Nicholas L. Abbott is the the Tisch University Professor at the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering of Cornell University. His research interests revolve around colloidal and interfacial phenomena, including biomolecular interfaces, hydrophobic interactions and liquid crystalline materials. Prior to joining Cornell University in 2018, Abbott was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he served as department chair and director of the Wisconsin Materials Research and Engineering Center. Abbott is a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science from 2012 to 2022. He has co-founded two companies based on his university research, Platypus Technologies and Imbed Biosciences.
Claribel Acevedo-Vélez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM). Her research interests revolve around colloids and interfacial phenomena, with a focus on the study of the interactions and assembly of surfactants and nanoparticles at interfaces to generate knowledge that can be useful for the design of functional materials. Prior to joining UPRM, Acevedo-Vélez worked as a research scientist and project leader within the R&D organization of The Dow Chemical Company, where she specialized in surfactant product and formulation development for multiple applications, including consumer products and crude oil recovery. She served as co-organizer of the symposium “Interfacial Phenomena and the Oil-Water Interface” at the spring 2017 ACS National Meeting, and as chair and co-chair of various sessions at AIChE annual meetings, such as “Self-Assembly in Solution”, “Interfacial Aspects of Oil/Gas Recovery and Remediation” and “Emulsions and Foams”.
Paschalis Alexandridis is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University at Buffalo (UB), The State University of New York (SUNY). Research in his group utilizes molecular interactions and supramolecular assemblies to develop products with desired properties and function, and processes that are energy efficient and environment friendly. Alexandridis has served as chair of AIChE Area 1C: "Interfacial Phenomena" and on the executive committee of the ACS Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. He has organized numerous symposia and sessions at AIChE, ACS, and AOCS meetings, and he currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology and the Review Editor for the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents. At UB, Alexandridis has developed and taught courses on Product Design, Colloids & Surfaces, Polymers, and Petroleum Engineering.
Daniel S. Miller obtained his B.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At UW-Madison, he studied interactions between lipids and liquid crystal-in-water emulsions as a platform for biosensing under the advisement of Nicholas Abbott. Dan joined Dow through a rotational assignments program in Midland, Michigan in 2014. He completed assignments in Core R&D, Engineering & Process Science, Core R&D, Formulation Science, and Dow Microbial Control before rejoining Formulation Science (now Formulation, Automation, & Material Science) in 2016, where he is now Research Scientist. His main research interests
include the use of colloid & interface science to solve problems in soft materials applications, including oil solubilization, emulsification, foam stabilization, oil deposition, adhesion to biological substrates, protein stabilization, and reducing microbial fouling at interfaces. Most recently, Dan has worked on unmasking mechanisms of polymer-aided oil deposition from home and personal care products and development of new, greener surfactants.
Stephanie Lam is an Investigator in the Material Science Department at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharma R&D, Collegeville, PA. Her role involves understanding the structure-function relationship between input materials and drug product properties, in support of pharmaceutical and biomedical formulations and products. Prior to joining GSK, Stephanie Lam was a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the Polymers and Complex Fluids Group. She holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from NC State University and has been active with AIChE, chairing sessions in Area 1C "Interfacial Phenomena", as well as other topical conferences such as ACS Colloids and Society of Rheology (SOR).
Marina Tsianou is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) at the University at Buffalo. Tsianou’s research interests and activities involve the design, development, and characterization of molecularly-engineered nanomaterials with desirable functionalities. Her research addresses nano- and meso-scale organization and structure, complex fluids and soft interfaces, nanostructured polymers in films and on surfaces, and polymer dissolution. Prior to joining academia, Tsianou was a formulator at the Xerox ink-jet business unit. Tsianou has been active within AIChE as Vice-Chair and Director of the Separations Division, chair of Area 2B “Crystallization and Evaporation”, and chair of Area 1C “Interfacial Phenomena”. Her teaching at UB includes Colloids & Surfaces, Crystal Engineering, Materials, and Thermodynamics.
