Professor Eichhorn, who has been elected as Fellow of the American Chemical Society’s Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division, 2015.
Exeter Engineering expert receives premier science award
Professor Stephen Eichhorn, Head of Engineering at the University of Exeter, has been bestowed with one of the most prestigious accolades in his field.
Professor Eichhorn has been elected as Fellow of the American Chemical Society’s Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division, 2015. This is the first time a UK scientist has received this honour since its conception in the 1920’s.
Professor Eichhorn was selected for the award for his “contributions to the division and the field of cellulose research”. He will be formally presented with the Fellowship at a special ceremony, which will be held at the 249th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Denver, Colorado, in late March.
Professor Eichhorn, who is also the Chair in Materials Science within the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Science said: “I am delighted to receive this award. It is always nice to receive recognition from your peers and I would especially like to thank all my PhD students and postdoctoral researchers past and present who have also contributed to this.”
Professor Ken Evans, Dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences said: “I am delighted that Stephen has been awarded this richly deserved honour. The fact that he is the first recipient from the UK to receive this accolade is testament to the exceptional levels of world-class research that he is carrying out here at the University of Exeter. As a College, and as colleagues, we are all absolutely delighted that he has received this considerable award.”
Professor Eichhorn, who originally trained as a physicist, works closely with engineers, biologists, physicists and chemists. His research focuses on the mechanical properties and interfaces in natural and sustainable materials, particularly cellulose fibres and composites.
He is particularly interested in applying principles from biological structures in engineering applications - or biomimetics - for a variety of applications including composites, smart packaging, energy storage and biofunctional materials.
He is both a Fellow of the Institute of Materials and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and is also a member of the Institute of Physics.
Date: 4 March 2015
