Matthew Vasuta has been selected to receive the 2026 Provost’s Pathbreaking Discovery Award, a premier university honor recognizing doctoral students who demonstrate truly exceptional research and scholarship.
Vasuta is a fourth-year PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Materials Science Program and a member of Professor G. Kane Jennings’ research group in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. His research focuses on the molecular design of advanced polymer membranes using spin coating-ring opening metathesis polymerization, or scROMP, an innovative method that enables rapid and more sustainable polymer film synthesis and deposition.
In his first first-author publication in Langmuir (2025), Vasuta showed that minimal fluorocarbon content can create fluorocarbon-dominated membrane surfaces, dramatically improving ethanol dehydration performance while reducing PFAS usage. A second first-author manuscript, currently in revision at ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, demonstrates the rapid fabrication of layered block copolymer films that allow independent control of surface and bulk properties. He is projected to graduate with eight publications, including multiple first-author papers.
Beyond research, Vasuta has served as recruitment chair for the Interdisciplinary Materials Science Program for three years, chaired the 2025 VINSE student-selected speaker committee, and mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students. He also co-founded the VINSE forensics analytical outreach program and has helped lead more than 200 middle and high school students through hands-on nanoscience experiences.
The award includes a $2,500 service-free stipend and celebrates scholars whose work advances their fields and addresses global challenges. Please join us in congratulating Matthew Vasuta on this well-deserved recognition.