In this episode we listen to Dr Aurelien Forget talk about his work and research interests. He also shares details about a fun and educative card game that he developed called Macromolecular Games: A Free Radical Polymerization Card Game. This card game is made for anyone that wish to understand polymerization and can even be customized with you own logo or tag that you would like displayed on the cards (great for companies and Universities). The aim of this game is to form polymer chains with the higher molecular weight. Only terminated polymer chains are counted. ​The set is composed of two card decks each with 55 cards. The decks contain four monomers, four special cards: copolymer, termination, SFRP and CTA. It can be played competitively with friends, colleagues or family (with no Polymer Science Background)! Learn more by visiting this links: https://instagram.com/macromoleculargames?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= https://www.forgetlab.com/dr-aurelien-forget-1   You also a get a special 10% discount code for your support to this podcast: https://macromolecular-games.myshopify.com/discount/polymersciencepodcast10?redirect=%2Fproducts%2Ffree-radical-polymerization-card-game   We would love to know what you think about the game, so please leave a comment if you have played it! And share this episode if you like it!

Dr. Tristan Clemons is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Clemons established his lab at USM in 2021 and quickly started exciting research in Soft Matter Science. The Clemons group is multidisciplinary in nature, firmly embedded at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and engineering. His research efforts are aimed at the interface of synthetic and biological molecular self-assembly to provide new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of disease and injury.   Clemons Lab Webpage: https://www.clemonslab.com/   “Proapoptotic Peptide Brush Polymer Nanoparticles via Photoinitiated Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly” Link (please contact us via email if you don’t have access to this paper): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/anie.202006385     Any questions or comments for the Polymer Podcast crew? Please feel free to reach out to us! [email protected]

Dr. Katrina Knauer is the Chief Technology Officer of the BOTTLE Consortium at the National Renewable Energy Laboratories near Denver, Colorado. BOTTLE (Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment) is a U.S. Department of Energy multi-organization consortium focused on developing new chemical upcycling strategies for today's plastics and redesigning tomorrow's plastics to be recyclable-by-design.   Publications related to PHA discussion with Dr. Knauer: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ange.201916415 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02110   All BOTTLE publications: https://www.bottle.org/publications.html   Any comments or questions? Please reach out to us! [email protected]

Dr. Barney Grubbs discusses with Jacob the importance of controllably degradable polymers and their significance in improving material sustainability. Dr. Grubbs also talks about his academic journey, taking us all around the United States as he shares his exciting research! The Grubbs research group investigates questions addressing the common ground shared by polymer, organic, and materials chemistry. Guided by physics, theory, and engineering, they design, synthesize, and characterize polymer materials.  Any questions for Alicia and Jacob? They would love for you to reach out! Contact them at: [email protected] Grubbs Research Group: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/chemistry/faculty/_faculty-profiles/grubbs-barney Link to paper* (Amine-Catalyzed Chain Polymerization of Ethyl Glyoxylate from Alcohol and Thiol Initiators): https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00865 *If you cannot access the linked journal article, contact Dr. Grubbs via email to politely ask for a copy of the paper -->[email protected]

Ingmar Van Hengel is a PhD candidate at Delft University in Biomedical Engineering. He also has a mind for business when he created his first startup company called SkinPrint for the treatment of burn wounds using bioprinting to develop skin using the patient's cells and biocompatible natural polymer materials. He then shifted his focus to developing multifunctional 3D implants for orthopedic patients that are longer lasting and can combat bacterial infections. He has continued to grow his expertise in the Digital health field and was a business analyst for PatchAI, which develops intelligent digital health engagement solutions for decentralized clinical studies. He is now working with Alira Health in gathering data and doing research that can contribute greatly to the overall health of the society.   https://alirahealth.com/ https://www.patchai.io/news/author/ingmar-van-hengel   Some more links: Short movie about Skinprint: https://youtu.be/2C3aFV8V8k4 Publication skin printing: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20417314221088513 PhD research on 3D printed orthopedic implants: https://www.materialstoday.com/metals-alloys/news/new-titanium-implants-could-last-a-lifetime/ Short movie about digital health (Patchai): https://youtu.be/hQ9up3nGytk