Hello, I’m Jennifer Chavez. I’m a chemist turned materials engineer! Most of my industrial career has been focused on polymer additive and advanced manufacturing - identifying and developing materials for applications, R&D for such applications, and structure-property-process relationships. Past industries include consumer goods, medical devices and renewable energy.
I’m actively looking for new roles in the greater Houston Texas area and would be super interested to connect with those hiring. Im open to a variety of roles technical, product or manufacturing faced.
I am a Texas A&M alum - and excited to connect with others in the chemical industry
Jennifer, check out Stephanie Kemp at CPS on LinkedIn. She's a longtime connection of mine and also a reader on occasion. She recruits heavily into polymer chemistry and materials labs too. Might not be additive manufacturing, but could be a good connection to make!
Hi Polymerist community and Tony! Love the newsletter, long time reader.
I'm Anthony Berardi - I'm a polymer chemist and newly minted PhD from Michigan. I'm a founder and CEO of Citrimer, an early-stage materials startup developing high-performance resins from citrus waste. We use good old fashioned synthetic chemistry to convert cheap and abundant bioderived feedstocks into carbon-negative resins. Of note, for every ton of resin we produce, we remove 1.5 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Right now, we're focused on developing resins for fiber-reinforced composites manufacturing and are excited to expand our platform horizontally into other specialty markets in the future. We just kicked off our pre-seed fundraise and will be looking to expand our engineering team soon! We're located in the Detroit area.
Would love to connect with fellow polymer enthusiasts looking for a position at a fast paced startup - or anyone working on anything in related spaces. Send me an email at anthony@citrimer.com!
Are you guys primarily using the oils from citrus and doing some polymerizations there? Let me know if you want to talk more in depth and get featured!
Hi, I’m a polymer chemist/materials scientist defending my PhD next week! Currently hunting for an industry position. Expertise in fire, surfaces, and thermal analysis of polymers; Hoping for a role in sustainable innovation, but anything involving materials/polymer R&D. Available to relocate from Texas in April.
Dallin, check out construction products companies specifically those who have intumescent coatings for and/or cementitious for steel. My old employer now part of certainteed could be a good place to check out.
Hi all! I'm Ben Cassidy. I'm a polymer chemist offering O&G pipeline cleanout consulting. You can get in touch with me at https://hammerandtongspolymer.com/.
I'd like some advice with a spin-off project of mine, https://wipeoutcaulkdissolver.com/. It dissolves silicone sealant residue in only 15 minutes. We're getting some sales but I'd love to get this into the hands of some larger customers or retail locations. Would love to chat with someone who has experience bringing new products to market in the home improvement/construction industries!
That's pretty cool. You should take it to DAP and whoever owns GE Silicones (I think it's a South Korean PE firm?) and see what they think if you haven't already. Are you intending this to be a DIY thing?
Yes indeed! Our best customers so far are professional glaziers and DIYers but I feel like the industry as a whole has many opportunities underserved by what's on the market.
I am a patent attorney with deep experience in polymer technology. Prior to opening my own firm, I was a patent examiner at the USPTO. If you are interested in filing a patent, feel free to reach out!
Following through on this this time, my name is Alec and I am a founder and the CEO of Ourobio, an early stage synbio and biomaterials startup - we use fermentation to convert food and ag waste into bioplastic resins and additives. Right now, our focus is on producing PHAs and pigments from feedstocks containing whey and soybean processing byproducts, but we intend to expand in either/both direction(s) as bandwidth/funding allows.
I’ve got a background in bioengineering and have worked on a handful of startups - mostly related to the bio and circular economy - in addition to Ourobio and am involved in communities+initiatives like Change Chemistry, SynbioBeta, ABLC and the Bold Goals Action Groups, and more.
We are always interested in connecting with others involved in and innovating in/around the bioeconomy and are happy to be a resource to anyone looking to plug in and learn more!
Phil Hagerty - I iwork at Victrex selling PEEK thermoplastics with a decade of experience in the North American chemicals market. Here to say hello and network.
