The Department of Chemistry at Gustavus Adolphus College was privileged to host Dr. Joseph Delaney, Jr. on February 24, 2012 for a talk titled, “Reactive inkjet printing, rapid prototyping, and functional inks; a versatile route to new programmed materials.” A current researcher at Boston Scientific, Delaney was brought in to speak at the weekly chemistry seminar for biochemistry and chemistry majors as a result of professional connections with Gustavus Professor Brian O’Brien.
Delaney’s talk highlighted his interesting thesis work focused on the use of inkjet technology as a laboratory tool, which was conducted recently at the Eindhoven University of Technology in collaboration with Prof. Ulrich Schubert (h-index of 58). With advantages including little waste production, precise deposition of chemical and biological components, and ability to dispense many different solutions, Delaney suggests that inkjet printing technology will be an increasingly popular and powerful tool for biomaterials research. In his work, Delaney investigated the production of alginate materials for use in tissue engineering of soft structures and ionogels for conductive materials, both using inkjet technology.
As an industrial chemist, Delaney was a welcome addition to the interesting retinue of speakers who have spoken at chemistry seminar so far this semester. His use of an everyday item in highly precise research is a fascinating area of research and Gustavus Adolphus College was fortunate to host him.
Sarah Lucht ‘13
Gustavus Chemistry Major