National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award
Dr. Ryan Poling-Skutvik (RI-INBRE Investigator and Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering), has received a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER five-year award in the amount of $589,933. “The award will fund a research investigation on colloidal gels, which are a unique class of materials that behave like either solids or liquids depending on processing conditions. 
This flexibility makes them essential for developing the next generation of battery technology, enabling additive manufacturing processes, and mimicking the performance of biological materials. By combining colloidal suspensions with novel polymer chemistries, this award aims to design gels with independent elasticity and viscosity. Additionally, this project will engage in targeted outreach efforts focused on recruiting and retaining LGBTQ+ youth in STEM fields to offset persistently low participation rates. Outreach efforts will include hands-on experiential workshops conducted in collaboration with local community organizations, role model introductions and mentorship, and the development of a STEM-focused support network for LGBTQ+ students at the University of Rhode Island.”
“RI-INBRE funding has been invaluable for my group in two primary ways. First, we received the early career development award to investigate nanoparticle transport in biomimetic emulsions. The ECD funds supported undergraduate and graduate researchers to conduct optical microscopy measurements from which we identified design paradigms that formed the basis for the successful CAREER proposal. Second, RI-INBRE provided us access to the confocal microscope in the shared facilities that was essential to characterizing the structure of our emulsions. We used this microscope to identify changes in the distribution of polymers throughout our system, leading us to hypothesize that tailoring polymer properties could improve our biomimicry. Thus, with RI-INBRE support, we have been able to collect the data necessary to justify our hypotheses and motivate our work. Furthermore, RI-INBRE has supported student travel to conferences including ACS Colloids and the American Physical Society meeting where they are presenting their work in both oral and poster presentations.”
Daniel Keane (RI-INBRE supported URI graduate student in Chemical Engineering and undergraduate mentor), Colby Constantine, (RI-INBRE supported URI undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering), Matthew Mellor (RI-INBRE supported URI undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering), and Dr. Ryan Poling-Skutvik, recently published “Bridging Heterogeneity Dictates the Microstructure and Yielding Response of Polymer-Linked Emulsions” in “Langmuir”, a publication in which the team studies the structure of gels formed by their polymers. These materials can replicate the mechanics and structure of healthy and diseased tissues.
These students along with Dr. Poling-Skutvik published “Nanoparticle transport in biomimetic polymer-linked emulsions” in the “American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal” and is featured on the journal’s cover . Biomimetic polymer-linked emulsions are a new class of biomimetic materials where oil droplets are linked together into a cohesive network of polymer chains. This publication looks at the biomimetic transport of nanoparticles. Dr. Poling-Skutvik along with this group of students is soon to be featured in the Chemical Engineering and Processes (CEP) magazine.