WAND interviews Tony Griffin

AMS group member Tony Griffin was live with the local NBC affiliate WAND on Dec. 15, 2016.  He was interviewed about the research going on at AMS for a news piece to coincide with the release of the group’s Nature perspective article.

Check out the new logo for the AMS group.  You can see an animation of the logo on our Facebook page.

Beckman Open House 2017

The AMS lab was on full display at the biannual Beckman Open House March 10-11, 2016 in conjunction with the Engineering Open House at the University of Illinois.  This was a massive effort of the entire group covering a variety of demonstrations and research highlights both in the Beckman Atrium as well as the AMS labs.  A special thanks to Mayank Garg for coordinating and organizing the group’s effort.

AMS launches Facebook page

The AMS group launched a new Facebook page for the AMS Group coinciding the with Beckman Open House festivities.  Like us and keep connected to the group!

White gives Centennial Lecture at Missouri University of Science and Technology

Prof. White gave the Centennial Lecture at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MUS&T) celebrating the 100th year of existence for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering on Dec. 8, 2016.  This was a special trip for him since MUS&T is his alma mater.

White presents invited talk to Academy of Dental Materials

Prof. White was one of the invited speakers to address the annual meeting of the Academy of Dental Materials in Chicago, IL (Oct. 12-14, 2016).  Prof. White delivered a paper on “Self-Healing Materials and Biomedical Applications.”  Dr. Mostafa Yourdkhani also attended the meeting.

Prof. White along with Dr. Moustafa Yourdkhani, Sang Yup Kim, and Stephen Pety all attended the 31st American Society for Composites Annual Technical Conference, Sept. 19-21, 2016 in Williamsburg, VA.  Stephen presented his paper “Crashworthiness of Microvascular Fiber-Reinforced Composites.”  Mostafa presented his work on “Sustained Release of Bioactive Compounds from Polymer Microcapsules for Smart Dental Composites.”  And Sang Yup presented his paper on “Manufacturing of Self-healing Carbon-fiber/Thermoplastic-toughened Epoxy Prepreg.”

Former group member Ryan Merriman was married on June 11, 2016 in St. Louis, MO to Hannah Worman.  Profs. Sottos and White were able to attend along with former group member Amit Patel who traveled down from Minneapolis.

Stephen Pety gets married!

The AMS group was out in force at the wedding of Stephen Pety to Janelle Santos in Chicago, IL on July 9, 2016.  Many photos and videos of dancing exist for future blackmail purposes.

Sang Yup Kim gets married!

A few of the AMS group members took the long trip to Chuncheon, Korea to attend Sang Yup Kim’s wedding to Sookyoung Jeon on May 21, 2016.  Jaejun Lee was there in addition to former group members Dr. Chanwoo Park and Chris Mathews.

Kevin Hart Defends Thesis

Kevin Hart successfully defended his thesis “Self-Healing of Impact Damage in Vascular Fiber-Reinforced Composites” on Feb. 2, 2016.   Kevin now works at the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen MD.

Dr. Maxwell Robb’s research earns the cover of ASC Central Science

Dr. Maxwell Robb’s research was featured on the cover of ACS Central Science for their Aug. 17, 2016 issue.  The image of a self-reporting coatings highlights his paper, “A Robust Damage-Reporting Strategy for Polymeric Materials Enabled by Aggregation-Induced Emission” with co-authors: Maxwell J. Robb, Wenle Li, Ryan C. R. Gergely, Christopher C. Matthews, Scott R. White, Nancy R. Sottos, and Jeffrey S. Moore.

White wins FEF for 2016-17

Prof. White was selected for a Faculty Entrepreneurial Fellowship (FEF) for the 2016-17 academic year.  During his FEF tenture Prof. White will guide a group of students in the process of commercializing technology for self-healing batteries.

White named SES Fellow

Prof. White has been selected as a Fellow of the international Society of Engineering Science for 2017.  SES promotes engineering science by bringing together leading engineers, scientists and mathematicians worldwide to tackle some of the most challenging problems at the disciplines’ interface.

