Tue,
12/20/2022 – 10:59am | By: Ivonne Kawas
The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) University of Polymer Science and Engineering
(SPSE) has been named one of the greatest polymer/plastics engineering systems by Plastics
Today. The ABET-accredited plan is housed inside the Thames Polymer Science Investigate
Middle on the Hattiesburg campus.
USM is amid 6 university programs recognized in this prestigious plastics marketplace
publication. In excess of the past 52 decades, USM has proven by itself as a single of the leading colleges
of polymer science and engineering in the planet and has been planning graduates to
secure work opportunities in the market. Specially, coatings are a basic component of the
system, with dedicated coursework, scholarships, and task placement in the coatings
industry.
“This rating confirms what we know to be the situation at Southern Miss, namely that our
Faculty of Polymer Science and Engineering has been and continues to be properly in advance
of the curve in making ready our graduates for the industries of now and the long term,”
reported Dr. Chris Winstead, Dean of the College or university of Arts and Sciences. “The plastics sector
is a crucial and strategic element of our financial state, with manufacturing and environmental
advancements getting enabled by the developments of Southern Pass up researchers.”
In accordance to a 2022 report by the Plastics Field Association, the plastics business
ranked as the sixth greatest in the U.S. in 2020, producing it a significant-shelling out in-demand
and appealing job route for future plastics engineers however, thanks to the challenges
and boundaries in the marketplace, graduates will need to be really experienced in digital
producing.
SPSE Assistant Director Bret Calhoun mentioned that USM has been forward of the Market
4. era curve for yrs by means of a curriculum that focuses on those sought-just after techniques.
“Our curriculum prepares college students for state-of-the-art production and sustainability,”
stated Calhoun. “High-throughput formulation employing robotics was released to our pupils
practically two many years back pupils at all ranges engage with using 3D printing on
many fronts, like prototyping for senior style and design assignments and growth of new
resins for printers.”
In addition, Calhoun highlighted that commitments to sustainability and innovation
are crucial for addressing the limitations and worries to plastics recycling and for building
a circular economic climate.
“Sustainability is a investigate thrust in the faculty, such as development of new supplies
from biobased feedstocks, polymer degradation, recycling of conventional plastics,
and environmental remediation employing separation membranes,” mentioned Calhoun.
Dr. Derek Patton, Director of the SPSE further more pointed out, “Sustainability of plastics
is a forefront concern for quite a few industrial sectors that is staying driven by increasing
buyer awareness. When the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” still applies, a extensive
solution to plastics sustainability involves innovation in several locations, like
how plastics are synthesized, processed, and reprocessed,” he additional. “For instance,
there is a growing desire for the development of surroundings-friendly making blocks
for plastics that fulfill or exceed the general performance of petroleum-primarily based resources though
also supplying prospects to close the loop by means of recovery of these building blocks
at the end-of-use.”
“These concerns present spots the place educational study can add to authentic societal
impacts,” he extra. “Whether in the classroom or by way of arms-on analysis, SPSE faculty
are fully commited to producing the future era of polymer experts and engineers
that solution problems with sustainable methods in head.”
Furthermore, SPSE is recognized for making an impact in the sector by bringing together
academic and industrial students from throughout the world for its Once-a-year Worldwide
Waterborne Symposium.
“This pre-eminent instructional and technical forum showcases new and progressive technologies
and retains scholars abreast of breakthrough discoveries,” explained Dr. Patton.
What does the journey as a polymer science and engineering pupil look like? Undergraduate
learners at Southern Pass up are envisioned to participate in college-led investigate teams
during their time in school, with many beginning to achieve encounter in a analysis-and-layout
natural environment as early as their freshman 12 months.
For the duration of their sophomore 12 months, learners start getting a broad point of view of the character
of investigate and design, as they participate in laboratory rotations. Throughout their
senior year, students take part in a senior style project. Students also conduct
sponsored, actual-globe investigation initiatives less than the course of a college mentor and
ordinarily a graduate student or postdoctoral mentor, as properly. Jobs are sponsored
through grants and awards from entities these types of as the Nationwide Science Foundation, Office
of Defense, and numerous industrial associates.
Learn far more about the College of Polymer Science and Engineering at USM.
