Meet Mesfin Tsige who received $321,000 from the National Science Foundation to advance the fundamental understanding of the solution and interfacial properties of a type of polymer called polycatenanes, opening a door toward using them in molecular-level applications such as sensors, motors, and actuators.

Mesfin Tsige is Professor of Polymer Science in the Department of Polymer Science at The University of Akron, Ohio, and an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He is a recipient of the prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation of the United States. He has published extensively in the area of soft condensed matter physics, including joint publications with researchers in the Department of Physics at Addis Ababa University.