Hi, I'm Quenton Young. I'm an aspiring polymer chemist who recently finished the coursework portion of a master's in polymer chemistry in the KCGIP at the University of Oregon! Right now, I need nine months of industry experience (preferably in polymer chemistry) in order to complete my master's degree. This'll be my first time in the industry, and I'm looking for a place to begin my career. I'm currently on the west coast, but I can relocate to just about anywhere. Any position would work for me, but I'm more interested in the characterization and testing side of things.
I've been on the job hunt for a couple of months now, and my director suggested that I give this place a look, so I wanted to say hello!
Quenton, good to have you here. Check out any contract lab that might do tensile testing or thermogravimetric analysis, or testing for construction products companies (essentially, code compliance testing) out there as a way to think about getting exposure to the testing side as an intern or even as fulltime while you complete your masters degree. Maybe Nike if you can get in there as a technician if you want to stay local, but I suspect just about anyone will do anything to go work at Nike.
Also, any core laboratories at a big university might be willing to bring someone in? Univ of Minnesota would be a great place for you, but I'm not familiar with the core facilities and how they are structured.
Hi, I'm Ben Britton, Founder/CTO of Ionomr Innovations based in Boston & Vancouver. We are market-leaders in next-generation of ion-exchange membranes displacing Nafion on the both proton/cation-exchange and hydroxide/anion-exchange, enabling large technology improvements in hydrogen, CCUS, batteries, and other electrochemical applications like green steel & LiOH recovery, and passive applications of ion-exchange materials in tough conditions like diffusion dialysis. I'm looking for polymer chemists, process chemists, polymer process chemists, formulations chemists AKA masters of the rheological arts, and technicians on both the polymer and analytical side in both Boston and Vancouver as we are getting our DOE scale-up grants off the ground as well as work on products for different markets beyond our original hydrogen focus. britton@ionomr.com but please ping me on LinkedIn as email can get buried - thanks! Also happy to meet up in either location.
Ben, you should reach out to start-ups doing fermentations for product development ideas too. I know it's an area of issue right now. Try Abhi at General Biological
Hello, I'm David Fortman. I'm a PhD polymer chemist with an academic background in sustainable polymers/polymer recycling. I spent about a half dozen years doing R&D in the adhesives & coatings industry, and very recently started a new R&D position in the eye care industry. Always interested to see what's going on in the broader polymer science community, and nice to see folks involved with a lot of interesting startups in the comments.
HEMA/PVP are still commonly used, but most higher-performing lenses on the market are "silicone hydrogel" lenses that are softer and more oxygen permeable.
Hi everyone, I'm Seadna Quigley, long-time and avid Polymerist reader and founder-CEO of Level Nine (www.levelninelabs.com), a Berlin-based startup developing next-generation catalysts to create the green chemicals of tomorrow.
We're developing the world’s first nanozymes, next-generation catalysts that bridge the gap between traditional catalysts (stable but crude) and enzymes (targeted and efficient but very fragile) to unlock new possibilities for green chemicals production. Our nanozymes mimic the mechanism of an enzyme’s active site to deliver the powerful catalytic activity and specificity of enzymes to enable precise chemical conversions.
Our first nanozymes convert waste streams into renewable chemical building blocks, reducing the world's reliance on fossil fuels. Specifically, our first nanozyme mimics the function of a laccase to convert lignin (a super-abundant renewable feedstock) into renewable chemicals. It's similar to what MetGen is doing (covered in the blog), but using a different approach.
Looking to connect with anyone working with lignin or interested in producing biobased chemicals from lignin (e.g. polyols)!
Hello, I’m Jennifer Chavez. I’m a chemist turned materials engineer! Most of my industrial career has been focused on polymer additive and advanced manufacturing - identifying and developing materials for applications, R&D for such applications, and structure-property-process relationships. Past industries include consumer goods, medical devices and renewable energy.
I’m actively looking for new roles in the greater Houston Texas area and would be super interested to connect with those hiring. Im open to a variety of roles technical, product or manufacturing faced.
