Welcome to The Institute for Polymer Research

Creative polymer science and engineering... Supporting industry in its search for excellence

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Technological initiatives

Technological initiatives from the Institute for Polymer Research (IPR) have been instrumental in the development of better polymers for wire and cable applications, polymer modifications to make heat- and oil-resistant rubber, new polymer alloys and blends, systems for recycling polyolefin containers, the computer design of extrusion screws and dies and computer modelling and control of polymerization processes.

The Institute

The Institute carries out applied and fundamental research in areas that are of vital interest to the plastics, coatings, adhesives and elastomers industries. This includes work in such diverse fields as molecular weight characterization, thermal characterization, emulsion polymerization, polymer processing, polymerization kinetics, copolymerization, reactive extrusion, polymer-based catalysts, polymer photochemistry and development of new monomers and polymers.

Member firms in the Institute receive:

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  • Two days of free consulting per annum by faculty members
  • Advanced research results before papers are published
  • Participation in Annual Symposium held in May
  • Membership on the IPR Industrial Advisory Council
  • Reduced rates on analytical and other research services
  • Priority on contract research

Intensive short courses

IPR also provides intensive short courses in Canada, USA, South America and Europe, or in-house for members firms.

News

We are happy to announce  that since the IPR Symposium originally scheduled on May 6th had to be cancelled due to Covid-19, and since we do not foresee the possibility of having large gatherings on the UW campus in the Fall term, we have decided to organize a virtual IPR Symposium in the afternoon of Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020.

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Prof. Kenneth O’Driscoll on August 4th, 2020. Prof. O’Driscoll had a very successful career in Chemical Engineering, but he and Prof. Alfred Rudin (1924-2011) are remembered by the IPR community as the two founders of the IPR in 1978.