UB's Alexandridis to Receive 2010 Schoellkopf Award

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Paschalis Alexandridis, PhD, a UB distinguished professor and the director of graduate studies in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has been chosen to receive the 2010 Jacob F. Schoellkopf Award.

The award, given annually by the Western New York section of the American Chemical Society, honors an individual in the Niagara Frontier for outstanding work and service in the fields of chemistry or chemical engineering. The society has been presenting the award every year since 1931, making it the oldest award of its kind in the nation. UB scientists also won the award in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

In selecting Alexandridis, the award selection jury cited his "fundamental discoveries on block copolymer thermodynamics, structure and dynamics." The jury also noted his "development of functional products utilizing self-assembly methodologies."

The scientific and technological capabilities developed by Alexandridis and his colleagues that confer structure on nanoscale and microscale materials have a broad range of potential applications in the fields of health care, energy and the environment.

Alexandridis utilizes the technique of self-assembly, where individual molecules that are both water-soluble and water-insoluble spontaneously assemble into well-defined patterns that exhibit distinct, customized properties; he also employs directed assembly, where an external magnetic or electrical field is applied to nanosystems to achieve a particular physical pattern or configuration. His expertise in both has a wide range of applications in pharmaceuticals, coatings, inks and thermoplastic elastomers.

At the fundamental research level, Alexandridis' group focuses on the interconnection between molecular interactions, the structure of organized molecular assemblies, and their functional properties.

His research also addresses specific challenges, such as structured fluids and solvent effects, block copolymer phase behavior and structure, polymer-nanoparticle composites, and nanomaterials synthesis.

Alexandridis' research has been supported by government agencies and foundations including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Petroleum Research Fund, as well as by industry, including Dow Chemical, Bausch & Lomb, Kao Corp. and Procter & Gamble.

A UB professor since 1997, Alexandridis' excellence in teaching has been recognized with a 2006 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, a 2002 Certificate of Recognition from the UB Career Planning and Placement Office and the 1999 American Society for Engineering Education Dow Outstanding New Faculty Award.

Alexandridis was also the recipient of the 2005 Bodossaki Foundation Academic Prize in Applied Science, Greece's highest honor for young academics and scientists. Among his many other distinctions are the 2002 Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society Young Investigator Award, a 2002 UB Exceptional Scholar Award, the 2001 Japan Research Institute of Material Technology Institute Lecturer Award, the 1999 National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the 1994 American Oil Chemists' Society Outstanding Presentation Award.

Alexandridis has edited two books, "Amphiphilic Block Copolymers," published by Elsevier, and "Mesoscale Phenomena in Fluid Systems," published by the American Chemical Society. He has also coauthored more than 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, about 60 conference proceedings, and is named as co-inventor in 10 patents related to pharmaceutical formulations, superabsorbent polymers and nanomaterials synthesis.

A resident of Amherst, Alexandridis received his doctorate in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994, followed by postdoctoral research in polymer physical chemistry at Lund University in Sweden. He has also served as guest researcher at the Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max-Planck Society in Berlin, Germany, and at the Tokyo University of Science, Japan.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.