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Dr. Sadhan C. Jana

Professor and Chair
Department of Polymer Engineering
University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-0301
Phone: (330) 972-8293
Fax: (330) 258-2339
E-mail: janas@uakron.edu
Web: www.poly-eng.uakron.edu/jana.php

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Research Group

	Sedat Gunes Fall 2004, Ph.D. student B.S. Chemical Engineering, Bogazici University, Turkey Thesis topic: Shape memory polymer nanocomposites Awards: Frank Kelley Fellowship (2008); 2nd prize, SPE TOPCON Polymer Nanocomposites Conference at Lehigh University (March 2007); 2006-2007 PerkinElmer Award, SPE Composites Division E-mail: isg1@uakron.edu
	Byoung J. Lee Fall 2004, Ph.D. student B.S.; MS Chemical Engineering, Yonsei University, South Korea Thesis topic: Self assembled nanocomposites of polyolefins Awards: Ticona Excellence in Engineering Plastics Award, University of Akron (May 2006); Best poster award, CUGSR 2007 Conference, University of Akron; 2nd place poster award, PolyImpact Northeast Ohio 2007 Conference, Case Western Reserve University E-mail: bl16@uakron.edu
	Jason Randall Fall 2005, Ph.D. student B.S. Mechanical Polymer Engineering, M.S. Polymer Science, University of Akron Thesis topic: Shape memory aerogel composites for space applications Awards: GSRP Fellowship Award, NASA, 2007 E-mail: lrdrandall@earthlink.net
	Sayantan Roy Spring 2007, Ph.D. student B.S. Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Calcutta M.S. Material Science, University of New Hampshire Thesis topic: Self-assembled nanocomposites E-mail: sr42@uakron.edu
	Yannan Duan Fall 2007, Ph.D. student B.S. Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China Thesis topic: Aerogel polymer composites E-mail: yd8@uakron.edu
	Rafael Esteban Benavides Spring 2008, Ph.D. student B.S.; M.S. Chemical Engineering, National University of Colombia, Bogota Thesis topic: Pitch-based carbon nanofibers by jet spinning Co-advisor: Darrell Reneker, Department of Polymer Science E-mail: rb55@uakron.edu
	Numan Erden Spring 2008, Ph.D. student B.S. Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey Thesis topic: Polyurethanes and nanocomposites for orthopedic applications E-mail: ne3@uakron.edu

Undergraduate Researchers

Andrew Shinko (Spring 2008)
B.S. program, Mechanical Polymer Engineering,
University of Akron
Project topic: Shape memory foams
Support: NSF-REU

Research Areas of Current Students

1. B. J. Lee (Ph.D., Fall 2004 - present) Thesis topic: Self assembled nanocomposites of polyolefins.
2. S. Gunes (Ph.D., Fall 2004 - present) Thesis topic: Shape memory polymer nanocomposites.
3. J. Randall (Ph.D., Fall 2005 - present) Thesis topic: Shape memory aerogel composites for space applications.
4. S. Roy (Ph.D., Spring 2007 - present) Thesis topic: Self-assembled nanocomposites.
5. Y. Duan (Ph.D., Fall 2007 - present) Thesis topic: Aerogel polymer composites.
6. R.E. Benavides (Ph.D., Spring 2008 - present) Thesis topic: Pitch-based carbon nanofibers by jet spinning.
7. N. Erden (Ph.D., Spring 2008 - present) Thesis topic: Polyurethanes and nanocomposites for orthopedic applications.

Recent Research Group News

1. Sedat Gunes presented a seminar on Shape Memory Polyurethane Nanocomposites in the weekly seminar series in Department of Polymer Engineering on Friday, September 5, 2008
2. Byoung J. Lee started his industrial internship at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, OH on September 1, 2008.
3. Professor Jana joined the editorial board of International Journal of Polymer Science. He is also the chair-elect of Board of Directors of Engineering Properties and Structure Division of Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE).
4. Professor Jana delivered an invited lecture on shape memory polymer nanocomposites at UKC2008, US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, San Diego, August 14-17, 2008.
5. Professor Jana also delivered a lecture on Rheology As A Tool For Elucidation Of Properties Of Polymer Nanocomposites at RheoProcessing 2008, US-Portugal Conference on Rheology in Polymer Processing, Guimaraes, Portugal, June 12-14, 2008.
6. Jason Randall won 3rd prize in poster competition at the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Department of Polymer Engineering, held on August 6-8, 2008.
7. Sedat Gunes won the 2008 Bausch & Lomb (B&L) Student Innovation Award. Sedat attended the award ceremony at B&L Headquarter in Rochester, NY and presented a talk on his research work.
8. Congratulations to Ayca Ertekin and Robert Opalko for receiving respectively Ph.D. and M.S. degree.
9. Sedat Gunes wins the 2008 Frank Kelley Fellowship Award. This Fellowship was instituted in the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering in the name of first Dean of the College, Dr. Frank N. Kelley. Sedat is seen receiving the award from Dr. Kelley.
   
