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35 East 12th Street, Holland, MI 49423-3605
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SEMINAR SPEAKER: Melanie Chiu, Michigan State University
TITLE: "Light as a Tool for Polymer Synthesis"
ABSTRACT: The Chiu group seeks to utilize the tools of physical organic chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry to access and study new macromolecular and supramolecular systems. In the context of macromolecules, we are developing methods in which light can be used to externally control polymer dispersity and tacticity. The development of these methods will ultimately enable access to systematic series of polymers and copolymers with which we can probe how molecular structural parameters affect material properties. This seminar will focus on the interplay between probing the mechanism of controlled cationic vinyl ether polymerizations and using those insights to deliberately manipulate the dispersity of the product polymers while maintaining controlled polymerization.
BIO: Melanie Chiu earned her A.B. in Chemistry at Dartmouth College, and her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley working on organometallic coordination chemistry and organic methodology. She completed postdoctoral appointments at ETH Zürich and Stanford University exploring the interface between synthetic chemistry and organic materials.
Melanie began her independent career at Stony Brook University before moving to Michigan State University in January 2023, where she is currently an assistant professor working on using light as a tool for polymer synthesis.
Outside the lab, Melanie teaches introductory organic chemistry for non-majors and developed a graduate special topics course on polymer synthesis. She has also developed a graduate recruiting program for minoritized students (GROWChem@MSU). In her non-chemistry life, Melanie can usually be found on a bicycle or a practice room.
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