Katrina Cornish receives BioEnvironmental Polymer Society Lifetime Achievement Award

mhuson Faculty Awards, General

Katrina Cornish, an Ohio Research Scholar and Endowed Chair in Bio-based Emergent Materials at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), recently received the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society Lifetime Achievement Award for scientific excellence and impact in the field.

 

The prestigious award recognizes science and engineering leaders who have made “outstanding contributions that have advanced the scientific field and/or technological development of biopolymers, biobased materials, or bioplastic/materials related to bioenergy,” according to the society’s website.

 

Cornish was awarded earlier this month at the 26th annual meeting of the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society (BEPS), held June 5-7 at the Clemson International Center for Automotive Research at Clemson University in South Carolina. At the event, Cornish presented the plenary talk, “Rubber biocomposites made with new and sustainable processing aids and waste-derived fillers yield new performance opportunity.”

 

“I am very honored to receive this award,” she said. “It is a wonderful recognition of my research and development efforts. I look forward to continuing my work and research in natural rubber and sustainable materials.”

 

Cornish is an internationally recognized expert on alternative natural rubber production and natural rubber biosynthesis. She serves as technical director of Ohio State’s Program of Excellence in Natural Rubber Alternatives and is an Institute for Materials Research faculty member.

 

Her team created the first medical glove that meets federal guidelines and blocks radiation while not triggering allergic reactions. The federal guideline mandating medical professionals to protect themselves from bloodborne pathogens and radiation forces some to wear two sets of gloves, while others settle on wearing just one. The former option restricts hand mobility, the latter is risky. Cornish’s team answered with the development of a radiation attenuation medical glove created with guayule natural rubber. The glove was developed with partner EnergyEne Inc., a Cornish-led startup company in Wooster, Ohio.

 

Read more about Cornish and her team: Ohio State News.

 

Cornish was also featured in the docuseries “This Giant Beast That is the Global Economy.“ The series on Amazon explores varying facets of the global economy with host Kal Penn. Cornish appears in Season 1, Episode 3, “The Rubber Episode.” Learn more here.

 

Earlier this year, Cornish received Innovator of the Year awards from IMR, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and The Ohio State University. She was named IMR Innovator of the Year on May 9 at 2019 OSU Materials Week.

 

Photo courtesy of Srikanth Pilla, Jenkins Endowed Professor at Clemson University

 

Video published by the Office of Research

 

Article by Mike Huson, IMR Public Relations Coordinator

Contact: huson.4@osu.edu

Follow: @OhioStateIMR