Chemistry Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski has garnered national recognition from the American Chemical Society (ACS) for developing methods that allow scientists to "make plastics with new and amazing properties."

The 2002 ACS Award in Polymer Science, to be presented at a symposium of the Polymer Division during the National ACS Meeting in Orlando, Fla., on April 7, cites Matyjaszewski for "his research accomplishments in advancing the science and technology of polymerization methods."

Matyjaszeweki was also honored this fall with the 2001 Pittsburgh Award from the Pittsburgh ACS Section for his "creative, significant and extensive research, publishing and journal editing, his teaching and student mentoring, his university leadership positions and his multi-faceted interactions with local chemical companies."

Matyjaszewski's work allows industrial scientists to economically produce a wide range of polymers, with exquisitely controlled structures-the kinds of structures needed to create new and specialized kinds of plastics, adhesives, lubricants, fibers and health and cosmetic products.

Specifically, he has focused on advancing the study of controlled radical polymerization, one of the principal methods used to prepare polymers for industrial use. One highly prized method is called atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP).

Matyjaszewski's paper on ATRP, first published in 1995 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, has been cited more than 500 times. He and his research team have subsequently published more than 200 papers on the topic, and hold more than 20 patents for work in modern synthetic polymer chemistry.

"The methods developed by Kris Matyjaszewski allow us to make plastics with new and amazing properties," said Mellon College of Science Dean Richard McCullough. "Basically, Kris' methods allow scientists to make things that couldn't be made before."

McCullough uses Matyjaszewski's methods in his own lab to create nanoscale plastic wires.

Matyjaszewski heads a consortium of 21 industrial companies from around the world interested in creating novel polymeric materials. The consortium, which builds on a consortium he founded in 1995 with 11 international industrial organizations, aims to explore and shape their polymer science research activities and to train both university and industrial scientists in polymer development procedures.

Matyjaszewski heads the university's Center for Macromolecular Engineering, funded by the consortium and government agencies, such as the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

A member of the Carnegie Mellon faculty since 1985, Matyjaszewski was promoted to professor in 1993. He served as head of the Department of Chemistry from 1994-98 and was appointed the J.C. Warner Professor of Natural Sciences in 1998, succeeding John A. Pople, who won the 1998 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Matyjaszewski, a fellow of the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials, Science and Engineering, is co-editor of "Progress in Polymer Science" and a member of the editorial board for eight other polymer journals. He has published more than 500 scientific papers.

Teresa Sokol Thomas
(01/07/02)