SEAM 2000 Award

Frank E. Karasz

Research Interests:
Polymer physics and chemistry (a) Polymer-polymer interactions in binary amorphous and amorphous-crystalline systems: effects of copolymerization and microstructure (b) Quasi-elastic light scattering from macromolecular solutions (c) Electronic and optical properties of polymers
Current Research:
Present research activities are focused on opto-electronic properties of modified conjugated polymers. A general objective is to maximize quantum yields of photon emission in these systems. One route has been to design macromolecules with alternating chromophoric and non-chromophoric sequences; another has been to use blends of appropriate morphology to enhance excitonic energy transfer. Other areas of interest include membrane modification by ion implantation to increase permselectivity; conformation of solvated chains below the θ-point (coil-globule transitions) and the effect of chain architecture on miscibility in multi-component systems.
Honors and Distinctions:

Member, National Academy of Engineering, 1991-

President, Scientific Council, IRTEMP, Naples, 1995-2002

Corresponding Member, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 1997-

Member, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2000-

Foreign Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineering, 1999-

Member, USRA Microgravity Science and Applications Science Council, 1999-

Member, National Research Council, National Materials Advisory Board, 2001-

Mettler Award in Thermal Analysis

Education Service Award (Plastics Institute of America)

High Polymer Physics Prize (Ford Prize), American Physical Society

Society of Plastics Engineers Research Award

Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of St. John (Knights of Malta)

Herman F. Mark Medal of the Austrian Institute for Chemical Research

Fellow, Polymer Materials Science and Engineering Division, American Chemical Society

Foreign Fellow of the Indian Materials Research Society

Honorary Medal, Slovak Academy of Sciences

http://www.pse.umass.edu/fkarasz/index.html