I am a Texas A&M alum - and excited to connect with others in the chemical industry
Jennifer, check out Stephanie Kemp at CPS on LinkedIn. She's a longtime connection of mine and also a reader on occasion. She recruits heavily into polymer chemistry and materials labs too. Might not be additive manufacturing, but could be a good connection to make!
Will for sure reach out to her. Also - just want to add, I’m a long time newsletter reader. Great to finally connect, Tony!
Hi Polymerist community and Tony! Love the newsletter, long time reader.
I'm Anthony Berardi - I'm a polymer chemist and newly minted PhD from Michigan. I'm a founder and CEO of Citrimer, an early-stage materials startup developing high-performance resins from citrus waste. We use good old fashioned synthetic chemistry to convert cheap and abundant bioderived feedstocks into carbon-negative resins. Of note, for every ton of resin we produce, we remove 1.5 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Right now, we're focused on developing resins for fiber-reinforced composites manufacturing and are excited to expand our platform horizontally into other specialty markets in the future. We just kicked off our pre-seed fundraise and will be looking to expand our engineering team soon! We're located in the Detroit area.
Would love to connect with fellow polymer enthusiasts looking for a position at a fast paced startup - or anyone working on anything in related spaces. Send me an email at anthony@citrimer.com!
Are you guys primarily using the oils from citrus and doing some polymerizations there? Let me know if you want to talk more in depth and get featured!
Yep! That sounds great, I'll send you a message on LinkedIn, would love to chat with you
Hi, I’m a polymer chemist/materials scientist defending my PhD next week! Currently hunting for an industry position. Expertise in fire, surfaces, and thermal analysis of polymers; Hoping for a role in sustainable innovation, but anything involving materials/polymer R&D. Available to relocate from Texas in April.
Dallin, check out construction products companies specifically those who have intumescent coatings for and/or cementitious for steel. My old employer now part of certainteed could be a good place to check out.
From a fellow Texas grad, good luck next week!
Hi all! I'm Ben Cassidy. I'm a polymer chemist offering O&G pipeline cleanout consulting. You can get in touch with me at https://hammerandtongspolymer.com/.
I'd like some advice with a spin-off project of mine, https://wipeoutcaulkdissolver.com/. It dissolves silicone sealant residue in only 15 minutes. We're getting some sales but I'd love to get this into the hands of some larger customers or retail locations. Would love to chat with someone who has experience bringing new products to market in the home improvement/construction industries!
Including fully cured or gelled sealants?!
Correct! Long story, but we developed it for O&G but realized it had applications elsewhere.
That's pretty cool. You should take it to DAP and whoever owns GE Silicones (I think it's a South Korean PE firm?) and see what they think if you haven't already. Are you intending this to be a DIY thing?
Yes indeed! Our best customers so far are professional glaziers and DIYers but I feel like the industry as a whole has many opportunities underserved by what's on the market.
I am a patent attorney with deep experience in polymer technology. Prior to opening my own firm, I was a patent examiner at the USPTO. If you are interested in filing a patent, feel free to reach out!
www.schneeriplaw.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanschneeriplaw/
Hi everyone,
Following through on this this time, my name is Alec and I am a founder and the CEO of Ourobio, an early stage synbio and biomaterials startup - we use fermentation to convert food and ag waste into bioplastic resins and additives. Right now, our focus is on producing PHAs and pigments from feedstocks containing whey and soybean processing byproducts, but we intend to expand in either/both direction(s) as bandwidth/funding allows.
I’ve got a background in bioengineering and have worked on a handful of startups - mostly related to the bio and circular economy - in addition to Ourobio and am involved in communities+initiatives like Change Chemistry, SynbioBeta, ABLC and the Bold Goals Action Groups, and more.
We are always interested in connecting with others involved in and innovating in/around the bioeconomy and are happy to be a resource to anyone looking to plug in and learn more!
PHAs in the comments!!!!
Alec, would love to interview you sometime for the newsletter if you are up for it and talk about Ourobio when you are ready.
