Polymer Science student wins Alan Gent Distinguished Student Paper Award

Dharamdeep Jain, a graduate student in polymer science, won the Alan Gent Distinguished Student Paper Award for the best presentation at this year’s Adhesion Society Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Ali Dhinojwala, the Morton Professor of Polymer Science, is his advisor.

He participated in a student awards symposium at the annual meeting and these presentations formed the basis for choosing the winner of the Gent Award, sponsored by Henkel Corporation.

“The effect of humidity on the adhesion of black widow spider’s gumfoot silk” is the title of Jain’s winning presentation. As the winner of the Gent Award, he received a cash prize.

Dr. Alan Gent, for whom the award is named, was on the polymer science faculty at UA from 1961 to 1994. Internationally known, Gent was widely regarded as the foremost expert on the fracture mechanics of rubber and plastics. His work had the potential of impacting nearly every rubber or plastic product developed today. Gent remained active in the field and with the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering until his death in 2012.

Past winners of this award include University of Akron students Gary Harp (2004), Kumar Nanjundiah (2007), Vasav Sahni (2012), Alyssa Stark (2014), and Adrian Defante (2015).

Congratulations Dharamdeep on this spectacular achievement!