SYENSQO Seminar Series
Spring 2026 SYENSQO Seminar Series
Each Fall and Spring semester, the Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII) hosts a series of seminars from world-renowned leaders in the field of macromolecular science and engineering. The seminars are open to all VT faculty and students, with a special emphasis on engagement with the Macromolecular Science and Engineering (MACR) degree program. Invited speakers represent a hugely diverse range of polymer research backgrounds, and come from industry, academia, and government laboratories. The objective of the seminar series is to share fundamental and applied knowledge between Virginia Tech’s globally recognized polymer research community and world-class experts in relevant fields. The series is made possible by the generous support of Solvay Materials.
All seminars are held in Kelly Hall 310 (February 4 and March 18, 2026 seminars will be held in Steger Hall, Conference Room 145) and start at 11:15 a.m. on the scheduled day! We look forward to another exciting semester of seminars.
Email mii@vt.edu to get the full meeting details, including the location, if you are a member of the Virginia Tech community interested in attending!
SPEAKER |
SEMINAR TITLE |
DATE |
|---|---|---|
Andrew Croll North Dakota State University |
"The Adhesion of Ice to Polydimethylsiloxane" | January 28, 2026 |
Daniel Preston Rice University |
"Mitigating Chemical and Thermal Failures of Engineered Wettability Surfaces" | February 4, 2026 |
Damien Guironnet University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign |
"Establishing the Precision of Polymerization Methods to Achieve Enhanced Functions" | March 4, 2026 |
Chuanbing Tang University of South Carolina |
"Toward More Sustainable Macromolecules: from Polyethylene Mimics to Antimicrobial Polypeptides" | March 18, 2026 |
| Jeff Foster Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
"Building the Labs of the Future: Putting Automation and AI to Work in Chemistry" | April 1, 2026 |
| Eileen Seo Arizona State University |
"Designing Adaptive Materials at the Interface of Nanotechnology and Polymer Science" | April 8, 2026 |