Plastic Waste: Global Challenges and Opportunities

Raymond J. Gorte is the Russel Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Endowed Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) and Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout his career at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Minnesota, he has advanced the study of fuel cells and catalysts including heterogeneous metals and zeolite materials. Gorte has received awards for his contributions to research, education and service, many of which highlight his interest in fuel cells and catalysis and the problems associated with characterization and fundamental mechanisms and kinetics. In 2018, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Daeyeon Lee is the Evan C. Thompson Term Professor for Excellence in Teaching in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering at Seoul National University and PhD in Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on developing deep understanding of the interactions between soft materials near or at interfaces and extending the obtained knowledge to direct the assembly of macroscopic structures that have designed properties and functionality. He has won numerous awards including the 2010 Victor K. LaMer Award, NSF CAREER Award, 2013 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, 2013 AIChE NSEF Young Investigator Award, 2014 Unilever Award for Young Investigator in Colloid and Surface Science and 2017 Soft Matter Lectureship Award.

Karen I. Winey is the Harold Pender Professor of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania with appointments in both Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  Karen’s research focuses on the nanoscale structures in ionomers and associating polymers to improve mechanical and transport properties, and her groups had recently discovered new structures in several precise polyethylenes.  Karen studies the mechanic, thermal and electrical properties of polymer nanocomposites, as well as polymer dynamics and diffusion in the presence of nanoparticles and in nanoconfinement.  Karen frequently couples experimental studies with simulation and theory via collaboration. Karen has delivered over 260 invited lectures, holds 21 patents and has published over 235 papers.

Reto Gieré investigates Earth materials, their response to geological forces, and their interaction with the environment and humans. He is engaged in research projects around the world and is dedicated to promoting the health of our fragile planet through teaching, mentoring and research. He obtained his Ph.D. at ETH Zürich (Switzerland), was a professor at Purdue University (USA), École Normale Supérieure (Paris), and the Universities of Basel (Switzerland), Freiburg (Germany) and Siena (Italy), and a visiting researcher at the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation and at Argonne National Laboratory (USA). He is Editor of Journal of Petrology, Chief Editor of European Journal of Mineralogy, a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and the Geological Society (London), an Honorary Member of the Mineralogical Society of Slovakia, and received an Honorary Doctorate from the Université de Haute-Alsace in France.