AATCC Announces
2011 Materials Research Poster Competition Winners

Winners have been selected in the sixth annual AATCC Materials Research Poster Competition for students developed by its Materials Interest Group. In August 2010, submissions were invited from both graduate and undergraduate students. The aim of the competition is the promotion of innovative product development from a material structures design perspective. 

The three themes/categories of this year’s competition were: Industrial/Technical/Sports Materials, Medical/Biomedical/Protective Materials and Devices, and Functional/Smart/Nano Materials.

Industrial/Technical/Sports Materials

1st Place
An Investigative Study: Heat Dissipation in Firefighter Suits by Julisha Joyner, Doniece Bolds, and Michael Charguluaf, North Carolina State University

2nd Place
Zar Golf…When Technology Meets Fashion by Jessica Salazar, Texas State University

Medical/Biomedical/Protective Materials and Devices

1st Place
Citric Acid Crosslinked Electrospun Zein Fibers for Biomedical Applications by Qiuran Jiang and Wei Li, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2nd Place
Fabrication of Hollow Nanoparticles from Corn Storage Protein Zein for Potential Biomedical Applications by Helan Xu and Yue Zhang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Functional/Smart/Nano Materials

1st Place
Zinc Oxide/Nylon 6 Plasma-Assisted Electrospun Fibers for Warfare Protective Applications by Narendiran Vitchuli, Joshua Nowak, Rupesh Nawalakhe, and Michael Sieber, North Carolina State University

2nd Place
Fluorescent Surface Coatings for Aerospace Composite Damage Detection by Ryan Toivola, University of Washington

Winning entries received cash awards of US$1,000 for first place and US$500 for second place in each category and complimentary student registration(s) for the 2012 AATCC International Conference. All entries were evaluated on concept originality, research quality, clarity, and results/discussions/conclusions.

The judges were Radhakrishnaiah Parachuru, Georgia Tech, Robina Hogan, Omni Tech International/Hogan Consulting, and Perry Grady, North Carolina State University/AATCC.