presented Distinguished Research Awards this spring by President Barbara R. Snyder and Provost W.A. "Bud" Baeslack III.
CINCINNATI — Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed materials that can heal themselves.
A team, led by Case Western professor Stuart Rowan, is working on structurally dynamic polymers that respond to stimuli like ultraviolet light.
Rowan also is director of the university's Institute for Advanced Materials.
Readers of a certain age may remember this line from one of the biggest movies of 1967: “There’s a great future in plastics.” In the movie “The Graduate,” starring Dustin Hoffman, plastics was a metaphor for what was superficial in American life in the 1960s. Literally, though, the statement was prescient.
Prof. Ken Ishida has been awarded CWRU's Distinguished Research Award. The President and Provost dropped in on EMAC 270 Monday, April 22, 2013 to present the award to Ken in front of our students. This award recognizes Ken's many achievements over his career at CWRU, and his transformative effects upon our field.
Please join Macro in congratulating Ken!
CONGRATULATIONS MARK AWARDEES. A symposia in their honor will be held at the Fall ACS National Meeting 2013.
Michael McKenna, Research and Innovations Reporter
September 19, 2012
Filed under News, Spotlight On: Research
Despite traveling halfway across the world, last summer was not exactly a vacation for Case Western Reserve University junior Kevin Chiou.
Chiou, a polymer science and engineering major, spent three months of his summer vacation working 60 hours a week researching nanoemulsions at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. read more.
A group of Case Western Reserve University students have created an innovative solution for filling potholes. Watch this video to see how their clever invention works—and is attracting attention from around the world!
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 44106
Usama Younes, Serkan Unal
Bayer MaterialScience Pittsburgh, Pa 15205-9741
Peter Emrich, Frank Bradish, Richard Sesco
Molded Fiber Glass Company Ashtabula, OH 44005-0675
Since its early development in the 1980s, the global market for wind energy has expanded exponentially. In the period between 1990-2007 the world’s total wind electricity capacity has grown 50 times and is predicted to increase over the 2008 level by ten-fold by 2030, and twenty-fold by 2050, [1]. In order to achieve the expansion expected in this area, there is a need for the development of stronger and lighter materials which will enable manufacturing of blades for larger rotors. The larger the area through which the turbine can extract the wind energy, the more power that can be captured (See Figure 1). Advanced materials with higher strength to mass ratios could enable larger area rotors to be cost-effective. Carbon nanotube based composites could enable larger rotor blades.
Figure 1. Growth in size of the rotor diameter of wind turbines since 1980. Adapted from [1].
