Title: “Doing More with Less –Polymer Based Smart Materials, Nanocomposites and Structures”
Speaker: Dr. Syed Reza Rizvi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto ON
Date: Monday, January-19, 2015
Time/Location: 9:00 a.m. at FNH Room 40
http://www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index_detail.php?showMapCampus=y&bldg1ID=449
Abstract:
The ever-increasing use of polymer and composite materials is evident all around us. In the nanotechnology age the advent of new materials, manufacturing processes and characterization techniques is rapidly pushing the bounds of what was previously achievable. In this talk, I will explain how minimum mass requirements are driving the natural progression towards polymer based composites. Highlights of our work in polymer based smart materials, nanocomposites and structures will be presented. Different polymer based smart materials will be discussed and specifics details will be provided for flexible pressure sensing using piezoresistive polymer nanocomposites. Various applications of polymer nanocomposites (conductivity, lightweight, anti-microbial), and the particular nanocomposites developed in response will be highlighted. Finally, the contrasting structures achievable with polymers will be described and applications, including ice-tribology, will be presented. The talk will conclude with further possibilities of exploiting polymers and composite materials through additive manufacturing.
Biography:
Reza Rizvi is a TVN postdoctoral fellow at the Toronto Rehab Institute at the University of Toronto. He is a recent PhD graduate from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. His research interests are in new applications of polymer nanocomposites and nanostructures, smart materials and advanced manufacturing. He is currently investigating the tribology of rubber and composite materials on ice for footwear applications. His previous works include developing flexible pressure sensing nanocomposites and fully bio-based green composites. Reza’s work has been presented in several international conferences and has been invited for publication in IOP’s Smart Materials and Structures and TMSs’ Journal of Materials Research. He has also collaborated on various industrial projects in the automotive and electronics sectors. Reza is a member of American Society of Mechanical Engineering and the Society of Plastic Engineers.