13 “I always search for things I don’t know, and even if I do that, I can’t figure out things sometimes,” Khatiwada says. “I can always ask him, and he’s always there. He’s extremely helpful. The other students view him as more of a parent than a professor.” Remolding a department Blum came to OSU in 2010 to take over a chemistry department rebuilding after several retirements. By 2013, the department will have hired six new professors. He says he is humbled by the chance to help remold the chemistry department that has so many caring alumni. That and Stillwater’s friendliness adds to the campus he has come to love. “Stillwater is a little bit of a small town,” he says. “The university has a family atmosphere complete with loyalty, support and even the occasional bickering. But by and large, faculty members, students and staff at this university really care deeply about it.” Blum taught at Drexel University and the University of MissouriRolla before coming to OSU in 2010. He has a doctorate from the University of Minnesota and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical chemistry from Eastern Illinois University. Always fascinated by how things work, Blum first took to chemistry during his organic chemistry classes as an undergrad at Eastern Illinois University. He considers that drive to understand as the true mark of a scientist. “That’s what sustains me,” he says. “It’s been my approach to science. I want to know how things work — how the physical things work. How do atoms and molecules behave in order to make macroscopic things? There’s a big divide between how an atom behaves and how a macroscopic system behaves. It’s a big jump from something that’s on the Ångstrom or nanometer scale to how does a boat hull bend, or how strong is a composite golfclub shaft.” Once he finished his doctorate in 1981, he was offered several great corporate opportunities, but the freedom of academic life called him. His interest in polymers focused on how absorbed polymers behave and how polymer nanocomposites can conduct electricity. He also looks at how those materials work when they’re absorbed into another material called a solid substrate, such as glass. For example, in fiberglass, small fibers of glass are mixed in with epoxy, which is a plastic. The glass fiber is hard and brittle, but the plastic layer is softer and more ductile. The melded material is harder to stretch and bend, providing a gradual change from the properties of both the glass fibers and the polymer and creating something light, strong and useful such as a motorcycle helmet. Characterizing how those materials work with each other is extremely difficult, and Blum is an expert at understanding that at the molecular level using techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, something similar to an MRI for a molecule. Once researchers understand that, they can make better composites. For example, they could devise a coating for the glass fibers to make an entirely different material or combine several materials for another fashion. That knowledge is useful in today’s age of booming consumer electronics. As products shrink, the functionality of the materials used in them usually increases. “The thinner polymer layers gets, the more their properties change,” he says. “In some cases, we’re talking about layers that are millions of times thinner than a human hair. Those properties tend to be different than bulk properties.” Khatiwada’s project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Blum also has a project with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory trying to find better materials for chemical sensors using ultraviolet light and liquid drops. proud mentor About his seven doctoral students, Blum notes how proud he is “they’re becoming functional and prolific in their own right. They’re now starting to be independent, being able to draft papers based on the research they’ve done. They’ve been able to try to foresee problems and opportunities in a way that a mature scientist would with, in many cases, just a little guidance from me. And that’s really the exciting part of my job.” In addition to his posts at Drexel and Missouri-Rolla, he has also taught at Sweden’s Lund University and IBM in San Jose, Calif., during his 31-year career. Blum has received numerous awards, including three awards from the Alcoa and Exxon Education foundations, and a distinguished alumni award from Eastern Illinois University. Blum is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and its division of polymer chemistry. He is a past secretary and chair of the society’s polymer chemistry division and a former chair of the ACS committees on nominations, elections and divisional activities.
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