Professors James White and Judit Puskas honored by American Chemical Society, Rubber Division

Two University of Akron professors have been recognized with top honors from the American Chemical Society (ACS), Rubber Division:

• Dr. James White, UA's Harold A. Morton Chair, professor of polymer engineering and director of the University's Institute of Polymer Engineering, was named the 2009 recipient of the ACS, Rubber Division's Charles Goodyear Medal. This prestigious honor is the division's highest technical award.
• Dr. Judit Puskas, UA professor of polymer science, was presented as the division's 2009 Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award winner.

The announcements were made at the Rubber Division's Oct. 14-16 meeting in Louisville, Ky. White and Puskas will receive their awards at the division's spring science and technology awards banquet in May 2009.

Honoring research and innovation

White was selected as the Charles Goodyear Award recipient for his innovative work in polymer engineering, which has significantly contributed to the rubber industry. Specifically, White has excelled in the fundamental understanding of rheology and mathematical modeling of unfilled and filled rubbers and simulations of flow in batch and continuous mixing machines. He developed the first commercial twin-screw extruder flow simulation software. White's research also focuses on structure development in processing and liquid crystalline polymer fluids and polymer blends.

Puskas was honored for her contributions to thermoplastic elastomer advancement. Her research interests focus on polymers for biomedical application, polymer synthesis and characterization; polymer structure-property relationships; living carbocationic polymerization; elastomer/rubber science and engineering; macromolecular engineering; and polymerization kinetics/mechanisms. An advocate of women in science and engineering, Puskas was recently awarded her third National Science Foundation grant. Puskas' work has contributed to the invention of improved polymer stents and synthetic polymer projectiles.

'A highly notable achievement'

"For our faculty to receive two of the Rubber Division's six coveted awards is a highly notable achievement. Dr. White's and Dr. Puskas' exceptional contributions to polymer engineering and polymer science clearly merit such acknowledgment," says Dr. Stephen Cheng, dean of the UA College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering.

Also during the ACS Rubber Division's October meeting, scholarships were awarded to UA undergraduate students Ryan Kupchella of Akron and Cory Simon of Louisville and graduate student Cheng Ching "Kurt" Chiang of Fairlawn.