BIO of Stephen Miller

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In 1994 Stephen (Steve) A. Miller received coterminal B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from Stanford University, where Robert M. Waymouth served as his undergraduate and M.S. Thesis advisor. He then earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1999 with John E. Bercaw before conducting postdoctoral research with Nobel Laureate Richard R. Schrock at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 2000–2001. He held the position of Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University from 2001 until 2007, when he accepted his current positions of Associate Professor of Chemistry and Member of the Butler Polymer Research Laboratory at the University of Florida. His primary research efforts target the synthesis of biorenewable and degradable polymers that mimic petroleum-based plastics. Novel synthetic methodologies have been applied to a variety of biogenic feedstocks, including sugars, triglycerides, lignin, and C1 feedstocks, yielding linear thermoplastic polymers with the potential to replace incumbent packaging plastics. Moreover, these polymers are generally amenable to biodegradation or water-degradation, affording benign metabolites already present in nature. He is a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of U.S. Bioplastics (http://usbioplastics.com/) and an alumnus of the Global Young Academy (http://globalyoungacademy.net).

Active Funding:

NSF, SusChEM: Building Superior Sustainable Polymers with Bioaromatics
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1607263

USDA-NIFA, The Southeast Partnership for Advanced Renewables from Carinata (SPARC)
http://sparc-cap.org/
https://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1012948.html

www.flogen.org/

BIO of Stewart Lewis

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Condensed Biographical Sketch, Dr. Stewart P. Lewis

Dr. Lewis is an agronomist, chemist, educator, and inventor. He earned both an MS and PhD in polymer science from The University of Akron. He has over ten years of college level teaching experience, is an inventor on four U.S. patents, and an author on sixteen scientific publications. Currently, Dr. Lewis is in the process of finishing a textbook on cationic polymerization entitled "Cationic Polymerizations Resource: Volume 1, Non-living Polymerizations of Olefins".

Dr. Lewis has made very significant contributions to the field of acid induced polymerization with emphasis on sustainable but commercially viable chemistry. These include five aqueous polymerization systems, three of which produce high polymers from low-reactivity olefins, two that are "immortal", and one that has some living characteristics. Other important breakthroughs include systems that operate at ambient temperatures, and several that make use of highly recyclable acid catalysts. He has invented more than 15 different systems to produce polymers from olefins. Several of these polymerization systems are currently under evaluation in India for kiloton-scale manufacturing of lubricant materials. Dr. Lewis, devised and patented methods on the preparation of perfluoroarylated Lewis acids, and successfully implemented their use in cationic polymerizations. His expertise encompasses anionic, cationic ring-opening, and condensation polymerizations.

Dr. Lewis has over 20 years of agricultural experience and a startup venture that focuses on developing new organic farming techniques. Some areas of current interest at this startup include the development of new/safer pesticides and soil remediation.

www.flogen.org/

BIO of Sabu Thomas

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Professor Sabu Thomas is currently Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University and the Founder Director and Professor of the International and Interuniversity Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. He is also a full professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the School of Chemical Sciences of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. Prof. Thomas is an outstanding leader with sustained international acclaims for his work in Nanoscience, Polymer Science and Engineering, Polymer Nanocomposites, Elastomers, Polymer Blends, Interpenetrating Polymer Networks, Polymer Membranes, Green Composites and Nanocomposites, Nanomedicine and Green Nanotechnology. Dr. Thomas’s ground breaking inventions in polymer nanocomposites, polymer blends, green bionanotechnological and nano-biomedical sciences, have made transformative differences in the development of new materials for automotive, space, housing and biomedical fields. In collaboration with India’s premier tyre company, Apollo Tyres, Professor Thomas’s group invented new high performance barrier rubber nanocomposite membranes for inner tubes and inner liners for tyres.

www.flogen.org/