NDSU professor and chair of coatings and polymeric materials, Dean C. Webster, has been named director of the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites. Webster’s new role was effective July 1, 2023.
CB2 is a National Science Foundation Industry & University Cooperative Research Center focused on developing high-value biobased products from agricultural and forestry feedstocks.
Headquartered at NDSU with sites at Iowa State University, Washington State University, and the University of Georgia, the center develops fundamental knowledge related to bioplastics and biocomposites and disseminates research-based findings that promote sustainability to industry partners.
Current CB2 industry partners include Amazon, Ford, Hyundai America, John Deere, ADM, Kimberly-Clark, 3M, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sherwin-Williams, AkzoNobel, Danimer Scientific, NatureWorks, Avery Dennison, Cargill, Keurig Dr Pepper and Mars, Inc.
The center helps undergraduate and graduate students learn the skills needed to become tomorrow’s bioplastics scientists. The center has held nine rounds of funding for research projects since 2015 and as this research is often driven by industry partners’ needs; results have a quick path to commercialization.
The NSF expects that IUCRC research consortiums will grow and eventually become member supported with no further requirement for NSF funding. The center is expected to be financially self-supported by 2027.
Webster has vast expertise in monomer and polymer development and previously served CB2 as the NDSU site director. Before joining NDSU, he spent more than 17 years in industry at both Sherwin-Williams Company and Eastman Chemical Company. Webster’s research interests include renewably sourced polymers, synthesis of new high-performance polymers and thermosets, polymerization reactions, quantitative structure-property relationships, crosslinking chemistry and kinetics. Webster previously served as the CB2 site director for NDSU.
“Now in its ninth year, CB2 has built a strong foundation of carrying out industry-relevant research in transitioning to a biobased economy,” Webster said. “Alongside our advisory board, I look forward to growing CB2 and working to focus the center on delivering solutions based upon sustainable polymers and composite materials that can help solve critical issues facing us all.”
Chad Ulven, NDSU professor of mechanical engineering, will replace Webster as the NDSU CB2 site director. Ulven’s research interests include thermoplastic and thermoset bio-based composites development, environmentally friendly composites manufacturing, advanced polymer composite additive manufacturing, composite process design and modeling and characterization of advanced materials.
Webster replaces David Grewell, who helped create CB2 and served as center director since its launch. Grewell recently left NDSU and stepped down as CB2 director to become the dean of Northern Illinois University Engineering and Engineering Technology program.
About CB2
As an Industry—University Cooperative Research Center, CB2 is funded, in part, through the National Science Foundation. Representatives from CB2’s member companies comprise an Industry Advisory Board that meets twice a year to review progress on current projects and, to pitch and assess new proposals.
IAB members share in the research and development costs, as well as in the intellectual property. IAB representatives work directly, as project mentors, with the university faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to develop technologies that can be rapidly adopted by CB2 member companies.
The program provides hands-on training while ensuring funds and projects are focused on rapid development of tools needed by industry to further sustainability goals. Students and university researchers work under the mentorship of industry scientists and product developers from some of the biggest names in industry: Amazon, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ford, Evonik, Hyundai America, John Deere, ADM, Kimberly-Clark, 3M, BASF, Sherwin-Williams, AkzoNobel, Danimer Scientific, NatureWorks, Green Dot Bioplastics, PlantSwitch, RheTech, Medtronic, Danimer Scientific, EvolveGolf, Native American Fiber Program, Avery Dennison, Cargill, Keurig Dr Pepper, Mars, Inc., and others.
Projects are funded through IAB membership fees, with Center/Site support funding provided by the NSF. CB2’s four search sites are located at NDSU, ISU, WSU and UGA.
To contact CB2 about membership or other information, visit https://cb2center.org/home.
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