Evan Lerner
Karen I. Winey, TowerBrook Foundation Faculty Fellow, Professor and Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been recognized by two of the nation’s top chemical societies for her work on polymer science.
She was among the first to fabricate polymer nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes and devised processing methods to manipulate their hierarchical structures to improve their electrical and thermal properties. Winey has also dramatically expanded the range of nanoscale, self-assembled structures found in single-ion conductors with the intent of designing plastics with exceptional transport properties for batteries and separations.
In recognition of this work, Winey has received the 2020 Herman F. Mark Senior Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the 2020 Braskem Award for Excellence in Materials Science & Engineering from The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
The Mark Scholar Awards, given by the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry, were established in 2006 to “recognize excellence in basic or applied research and leadership in polymer science by scientists of all ages.”
The Braskem Awards, given by AIChE’s Materials Engineering and Sciences Division, dates back to 1970. Winey’s award is in recognition of her “outstanding contributions to the understanding of and advancement of polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers.”
Winey will be formally recognized with these honors at the scholarly societies’ respective fall meetings.