ABOUT ME
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I'm a native of Poland. I grew up in the city of Łódź and received my MS degree in Physics from the University of Łódź, with a concentration in Experimental Physics. My MS project was on Polymer Physics, the development of experimental methods of characterization morphology of semi-crystalline polymers.
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Soon after, I was appointed researcher at the Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences. There I received my PhD in research on polymer blends.
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The next step in my career was a series of post-doctoral studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY), Max Planck Institute (Mainz, Germany), and the UMass Amherst. During this period I became a world-class specialist in Thermal Analysis.
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For over a decade I worked for Shell Oil, Westhollow Technology Center in Houston, as the head of the Thermal Analysis Laboratory (global reach). While at Shell, I published 15 Technical Reports, and 35 Research Awareness Bulletins and got one patent. I am also a winner of five Shell Chemical Team Excellence awards.
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I am now a Professor of Physics at the University of Houston-Downtown. In 2014/15 I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland, where I taught Thermophysical Properties of Materials for 1st and 2nd-year doctoral studies. I am devoted to the value of international education and established a growing, unique exchange program.
MY EXPERTISE
solid state physics / polymer physics
material structure-processing-properties relationship
thermal analysis:
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thermal properties of materials (low molecular weight and polymers)
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thermal properties of geological materials: hydrocarbon-bearing rocks, geological materials for underground repositories of spent nuclear fuels
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hybrid energy systems
familiarity with classes of materials:
thermoplastic homopolymers / copolymers and polymer blends / elastomers
thermosets / mesophase materials / films / fibers / granules
bulk materials / powders and downstream products / geological materials
FUN STUFF: HEXAGONAL CLOUD
On January 6, 2019, at 11:39 AM in Big Bend Ranch State Park, I took this picture while on a geology field trip. Possibly, this is the only photo of a hexagonal cloud taken from the surface of Earth. This is a closed-cell stratocumulus. According to the American Meteorological Society, “Closed-cell patterns are composed of cloud elements of almost hexagonal shape, bounded at their edges with a cloud-free space”.
