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Biography: Richard J. Spontak was a research scientist with Procter & Gamble before he joined the NCSU faculty in 1992. Spontak has over 104 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and his work has been featured on the cover of Microsc. Res. Tech. and Langmuir. Spontak conducts studies to improve the current understanding of microstructural polymer systems, which are of scientific interest as self-assembling polymers and commercial value as adhesives, (bio)compatibilizing agents, nanotemplates, and membranes. His group’s efforts are at the cutting edge of block copolymer research: e.g., they have obtained the first 3D images of the bicontinuous gyroid (Ia3d) and sponge (L3) morphologies. They characterize polymers with electronspectroscopic microscopy, and dispersions/gels with freeze-fracture replication and cryo-TEM techniques. Use of these tools has expedited the study of block copolymers and their blends/gels, and has helped to elucidate novel polymer gelation mechanisms, PDLC composition/morphology relationships, and interpolymer complexation. Other areas of interest include polymer alloying through mechanical attrition, transmission electron microtemography, and modification of polymer solutions via salting-in.

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Biography: Qibing Pei is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. He specializes in synthetic polymers and composites for electronic, electromechanical, and photonic applications, with over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications and 44 issued US patents. He directs the UCLA Soft Materials Research Laboratory. He received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Nanjing University and a PhD in polymer science from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science. He is a Fellow of SPIE, member of ACS and MRS, Associate Editor of Smart Materials & Structures, and Advisory Board Member of Soft Robotics, Advanced Electronic Materials, and Scientific Reports.

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Biography: The common theme that defines our research relates to synthetic polymer chemistry and how it might be used in creating well defined polymer structures. A large part of our work is devoted metathesis reactions, where the research has been mechanistic in nature. We immerse ourselves in the chemistry associated with creating new polymers, and we also find ourselves interested in modeling well known materials, like polyethylene, to better understand their behavior.

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Biography: Vakhtang Barbakadze has his expertise in isolation and structure elucidation of a new series of plant polyethers, which are endowed with pharmacological properties as anti-cancer agents. He has completed his Ph.D and D.Sci. in 1978 and 1999. He is the head of Department of plant biopolymers and chemical modification of natural compounds at the Tbilisi State Medical University Institute of Pharmacochemistry. 1996 and 2002 he has been a visiting scientist at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, by University Scholarship and The Netherlands organization for scientific research (NWO) Scholarship Scientific Program, respectively. He has published more than 100 papers in reputed journals.

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Title: Biopolymer of medicinal plants, its synthetic analogues and their comparative anticancer efficacy

Biography: Vakhtang Barbakadze has his expertise in isolation and structure elucidation of a new series of plant polyethers, which are endowed with pharmacological properties as anti-cancer agents. He has completed his Ph.D and D.Sci. in 1978 and 1999. He is the head of Department of plant biopolymers and chemical modification of natural compounds at the Tbilisi State Medical University Institute of Pharmacochemistry. 1996 and 2002 he has been a visiting scientist at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, by University Scholarship and The Netherlands organization for scientific research (NWO) Scholarship Scientific Program, respectively. He has published more than 100 papers in reputed journals.

Title: Well-defined phosphonic acid-based polymers: a valuable opportunity for dental restoration

Biography: Sophie Monge is full Professor at the Institute Charles Gerhardt of Montpellier, Institute for Molecular Chemistry and Material Sciences, at the University of Montpellier (France). Her research interests focus on the synthesis of well-defined (co)polymers bearing phosphorus atom, also showing stimuli-responsive properties in some cases. The developed materials in her research projects are mainly used in environmental or health fields. She has published more than 70 papers and patents, and supervised more than 30 PhD students and postdoctoral research associates.

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Title: Well-defined phosphonic acid-based polymers: a valuable opportunity for dental restoration

Biography: Mónica A. Silva is a Chemical Engineering by formation and works with polymeric membranes and nanoparticles at 2C2T, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal (PT). She has 2 years of experimental work in the area of membranes processing. Mónica has also been involved in membranes wastewater application. The work with membranes permitted her the participation in three international conferences and the publication of two papers in recognized peer reviewed journals. Meanwhile, she is studying new applications of the membranes in the Biomedical Engineering area.

Title: Multifunctional cross-linked alginate based hydrogels for cell transplantation

Biography: Sandrine Gerber holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry and the habilitation from the University Pierre et Marie Curie (France). Currently, she is Deputy Director of the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering and Head of the Group for Functionalized Biomaterials at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland). The research activities of her group focus on the design, synthesis and evaluation of functionalized nanomaterials and biomaterials for therapeutic applications as cancer imaging probes and cell transplantation devices. She has published more than 80 papers in reputed journals and received several awards, including the Prize Eugène Schueller and the Werner Prize.

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Title: Influence of different polymeric matrices on the characteristics of pentaerythritol tetranitrate explosive

Title: Adhesive based upon polyvinyl alcohol and chemical modified oca (Oxalis tuberosa) starch

Biography: Valle Álvarez, Lauro Vladimir. Chemical Engineer by the National Polytechnic School. Master in Business Administration with a mention in Quality Management and Productivity from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Master in Education and Social Development from the Equinoctial Technological University. Master's Degree in Advanced Materials Science and Engineering from the Technological University of Lulea-Sweden and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia - Spain. Fulltime professor in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering of the National Polytechnic School. He has participated as a researcher in several projects in the field of polymers. Currently, his line of research of interest is the development and innovation of biopolymers.

Title: Enhancing the use of PET bottle waste through the reinforcement with nanoclays

Biography: Carol Lopez de Dicastillo is a pHD on Chemistry and Food Science nd Materials Technology. She is a experienced researcher with a demonstrated history of working with food packaging issues and development of new polymeric materials with funcional and/or improved properties. Nowadays centered mainly on applied food packaging projects focused on recycled polymers and active packaging. The development of new antimicrobial nanostructures is my second main topic of research. Skilled in Materials Science, Nanomaterials, Spectroscopy, Nanotechnology, and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Strong professional with a Materials and Food Science pHD focused in Doctoral degree on Food Science Technology and Materials Science from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.

Title: A new trend in biodegradable plastics

Biography: Hani Samer Chbib is a business and innovation researcher who works with one of the most innovative research institutions in Egypt. He holds a M.Sc. in Management of Technology and Bachelor of Business Administration, both from Nile University, Egypt. Hani has 3 years of experience in academic research, teaching, and entrepreneurship. He has also been involved in different innovative research projects at Nile University. His research work has so far resulted in 3 publications. A journal article with Lupine publishers, Journal of Modern Approaches on Material Science, in which he investigated the future for biodegradable plastics A conference paper in IAMOT 2018 conference in which he proposed PLA as an economically feasible alternative for synthetic plastics And a journal article with ELSEVIER journal of Greener Chemistry and Pharmacy, in which he proposed PLA as an economically feasible alternative for synthetic plastics, with tremendous positive impacts on battling environmental change. His research interests are in innovation-based entrepreneurship, green entrepreneurship, and Industry 4.0 applications for sustainability.