 
8. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
A. POLYED
B. The Intersociety Polymer Education Council (IPEC)
C. Tutorials at the ACS National Meetings
D. Workshops
E. Improving the Public Perception of Polymers
F. Nomenclature
The Division has been engaged in extensive educational activities, such as topical workshops, tutorials, graduate student meetings, publications, graduate research polymer conferences, undergraduate summer scholarships, and summer student employment programs.
A. POLYED
Many of educational activities are accomplished within the framework of the POLYED, a joint Committee of POLY and PMSE, and many designed to bring polymer science to the young and the uninitiated. John P. Droske and Charles E. Carraher have played a major role in its activities, for which they were recognized by a joint (POLY/PMSE) Excellence in Service to POLYED Award in 1995.
Since POLYED plays such a major role in polymer education, it might be useful to restate what it is. It is a consortium of groups interested in science education and in polymer education in particular. Membership is derived from POLY and PMSE (the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering). Major support is derived from these divisions and approximately 50 industrial sponsors. POLYED offers a wide variety of programs with special emphasis on polymers or macromolecules. Four different educational groups are targeted: precollege teachers, college and university students, college and university faculty, and industrial and government professionals.
 POLYED Web site http://www.polyed.org provides ample information on programs of interest to all four groups and on teaching resources as well. This is operated by the POLYED National Information Center for Polymer Education, opened in 1989 under the directorship of John Droske and headquartered in the Chemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Since 1980, POLYED publishes the Polymer Education Newsletter (PEN), supported among others by the Industrial Sponsors Group, to inform all the interested parties about its educational programs, awards, and other activities.
In 1991, as part of the 40th anniversary celebration, the Division funded 40 Undergraduate Polymer Research Grants which were distributed to 40 different schools to support undergraduate research in polymer science.
The Polymer Curriculum Development Award, administered by Kris Matyjaszewski, has been given for an innovative approach to improve the teaching of polymer chemistry and polymer engineering in existing curricula at the U.S. colleges and universities.
Examples of Award programs in the 1990s are:
"The Dissemination of Teaching Materials for Polymer Science"
(Joseph J. Lagowski, University of Texas, Austin)
"Internet Based Opportunities in Polymer Science"
(Lon J. Mathias, University of Southern Mississippi)
"Virtual Polymer Processing Laboratory"
(Raymond A. Pearson, Lehigh University)
The Unilever Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Chemistry, established in 1991, recognizes and encourages outstanding graduate research in design, synthesis, and physical chemistry of polymers. Award winners are listed in APPENDIX E.
Among the other regularly supported grants and awards by POLYED are:
- Award for Excellence in Polymer Education by a High School or a Middle School Science Teacher
- Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship
- Undergraduate Research Recognition Award
- Outstanding Achievement in Organic Chemistry Award
- Student Award in Applied Polymer Science, sponsored by the Sherwin-Williams Co. (1985-1995) and ICI (1996-2002)
A special effort spearheaded by Warren T. Ford and Leslie H. Sperling and referred to as "Textbook Author Campaign" has been directed towards improving coverage of polymer chemistry in chemistry textbooks, preferably by integrating polymer concepts and examples into the regular chapters on basic chemistry.
B. The Intersociety Polymer Education Council (IPEC)
The Intersociety Polymer Education Council (IPEC), cofounded by POLY (Ann Salamone and John Droske) in 1990, was incorporated in 1994 with a mission
"to significantly increase student interest and participation in science and technology subjects
by incorporating the teaching of polymers and polymeric materials into K through 12 curricula
by utilizing the combined resources and infrastructure of participating scientific societies".
In the implementation of "teachers teaching teachers" Polymer Ambassadors play a leading role. They primarily represent states with high concentrations of plastics companies and a high need for plastics-aware future employees. Each Polymer Ambassador is awarded $3,000 a year for a three-year period to implement in-service programs. In addition to providing hands-on in-service training, they hold separate training and coordination meetings twice a year.
As an example of the numbers involved, during the 1998-1999 year ten Polymer Ambassadors trained 5,602 other K-12 teachers and 4,514 students at 1/2 to 1 day workshops, and additionally 228 parents and 740 chemists directly.
 The Macromolecular Teacher Resource (MaTR) Institute, an institute for pre-college teachers, offered its 1st workshop in 1995 and for several years provided "hands-on" training by Polymer Ambassadors, University faculty, and industrial presenters. Each of the MaTR Institute graduate was expected to provide in-service training to other teachers. As a result, through a simple multiplying factor, many more teachers than just the Institute graduates would provide better training in science through polymers.
The IPEC, over the years, has included members from three ACS Divisions (POLY, PMSE, and RUBB), the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), the American Plastics Council, the Society of Plastics Industry, and the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technologies.
IPEC Web site http://www.uwsp.edu/chemistry/ipec provides detailed information on its many specific services.
