Ph.D.,
Polymer Science and Engineering,
University of Massachusetts,
1980
B.S.,
Chemical Engineering,
WPI,
1977
Awards and Recognition
2017, Nominated for the Tau Beta Pi Srinivasa P. Gutti Memorial Engineering Teaching Award,
2011, Meritorious Service Award, Case Alumni Association
2007, John W. Hyatt Award, Society of Plastics Engineers
2007, Kern Faculty Fellow, Kern family Foundation
2021, Nominated for the John S. Diekhoff Award for Graduate Teaching and Mentoring, Case Western Reserve University
2020, Nominated for the CWRU Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Case Western Reserve University
2016, Nominated for the CWRU Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Case Western Reserve University
2020, Nominated for the Bruce Jackson, M.D., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring, Case Western Reserve University
2017, Nominated for the Tau Beta Pi Srinivasa P. Gutti Memorial Engineering Teaching Award, Tau Beta Pi
2019, Nominated for the Tau Beta Pi Srinivasa P. Gutti Memorial Engineering Teaching Award, Tau Beta Pi
2016, Graduate Teaching Award, Case School of Engineering
2011, Meritorious Service Award, Case Alumni Association
2007, John W. Hyatt Award (benefit to society), Society of Plastics Engineers
2015, Nominated for the Tau Beta Pi Srinivasa P. Gutti Memorial Engineering Teaching Award, Tau Beta Pi
2024, Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
Novel processing methods for polymer micro- and nanofibers and fiber/matrix composites. Multi-layer elastomer constructs. Solid-state deformation processing of polymers. Light-weight, impact-absorbing multi-component polymer systems. Physiologically-mimicking polyelectrolyte constructs with attention to motile and irritable systems. Polymers with unusual electrical and optical properties. Polymeric membranes. New approaches to impart fire resistance to common polymers.
Professional Memberships
Materials Research Society
Jan. 1, 1979 -
PRESENT, American Chemical Society
Jan. 1, 2015 -
Jan. 1, 2016
, Society of Plastics Engineers
Jan. 1, 2015 -
Jan. 1, 2015
, ACS Rubber Division
Consulting
2015 - , Anexis LLC
2012 - 2015, Lubrizol Advanced Materials
Brief Bio
Gary Wnek is the Joseph F. Toot, Jr., Professor of Engineering and Professor and Chair of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University and has been at CWRU since 2004. He was previously a faculty member in The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and the Department of Chemistry at RPI, and was the Founding Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University in its new School of Engineering. Research interests include processing of polymer multi-layer and polymer fiber/matrix composites, deformation processing, flammability mitigation of common polymers, and synthetic macromolecular constructs that mimic physiological functions. He has authored or co-authored over 210 publications and holds 38 US patents. He received the 2007 John W. Hyatt Award (benefit to society) from the Society of Plastics Engineers for his work on polymer nano- and microfibers for regenerative medicine and related biomedical applications. He earned a Ph.D. In Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
The vision of the proposed ERC is to establish a team of academic and industrial researchers to define, develop and deploy solutions to the most urgent problems associated with the global polymeric materials packaging industry.
