Sam Root’s interest in knowledge of polymers started in high school. His father worked in the flexographic printing industry and after school, Root would head to the plant to do quality control. When his interest in organic materials chemistry, soft matter physics, and engineering started to grow, he decided to study chemical engineering.

“I am fascinated by nature,” Root said. “My favorite part about research is working with multidisciplinary teams to take inspiration from biological mechanisms and design new material systems with ‘life-like’ functionality.”     

Now, Root is an assistant professor in the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering. His research focuses on polymers for electronics and his group will combine experiment and theory to investigate multiscale processes involving complex interfaces in functional polymer composites. The applications of this work are vast, impacting industries like energy sustainability, healthcare and robotics.

In his new elective course—“Polymer Composites for Electronics Technology”— students will learn about the dielectric, conductive and semiconductive behavior of neat polymers, blends and complex composites. Among other topics, Root will cover dielectric properties of polymer composites for electronics packaging, ion conduction in polymer electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage, and semiconducting behavior in π-conjugated polymers.

What are you most looking forward to at Case Western Reserve University?

After spending the last 12 years in training, moving back and forth across the country to a new department approximately every 3 years, I am just so excited just to finally settle down long-term and start my independent research career. I am especially excited to join the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering because the world-renowned program provides the ideal disciplinary background for students entering my field of research. I feel as though the leadership and faculty within the department have done an exceptional job of cultivating a rigorous and collaborative academic community: I am honored to join and eager to contribute.    

Do you have any personal goals, hobbies, family, interests that you would like to share?

Outside of research, I enjoy getting outdoors as often as I can to go hiking, biking, or snowboarding—either locally or by travelling. I also enjoy cooking meals, listening to podcasts, and reading books about history. I have a big family in New York who are very excited for me to be back in the Northeast, and my fiancé will be moving here from California in the summer to join Cleveland Clinic as an anesthesiologist. We have a small fluffy dog named Sasha, she is part husky and looks like a fox in the snow.      

What’s one piece of advice you have for students? Or what’s a great piece of advice you’ve received?

A great piece of advice about research that I have taken to heart is from my adviser, Prof. George Whitesides, on the importance of clear writing for communicating research as a story: “writing is an integral part of the research process, it provides a method of organizing your thoughts and putting them in a coherent form to tell a story. Start as soon as possible and regard it as part of the research, not a separate activity.’’      

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I am recruiting undergraduate students from all science and engineering disciplines to join my group starting in January 2025.