2011 DSM Award

Cole DeForest has been awarded the First Annual DSM-ACS POLY Polymer Technology Award 2011 for his PhD research in the field of responsive polymer hydrogels under the guidance of Professor Kristi Anseth at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

A judging committee comprising of Prof. Chris Bowman (Univ. Colorado Boulder), Prof. Karen Wooley (Texas A&M), Prof. Rachel O’Reilly (Warwick University), Marc Hendriks (DSM Biomedical), & Jos Put (DSM CTO) chose the winner from among four candidates selected as finalists.

   Cole DeForest has developed a synthetic methodology to synthesize novel hydrogel biomaterials whose biochemical and biophysical properties are independently tunable in both time and space and can be used to direct and probe fundamental cell function. The winning research will enable researchers to gain better insight into how cells receive complex information from their local native environment. This knowledge will aid in the development of next-generation biomaterials, which will be used as 3D cell culture materials to promote spatially-defined stem cell differentiation, as well as in the engineering of functional human tissue for regenerative medicine applications. The award carries a cash prize of $2,000.

   Cole DeForest said, “I am proud to be the recipient of the inaugural DSM Polymer Technology Award, a new tradition that I hope will carry on for many years to come. This award represents a strong commitment from DSM to new and ongoing partnerships with the academic world, which will be crucial in the continued development and commercialization of innovative chemical products for many years to come. It is an honor to be selected for such a fabulous award.”

The other three finalists were: Joshua Katz, James Kretlow and Timothy Merkel. All four finalists presented their PhD research at a special DSM – ACS POLY Symposium held in Denver.

Dr Put said, “DSM wants to recognize and reward exceptional achievements in science, both by our own employees and by talents working outside DSM. That is why we have our Bright Science Awards program. The Polymer Technology Award that we have introduced this year in the USA fits in our global strategy and is meant to support and reinforce our interaction with the academic world in the US.”

(l to r) Jos Put, CTO DSM and Cole DeForest, DSM-ACS POLY Polymer Technology Award Winner 2011

(l to r) Joshua Katz (Award Finalist), Cole DeForest (Award Winner), James Kretlow (Award Finalist), Timothy Merkel (Award Finalist), Travis Baughman (DSM-POLY Award Coordinator)