Engineering’s João Maia elected as Society of Rheology fellow
João Maia, professor in the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Polymer Processing, was recently elected as a fellow of the Society of Rheology. This highly-selective fellowship is awarded annually to no more than 0.5%.
Maia was recognized for his contributions to improving the quality and safety of everyday products.
Some of Maia’s notable accomplishments include inventing extruders—a mixer used in machines to melt plastic—and other tools that help create stronger, more useful materials for packaging, medical tools, electronics and more. Beyond production, Maia built a machine that tests how plastic samples stretch and eventually break, which helps scientists understand how tough or flexible the plastic is and how it might fail during manufacturing.
