Polymer Science Podcast

Polymer Science Podcast

By Alicia Botes and Jacob SchekmanTechnology
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Polymer Science Podcast episodes

  • Episode 9: Talking to Dr. Upenyu L. Muza about Field flow fractionation for the characterization of Exosome-Polymer hybrids

    This episode is filled with information about the engineering and characterization of Exosome-Polymer hybrids. Dr. Upenyu Muza explains to us what exosomes are and how they can be modified and improved for the use in targeted drug delivery and for other medicinal applications by using polymers. He also gives us a detailed description of a very important separation technique called Field Flow Fractionation and how they adjust it to the requirements of their study of Exosome-Polymer hybrids.

    I hope you enjoy our talk as much as I did. Please share and give a review if you enjoyed this episode and feel free to leave us a comment.

     

    You can check out the work that was done by Dr. Muza and his team:

    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Upenyu-Muza

    https://www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-events/2021/0104_exosome-polymer-hybrids.html

     

    We would love to hear from you:

    28 min
  • Episode 8: Talking to Prof. Dr. Michael Meier about a Greener Future in Chemistry
    And we are back, kicking off the new year with a topic close to our hearts! Today my Co-host Jacob Schekman spoke to Prof. Michael Meier from the Laboratory of Applied Chemistry at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.
    The topic of sustainable chemistry in the lab is a very interesting and necessary topic. Prof Meier discusses the importance of making scientific experiments more environmentally friendly and being conscientious about decisions made in the lab especially about selecting projects and conducting experiments.
    Let us know what you think of this episode and if you enjoyed the new format! We would love to hear from you at [email protected]
    Enjoy!
    33 min
  • 2020 Wrap Up: Get to know us
    This year went by with a flash. Wow. It really tested our ability to work together as a society as well as forced us to re-evaluate what is essential and important to our health and well being.
    This is a special episode to wrap up this year and to give thanks to everyone who have supported The Polymer Science Podcast so far. We cannot thank you enough!
    One thing is certain, the year 2020 have shown us all how important Polymer Science is to our quality of life. In this episode we included some brief news and highlights about Polymer research that is aiding the fight against the pandemic and other interesting aspects of polymers in our daily lives.
    We then celebrated the end of this podcast's first season with a fun Q&A so that you can get to know us better. We hope you have a fun time listening to our quirky answers!
    You can go ahead and check out an interesting fact that we mentioned in the Q&A section about my co-host, Jacob Schekman, below:
    https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2013/prize-announcement/
    Other links to check out:
    https://www.electrive.com/2020/01/16/eindhoven-introduces-the-recycled-car-luca/
    And
    https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/news/132322/highly-potent-nanoparticle-covid-19-vaccine-designed-using-computer/
    Remember to send questions and comments to [email protected]
    We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and we hope you enjoy the rest of the festive season with your loved ones!
    Stay safe and we will see you again in January!
    All the best,
    Alicia and Jacob
    46 min
  • Episode 7: Talking to Haydn Kriel about Nordshield in the fight against pathogens
    This episode contains a fascinating talk with Haydn Kriel, who obtained a MSc in Polymer Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa and he now resides in Finland and works with the Nordic Biotech Group. We talked about the life of a Polymer Scientist and how to make the best decisions for your career. We also discussed their innovative and sustainable natural disinfectant called Nordshield.
    Nordshield is an ISO certified and award winning, multi-purpose product that forms a protective barrier against viruses, fungi and bacteria on treated surfaces like textiles and medical devices to name a few.
    You are welcome to visit the Nordshield website:
    https://www.nordshield.com/
    And follow their amazing contribution to biofriendly and environmentally conscious research on LinkedIn:
    https://www.linkedin.com/company/nordshield
    Remember to share this episode as well as send questions and comments to [email protected]
    We would love to hear from you and what you want to hear about next!
