Henkel honors graduate students for research in collaboration with The Adhesion Society
In a tradition dating back more than a decade, Henkel proudly partnered with The Adhesion Society to present the 2019 Alan Gent Distinguished Paper Award at the Society’s recent annual meeting.
The top prize, which includes a $1,000 award, was awarded to Jingyi Guo for her research into hydrogel fracture mechanics. Guo is a fifth year Ph.D. student in Prof. Chung-Yuen Hui’s group at Cornell University.
Runner up Erica Lai received a $500 stipend for her work with bio-inspired adhesives. Lai is a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Prof. Holten-Andersen’s research group.
Professor Al Crosby (left) and Henkel’s Eric Silverberg presented the awards at the annual meeting of the Adhesion Society to (L to R) Jingyi Guo and Erika Lai.
The awards were presented by Prof. Alfred Crosby from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Vice President of the Adhesion Society and Eric Silverberg, Senior Scientist, Principal at Henkel. Both serve on the Adhesion Society’s Executive Board.
“These students are very strong scientists. In fact, several previous winners of this award have gone into academia,” says Silverberg. “It’s helpful to see what professors are working on and to stay in contact with them and their students. The hope is to bring back fresh ideas that apply to what we’re working on here at Henkel and also to heighten awareness of the field for the next generation.”
Henkel’s diverse technology portfolio is a driving force behind scholarships like the Alan Gent Distinguished Paper Award. “Henkel adhesives rely on a wide array of industry-leading technologies, so we need to stay connected to many different sources of new research and innovative ideas — including those coming from the academic world,” says Michael Harwell, Vice President, Adhesives Product Development. “Awards and scholarships help us tap into what’s going on at the academic level to nourish our broad set of needs.”
Harwell also notes that the mix of members in The Adhesion Society offers a comprehensive perspective that is vital to Henkel cultivating innovative partnerships. The Adhesion Society is a non-trade group that brings together academia, industry and government to dive deep into the science of adhesives. In addition to the Alan Gent Distinguished Paper Award, Henkel also sponsors the Adhesion Society’s Distinguished Paper Award and the Peebles Awards for Graduate Student Research in Adhesion Science.
