Spring 2019 Distinguished Professor - Dr. Jaroslaw Drelich

I re-invented myself and found my passion for research and science at the end of my BS degree program as a chemistry major at the Technical University of Gdansk in Poland. In the middle of my junior year, I was asked to choose a laboratory and adviser and select the research topic for my MS degree program. Without any previous research experience, but with a driving motivation to elude a professional career in chemical factories, and determined also to combat pollutions of fishing streams, lakes and the Baltic sea, a team of researchers working on design and commercialization of equipment and materials for removal of spilled and dispersed oils from the environment and industrial wastewater streams attracted my attention. Since the first semester in my master program I received unprecedented trust and support from my advisers, who somehow sensed research talent in me, even if I was just an average undergraduate student. I remember how difficult it was for me to leave the lab and how eager I was to come back every morning, usually ahead of other students and employees since I started experimentation on oil absorbing materials. It was then when I established my passion for surfaces and wetting phenomena and this fascination with manipulation of surfaces, along with an aspiration to understand capillary and wetting phenomena, still fascinates me to this day. It was also then when dreams of publishing one paper in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science (JCIS) occupied my mind for the first time. I was eventually able to publish several papers in JCIS as well as in many other high-impact factor journals, but not until I entered into a PhD degree program in Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Utah.

On the contrary, focus on materials, especially biomaterials, dates back to the early days of
the newly established Department of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan Tech. This was the
result of very fruitful collaborations with several faculty from this new department on campus and my attempt to develop a supplementary research niche to my surface science and engineering program. Currently, the studies on development of new resorbable biomaterials have dominated my research activities since 2011.

The establishment of quality teaching requires enthusiasm, as well as appropriate
fundamental and practical knowledge of the course subject. Already in my early career at
Michigan Tech, I recognized that students learn science and engineering of surfaces and
materials better and much more efficiently when the instructor refers in teaching to their own research and industrial projects. The passion and deep knowledge of the instructor during analysis of their own projects and experience gained when serving the needs of industry spread among students and enhance their learning capabilities.

In my opinion, the recent progress in the field related to surfaces and interfaces is driven by
computer simulation techniques which, ultimately, will substantially reduce the amount of
experimentation needed in the future by designing and predicting functionality and
characteristics of materials and their surfaces. They will also provide strong validation of
experimental tests and results.

Development of materials with smart, functional, and self-repairing surfaces that are
compatible and responsive to changes in surrounding environment, but are also durable.

I have been fortune enough to work and interact with numerous enthusiastic collaborators
from various disciplines and programs on campus including archeology, biomedical
engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering,
forestry, geology, mechanical engineering, and physics. Michigan Tech campus is very unique in this category, where no faculty and staff close their door to others seeking advice and help in research and beyond.

Additionally, over the years, and especially recently, I have received multiple support from my department, college of engineering, and university through instrumentation funds,
scholarships awarded to undergraduate researchers, and teaching assistantships to graduate students, which help me to keep my research programs active. My department has also found the right teaching vs research balance for me allowing me to spend some time abroad and visit my international collaborators.

My primary goal for the next few years is to finalize development and perhaps even
commercialization of biodegradable implants. My recent efforts have concentrated on
resorbable vascular scaffolds, but I have also moved towards orthopedic applications of
biodegradable metals. My collaboration with Prof. Jeremy Goldman in this program has
already concluded four NIH grants with one more on the way, so I am confident that we will
make at least a lot of scientific and engineering progress on development of biodegradable
implant materials. 

My second personal challenge is to develop a research program on design of artificial
materials and systems inspired by natural materials and biological systems. I personally love our green Upper Peninsula and spend many hours outdoors for fishing, camping and hiking. I believe that such a nature-inspired materials program could excite and attract to my research many undergraduate students that enjoy outdoor activities and appreciate the environment in which we live. I have already made the first step in this direction, but accomplishment of this initiative will be dictated by success in receiving external funding.