Nature perspective paper published – 12/14/16

In a sweeping perspective article published on December 14, 2016 in the journal Nature, Profs. White, Sottos, and Moore, along with Beckman Postdoctoral Fellows Jason Patrick and Maxwell Robb, review the state-of-the-art for autonomous polymers and lay out the future directions for the field.

IChemE Award for BP-Illinois Project

A collaborative research project on “Autonomous Detection of Damage in Coatings” won the 2016 Oil and Gas Award at the IChemE Global Awards Banquet.  The project is supported by the BP International Centre for Advanced Materials (BP-ICAM), and involves postdoctoral researchers, Wenle Li and Maxwell Robb, and along with Profs. Sottos, White, and Moore.

AMS Reunion BBQ Aug. 27, 2016

The 3rd installment of what is now the annual AMS Reunion BBQ was held at Ambucs Park in Urbana, IL on Aug. 27, 2016.  The “Oldest Degree Represented” went to Daniel Therriault (PhD 2003)  and Onur Armagan (MS 2006).  The award for “Longest Travel Day” went to Andrew Hamilton (3668 miles from Belfast).  Newbie Alumni Award went to “The Jones Sisters” (aka Amanda & Elizabeth).  A special new award for “Most Anticipated New Graduate Student” went to two-year-old Noah LaMantia!

Stephen Pety wins 2016-17 ASC Scholarship

Stephen Pety was the recipient of the 2016 American Society for Composites Scholarship.  He received the award during the conference dinner for the 31st ASC Technical Conference at Williamsburg, VA on Sept. 20, 2016.

Gina Miller named 2016 Outstanding Recent Alumnus for AE

Group members at 6:30 am before the start of the Illinois Marathon. Front Row (left to right): Jason Patrick, Mayank Garg, Sonika Rajput, Polette Centellas, Prof. White, Prof. Sottos.  Second Row (left to right): Al Snyder, Tony Griffin, Arvin Joshi, Tae Ann Kim, Stephen Pety, Hector Lopex, Leon Dean, Mike Odarczenko, Mike Rossol, Rachel Stein, Andrew Lauer, Ryan Gergely.

Illinois Marathon 2016

20 members of the group participated in various races for the Illinois Marathon weekend.  We had four marathon relay teams including “Old Dogs, New Tricks”, “Team R.I.O.T.”, and “AMS(+r)”.  PhD student Leon Dean ran his first full marathon as well.  Profs. White and Sottos hosted everyone for a post-race party that included a much needed soak in their new hot tub.

Dr. Wenle Li ‘s research receives the cover of Advanced Materials

Dr. Wenle Li’s research was featured on the cover of Advanced Materials for their March 16, 2016 issue.  The image of a self-reporting coating highlights his paper, “Autonomous Indication of Mechanical Damage in Polymeric Coatings,” with co-authors: Wenle Li, Christopher C. Matthews, Ke Yang, Michael T. Odarczenko, Scott R. White, and Nancy R. Sottos.

Hector Lopez wins Mavis Award from College of Engineering

Three named Mavis Future Faculty Fellows

White wins Drucker Award

see Aerospace Engineering press release

Ryan Gergely Defends Thesis

Ryan Gergely successfully defended his thesis “Regeneration of Impact Puncture and Abrasive Damage in Polymers” on April 15, 2016.  Ryan now works for General Motors Research and Development in Warren, MI.

Inaugural GRC on Multifunctional Materials held at Ventura, CA Jan 31-Feb. 4, 2016.

Prof. Scott White and Dr. Les Lee (AFOSR) chaired the inaugural Gordon Research Conference on Multifunctional Materials held in Ventura, CA during Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2016.  Conference Vice-Chairs Prof. Nancy Sottos and Dr. James Thomas (NRL) will chair the next GRC in 2018.  Total attendance at the conference was 180 making this one of the most successful inaugural GRCs on record.

Director of the AFOSR, Dr. Thomas Christian, discusses the new Center of Excellence with Professor Scott White.

Members of the Air Force Research Lab, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Center of Excellence at UIUC pose for a group photo at the Beckman Institute during the kick-off meeting on Nov. 9, 2015.

