Education: B.S.   Chemical Engineering , M.I.T. , 1989
M.S.  Chemical Engineering , M.I.T. , 1989
Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering , M.I.T. , 1994

Positions Held:

Post-Doctoral Research Associate  Chemical Engineering , M.I.T. , 1994-1996  
Assistant Professor  University of Maryland , 1996-2001
Associate Professor, University of Maryland, 2001- 2006
Professor, University of Maryland, 2006 - present

 Honors and Awards:

Clark School of Engineering Keystone Professor, 2006  
CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 1999 
A.J. Clark School of Engineering Junior Faculty Teaching Award, 1999

 Contact:

 Tel: +1-301-405-7335

Email: kofinas@umd.edu

 Current Research Interests

Nanostructured Polymers for Biological Recognition and Energy Applications

---

The main thrust of Professor Kofinas' research program aims in the synthesis characterization and processing of novel polymer based nanostructured systems used in a variety of technological fields ranging from medicine and pharmeceutics to energy storage and microelectronics.   Present  problems of interest include: the design of polymer hydrogels that induce blood-coagulation for applications in synthetic haemostatics, the design of polymers that change color upon detection of pathogenic bacteria, the design of bioinspired polymers for high-affinity binding of viruses and proteins ;   the selective immobilization and binding of recombinant proteins and viruses on nanopatterned polymer surfaces;  the development of novel functional magnetodielectric polymer nanocomposites for flexible antennas; the design of all-solid, shape-conforming, nanostructured polymer electrolytes for energy storage systems.