2002 Young Investigator Award
An associate professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Paschalis Alexandridis is an innovative chemical engineer who is also making his mark as a teacher and mentor. His interdisciplinary work is grounded in the principles of chemical engineering and polymer and surfactant science. A primary interest is the control of the self-assembling properties of amphiphilic molecules, which consist of both hydrophilic (water-soluble) and hydrophobic (water-insoluble) parts. By manipulating them, Alexandridis can create novel carriers for molecules of biological significance, including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and also novel materials that may be useful as "building blocks" in nanotechnology applications. He has published in excess of 80 journal articles, an outstanding record for a young faculty member only eight years out from his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He serves on the editorial committee of the Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology and as a section editor for Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science. Alexandridis has received a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation and a Dow Outstanding New Faculty Award from the American Society for Engineering Education, among other honors.