Organization and AFMC Governance

The key to success is active engagement with industry partners that facilitates ensuring value for AFMC membership investment. The vision and direction for the AFMC are the responsibility of the director and deputy director with significant input from the member companies.

Director:

Dr. Bryan Vogt
Professor
Department of Polymer Engineering
330-972-8608
vogt@uakron.edu

Deputy Director:

Dr. Yu Zhu
Assistant Professor
Department of Polymer Science
330-972-5945
yzhu@uakron.edu

The director and deputy director will provide the primary contact for AFMC members and potential members to facilitate addressing their needs through identification of faculty, equipment and other resources that are present at The University of Akron. They will also lead the through technical advisory committee (TAC). The TAC is composed of the director, deputy director, one representative from each member institution and the theme leaders. The research directions of the center will be determined through technical advisory committee (TAC).

There will be an annual call for proposals from the faculty involved with the AFMC. These proposals will be limited to 2 pages and require at least 2 faculty to be involved to maximize the faculty interactions with member companies in areas of interest. Funding from the AFMC will be limited to student support and materials/supplies for the project. These projects may be leveraged by Akron Masters Program (AMP) students that are advised by the proposers. Funding availability to each theme will be dependent on the industrial interest. Students that are involved with these projects will be required to present at the AFMC annual meeting in the subsequent year and be available to meet with representative from member companies during the AFMC meeting.