Confirmed Speakers

Costantino Creton graduated in Materials Science from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1985. He then moved on to the Materials Science and Engineering Department of Cornell University (USA) where he obtained his Ph.D in 1991. He has then been working as a CNRS researcher at the ESPCI since 1994. First on adhesion at polymer-polymer interfaces reinforced with block copolymers, and then on the mechanisms of adhesion of soft adhesives, which has initially brought significant methodological advances on physics aspect. Since 2003, he collaborates ever more closely with polymer chemists to link the molecular structure and architecture with the macroscopic properties specializing in the analysis of the large strain and non-linear behavior processes, such as cavitation, elongation at high strain rate, adhesion mechanisms and fracture. In 2007, he took the lead of the soft polymer network group at the ESPCI and started two new activities on large strain and fracture of hydrogels and elastomers. Together with his collaborators he developed many new approaches focusing on characterizing tough materials. The approaches have always had two mutually complementary strategies: Basic scientific questions on model systems in collaboration with polymer chemists for controlled design and with solid mechanics groups for quantitative modeling, and industrial collaborations for relevance and transposition of concept to applications. He has published more than 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has received several prizes and awards including the Wake Medal from the UK Society of Adhesion and Adhesives in 2011 and the Adhesion Society’s prize for Excellence in Adhesion Science in 2013. He received an ERC Advanced Grant in 2016 to work on fracture of soft materials and more recently he has been awarded in 2021 the grand Prix Fondation Michelin - Académie des Sciences.

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Prof. Dr. Aránzazu del Campo Bécares is Scientific Director & CEO at the INM - Leibniz Institute for New Materials and Professor for Materials Synthesis at the Faculty of Chemistry at Saarland University. Her group develops instructive materials to encapsulate and interface living cells with the aim to bioengineer tissues and living therapeutic devices for medical applications. Central to her research are photoresponsive molecules and hydrogels with latent functional levels that can be unlocked upon light exposure to trigger cell responses. To integrate the materials with the living components into functional devices, the group uses processing technologies like 3D bioprinting, electrospinning or microfluidics.

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Didier Gigmes is a CNRS research director and since 2012 director of the Institute of Radical Chemistry (UMR N°7273 Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, Marseille France). Currently, with his group, his research activity is focused on the development and use of new methodologies for the synthesis of advanced polymers finding applications in the fields of energy, environment and health. In 1998, he received his PhD in organic chemistry from the University Paul Cézanne in Marseille (France). Then he moved to Elf Atochem North America in Pennsylvania (USA) as a post-doctoral fellow to work in the field of the controlled radical polymerization. In 2001, he was recruited as CNRS researcher to develop the nitroxide-mediated polymerization technique. In October 2010, he was appointed Research Director from the CNRS working at Aix-Marseille University (France) and in 2022, he received the CNRS silver medal.

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Loïc JIERRY obtained his PhD in 2003 at the University of Strasbourg in the field of asymmetric synthesis. He was a Temporary Teaching and Research Associate in the group of Prof. J.-M. LEHN in 2004-2005 at ISIS and then in the group of Dr. J.-P. DUTASTA at ENS-Lyon between 2007 and 2008. During the period 2005-2007, he was Project Leader and then Visiting Scientist respectively in the companies ALSACHIM (Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France) and MENARINI (Florence, Italy). In 2009, he was appointed Lecturer and Full Professor in 2018 at the European Engineers School of Chemistry, Polymers and Materials (ECPM) of the University of Strasbourg. At ECPM, he is currently the responsible of "Chemistry&IA" Major. At the Charles Sadron Institute (UPR22-CNRS), his research activities focus on the structuring of hydrogels by reaction-diffusion processes, the design of biomaterials based on supramolecular hydrogels, the study of mechano-responsive materials, as well as the development of porous polymeric materials for applications in catalysis and for waste water treatment.

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I graduated in Organic Chemistry form the Ecole Européenne de Chimie Polymères et Matériaux de Strasbourg, I did my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, harnessing the Diels-Alder in the frame of Dynamic Constitutional Chemistry, achieving room temperature self-healing polymers, and post-doctoral stay in the ETH Zürich with Prof. François Diederich. I joined Danone in 2011 to work on biobased plastic for the packaging. Since then, I have been active at the intersection between plastic and packaging, trying to promote more sustainable alternatives. In 2022, I launched with 2 former colleagues from Danone la Fresque du Plastique, a workshop aiming at increasing awareness on the full life cycle of plastic and promoting major change in our addiction to single use plastic objects. I like to say I have the super power to see the world at the scale of molecules! I have been using this in my career.

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Senior research scientist in materials characterization and member of the allnex Innovation Group (allnex Drogenbos, Belgium). Former positions as academic staff at the physics department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel from 1989 to 1998 (PhD in Physics, 1997) and later as scientific staff of the analytical department at UCB Chemicals, Cytec and allnex, respectively. More than 30 papers in peer-reviewed journals. 9 patents. Current interest in applied photopolymerization science.

