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POLY Member Spotlight
The POLY Member Spotlight was created to highlight excellent members of the polymer science community. Our division's members are involved in diverse research areas throughout the industrial and academic sectors, and we look forward to recognizing a wide-range of these talented polymer scientists and sharing their current research.
Meet Our Featured Member
Shanti Swarup
PPG Collegium Member

Shanti Swarup has recently retired from PPG as a PPG Associate Fellow in Research and Development. Shanti Swarup is now a lifetime member of PPG Collegium, an organization of PPG innovator leaders. 

Swarup spent nearly 32 years with the company. He and his team produced 220 unique polymers of which 55 are used in commercial product producing >$ 9 billion in cumulative sales for PPG. He is named inventor and author on 560 global patents and publications including 85 granted U.S. Patents and 25 pending review.

Shanti has maintained active in the American Chemical Society for more than three decades, and has served on the POLY Industrial Advisory Board for 10 years. 

Shanti Swarup was named an ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry and a Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Fellow in 2020. Swarup was also recognized by the Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association (PIPLA) as the 2020 Inventor of the Year.
Read POLY's interview with Shanti Swarup below. 

How long have you been a POLY member?
I joined the American Chemical Society POLY division program in 2009.

What are you working on now?
Recently, as a corporate fellow at PPG, I explore new chemistries, coating compositions and unique methodologies to produce new scientific discoveries, publications and patents. I promote PPG's industry-leading technologies at conferences and graduate symposiums, work with start-up companies, advice on key ongoing research projects, polymers scale-up for commercial launches, and mentor young chemists and engineers. As a member of science and technology communication team, I co-ordinate "Technical Expert Seminar Series" for the PPG internal audience.

What do you find most challenging about your work?
As a professional, it can be challenging giving presentations at public conferences without disclosing PPG-proprietary information.

Tell us about someone who has influenced your work.
The late Professor Robert A. Moss of Rutgers University (N.J.) had a great impact on my adult and professional life. I joined his research group in October of 1983 and remained there until September of 1988. During this time, he advised and taught me to synthesize and characterize surfactant molecules, and even organized an opportunity for me to teach undergraduate organic chemistry. This training and teaching assignment enhanced my synthesis skills tremendously and helped me invent hundreds of new polymers of various functionality to serve the needs of the coatings industry. Due to my capabilities in the science field, Professor Moss also sponsored my U.S. green card, which eventually led me to my career at PPG.

What might someone be surprised to know about you?
In high school, I rode my bike 10 Km everyday back and forth to school on a dirt road - even during monsoons! After school and on summer break, I worked with my family on a farm harvesting crops, feeding animals, and riding horses in my village (Dedamai), before moving to city (Aligarh) for my doctoral degree.

What do you think will change about polymers over the next five years?
Due to the impacts of COVID-19, the demand for antimicrobial and biocidal coatings products are growing at a rapid rate. Coating companies will likely adjust their polymer research to develop coatings with anti-viral, anti-microbial, antibacterial, and easy to clean properties for surfaces in homes, hospitals, restaurants, malls, automobiles and airplanes.

What do you do when you aren't working?
I'm learning to sing, and I like to play cards, exercise, watch sports, and work around the house and travel. Recently, I've been engaged with my young grand-daughters to enhance their math skills.
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