Phil Hagerty - I iwork at Victrex selling PEEK thermoplastics with a decade of experience in the North American chemicals market. Here to say hello and network.
Hi, I'm Quenton Young. I'm an aspiring polymer chemist who recently finished the coursework portion of a master's in polymer chemistry in the KCGIP at the University of Oregon! Right now, I need nine months of industry experience (preferably in polymer chemistry) in order to complete my master's degree. This'll be my first time in the industry, and I'm looking for a place to begin my career. I'm currently on the west coast, but I can relocate to just about anywhere. Any position would work for me, but I'm more interested in the characterization and testing side of things.
I've been on the job hunt for a couple of months now, and my director suggested that I give this place a look, so I wanted to say hello!
Quenton, good to have you here. Check out any contract lab that might do tensile testing or thermogravimetric analysis, or testing for construction products companies (essentially, code compliance testing) out there as a way to think about getting exposure to the testing side as an intern or even as fulltime while you complete your masters degree. Maybe Nike if you can get in there as a technician if you want to stay local, but I suspect just about anyone will do anything to go work at Nike.
Also, any core laboratories at a big university might be willing to bring someone in? Univ of Minnesota would be a great place for you, but I'm not familiar with the core facilities and how they are structured.
Hi, I'm Ben Britton, Founder/CTO of Ionomr Innovations based in Boston & Vancouver. We are market-leaders in next-generation of ion-exchange membranes displacing Nafion on the both proton/cation-exchange and hydroxide/anion-exchange, enabling large technology improvements in hydrogen, CCUS, batteries, and other electrochemical applications like green steel & LiOH recovery, and passive applications of ion-exchange materials in tough conditions like diffusion dialysis. I'm looking for polymer chemists, process chemists, polymer process chemists, formulations chemists AKA masters of the rheological arts, and technicians on both the polymer and analytical side in both Boston and Vancouver as we are getting our DOE scale-up grants off the ground as well as work on products for different markets beyond our original hydrogen focus. britton@ionomr.com but please ping me on LinkedIn as email can get buried - thanks! Also happy to meet up in either location.
Ben, you should reach out to start-ups doing fermentations for product development ideas too. I know it's an area of issue right now. Try Abhi at General Biological
Hello, I'm David Fortman. I'm a PhD polymer chemist with an academic background in sustainable polymers/polymer recycling. I spent about a half dozen years doing R&D in the adhesives & coatings industry, and very recently started a new R&D position in the eye care industry. Always interested to see what's going on in the broader polymer science community, and nice to see folks involved with a lot of interesting startups in the comments.
Is HEMA/PVP still the bread and butter?
Great to have you here David!
HEMA/PVP are still commonly used, but most higher-performing lenses on the market are "silicone hydrogel" lenses that are softer and more oxygen permeable.
Hi everyone, I'm Seadna Quigley, long-time and avid Polymerist reader and founder-CEO of Level Nine (www.levelninelabs.com), a Berlin-based startup developing next-generation catalysts to create the green chemicals of tomorrow.
We're developing the world’s first nanozymes, next-generation catalysts that bridge the gap between traditional catalysts (stable but crude) and enzymes (targeted and efficient but very fragile) to unlock new possibilities for green chemicals production. Our nanozymes mimic the mechanism of an enzyme’s active site to deliver the powerful catalytic activity and specificity of enzymes to enable precise chemical conversions.
Our first nanozymes convert waste streams into renewable chemical building blocks, reducing the world's reliance on fossil fuels. Specifically, our first nanozyme mimics the function of a laccase to convert lignin (a super-abundant renewable feedstock) into renewable chemicals. It's similar to what MetGen is doing (covered in the blog), but using a different approach.
Looking to connect with anyone working with lignin or interested in producing biobased chemicals from lignin (e.g. polyols)!
My lignin people where are you?! Get in with Seadna!
I'm Jim Tung, I'm a business development manager in Portland, Oregon for Lacamas Laboratories, a large-scale organic chemical manufacturer.
So, if you need some weird chemicals made for you consider reaching out to Jim
Yup, anytime! j.tung@lacamaslabs.com