10. Professor Jana elected as Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers. He will be recognized at the awards banquet of the Society of Plastics Engineers Annual Technical Conference being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during May 4-7, 2008.
11. Congratulations to Ling Du for successfully defending Ph.D. thesis on January 22, 2008. We all are very proud of you Ling. Congratulations!
    We also wish you good luck with your industrial career at Goodyear.
12. Congratulations to Feina Cao for successfully defending Ph.D. thesis on January 23, 2008. We all are very proud of you Feina. Congratulations!
    We wish you good luck with your industrial career at Lubrizol.
13. Ling Du received Best Graduate Paper Award and a scholarship of $1500 from Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society at the 4th Annual Student Colloquium, 172nd Technical Meeting of the ACS Rubber Division, Cleveland, OH during October 16-18, 2007.
    
14. Welcome to two new members of the Group, Yannan Duan and Rafael Esteban Benavides. Yannan comes from University of Science and Technology, China and Rafael comes from National Colombia University, Colombia.

Past Group News

2007:

1. Congratulations to Michael J. Gintert for successfully defending Ph.D. thesis on July 6, 2007.  We all are very proud of you Michael.  Congratulations!
   
2. Congratulations to Prof. Jairo E. Perilla for promotion to Associate Professorship at National University of Colombia, Bogota.  Prof. Perilla graduated from the Group in 2004 with a Ph.D. in Polymer Engineering.
   
3. Congratulations to Dr. Chang Do Jung for promotion at Samsung.
   
4. Congratulations to Sedat Gunes for winning 2nd prize in poster presentation at SPE TOPCON  Polymer Nanocomposite Conference at Lehigh University (March 2007).
   
5. Congratulations to Sedat Gunes, B.J. Lee, and Michael Gintert for winning best paper awards at the recently concluded Graduate Researchers’ Conference at the University of Akron.
   
6. Congratulations to Feina Cao and B.J. Lee for winning best paper awards at graduate researchers’ conference arranged by Case Western Reserve University.
   
7. Prof. Jana traveled to Brazil to deliver a keynote address “Studies on the mechanisms of nanoparticle-induced morphology development in immiscible polymer systems” at PPS-23, Salvador, Brazil during May 28-31, 2007 and to Colombo, Sri Lanka to deliver a plenary talk “Shape memory thermoplastic elastomers and their nanocomposites” at Chemtech 2007 arranged by the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, Sri Lanka during June 20-24, 2007.
   
8. Welcome to newest member of the Group, Sayantan Roy.  Sayantan joined the Group in Spring 2007 after finishing MS at University of New Hampshire.
   
9. Our Group made five (5) presentations at SPE ANTEC 2007 and three (3) presentations at PPS-23.
   
10. Prof. Jana delivered an invited keynote address on Polymer nanocomposites for shape-memory applications at 171st ACS Rubber Division Technical Meeting, Akron, Ohio, April 30-May 2, 2007.

2006:

1. Congratulations to Sedat Gunes for winning 2006 – 2007 Perkin Elmer Scholarship Award from SPE Composites Division (May 2006)
2. Our Group made seven (7) presentations at SPE ANTEC 2006
3. Prof. Jana delivered the following invited lectures:
   (a) Polymer nanocomposites by filler-polymer reactions, 50th Anniversary Symposium of University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), Dayton, OH, September 13-14, 2006.
   (b) Polymer nanocomposites design by clay-polymer tethering and novel blending.  Presented at Gordon Research Conference on Composites (Chair: Prof. Alan Lesser), Ventura, CA, January 15-20, 2006.

2005:

1. Congratulations to Dhawal P. Dharaiya who is now Dr. Dhawal P. Dharaiya, for successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis in November 2005.
2. Prof. S.C. Jana delivered Chemcon Distinguished Speaker Award Lecture at 58 th Annual Congress of Indian Chemical Engineers, CHEMCON 2005 to be held at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi during December 14-17, 2005.
3. Welcome to the newest member of Research Group, Jason Randall.
4. Group made 15 research presentations in 2005 combined at ANTEC 2005 in Boston, PPS-21 in Leipzig, Germany, and PPS Regional Meeting in Quebec, Canada.
5. Congratulations to Michael Gintert for winning the Best Paper Award from Composites Division of Society of Plastics Engineers at ANTEC 2005. Michael won the award for his work on polyimide-clay nanocomposites being carried out at NASA Glenn in collaboration with Sandi Miller.
6. Congratulations to Chang Do Jung, who is now Dr. Chang Do Jung, for successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis in April 2005. Dr. Jung is currently a post-doctoral fellow at University of Akron.
   

