Dr. Richard P. Wool

ACRES Program Director
Professor of Department of Chemical Engineering and
Center for Composite Materials

Professional History

ACRES Program Director, The Affordable Composites from Renewable Resources (ACRES) Program designs and develops –genetic engineering to manufacturing- Bio-Based Materials in cooperation with Industry, Universities and National Labs. Funded by a DoE grant of $11M with additional support from NSF, EPA and Industry) University of Delaware, 1996-present
Director, Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware, (CCM focuses on Composite Manufacturing and Science in collaboration with Industry and the DoD) 1994-96
Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware, 1994-present
Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1977-1995.
Executive Board of Directors, Center for Composite Materials, Univ of Delaware, 1996-98.
Program Director, IBM Center of Excellence for Advanced Electronic Materials Synthesis, Processing and Properties, University of Illinois, 1985-90 (with J. Greene, J Thornthon, A. Rockett, J. Economy, S. Shah, S. Granick, M. Rigsbee, J. Abelson)
Director, Federation of Advanced Materials Industries (The FAMI program interacted with cooperating Industrial Material Suppliers and Users) University of Illinois 1994
Director, Degradable Plastics Laboratory, (Chaired ASTM committee and developed Standards for Biodegradable Plastics in Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments) 1987-94
Guest Professor, Physics Department, Trinity College Dublin, 2002
Guest Professor, Ecole Polytechnique, Condensed Matter Physics, Paris, France, 1991
Resident Associate, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois, 1989
Guest Professor, Politecnico DiMilano, Natta Laboratory, Milan, Italy, 1984
Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering., City College of New York, 1975-77
Research Associate, Mechanical Engineering., Univ. Colorado,1974-75
Research Assistant, Materials Science & Engineering., Univ. Utah, 1970-74

University Degrees

Degree            Field                                  Institution                      Date
B.Sc.      Chemistry (Honors Degree)    Univ. College Cork Ireland    1970
M.S.       Materials Science & Eng.          University of Utah                1972
Ph.D.      Materials Science & Eng.         University of Utah                1974

Professional Activities

Professional Societies
Materials Research Society (MRS), Chairman on Symposia: 2001, Composites from Renewable Resources; 1997, Advances in Polymer Matrix Composites: Microscopic to Macroscopic; 1994, Fractal Aspects of Materials; 1987, Surfaces and Interfaces in Electronic Materials
American Physical Society (APS)-Fellow
Program Chairman, Division of High Polymer Physics 1986-87
American Chemical Society-Member (ACS), Division of Polymeric Materials
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)-Member
Society of Rheology-Member
Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE), member
American Society for Test Methods, (ASTM) Chairman, Biodegradable Plastics, D20.96.1, 1989-95
Neutron Scattering Society of America (NSSA), Member
Bio/Environmentally Degradable Plastic Society, Founding Member.

Advisory Committees and Boards
Board of Directors, Center for Composite Materials, 1996-99
Delaware NASA Space Grant Consortium, Advisory Board, 96-present
American Soybean Association, Composites Technical Advisory Panel, 1996-
Engineering Outreach Faculty Advisory Committee 1996-99
Fraunhoffer Task Force, State of Delaware 1995-96
Virginia Tech Graduate Materials Science Review Panel, 1996-
American Soybean Association, Plastic Polymers Technical Advisory Panel, 1995-present
Honorary Director, Huaxin Institute for Biodegradable Plastics, Beijing, China,1991-94
Illinois Governor’s Committee on Degradable Plastics, 1990-1994
Vice Chancellor’s Committee for the Environment, Univ. Illinois, 1992-1994
Executive Committee for College of Engineering, Univ. Illinois, 1984-87
Committee to establish a Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, 1984-90
Board of Directors, Agri-Tech Industries, 1985-88.
Board of Directors, Cara Plastics Inc., 1997-present

Industrial Consulting
Professor R. P. Wool consults for Nike (Portland OR), TetraPak (Italy) and several Law Firms

Areas of Professional Expertise
Materials Science and Engineering Polymer Physics
Fracture Mechanics Polymer Interfaces
Biodegradable Plastics Plastics Engineering
Materials from Renewable Resources Spectroscopy
Composites Adhesion

Gordon Research Conference Presentations
Composites (2)
Polymers-West (2)
Polymer Physics (1)
Adhesion (2)
Fractals (1)
Biodegradable Plastics (1)
Green Chemistry (1)

National Science Foundation Workshop Presentations
Professor Wool has given four NSF Workshop Presentations

National Academy of Science Presentations
Professor Wool has given three invited lectures on Green Chemistry and Engineering of Bio-Based Materials

Awards
Fellow, American Physical Society, Division of High Polymer Physics
Innovations in Real Materials Award, International Society for Innovation in Materials Research.
Technical Innovation Award for Composites Excellence, with Russel Fisher, Composite Fabricators Association.
Discover Award semifinalist 2000 Federal and Industrial Research Grants and Contracts ($11+ million)

Publications
See publications page