Faculty, students from UGA New Materials Institute attend CB2 fall meeting

Kat Gilmore on December 2, 2025

Faculty and students from the University of Georgia New Materials Institute enjoyed attending the fall meeting of the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, or CB2, recently held at North Dakota State University. UGA NMI faculty and students will conduct five research projects selected by CB2’s Industry Advisory Board for 2026. CB2 is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center, or IUCRC, partially funded by the National Science Foundation. From left: Kenan Song, an associate professor who leads the Advanced Materials Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory (AMAML); Jason Locklin, director of the UGA NMI, and a professor of chemistry, and chemical engineering who leads the Locklin Group; Yang Liu, an assistant professor whose work focuses on micro- and nano-fluidic technologies; Suraj Sharma, a professor who leads the Innovative Materials Research Team, and Shariful Islam Tushar, a second year PhD student in the Polymer, Fiber and Textile Sciences program and a member of Sharma’s IMRT. Song, Locklin and Liu are based in the College of Engineering; Locklin is jointly appointed to the Department of Chemistry; Sharma is based in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Photo provided by Jason Locklin.

Faculty and students from the UGA New Materials Institute enjoyed attending the fall meeting of the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, or CB2, recently held at North Dakota State University. UGA NMI faculty and students will conduct five research projects selected by CB2’s Industry Advisory Board for 2026.

From left: Kenan Song, an associate professor who leads the Advanced Materials Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory (AMAML); Jason Locklin, director of the UGA NMI, and a professor of chemistry, and chemical engineering who leads the Locklin Group; Yang Liu, an assistant professor whose work focuses on micro– and nano-fluidic technologies; Suraj Sharma, a professor who leads the Innovative Materials Research Team, and Shariful Islam Tushar, a second year PhD student in the Polymer, Fiber and Textile Sciences program and a member of Sharma’s IMRT. Song, Locklin and Liu are based in the College of Engineering; Locklin is jointly appointed to the Department of Chemistry; Sharma is based in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Photo provided by Jason Locklin. 

About CB2 

CB2 is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center and is funded, in part, through the National Science Foundation. Representatives from CB2’s industry partners comprise an Industry Advisory Board that meets twice a year to review progress on current projects and to pitch, and assess, new proposals. IAB members share in the research and development costs, as well as in the intellectual property developed; additionally, IAB representatives work directly with university faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students to develop technologies that can be rapidly adopted by industry. The program provides hands-on training while ensuring funds and projects are focused on rapid development of tools needed by industry to further sustainability goals. Students and university researchers work under the mentorship of industry scientists and product developers from some of the biggest names in industry, including: John Deere, ADM, Cargill, Kimberly-Clark, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sherwin-Williams, AkzoNobel, Hyundai, MARS, Green Dot Bioplastics, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Medtronic, Leistritz, the North Dakota Corn Council, Evolve Golf, Rayonier Advanced Materials, Mojia Biotech, RheTech, H. B. Fuller, and Natur-Tec. Projects are funded through IAB membership fees, with Center/Site support funding provided by the NSF. CB2’s four search sites are located at North Dakota State University, Iowa State University, Washington State University, and the University of Georgia.