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2026 MII Technical Conference and Review Yields Record Numbers

Attendees at the Tuesday Banquet listening to Guest Speaker Judy Riffle.
Professor Emerita Judy Riffle presenting "Moving VT Research to Commercial Water Reuse" during the Tuesday Banquet. | September 22, 2026.

MII Director, Dr. Robert Moore opened this year’s Technical Conference and Review (TCR) with the state of the Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII). Amidst timely jokes and organizational updates, one could only conclude that MII is thriving. 

Dr. Robert Moore, Director of the Macromolecules Institute giving "The State of the Institute".

A record 233 registrants attended three days of programming at the Virginia Tech Skelton Conference Center. Now part of Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI), MII kicked off its first session with a welcome from FLSI Director Rob McCarley and VT Graduate School Dean Aimée Surprenant. A keynote lecture from an alum of MII’s Macromolecular Science and Engineering (MACR) Graduate Program and now Director of Research and Development at Novolex, Sonya Benson, brought to life the sustainable solutions that can come from harnessing one’s own curiosity. 

Keynote Speaker Sonya Benson
MACR Alumna Sonya Benson presents the keynote lecture "Innovation in Context: Building an Innovation Framework for a Circular Future - Connection Curiosity, Characterization, and Materials Science to Create Sustainable Solutions".

During Monday’s program, the Garth L. Wilkes MII Interdisciplinary Scholar Award was presented to an exemplary faculty member and graduate student for their excellence in research, teaching, and engagement. Faculty Scholar, Dr. John Matson, was awarded the College of Science Certificate of Teaching Excellence Award in 2023 for his exemplary teaching and impact on students. John’s novel discoveries in bottlebrush polymers show his focus on efficacious and sustainable materials, while highlighting his commitment to advancing research partnerships. Student Scholar, Kihyeon Ahn, is a shining Ph.D. Candidate in the MACR program. Conducting research in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials under Dr. Young-Teck Kim, Kihyeon’s research focuses on developing new approaches to sustainable polymer processing leading to new advances in packaging. John and Kihyeon were selected for how they reflect the spirit of the Wilkes Award in their hard work and dedication to interdisciplinary collaboration.

2026 Garth L. Wilkes Award winners.
Pictured from left: Robert Moore, John Matson, Kihyeon Ahn, Michael Bortner.

Monday’s schedule continued with the “Design, Synthesis, and Simulation of Advanced Materials”, followed by human-centered polymer applications during “Materials in Medicine”. Monday night closed with the first half of student research poster presentations. 

Day two began with Dr. Michael Bortner, Director of MII’s MACR Program, leading a session on “Engineered Materials, Interfaces, and Mechanics”. With 15 speakers from MII’s vast network of affiliated faculty, the Tuesday program concluded with “Macromolecular Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing.” The second half of student research posters were presented that evening.  A total of 111 poster abstracts were submitted for this year’s TCR, breaking another MII record. Tuesday night’s poster session also highlighted the winners of MII’s inaugural Summer Undergraduate Research Program through special recognitions.

The highly anticipated TCR banquet followed with a special guest speaker, Professor Emerita Judy Riffle. Judy engaged attendees on “Moving VT Research to Commercial Water Reuse”. The banquet closed with poster awards sponsored by Eastman Chemical Company and winners selected by MII’s External Advisory Board.

Professor Emerita Judy Riffle speaking on "Moving VT Research to Commercial Water Reuse" at the Tuesday Banquet.
Professor Emerita Judy Riffle speaking on "Moving VT Research to Commercial Water Reuse" at the Tuesday Banquet.

The following students each received a $100 gift card for their outstanding research:

  • Ohnyoung Hur: Poster #9 “Direct Ink Writing with Microstructural Control for Programmable Thermal and Mechanical Anisotropy in Liquid Metal Composites”
  • Isaac Addo: Poster #29 “Bottlebrush Polyolefin Sulfones: High Performance Triggerable and Degradable Pressure-sensitive Adhesives”
  • Zunhuang He: Poster #36 “Development of Waterborne Poly(propylene carbonate) Suspensions for Sustainable Spray-Coating Applications”
  • Kira Baugh: Poster #43 “Simple Upcycling of Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate into Advanced Aerogels using a Benign Solvent”
  • Abby Civiello: Poster #52“Lewis Acid Mediated Upcycling of Polyvinyl Chloride”
  • Brendan Whitfield: Poster #57 “Metallopolymer Gelcas/ng for Integrated Shaping and ZrC Interphase Engineering in ZrB₂ Ceramics”
  • Fiorella Mazzini: Poster #76 “Surface-active Dextran-cholesterol Conjugates via Regioselective Bromination”
  • Carlos Posada: Poster #80 “Upcycling Rubber Waste into Limonene and C15 Isoprenoids via Temperature Gradient Thermolysis”
  • Daniel Lobree: Poster #84 “Design of Alginate Nanocomposite Aerogel Particles for the Direct Air Capture of CO2”
  • Haile Mistry: Poster #91 “Colloidal Interactions of Chitosan – Graphene – Titanium Dioxide Composite Suspensions for Direct Ink Write Formulations”
Best poster award winners.
Pictured from left: Dr. Michael Bortner, Haile Mistry, Daniel Lobree, Brendan Whitfield (back), Carlos Posada, Isaac Addo, Fiorella Mazzini (front), Ohnyoung Hur, Abby Civiello, Zunhuang He, Kira Baugh, Dr. Robert Moore.

The final day ended with an engaging session on “Macromolecular Materials for Sustainable Technologies”. With over 40 speakers, the 2026 TCR proved to be one for the history books with record attendance, record posters, and most importantly, record opportunities to engage, collaborate, and advance research in macromolecular science and engineering.