    57 min
  • Episode 6: Talking to Dr Nikoline Borgermann about making labs more sustainable and her consultancy Ava Sustain
    Today we talked to Dr Nikoline Borgermann, founder of Ava Sustain. This is a consultancy that is dedicated to help labs around the world to reduce their environmental footprint by reducing single use plastic, energy and water waste. 
    She will be giving tips on how to take the first step toward a "greener" lab and how to overcome obstacles that may be making the change difficult. I hope you find it useful and enjoy the episode! 
    Check out Ava Sustain on Instagram and twitter @avasustain
    You can also reach out to Dr Nikoline Borgermann on her website via www.avasustain.com
    She provided us with a link to more information if you are interested in learning about the statistics for energy waste in the labs specifically for fridges:
    https://www.mygreenlab.org/-70-is-the-new--80.html
    She wrote a blog that you can find via www.labconscious.com/blog/going-green-in-a-wet-lab-symbolic-vs-high-impact-actions
    Also, if you want to stay informed and part of the green lab community follow #greenlab #sustainablescience #labwaste #labwasteday
    Thank you for listening!
    1 hr
  • Educate Ep 4: Electrospinning (Part 2)
    Today we discuss some more interesting details about the electrospinning instrument. I hope you, as a student, researcher or even as a person wondering more about this instrument, find it useful! Please email The Polymer Science team at [email protected] for any questions or comments!
    Hope you enjoy!
    12 min
  • Episode 5: Talking to Dr Lisa Fortuin about Bone Glue! A degradable polymer based bone fracture adhesive that can replace metal plates and screws in t...
    Today we are talking to Dr Lisa Fortuin, a postdoctoral researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. She did her PhD at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where she used biodegradable polymers to develop prodrugs for targeted drug delivery. She is currently developing part of the layered system that forms the degradable polymer based bone fracture adhesive, which surgeons will eventually be able to use instead of metal plates and screws for bone fracture treatments!
    I hope you enjoy listening to this episode! Please feel free to send comments and questions to [email protected]
    You can also check out more about Dr Lisa Fortuin on social media like Instagram and LinkedIn:
    @lisafortuij
    Thank you for listening!
    36 min
  • Educate Ep 4: Electrospinning (Part 1)
    The electrospinning instrument has grown in popularity over the many years and have been developed in such a way that it can be used for a multitude of applications. Whether it is in the pharmaceutical or biomedical fields or in packaging or food preservation, it is an extremely interesting and useful tool in Polymer Science!
    Hope you enjoy the short episode, there will be more to come where we will be discussing electrospinning in depth.
    Please send comments and questions to [email protected] and I will answers related questions in the next part of this educational episode.
    10 min
  • Episode 4: Talking to Dr Joshua Tropp about specializing in conjugated polymers for applications in sensors and flexible electronics
    I'm excited to introduce my new co-host, Jacob Schekman, a fellow scientist with a passion for Polymer Science research!
    Today's episode is with Dr Joshua Tropp from the University of Southern Mississippi. This talk brings us an interesting and informative conversation about conjugated polymers and the role that these materials play in the development of sensors and flexible electronics.
    You can contact Dr Tropp via LinkedIn at Joshua Tropp, Ph.D or email to [email protected]
    Hope you enjoy the episode. Remember to subscribe and share the episode!
    Thank you for listening!
    40 min
  • Educate Ep 3: The Electron Microscope (Part 3)
    This is the last episode for the Electron Microscope series discussing software and EDX. If there are more questions and comments about this instrument, I will make a seperate questions and answers episode. Stay tuned for more educational episodes about other characterization and analytical instruments still to come!
    This podcast is now available on Podbean app as well!
    Leave a review and don't forget to subscribe!
    Hope you enjoy!
    12 min

About Polymer Science Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Two scientists from opposite ends of the Earth speak with researchers around the world to break down their fascinating work in polymer science, chemistry, material science, and engineering. Join Dr. Alicia Botes and Jacob Schekman as they break down exciting discoveries on the Polymer Science Podcast!