The School of Polymer Science and Engineering students presented at the Waterborne Symposium on February 27. The event took place in Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans. Waterborne Symposium is a five-day event that involves the coating industry, and the students presented on the last day of the event.
The Annual International Waterborne, High-solids, and Powder Coatings Symposium is an opportunity for researchers to present papers from academic, governmental, and industrial sectors. The event helps unveil innovative findings across all facets of coatings. In the five days that the event takes place, it allows a place for coatings experts, chemists, industry leaders, business owners, suppliers, students, and educators a place to network and learn more about the coating industry.
Students from the School of Polymer Science and Engineering presented their ongoing research under different professors in Southern Miss. The students presented their posters explaining their research hypothesis and presented their data and findings. Some of the research included plastic recycling, carbon fiber protection, and analysis of different polymers. Students presented their research despite not being in the coating industry so they could have more presentation skills and be able to network with other people in the industry.
“It has served as a depot for the industry to come in and network for 52 years,” Dr. Derek Patton, a professor at the School of Polymer Science and Engineering, said. “It is about all things coatings, pigments, and bio-based approaches for safety approaches.”
Patton also explained that about fifty to seventy-five percent of all the undergraduate and graduate students from the School of Polymer Science and Engineering eventually get employed in the coating industry. This makes it very important for the students to be able to network with the people in the industry.
The students seemed to have learned a lot from the experience.
“I had a lot of fun,” Jessica Shrestha, a presenter, said. “Being able to talk to a professional from a different industry and having them talk about how important certain aspects of research are was a great learning experience.”
The winner of the poster presentation was Sameer Ishaq from Clemmons Research Group with the research “Sustainable Synthesis of Polyacrylonitrile Based Polymers via Aqueous Photoinferter Polymerization.” The first runner-up was Lena Blake from Broadhead Group with the research “Inhibiting Bacterial Growth Through Electrostatic Interaction in Static and Dynamic Conditions.” The second runner-up was Loria DiMartino from Clemmons Research Group with the research “Investigating Peptide Amphiphiles as Bioactive Scaffolds for Promoting Angiogenesis and Wound Healing.”
