Victoria Gelling and Dean Webster of NDSU’s Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials appeared on the research and development hour of “Weekend Edition” on KFGO radio, The Mighty 790. The show aired March 7.
Gelling and Webster provided information on how coatings affect everyday materials, as well as information about research projects, including work with NASA on coatings containing smart capsules to sense and respond to corrosion, coatings that use natural raw materials such as vegetable oils, nanocomposite coatings, coatings for aircraft and ships and coatings research for conserving artwork. The program also emphasized research opportunities available for undergraduate and graduate students at NDSU.
Formed in 1905, the NDSU Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials is one of only a few recognized universities in the country offering a program in coatings. Graduates of the department work in a variety of settings, from paint companies to industry to cosmetics.
Weekend Edition features research activities from around the region. Past programs also have featured research and topics by NDSU professors Allan Ashworth and Adam Lewis in the Department of Geosciences; Dinesh Katti and Kalpana Katti in the Department of Civil Engineering; Heather Gill-Robinson in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Emergency Management; Debra Pankow, NDSU Extension family economics specialist; and Phil Boudjouk, NDSU vice president for research, creative activities and technology transfer.