The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst focuses on fundamental problems in polymer science and engineering. The Center also provides seed funding for new opportunities in polymer research. The Center supports education outreach efforts that include collaborations with nearby women's colleges and with minority institutions, development of curricular materials for middle-school students and outreach to the general public through the National Plastics Museum. The MRSEC also supports shared experimental facilities that are accessible to center participants and to outside users, and broad industrial outreach efforts.
Research in this MRSEC is organized into two interdisciplinary research groups. One group emphasizes the manipulation of polymer morphology by controlled interfacial interactions. A second group explores the use of environmentally benign supercritical carbon dioxide to enhance the efficiency of polymer processing. Participants in the Center currently include 24 senior investigators, 6 postdoctoral associates, 23 graduate students, 10 undergraduates, and 2 technicians and other support personnel. Professor Thomas P. Russell directs the MRSEC.
