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The PI
Theo Dingemans, PhD
Department of Applied Physical Sciences
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
121 South Road, Murray Hall 1111
Chapel Hill, NC 27514 USA
Phone:
919-843-4048
Email:
The Group
Current Members
Ed Samulski, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Dr. Samulski is Professor Emeritus at UNC-CH and CEO/co-founder of Bluesky Polymers. After receiving his PhD from Princeton in 1970, Dr. Samulski would go on to found the journal Liquid Crystals, create a Polymer and Materials Science program at UNC-CH, serve as chair of both the Chemistry and Applied Physical Sciences Departments, and continues to contribute to the field of polymer materials having published over 300 peer-reviewed articles.
Office: Caudill 161
Email: et@unc.edu
Maruti Hegde, PhD
Research Scientist
Dr. Hegde specializes in the design, synthesis, and characterization of all-aromatic polymers for next-generation membrane and nanocomposite technologies. Dr. Hegde served as a postdoctoral fellow studying high strength polyetherimides at Virginia Tech for Dr. Tim E. Long and received his PhD from Delft University of Technology (Netherlands).
Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: mhegde@email.unc.edu
William F.M. Daniel Jr., PhD
Research Scientist
Dr. Daniel currently works on the production of high-performance liquid crystal thermosets at Bluesky Polymers, a start-up company incubated by the Dingemans Group. Dr. Daniel received his PhD at UNC-CH under the supervision of Dr. Sergei Sheiko.
Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: will@blueskypolymers.com
Michael Bakas, PhD
Adjunct Professor
Dr. Bakas serves as Synthesis & Processing Program Manager at the United States Army Research Office. With over 15 years of experience developing cost effective methods for the fabrication of ceramic materials as alternatives for armor alloys, Dr. Bakas provides a materials minded approach to nanocomposite work within the Dingemans Group.
Office: FCDD-RLR-EM, P.O. Box 12211, Research Triangle Park, NC
Email: michael.p.bakas.civ@army.mil
Douglas Betts, PhD
Senior Chemist
Dr. Betts currently serves as Senior Chemist for Bluesky Polymers, the incubated start-up company within the Dingemans Group. Dr. Betts received his PhD at UNC-CH under the supervision of Dr. Joseph M. DeSimone and possesses over 20 years of polymer synthesis experience.
Office: Murray Hall 1134
Email: doug@blueskypolymers.com
Bhausaheb Tawade
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Tawade specializes in the synthesis and characterization of high-performance polymers with all-aromatic functionalities. Currently, Dr. Tawade is assisting industry partners in understanding the structure and morphology of semi-crystalline thermoset films and epoxy-based materials.
Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: bvtawade@unc.edu
John Migliore
4th Year Graduate Student
John designs and synthesizes self-assembling, rodlike polyelectrolytes to understand the molecular design rules of associating polymers for the development of biomemetic materials. John is President of the MRS Chapter at UNC-CH and Secretary for Science in the Stacks (SITS), a STEM outreach organization.
Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: jmigs@email.unc.edu
Maria Furukawa
2nd Year Graduate Student
Maria focuses on the structural design of linear, high-aspect-ratio polymeric materials to enhance the structure/property capabilities of current state-of-the-art separation technologies. After graduating from Georgia Tech, Maria worked as an industry R&D researcher before joining the Dingemans group to pursue a PhD in Polymer Science.
Office: Murray Hall 1131
Email: mfuruk@unc.edu
Ainsley Kaplan
Undergraduate Researcher
2022-Present
Joseph Delaloye
Undergraduate Researcher
2022-Present
Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows
Alumni
Anna Fraser, PhD
Graduate Student
Group Alumni: 2017-2022
After UNC: Solvay
Gabby Esposito, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Group Alumni: 2020-2022
After UNC: Air Force Research Laboratory
Shreya Roy Choudhury, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Group Alumni: 2019-2021
After UNC: Corning, Inc.
Ryan Fox, PhD
Graduate Student
Group Alumni: 2016-2020
After UNC: Exponent Consulting
Undergraduate Researchers, Visiting Scholars, and More...
Alumni
Lenya
Schmidt-Neuhaus
Undergraduate
Researcher
Group Alumni: 2023
Alex
Forest
Research
Technician
Group Alumni: 2022
Christian Desimone
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2021
Bryan
Yang
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2020
Jacob
Yankey
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2020
Griffin
Barnes
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2019
Louise
Lindegaard
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2019
Andrew
Traywick
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2019
Emerald
Ollenberger
Undergraduate Researcher
Group Alumni: 2018
