UCF Engineering Chair Named Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry

Sudipta Seal, an engineering professor and chair of UCF’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has been named a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, one of the oldest chemical societies in the world.

“Getting recognized by the Royal Society of Chemistry is not only a humbling experience but will also create a lot of future research opportunities,” Seal says.

The society includes more than 54,000 members whose discoveries and innovations help shape the future. Designation as a fellow in the society means a researcher has made a significant impact in their field related to chemical sciences.

“As a materials engineer I’m always involved in new material formulation and development for a variety of applications in biomedical, space and the environment,” Seal says. “And understanding materials chemistry at the nanoscale, in particular for new nano-therapeutics development, is part of our group’s expertise.”

Seal’s accomplishments have included creating unique nanoscale cerium oxide molecules, leading to the discovery of their antioxidant properties and applications in medicine, as well as using nanotechnology to turn a waste byproduct from coal power plants into a material to clean up oil spills, and developing nano-energetics for propulsion.

Seal has a doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley. He has a master’s degree from the University of Sheffield and a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.

He is a Pegasus Professor, trustee chair and is affiliated with UCF’s Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center and Nanoscience Technology Center, in addition to his role as chair and professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He is a member of UCF’s Prosthetic Interfaces Cluster and holds a joint appointment in UCF’s College of Medicine. He joined UCF in 1997.