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Prof. Ilja Voets heads the Laboratory of Self-organizing Soft Matter at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems at Eindhoven University of Technology. Voets studies self-assembly processes in (biological) soft matter to gain fundamental insights for translation into rational design strategies for novel functional soft materials. Since her influential work on complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms) and Janus micelles, Voets focuses on the rational design of aqueous self-assembly pathways to yield desired supramolecular structures with predictable properties. Her team was the first to demonstrate the temporally programmed dissociation of C3Ms and the folding of single chain polymeric nanoparticles into elongated, multidomain architectures instead of compact globules. Pioneering work of the Voets group in soft matter nanoscopy led to a series of major breakthroughs including the new tool iPAINT, the first visualization of supramolecular block copolymers and the first simultaneous and in-situ visualization of individual nanoparticles and the liquid-liquid interface to which these are adsorbed. Recently, the Voets group discovered a new strategy to cycle between on and off states a templated polymerization-assembly system that operates through attractions between oppositely charged species. The team is presently exploiting this route to prepare precision polyelectrolytes and nanoscopic particles comprising polyelectrolyte complexes with custom-tailored composition, structure and properties.

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Alexis André earned a Master’s degree in Chemical and Materials Science from Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain, Belgium) in June 2019. He conducted his Master's thesis in the research group of Pr. Evelyne van Ruymbeke, where he studied the extensional rheology of polymer melts. In September of the same year, he enrolled in a dual PhD program under the joint supervision of Pr. Evelyne van Ruymbeke (UCLouvain, Belgium) and Pr. Christian Clasen (KULeuven, Belgium). His research focuses on the linear and nonlinear rheology of supramolecular polymers. Alexis is expected to complete his PhD by the end of 2023.

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Mariana received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering of materials from the Autonomous University of Querétaro in Mexico. Her interest in materials science took her to the Netherlands, where she pursued a master’s degree in biobased materials at Maastricht University. During her time in Maastricht, Mariana joined the MERLN institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine, where she worked on hydrogel vascular structures for tissue engineering as a part of her master’s thesis. Mariana is currently pursuing a joint PhD program between Hasselt University and Maastricht University under the guidance of Dr Louis Pitet and co-supervised by Dr. Matthew Baker. With her expertise in hydrogels and polymer science, Mariana works on the development of tough hydrogels for their broader application as structural materials.

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Please allow me to introduce Carla Barakat, a Ph.D. student in the group of Prof Jean-François Gohy at UCLouvain. Her PhD focuses on incorporating vitrimers in solid polymer electrolytes for high-performance Li-metal Batteries. She received her Bachelor’s as well as her Master’s degree from the Lebanese University and worked on the synthesis of new thiolactones for polymer functionalization during her Master thesis in Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse. In her presentation today, Carla will go over the interest in introducing this new class of self-healable polymer materials that exhibit unique mechanical and chemical properties, making them a promising solution in battery applications.

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I obtained my master degree from the University of Liege in 2017. My master thesis was realized in the Center for Education and Research in Macromolecules (CERM) under the supervision of the Professor Christine Jérôme. Afterwards I started a PhD in the same group as assistantship for the Professor Jérôme. Hopefully, I will defend it in the next September. My research focuses on the elaboration of biodegradable and functionable microparticles formulated by microfluidic technique. These microparticles contained some polyphosphoester which confers further functionalization properties while keeping the degradation of the particle. The main applications of these microparticles are in the biomedical field where they can be utilized in drug-delivery or as embolization agent.

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Nathan graduated in 2017 at the University of Antwerp with a master thesis in organic chemistry executed at Janssen Pharmaceutica. Afterwards he started a PhD at Ghent University in the Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials group under the supervision of Sandra Van Vlierberghe. His research focuses on the development of hybrid hydrogels consisting of gelatin and polysaccharides exploiting a thiol-norbornene crosslinking strategy. These hydrogels are optimized towards ink formulations enabling a straightforward bioprinting process as will be discussed during the presentation at the meeting. In Nathan’s PhD, these hydrogels are applied in the field of liver tissue engineering.

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Thomas Habets is a recent graduate from the University of Liege, where he earned a Master's degree in specialized chemical sciences in 2020. His Master's thesis focused on developing novel poly(hydroxy-oxazolidone)s using carbon dioxide as a renewable feedstock, under the supervision of Christophe Detrembleur at the Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM) in Liege. Thomas's current work is a direct continuation of his Master's thesis, and involves the fundamental study of reactive carbon dioxide-based building blocks with amines and thiols to develop new advanced materials with potential recyclability.