AFOSR Awards $4.3 Million for New Center Focusing on Self-Healing Materials

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has awarded $4.3 million to create the national Center of Excellence in Self-healing, Regeneration, and Structural Remodeling at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Scott R. White, professor of aerospace engineering at Illinois, heads up the center, which builds upon research into autonomous materials conducted by the Autonomous Materials Systems Group at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
 “The focus of the center is developing the next generation of structural materials for the Air Force that would encompass autonomous functionality--for example, self-healing systems--that take inspiration from biology to accomplish novel mission objectives,” White said.

Joining White in the new center are Beckman faculty members Philippe Geubelle, professor of aerospace engineering; Nancy R. Sottos, professor of materials science and engineering; Jeffrey S. Moore, professor of chemistry; as well as Aaron P. Esser-Kahn professor of chemistry at the University of California-Irvine. Dr. Byung Lip Lee will manage the program for AFOSR.

Tony Coppola wins ASC Scholarship

Tony Coppola was the recipient of the American Society for Composites Scholarship for 2015.  He was recognized during the conference dinner for the 30th ASC Technical Conference at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI on Sept. 29, 2015.

ICCM 20 in Copenhagen, Denmark – July 19-24, 2015

Jason Patrick and Tony Coppola joined Professors Sottos, White and Geubelle at the 20th International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM 20) in Copenhagen, Denmark during July 19-24, 2015.  Former group members Andrew Hamilton, Chris Hansen, and Daniel Therriault were also in attendance.

Left to right: Andrew Hamilton and wife (Melissa), Chris Hansen, Prof. Sottos, Prof. White all enjoying some wine along the canal in  Copenhagen after the afternoon sessions.

Tony Coppola gets married!

Several AMS members past and present gathered for the wedding of Tony Coppola and Haley Caulfield in Chester Springs, PA on June 27, 2015.  Kevin Hart serenaded the couple with keyboard accompaniment.  Dancing was said to get out of hand late in the night.

ICSHM 2015

AMS had a strong 14 person contingent at the recent 5th International Conference on Self-Healing Materials (ICSHM 2015) in Raleigh-Durham, NC.  The conference was a resounding success with 254 delegates from 20 countries represented.  The 6th ICSHM will be held in Friedrichshafen/Lake Constance, Germany during June 25-29, 2017.

A celebration was held at the Beckman Institute on April 18, 2015 to mark the passing of 1000 citations for the original self-healing paper ().  Two of the four original students from the team were in attendance.  Current AMS team members offered a glimpse of the future with a few talks in the morning session of the symposium leading up to a the faculty offering their reflective thoughts of the work leading up to the seminal publication .  The symposium ended with a panel discussion with Dr. Michael Kessler and Dr. Eric Brown offering their own perspective on their experiences riding the self-healing wave and answering questions from the audience.  A celebratory dinner was held at Baccaro in downtown Champaign that evening.

Senator Dick Durbin visited the AMS labs. (see more here)

Professor White describes the focus of the research labs to Senator Durbin.

PhD student Mike Odazrczencko (right) explains encapsulation technology to Senator Durbin with PhD student Evan Lloyd (background).

Post-doctoral researcher Dr. Wenle Li (right) listens to Senator Durbin during his lab tour with Beckman Post-doctoral Fellow Jason Patrick (blue shirt) and PhD student Stephen Pety (white coat) in background.

Tony Coppola Defends Thesis

Tony Coppola successfully defended his thesis “THERMAL REGULATION OF VASCULARIZED FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES” on October 15, 2015.  Tony now works for General Motors Research and Development in Warren, MI.

Annual Group Picnic

A strong showing of group alumni gathered at Ambucs Park in Urbana, IL on September 5, 2015 for the annual group picnic.  The “Oldtimer Award” went to Danny O’Brien (‘03 PhD MIE) and his family.  “Farthest Travel Award” went to Amanda Jones (’15 PhD TAM) coming from Austin, TX (1005 miles) and narrowly edging out Henghua Jin (’12 MechSE) coming from Houston, TX (956 miles).