C. Tutorials at the ACS National Meetings
Since 1981, free state-of-the-art tutorial lectures have been presented, usually as first opening sessions at the ACS National Meetings. While originally intended for attendees with a B.S. or M.S. degree, they became most useful to experienced scientists, not only from the polymer field, but also from other divisions and disciplines.
Examples of such tutorials in the last decade are
1991 "Macromolecular Assemblies"
1992 "Interface of Polymer Science with Other Fields"
1993 "Surface Characterization of Polymeric Biomaterials"
1994 "Science and Technology of Microencapsulation"
Another aspect of the programming policy at the ACS National Meetings is to provide review or tutorial material at the beginning of all the symposia so that beginners may gain background needed to understand the current research subsequently presented. At the 220th ACS National Meeting in Washington, DC, in August 2000, all but one of the symposia had from one long lecture to one half-a-day session of tutorial material.
D. Workshops
The Division organizes and conducts several topical technical workshops each year. The workshops have been well promoted through announcements and special leaflets mailed to members, and have been well received and attended. This difficult and time consuming task was managed in the past decade by Tom Pacansky (1991), Tom Smith (1992-1994), Rudy Faust (1995), Bob Stackman (1996), and Bill Culbertson (1997-2000).
Examples of topics, clearly covering the advances in processes and materials and preparing for the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, are:
| 1991 |
"Polymer Waste Management" |
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| 1992 |
"Opportunities in the 21st Century for Biomedical Polymers" |
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| 1993 |
"Materials Technology for Competitive Advantage" |
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| 1994 |
"Nanocomposites and Supramolecular Materials, Design, Synthesis, and Properties" |
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| 1995 |
"Organic/Inorganic Polymer Systems" |
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| 1996 |
"Molecular Engineering of Polymers: Directing Biological Response" |
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| 1997 |
"Advances in Polyolefins" |
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| 1998 |
"Contemporary Biomaterials Through Precise Control of Macromolecular Chemistries and Architectures" |
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| 1999 |
"Concepts and Needs for Low Dielectric Constant Interconnect Materials: Now and the Next Millennium" |
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| 2000 |
"Chain-Growth Polymerizations - New Chemistry for the New Millennium" |
E. Improving the Public Perception of Polymers
The program was instituted by the Industrial Sponsors Group in 1991 and has been ably administered by Robert W. Stackman. The grant consists of up to $10,000 distributed over three years for an innovative program directed towards "Improving the Public Perception of Polymers". Its first recipients were Marie C. Sherman (Ursuline Academy of St. Louis, MO) and Linda Woodward (University of Southwestern Louisiana) for the development of a series of polymer workshops for presentation to diverse groups.
Grants have been made annually since 1991, except for 1995 and 1997-1998. In 1999, out of seven quality proposals, one on "Polymers: Uses, Applications and the Future", submitted by the NOBCChE (National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers), Atlanta Metro Chapter, was funded.
Examples of previous programs are
- 1992 Setting up a FAX network, linking the Center for Integrated Science Education (University of Utah) to all the elementary schools in the state, to distribute a newsletter, highlighting polymer related science and technology (Joseph D. Andrade, University of Utah)
- 1993 Development of an interactive program that helps adults and children understand what polymers are (Jason Makansi, Journal Editor, and Thomas S. Coolbaugh, Mobil Chemical Co.)
- 1994 Development of a series of polymer educational "kits" for teacher training and classroom instruction (Science Alliance of Delaware)
- 1996 Preparation of a series of videotapes for acquainting non-technical audience with the nature and uses of polymers (Richard S. Stein, University of Massachusetts)
F. Nomenclature
The Division is unique among the ACS Divisions in having a very active Nomenclature Committee, established in 1963, which introduced ways of naming uniquely structural repeating units, non-linear macromolecules, and macromolecular assemblies. These were subsequently adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The Committee continues its activity to this day promoting through various publications the use of unambiguous polymer nomenclature. Its chair and members invariably serve also on the ACS Committee on Nomenclature and on the IUPAC Commission on Macromolecular Nomenclature, thus maintaining contact with the international polymer community.
One of the innovations introduced by W. Val Metanomski, POLY Committee chair (1989-1999), has been a regular column, "Macromolecular Nomenclature Note", in Polymer Preprints, starting in 1991. This is being continued by the current chair, Edward S. (Ted) Wilks, who has just published "Macromolecular Nomenclature Note No. 20" on "Siloxanes and Silicones in the CAS Databases" in the first issue of Polymer Preprints in 2001.
While the Notes have been intended primarily as tutorials in macromolecular nomenclature, some of them dealt with proposals for nomenclature and terminology in new fields of polymer science such as hyperbranched and dendritic polymers.
Leslie H. Sperling has served as a PMSE representative on the Committee and has been instrumental in publishing similar nomenclature notes in the PMSE proceedings.
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