Michael Bockstaller
Alcoa Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Courtesy Appointment, Chemistry
Michael Bockstaller is a professor of materials science and engineering (MSE) at Carnegie Mellon University. Bockstaller received his B.S. in chemistry from the Technical University of Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe, Germany) in 1997 and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the Johannes Gutenberg University (Mainz, Germany) in 2000. He was a scientific assistant at the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research (Mainz, Germany) from 1997-2000 and a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2000-2004. During 2004-2005 he held a position as group leader at RWTH Aachen University (Aachen, Germany) before joining the MSE Department Carnegie Mellon University in 2005. Bockstaller is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and an Emmy Noether Grant recipient of the German Science Foundation.
Bockstaller’s broader research interests center about structure-property-performance relations in polymer hybrid materials. Areas of special interest currently entail optical and thermal transport properties of polymer nano composites and the development of polymeric hybrid materials for applications in solid state lighting, as well as battery technologies.
Engineering Better Polymers to Solve Modern Problems
The Center for Data Driven Discovery of Multifunctional Material Systems
Education
2000 Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University
1997 BS, Chemistry, Technical University of Karlsruhe
Media mentions
Live Science
Bockstaller quoted on flame retardants
MSE’s Michael Bockstaller spoke with Live Science regarding a recent study that detected high levels of flame retardants in some toys, kitchen utensils and other household items made from recycled black plastic
Materials Science and Engineering
Bockstaller named Alcoa Professor
Michael Bockstaller has been appointed as an endowed chair, one of the highest recognitions that can be awarded to a faculty member.
CMU Engineering
A new class of organic nanoparticles
Organic nanoparticles have been limited in terms of their mechanical properties and chemical tunability, but a recent study shows that through hyperbranching and chemical cross-linking, a dense bonding network can be developed.
American Recycler
Bockstaller speaks about developments in plastics recycling
MSE’s Michael Bockstaller spoke about technological innovations to improve the recyclability of plastic polymers.