Episode 4: Panel Discussion on Collaborative Initiatives

Rigoberto Advincula is a Governor’s Chair Professor of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He is also a Group Leader at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), ORNL. His area of expertise is in organic and polymer chemistry, nanomaterials, flow chemistry and reaction engineering, additive manufacturing, and biomaterials. He has led major projects including a machine learning (ML) flow chemistry lab at ORNL and advanced nanocomposite manufacturing with DOE. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Fellow of the Polymer Science and Engineering Division (ACS), Fellow of the Polymer Chemistry Division (ACS), Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Netzsch NATAS 2023 Fellow. In 2024, he received the International Prize of the Society of Polymer Science of Japan (SPSJ) He has been appointed to the World Economic Forum, Advanced Materials Council. He has held several visiting Professor positions including Waseda University in Japan and the Max Planck Institute for Polymers (MPI-P) Research in Germany. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Florida and had Post-doctoral Positions at the MPI-P and Stanford University. He is passionate in mentoring students and establishing interdisciplinary STEM programs.

Francesca Kerton is a professor of Green Chemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and has a global reputation for her innovative research on sustainable chemistry related to the oceans. She currently chairs the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s standing committee on Chemical Research Applied to World Needs (CHEMRAWN). She is an Associate Editor for the journal RSC Sustainability and an Advisory Board member for Reaction Chemistry & Engineering. She recently chaired the 27th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference and will chair the 2027 IUPAC World Chemistry Congress and General Assembly, which will be held in Canada. She received the 2019 Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Award and the 2023 SCI-Canada Kalev Pugi Award for exceptional achievements in research and development. More recently she was recognized as one of 3M’s 25 Women in Science – 2024’s program focused on environmental sustainability. She is a member of the Atlantic Canada Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry Centre and collaborates with local companies and the NRC (National Research Council Canada) on ocean bioeconomy-related research. She also performs research on dioxide utilization and is part of the training network “Centre for Innovation and Research on Carbon Dioxide Utilization in Industrial Technologies”.