Potential applications of these technologies are virtually limitless. They give engineers entirely new sets of possible trade-offs between numerous design parameters such as weight, flexibility, conductivity, etc. My materials science professor once said that nearly all major advances in technology come from advances in materials engineering. I think he is absolutely right.MII is an interdisciplinary institute of more than 50 faculty members from five colleges with the goal of promoting research in macromolecular materials and engineering. A macromolecule is a large molecule that can be designed and synthesized to carry out different functions and interactions, such as new materials and films that can be used in medicine, telecommunications, or fuel cells.
At the conference, noted academic and industrial polymer scientists will present plenary lectures to lead sessions devoted to three major arenas of macromolecular science and engineering -- life sciences, alternative energy technologies, and electronics and optics. Virginia Tech faculty members and students will deliver 26 lectures and 91 posters.
Curtis W. Frank, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University will lecture on “Soft Materials, Biology, and Clinical Needs” to lead off a series of Virginia Tech presentations focusing on the macromolecular science and engineering at the interface with life sciences.
The economic impact of these advances is also powerful. As manufacturing techniques of new materials become more commonplace, this will reduce costs of development and production of these materials, adding further to the rate of technological development. No telling what further improvements these new advances will make possible.
This is very exciting stuff! I am very proud to see my alma mater so involved with the advance of human knowledge and technological progress.
GO HOKIES!!!
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