Scientific Staff and Publications

Zoran Petrovic, Ph.D.
Dr. Zoran Petrovic received his Bachelor of Engineering degree at Faculty of Technology, Belgrade University, Yugoslavia in 1964, and his doctorate at Strathclyde University, Glasgow, United Kingdom in 1974.  He worked in the electrical industry for twelve years, specializing in problems with application of polymers in electrical insulation.  From the electrical industry, he moved to the Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, where he taught Physical Chemistry of Polymers.  He spent three years at the Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, working on various research projects.  Dr. Petrovic is currently the Research Director at the Kansas Polymer Research Center and a Professor of Polymer Science in the Department of Chemistry at Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas.  He has published over 100 papers, three books, and has 16 U.S. patents.  His special interests are polyurethanes, networks and gels, and polymer characterization. His major accomplishments include the development of soy-based polyols currently produced by Cargill, the organization of KPRC, co-awardee of the 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, and he received the American Oil Chemists Society Award from the United Soybean Board for industrial uses of soybean oil. He has been on staff with BTI for 13 years.

Ivan Javni, Ph.D.
Dr. Ivan Javni received his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Science degrees at the Faculty of Technology, Tuzla, and his doctorate at University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia.  He held a teaching position at the Faculty of Technology, Tuzla, from 1971-1981.  In 1981, he joined Soda-So Co., a major producer of urethane components and systems in Yugoslavia, and was the Head of the Polyurethane Institute.  He was also elected as an UNESCO expert for polyurethanes.  He is currently Research Manager and Senior Research Scientist at the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas.  He has published over 30 papers and has several patents and patent applications.  His special interests are polyurethanes and elastomers in general. He was a co-awardee of the 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and received the American Chemists Society Regional Award.

Mihail Ionescu, Ph.D.

Dr. Mihail Ionescu received his Master of Science degree and doctorate at Faculty of Industrial Chemistry, Polytechnic Institute, Bucharest, Romania. He has 35 years experience in chemical research in the field of polymer synthesis, especially synthesis of polyols for polyurethanes at the Institute of Chemical Research, Bucharest, Romania. He was Chief of the Polymer Synthesis Department (1991-1997), Scientific Director (1997-2003), and President of The Scientific Council (1996-2003). In 2004, he took his current position as Senior Research Scientist at the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas. He holds 70 Romanian patents in the field of polyether polyols for polyurethanes, alkoxylation, ring opening polymerization, polyphenylene-oxide, phosphorus polyols, and chemical recovery of polyurethane foam wastes. He has over 80 publications in international journals (Journal of Macromolecular Science, Die Makromoleculare Chemie- Germany, Cellular Polymers- England, etc) and has published three textbooks on polymers. His last book is entitled Chemistry and Technology of Polyols for Polyurethanes, edited by RAPRA in England in November 2005. His book is the first monograph dedicated exclusively to polyols for polyurethanes. Dr. Ionescu is a member of the New York Academy of Science (1996) and has received international recognition in the area of polyols for polyurethanes. His special interests are bio-based polymeric materials, especially polyols and polyurethanes based on vegetable oils.

Yijin Xu, Ph.D.

Dr. Yijin Xu received his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees at the Department of Polymer Material and Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering. From 1994 until 2000, Dr. Xu held a teaching position at Hefei University of Technolog. He received his doctorate in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics from the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Science and Technology of China. Then he worked as a research associate in the Electronic Packaging Lab at Hong Kong Univerisity of Science and Technology, studying the application of Py-GC/MS in composition and curing process analysis of epoxy molding compounds, underfills, solder masters and adhesives. As a Postdoc at the University of Akron, Ohio in the Department of Polymer Science, he spent three years on emulsion polymerization and polymer based nanocomposites. During his one and a half year Postdoc Research at the College of Staten Island City, University of New York in the Department of Chemistry, Dr. Xu synthesized and characterized a series of room temperature liquid crystals which have great potential application in organic/plastic solar cells. In May 2006,he joined the KPRC as a Research Associate. Dr. Xu has over 15 papers (Angewandte Chemie international Edition, Macromolecules, Journal of Polymer Science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry, Polymer, etc) which reflect his achievements in living cationic ring-opening polymerization, living/controlled radical polymerization, emulsion polymerization, and nanocomposites. His current interests are biocompatible and/or biodegradable polymer materials based on renewable resources, functional polymers for plastic solar cell application, and living/controlled polymerizations.

Alisa Zlatanic, M.Sc

Alisa Zlatanic received her Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1993 and Master of Science degree in 1997, in Organic Chemical Technology and Polymer Engineering from the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, from the University of Belgrade. She worked six years as a teaching and research assistant there before her appointment as Research Associate in the Kansas Polymer Research Center in 1999. She specializes in polymer synthesis and characterization. Her special interests are polymer networks and rheology. Her major accomplishments include development of biobased polyol for flexible polyurethane foams and more than 15 scientific papers. She was a co-awardee of the 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.

Xianmei Wan, M. Sc.
Ms. Xianmei Wan received her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Southwest Petroleum Institute, Nanchong, Sichuan, China, and her Master of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada. For over six years, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry in the Southwest Petroleum Institute.  She also had five years experience working in private industry as a research chemist before her appointment as a Research Associate at the Kansas Polymer Research Center.  She has published 3 papers. Her special research interest is polymer characterization.

Doo Pyo Hong, M.Sc.

Doo Pyo Hong received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1999 and his Master of Science degree in 2001 in Organic Chemistry at MyongJi University in Yongin, Korea. In 2006 he received his M. Sc. in Chemistry at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. He has seven publications. From 2004 to 2006, he was a Research Assistant at the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. In 2006, he became a Research Associate with the Kansas Polymer Research Center. His field of research includes synthesis and analysis of bio-based polymers, synthesis of antioxidant polishing raw material for silver coating, improvement of the synthetic method about Epinastine (anti-allergic medication), and many more.

Ivana Cvetkovic, B. Eng.

Ivana Cvetkovic received her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from the Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. She is enrolled in Master of Science studies in Chemical Engineering at the same university. Before her appointment as a Research Associate and Safety Officer at the Kansas Polymer Research Center, she worked as a teaching assistant at Faculty of Technology, Serbia. She has published three papers. Her special interests are analytic/instrumental characterization of vegetable oil-based polyols, preparing and testing of polyurethane cast resins, and testing of polyurethane foams. She has been working at KPRC since December of 2005.