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Ine Mertens is a Ph.D. researcher in the Supramolecular Chemistry (SC) group since 2019. She previously obtained her master degree in Chemical Engineering Technology at KU Leuven under the supervision of Prof. Dorine Bruneel and Prof. Richard Hoogenboom. Ine's research takes inspiration from the poly(2-oxazoline)s to develop synthetic vectors for gene therapy. This project is co-supervised by Prof. Richard Hoogenboom.

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Quentin Papeloer holds a Master's degree in Chemistry and Material Science Engineering from the Louvain school of engineering, in which he is currently teaching assistant, enthusiastically guiding students in material science projects and chemistry tutorials. He also conducts a PhD research since 2018 under the joint supervision of Sophie Demoustier-Champagne and Alain M. Jonas, in the Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences of the University of Louvain. His research focuses on the development of methodologies to obtain hierarchically-porous scaffolds from miscible semicrystalline blends such as PLLA/PEG blends.

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Prakhar received his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering in 2016 from SRM University Chennai in India and obtained his Master's degree in Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering from the Technical University of Hamburg, Germany in 2019. During his Master's degree, his interest in environmental causes led him to the Institute of Polymer Research at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon GmbH, Geesthacht, Germany, where he analysed the performance of cross-linked membranes for the separation of CO2 and SF6 from industrial exhaust gases for his Master's thesis. He moved to Belgium in 2019 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, working under the guidance and supervision of Prof. Dr. Guy Van Assche. He studies the degradation mechanism of Polyurethanes and is working on developing a kinetic model for the thermal degradation of bio-based polyurethanes. His scientific skills include expertise in Thermal Gravimetric Analysis, Mass Spectrometry, and Cone Calorimetry.

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Hugo Puozzo obtained a Master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Mons (UMONS, Belgium) in 2017. He then had a working experience at Takeda (Lessines, Belgium), a global biopharmaceutical company, from 2018 to 2020 as a Qualification Technician to support the execution of qualification tests required for the validation of a new production unit dedicated to the purification of proteins from human plasma. In May 2020, he joined as a PhD student the Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials (CMN), in collaboration with the Laboratory of Polymeric and Composite Materials (LPCM), at University of Mons (UMONS, Belgium) in the context of a FLAG-ERA transnational partnering project. His work is part of a large-scale effort to develop an innovative generation of patterned coatings based on benzoxazine matrices incorporating electrically conductive 2D layers for wide-range pressure sensing applications.

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Matthieu obtained his bachelor’s in 2017 from Ghent University, during which he joined the group of op Prof. Borbas at Uppsala University for six months to work on the synthesis of asymmetric hydroporphyrins. He thereafter obtained his master’s in 2019 from Ghent University. He joined the Polymer Chemistry Research (PCR) group of Prof. Filip Du Prez in 2019 for his master thesis, where he studied the influence of stereochemistry on the self-assembly of uniform macromolecules. After this, he pursued his PhD in the same group, which mainly focuses on the synthesis of sequence defined macromolecules that can be applied as carriers of information, together with the development of alternative sequencing methodologies.

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Louis Van Renterghem graduated from the Haute Ecole Louvain en Hainaut (Helha, Belgium) in 2020 with a Masters in analytical chemistry at the Haute Ecole Louvain en Hainaut (Helha, Belgium). His master's thesis was developed under the supervision of Dr. Jevgenij Lazko in the Laboratory of Polymeric and Composite Materials (LPCM) and focused on the development of innovative non-isocyanate polyurethanes for coatings. In April 2021, he joined the Laboratory of Polymeric and Composite Materials at the University of Mons (UMONS, Belgium) as a PhD student in the framework of an Arc project under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Marie Raquez and Dr. Leïla Bonnaud. His work will mainly focus on the development of a benzoxazine based coating for the protection of magnesium substrates against corrosion.

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In 2018, I finished my Master in Engineering Technology of Polymer Processing Technology at the KU Leuven Campus of Bruges. My master thesis was in close cooperation with both ISI Plast and A-Resins under the supervision of Prof Frederik Desplentere head of the Propolis Research group. The aim of the thesis was to go deeper into the selection criteria for materials suitable for rotational moulding. I decided to start working as a research assistant within the Propolis group, which lasted for one year. Subsequently my PhD started in September 2019, continuing the research initiated within my Master thesis. A Baekeland Mandate in cooperation with ISI Plast and A-Resins was granted. After 4 years of research, my PhD is getting into it’s final stage, aiming to be finishing in fall 2023.

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Jochen received his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Hasselt University in 2016 and obtained his Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology in 2018. He conducted his Master's thesis in the group of T. Noël and as a final part of his Master’s, he did a 5-month internship at CSIRO in Melbourne. There, he worked on RAFT emulsion polymerization under the supervision of dr. G. Moad. Subsequently, he returned to Hasselt University for his Ph.D., first investigating novel materials for organic optical cavity devices toward near-infrared photodetection and now focusing on structural defects in organic semiconducting polymers. To investigate the influence of homocoupling on material and blend properties, he visited the Salleo Research group at Stanford University for 7 months.

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