About the Moderator
Ashley White is the head of strategic development and communications for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Energy Sciences Area and the interim deputy for strategy for the Advanced Light Source, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science synchrotron light source user facility at Berkeley Lab. In these roles, she draws on her background as a materials researcher and science policy advisor to inform science strategy and convey key accomplishments to current and potential facility users and the science research community, federal funders and policymakers, and the general public.
Prior to joining Berkeley Lab, White served as an MRS/OSA Congressional Science & Engineering Fellow in the U.S. Senate and as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Materials Research. She also previously managed the materials research program at the U.S. Green Building Council. She received a PhD degree in materials science from the University of Cambridge, and a BS and BA in materials science and engineering and music, respectively, from Virginia Tech. She is a past recipient of the MRS Woody White Service Award. White’s MRS volunteer activities include serving as meeting chair for the 2023 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit, chairing the Focus on Sustainability subcommittee, and serving on the editorial advisory board of MRS Energy & Sustainability.
About the Panelists
Andreas Lendlein is a professor of materials in life sciences at the University of Potsdam, Germany. After receiving his doctoral degree from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), he worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed his habilitation at the RWTH Aachen University.
His research interests comprise multifunctional shape-memory polymers for minimally-invasive surgery, degradable biomaterials for regenerative medicine and controlled drug release systems, bio-based polymers for sustainable products as well as soft actuators for healthcare technologies and robotics. He developed advanced industrial manufacturing schemes for medical devices providing high efficacy by integrating processes. Recently, he demonstrated the impact of computer-supported design and digital manufacturing for the creation of multifunctional, adaptive devices.
Lendlein published 747 papers, is an inventor on 338 issued patents and published patent applications in 63 patent families, and received 23 awards for his scientific work and his achievements as an entrepreneur. He is elected fellow of the Materials Research Society, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Controlled Release Society.
Jill Martin is a Senior Fellow in the Packaging and Specialty Plastics business of The Dow Chemical Company. For the past 27 years, she has served in both research and development (R&D) and technical service and development (TS&D) for the North America Packaging and Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons (PSP&H) business. She began her career in R&D working on polyethylene product development including hot melt adhesives, automotive UTH applications, and hygiene absorbent products before moving into a role in New Business Development focusing on technical and commercial evaluation of external technologies. In 2003 she joined the TS&D group engaging directly with customers and brand owners in the hygiene, rigid and flexible packaging and medical device markets before transitioning into her current role aligned with the development of circular economy solutions for packaging markets. In this role, she has responsibility for the development of products and partnerships partnering with R&D and across the entire value chain. Martin is a member of the CalPoly Packaging Advisory Board as well as the ISTA Global Advisory Board and the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University. She is a past chair of SPE’s South Texas division’s International Polyolefins Conference.
She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a Doctorate in Polymer Engineering and Science from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds over 30 patents and has presented at more than fifteen conferences and workshops on a range of topics from medical devices to innovation in a circular economy for plastics.
Rachel Meidl, LP.D., CHMM, is a distinguished fellow in energy and environment at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and a strategic advisor for Morgan Stanley Capital International. Her research focuses on sustainability; circular economy; life cycle management; environmental justice; safety and environmental regulations of the treatment, storage, disposal, and transportation of hazardous materials and wastes; and assessing low carbon, alternative energy pathways to understand the environmental, economic, and social impacts across supply chains.
Meidl was previously appointed as Deputy Associate Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in Washington, DC where she led the agency’s domestic and international strategy, policy, and programs. She has over 25 years of regulatory, public policy, advocacy and technical experience in industry, academia, government and international relations.
Meidl holds a PhD in law and public policy from Northeastern University, a master in environmental policy and management, a master of education in applied science and technology with certifications in chemistry and physics, and bachelor degrees in conservation biology and zoology & animal physiology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Meidl is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager.
Megan L. Robertson is the Cullen College of Engineering Professor in the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston. Robertson received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and was a senior scientist at Rohm and Haas and postdoctoral research associate at the University of Minnesota before joining the faculty at the University of Houston. The Robertson Research Group works in diverse areas of polymer sustainability, including polymers from renewable feedstocks, degradable polymers, green chemistry, and polymer recycling and upcycling.