Gelest Strengthens R&D, Technical Service Staff

Gelest has strengthened its R&D and technical service capabilities with one new hire and two promotions.

Janis Matisons, PhD, has joined the company as senior technical manager. He will be responsible for the development of innovative material and polymer technologies. Matisons has been involved in applied chemical research for more than 30 years, specializing in materials and polymer- and silicon-based research. Before joining Gelest, Matisons was appointed the first Australian professorial chair in nanotechnology at Flinders University, where he formed and led the nanomaterials group for nine years. Matisons came to Flinders University from the University of South Australia, where he led the research efforts of the polymer science group at the Ian Wark Research Institute.

Jonathan Goff, PhD, has been promoted by the company to manager of silicones R&D. Goff joined the company in 2009 as a polymer development chemist, working to develop new silicone products, after receiving his doctorate in macromolecular science from Virginia Tech. In his dissertation, Goff described the formation of PDMS-stabilized magnetite nanoparticle complexes, the synthesis of silicone-based segmented polyionenes, and the development of silicone macroinitiators for use in living free radical polymerization techniques.

Yun Mi Kim, PhD, has been promoted by the company to technical service manager. Kim specializes in surface modification and silicon chemistry; she joined Gelest as an application chemist in September 2006. Kim began her professional career as a research chemist at Kudko Chemical Ltd. in South Korea, specializing in epoxy resin systems and hardeners. She earned her doctorate in material science and engineering at the University of Florida in 2006.

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