2004:

1. Congratulations to Asim Pattanayak, who is now Dr. Asim Pattanayak, for successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis in December 2004. Dr. Pattanayak is now employed at GE Global Research Center in Bangalore, India.
2. Congratulations to Chang Min Hong who is now Dr. Chang Min Hong, for successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis in November 2004. Dr. Hong is now employed at Cheil Industries Inc., Korea.
3. Congratulations to Jairo Ernesto Perilla, who is now Dr. Jairo E. Perilla for successfully completing his Ph.D. thesis work in the group in less than 4 years. Dr. Perilla is now an assistant professor of chemical engineering at National University of Colombia, Bogota.
4. The Group presented 8 papers at SPE ANTEC 2004 in Chicago and 7 papers at PPS-20 in Akron.
5. Congratulations to Chang Min Hong for winning the Best Student Paper Award at ANTEC 2003 given by SPE-KASEG. He will be given the award at annual dinner gathering of SPE-KASEG during ANTEC 2004 in Chicago. (April 2004).
6. Congratulations to Jong Hyun Park, who is now Dr. Jong Hyun Park for successfully completing his Ph.D. thesis work in the group in a little over 3.5 years. Dr. Park is now working as Principal Research Scientist of Polyolefins Research and Development, LG Chemicals in South Korea. (March 2004).

2003:

1. Dhawal Dharaiya won Omnova Signature Award in 2003 for his outstanding track record as a graduate student of Polymer Engineering. (March 2003).
2. Michael Gintert won NASA GSRP Fellowship in 2004 to conduct research on high temperature polyimide composites at NASA Glenn Research Center. (April 2003).
3. Asim Pattanayak won Best Student Paper Award at MACRO 2002, Annual General Meeting of the Society For Polymer Science, India held at Kharagpur in December 2002. (March 2003).
4. Dr. Madhusudan Sau finished his Ph.D. work in the group in a little more than 3.5 years and has returned to his job with Indian Oil Corporation as Deputy Manager of Research. Dr. Sau also won Omnova Signature Award in 2001 as outstanding graduate student of Department of Polymer Engineering. (April 2003).

Alumni of the Research Group

Sachin Jain (M.S., Fall 1998 - June 2000)
Thesis title: Nanocomposites of high performance thermoplastic polymers using epoxy as processing aid.

Nisha Patel (M.S., Fall 1998 - July 2000)
Thesis title: Reactive compatibilization of PBT-PPO blends using low molecular weight epoxies.

Shashishekhar Doni (M.S., Fall 1998 - July 2000)
Thesis title: Shear-induced migration of particles in filled polymers: Effects on conductivity and mechanical properties.

Alberto Prieto (M.S., Fall 1999 - April 2001)
Thesis title: Wood flour composites of high temperature polymers by reaction-induced phase separation.

Dhawal Dharaiya (M.S., Fall 1999 - November 2001)
Thesis title: Thermoplastic polyhydroxyethers for compatibilization of blends containing polyesters and polyamides.

Madhusudan Sau (Ph.D., Fall 1999 - April 2003)
Thesis title: Morphology development in chaotic mixing of polymers.

Jong Hyun Park (Ph.D., Fall 2000 - March 2004)
Thesis title: A study on nanocomposites of epoxy-clay and epoxy-clay-thermoplastic polymer systems.

Jairo Perilla (Ph.D., Fall 2000 - July 2004)
Thesis title: A study on relationship between morphology and rheology of immiscible polymer blends with temporal changes in the interfacial area.

Chang Min Hong (Ph.D., Fall 1999-November 2004)
Thesis title: A study on shear-induced migration of conductive and non-conductive filler particles.

Asim Pattanayak (Ph.D., Fall 2000 - December 2004)
Thesis title: A study on clay-tethered thermoplastic polyurethane nanocomposites.

Chang Do Jung (Ph.D., Fall 2000 - May 2005)
Thesis title: Synthesis of thermoplastic polyurethanes and polyurethane nanocomposites under chaotic mixing conditions.

Dhawal Dharaiya (Ph.D., Fall 2001 - November 2005)
Thesis title: Effects of nanoclay and carbon black on morphology development in mixing of immiscible polymers by chaotic mixing.

Guillermo Jimenez (Ph.D., Fall 2002 - December 2006)
Thesis title: Characterization of PMMA and TPU carbon nanofiber composites produced by chaotic mixing.

Michael J. Gintert (Ph.D., Fall 2003 - August 2007)
Thesis title: A novel approach to obtain high performance layered silicate thermoset polyamide matrix nanocomposites.

Ling Du (Ph.D., Fall 2003 - January 2008)
Thesis title: Highly conductive epoxy/graphite polymer composite bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.

Feina Cao (Ph.D., Fall 2003 - January 2008)
Thesis title: Shape memory polyurethane nanocomposites.

Robert Opalko (M.S., 2008)
Thesis title: Evaluation of the effects of Nanofil® nanoclays in the blending of polypropylene and polystyrene.

Ayca Ertekin (Ph.D., 2008)
Thesis title: Analysis of wetting, flow, and end-use properties of resin transfer molded nanoreinforced epoxy-glass fiber hybrid composites.

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