Looking back, Evan Yu can only shake his head and laugh. When he was a first-year undeclared engineering student, he was unaware of UML鈥檚 internationally recognized plastics engineering program.聽
While exploring his options during his first semester in the Francis College of Engineering, he took a tour of the Plastics Engineering Department and saw its assortment of machinery in Ball Hall. 鈥淭his is pretty interesting,鈥� the Brookline, Massachusetts, native thought to himself.
Four years later, 鈥淚鈥檓 definitely glad I chose plastics, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� he says.
As a sophomore, Yu joined Asst. Prof. Grace Chen鈥檚 Plastics & Environment Research Laboratory, working with chemical solvents to recycle plastic waste. His senior capstone and Honors thesis project addressed the problem of recycling plastic that has been treated with hazardous flame retardants from electronic waste.
鈥淣o one really focuses on electronic waste 鈥� what happens when you throw away your old TV,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ver time, these additives and flame retardants in plastics get released and go into the environment, and that causes a big environmental hazard.鈥�
Yu hopes the research work will contribute to the public鈥檚 understanding of the problem.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been driven to help people,鈥� he says.
While he could have gone the mechanical or civil engineering route, 鈥渂uilding bridges and making sure things don鈥檛 fall down,鈥� Yu says he was drawn to the science of plastics.
鈥淪omething about the science really clicks with me,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n our research, we do more with the chemical aspect of materials. We are dealing with molecular interactions between solvents and plastics.鈥�
Yu, who expects to pursue a master鈥檚 degree, has co-authored three papers as an undergrad and was leading a paper of his own as a senior.
鈥淗e has been very productive during his three years in my lab,鈥� Chen says. 鈥淎nywhere he goes, I think the institution will be lucky to have him. I am so proud of him.鈥