Alamgir Karim is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

noted for his work on

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

and

polymer nanocomposite Polymer nanocomposites (PNC) consist of a polymer or copolymer having nanoparticles or nanofillers dispersed in the polymer matrix. These may be of different shape (e.g., platelets, fibers, spheroids), but at least one dimension must be in the rang ...

materials.

Education

Karim received a B.Sc. degree in physics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1985. He worked under at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he received a PhD in physics in 1991. He worked as a postdoctoral research associate under

Matthew Tirrell Matthew V. Tirrell (born 5 September 1950) is an American chemical engineer. In 2011 he became the founding Pritzker Director and dean of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago in addition to serving as senior scient ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1991 -- 1992.

Career

Karim joined the Polymers Division at the

National Institute of Science and Technology NIST University formerly, National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) is a private technical research university located in Pallur Hills, Brahmapur, Odisha, India. About NIST was started in 1996 by a group of academics and technocrats. ...

in 1993, advancing from Physicist to Group Leader. In 2004 he was named a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

from the Division of Polymer Physics for ''pioneering research on polymer thin films and interfaces, polymer brushes, blend film phase separation, thin film dewetting, pattern formation in block copolymer films, and the application of combinatoric measurement methods to complex polymer physics.'' In 2008 he moved to the Department of Polymer Engineering at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

, where he was the Goodyear Chair Professor. In 2017 he joined the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the

(UH), where he is the Dow Chair and Welch Foundation Professor. Karim is an expert in the processing of polymer thin films, polymer brushes block copolymers, polymer blends, and polymer-nanoparticle mixtures. He has applied these materials to produce

membranes A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. B ...

, phase gratings, and sensors, among other applications. At UH, he has developed methods to process

chitin Chitin (carbon, C8hydrogen, H13oxygen, O5nitrogen, N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cell ...

, increase the energy density of capacitors and manipulate polyelectrolyte coacervate droplets. In 2024 he proposed that

coacervate Coacervate ( or ) is an aqueous phase rich in macromolecules such as synthetic polymers, proteins or nucleic acids. It forms through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), leading to a dense phase in thermodynamic equilibrium with a dilute phase. T ...

droplets suspended in deionized water could potentially act as protocells for the origins of life. His most-cited research article demonstrated a method to calculate the elastic moduli of polymer thin films from the spacing of wrinkles on polymer films.

Awards and recognition

* 2002 — Bronze Medal Award, United States

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...

* 2004 — Fellow,

* 2012 — Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

* 2021 —

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Special Creativity Award

References

Living people Chemical engineers Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Year of birth missing (living people) University of Houston faculty Place of birth missing (living people) {{DEFAULTSORT:Karim, Alamgir