Shawn Mengel

 About Shawn

• Advisor: Rachel Segalman
• Department: Chemical Engineering
• Campus: UCSB
• BioPACIFIC MIP Research: SET 2 - Sequence-Defined Materials

 What is your research focus?

The ability to program collapsed chain structures with biological complexity into the monomer sequence of synthetic polymers has broad implications for next-generation material design. However, efforts toward this goal are limited by an astronomically large sequence design space, even for relatively simple sequence motifs. My work focuses on using polypeptoids as an ideal system to address this challenge experimentally, establishing basic sequence design rules to narrow the design space and build a framework for development of made-to-order soft materials. I am currently studying how the exact placement of functional groups along a polymer backbone can controllably direct chain conformation in short polypeptoids. I then plan to leverage the resulting sequence-structure relationships to control mesoscale polymer globule structure. This work is directly related to the BioPACIFIC SET 2 since the application of advanced electron microscopy techniques will enable characterization of these sequence specific materials and guide design of new materials. My work is being done in collaboration with simulation experiments in the Shell lab at UCSB, making it more broadly relevant to the BioPACIFIC MIP’s goals of applying data-driven discovery and multiscale simulation to inverse material design.

 What excites you about NSF BioPACIFIC MIP?

My current thesis research is directly relevant to the BioPACIFIC MIP SET 2 goals, and I believe stronger affiliation with the BioPACIFIC MIP will provide valuable opportunities to advance my research and professional goals. Working more closely as a fellow would enable me to network with the expertise of the MIP, exposing me to state-of-the-art techniques and cutting-edge external research, thereby introducing multidisciplinary elements to my own work. The collaboration and sharing of ideas through the SET projects will broaden the impact of my expertise and I look forward to seeing how my lab’s experience in sequence-specific polymer synthesis might contribute to exciting projects outside the scope of the typical polymer physics problems we currently study. And finally, the travel grants provided by the fellowship program will assist me in communicating and receiving feedback on my research from the larger scientific community outside of the MIP and UCSB. These activities are vital to my development as a researcher but more importantly will further enhance my contributions to the MIP beyond what is possible in my current status as a BioPACIFIC MIP user.