September 26
@
4:00 PM
–
5:00 PM
The ME 903: Graduate Student Lecture Series features campus and visiting speakers who present on a variety of research topics in the field of mechanical engineering. Professor Tom Turng is professor at UW-Madison.
Plastics: Our Love-Hate Relationship with Plastics
Abstract: Due to their availability, versatility, low cost, great processability, and performance, plastics have become the most widely used materials, surpassing steel, copper, and aluminum combined by volume. While plastics have profoundly benefited and transformed our lives, the shear amount of plastic production, the unexpected consequence of their durability and ubiquity, as well as the poor handling and disposal of post-consumer plastic wastes, have created unprecedented environmental and public health crises. This talk is intended for the general audience to understand what plastics (and polymers) are, why they are ubiquitous, their positive and negative impacts on the environment and human health, and the on-going research and activities in addressing the plastics waste problem.