Congratulations to Steacy Coombs, a PhD student of Dr. Jeffrey Giacomin, who won the 2022 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) Best Master’s Thesis Award. This award recognizes an outstanding Canadian Master’s thesis that contributes to the advancement of the field of chemical engineering.
Steacy’s master’s research, also under the supervision of Dr. Giacomin, focused on the connection between macromolecular structure and melt elasticity. Specifically, she has explored how macromolecular branching affects melt elasticity, with a special focus on melt complex viscosity (storage and loss moduli). Steacy’s current research focuses on the rheology of polymers in confinement (microfluidics). While continuing her graduate studies as a PhD student, Steacy also founded her own consulting firm, Coombs & Associates, to assist in expert witness support services in cases involving patent law, intellectual property, and rheology.
Steacy received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University of Kingston, Ontario, during which she pursued a professional internship at DuPont research facility. Steacy holds a Master of Applied Science (MASc) Degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University, and is now pursuing her PhD, during which she contributed to the advancement of the body of knowledge in Chemical Engineering, with six (6) research publications to her name.
This article appeared in its original form on the Chemical Institute of Canada website.