Feng (Amy) Chen has been chosen as a recipient of the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society (BEPS) Student Travel Award for 2007

Feng (Amy) Chen has been chosen as a recipient of the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society (BEPS) Student Travel Award for 2007 for her extended abstract entitled “Utilizing Soy Protein as Plastic for Performance Enhanced Soy Protein-Based Bioplastics”. In the study, Amy blended soy protein with a biodegradable copolyester, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate), and investigated the properties of the resulting blends. She demonstrated that soy protein can function either as filler or as a plastic in the blends by controlling the moisture level in the soy protein. When soy protein behaves as a plastic, the resulting blends demonstrate significantly higher mechanical properties than when it behaves as filler in the blends. Amy is working on a grant sponsored by the USDA-NRI. She conducts her research at the WMEL under the supervision of Dr. Jinwen Zhang. Amy is a Ph.D. student in the Materials Science Program and is just beginning the 2nd year of her study. This $500 award will be presented to her during the award banquet at the BEPS annual meeting on October 18, in Vancouver, WA.