9:22 a.m., Oct. 19, 2009----Mark Panczyk, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, was recognized by the American Chemical Society's Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry for an outstanding poster contribution at the Fall 2009 ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C.

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Panczyk, who is co-advised by Eric Furst, associate professor, and Norman Wagner, the Alvin B. and Julia O. Stiles Professor and department chairperson, won one of five awards in a competition that featured some 200 posters. His submission documented his work on self-assembly of anisotropic particles in AC electric fields.

The work is part of an overall effort within UD's chemical engineering department to manipulate and control self-assembly of soft materials, which have applications in a number of areas, ranging from paints and coatings to photovoltaic cells and circuit components.

“It's very unusual for a first-year graduate student to receive this kind of recognition at a national meeting,” Furst says, “but Mark's award demonstrates the level of the grad students recruited to UD's Department of Chemical Engineering. Grad students are the lifeblood of our department, and we're always pleased when one of our students is recognized by a national professional organization.”

Panczyk, who is tentatively planning a career in academia when he completes his doctoral degree, chose UD for its top ten ranking as well as for its location and atmosphere. “I also like the fact that UD is well connected in terms of both industrial and academic research so that I can pursue either path when I'm finished,” he says. “And having a number of group members to talk to has been nothing short of a positive experience for me.”

A native of New Jersey, Panczyk earned his bachelor's degree at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Article by Diane Kukich
Photo by Doug Baker