PSE LEADERSHIP
Luciana Arronche, Director
Luciana Arronche is the Director of Lehigh's Polymer Science and Engineering Program. She joined Lehigh in Summer 2024 and is a Teaching Assistant Professor with university's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. Professor Arronche also holds a position of Affiliated Faculty with the university's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Arronche earned her M.S. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of California, Davis.
Her areas of research include materials science, polymers, polymer processing, polymer characterization, and fiber-reinforced epoxy composites.
Arronche can be reached by email at lua224@lehigh.edu.
FACULTY
Xuanhong Cheng (MSE)
Xuanhong Cheng is a Professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University. Cheng has a long-standing interest in developing and applying engineering tools, including micro/nanotechnology, chemical, optical, mechanical and electrical approaches to study biological problems, especially those related to whole cells and pathogens. Her research emphasis has been on biomaterials, surface modification, surface science, cell-surface interaction, biological microelectromechanical systems (BioMEMS), biosensors and global health diagnostics. | MORE >>
Lesley Chow (MSE)
Lesley W. Chow is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University. Her reasearch group, the Chow Lab, is currently focused on approaches to improve regeneration of musculoskeletal tissue interfaces, such as the osteochondral interface between bone and cartilage. Recreating these complex interface poses a significant engineering challenge as native tissues possess gradients in biochemical, structural, and mechanical properties that are critical for normal biomechanical function. Her team is developing biomaterials-based strategies to guide spatial cell behavior and tissue formation to engineer tissues that mimic these structure-function-property relationships. | MORE >>
Thomas Gartner (CHE)
Thomas E. Gartner III is an Assistant Professor with the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He joined Lehigh in August 2023. The Gartner group is developing advanced computational approaches to understand and predict the properties of polymers and soft materials for energy, sustainability, and technology applications. The group uses machine learning-enabled computational tools to uncover the chemical and physical driving forces underlying thermodynamics, transport, and assembly in fluids and functional soft matter. | MORE >>
Anand Jagota (BIOE)
Anand Jagota is Vice Provost for Research at Lehigh and professor and founding chair of the university's Bioengineering program. His research interests are in biomaterials, biomechanics, and nanobiotechnology. His group works on properties, processing, and modeling of DNA interactions with nanomaterials, specifically on its hybrids with carbon nanotubes. He also has interests in nanomechanics, biomechanics, adhesion and friction. In another active project, his group works on biomimetic fibrillar interfaces with enhanced adhesion, friction, and compliance achieved by design of near-surface architecture | MORE >>
Whitney Blocher McTigue (CHE)
Whitney Blocher McTigue is an Assistant Professor with the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Lehigh University. Her resume includes an extensive list of publications, presentations, research proposals, honors, and teaching experiences; while her research focuses on using charged polymer moieties to solve real-world problems. She won the best PhD dissertation award from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020 and her 2020 paper titled “Thermostabilization of Viruses via Complex Coacervation” was highlighted in the journal Biomaterials Science “Most Popular 2020." | MORE >>
Herman Nied (MEM)
Herman Nied was appointed professor of Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University in 1995 and served as department chair from 2002 to 2008. His research interests are primarily in polymer processing, flexible composites, fracture mechanics, electronic packaging, MEMS, shock and vibration loading, and welding. Nied and his lab also explore the development of advanced numerical methods with an emphasis on specialized finite element codes for processing simulation and 3-D fracture analysis. Nied is a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a member of the Polymer Processing Society, and Sigma Xi, and is a recipient of an NSF CAREER award. | MORE >>
Elsa Reichmanis (CHE)
Elsa Reichmanis is Professor and Carl Robert Anderson Chair in Chemical Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Director of the Institute for Functional Materials and Devices at Lehigh University. The Reichmanis Research Group is exploring polymeric and hybrid organic/inorganic materials chemistries for a range of (opto)electronic device and sustainable energy applications. Her research, at the interface of chemical engineering, chemistry, materials science, optics, and electronics, spans from fundamental concept to technology development and implementation, with particular focus on polymeric and nanostructured materials for advanced technologies. | MORE >>
Dimitrios Vavylonis (PHY)
Dimitrios Vavylonis is a Professor with Lehigh University's Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Vavylonis' research interests include Biophysics; Biophysical Modeling and Simulation; Cytoskeleton and Biopolymer Dynamics; Cell Mechanics; and Cell Motion, Polarization and Division. He received his doctorate and master's degree in physics from Columbia University and his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Athens. He joined Lehigh following postdoctoral work in Columbia's department of chemical engineering and Yale's department of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. He is an editorial board member of Biophysical Journal, Cytoskeleton and Scientific Reports. | MORE >>
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Paul Brigandi
Dr. Paul Brigandi is the Application Technology Leader for Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics Wire & Cable business in North America based in Collegeville, PA. Paul has experience across the cable industry in power transmission and distribution as well as telecommunication markets focused on research and development of new material solutions. His technical expertise includes formulation and processing of polyolefins, elastomers, and polymer composites. Paul is active in several industry organizations including serving on the IWCS symposium committee, Insulated Conductors Committee, Communications Cable and Connectivity Association, and Fiber Broadband Association technical committees. Paul earned a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from Lehigh University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware. He is also an active Adjunct Professor at Lehigh University in the Material Science & Engineering department.
Caroline Multari
Dr. Caroline Multari serves as an adjunct professor in the Polymer Science and Engineering Program. Her technical expertise includes utilizing biopolymers to develop biodegradable controlled-release technologies to improve the sustainability of a wide range of products including polymer additives, nutraceuticals, beverages, personal care, and home care. She has developed emulsion-based micro- and nanoencapsulation technologies for delivery of plant-based actives in beverages and personal care, as well as multifunctional biodegradable additives to enhance the compostability and toughness of poly(lactic acid) for additive manufacturing.
Caroline Multari earned her Ph.D. from Lehigh University in Materials Science and Engineering under Prof. Ray Pearson, an M.S. in Materials Engineering from California State University, Northridge, and bachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve University in Biochemistry.
Nadzrinahamin Ahmad
Dr. Nadzrinahamin Ahmad Nazir has been a member of Lehigh University's Polymer Science and Engineering Program since 2016. She is a Fulbright alumnus and in 2008 received the Outstanding Woman in Polymer Engineering Award from the Association of Women in Higher Education. Her publications and research activities are focused on analyses and characterization of thin-film membranes, polymer blends and composites, together with functionalized and plasticized polymers. She has performed detailed analytical, physical, as well as chemical characterization of various polymer blends. Dr. Nazir previously managed a quasi-governmental research lab as a Leading Research Officer and designed over 200 experimental procedures in support of research objectives. She also held responsibility over the lab's thermal and dynamic mechanical analyzers, as well as microscopy and spectroscopy instruments. In her spare time, Dr. Nazir is an avid baker and cake decorator.