Wilson Faculty Excited to ‘Give Back’ in New Role
Jialong Shen is looking forward to connecting his research with his teaching as an assistant professor.
After 15 years at the Wilson College of Textiles, Jialong Shen will begin a new role as assistant professor.
“The Wilson College has an atmosphere that is conducive to growth. I have grown from a student to a postdoc to a faculty member and I have the desire to give it back,” Shen says.
He is looking forward to seeing how his many years of research connect with teaching as an assistant professor for the Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science.
Growing from researcher to teacher
Shen completed a master’s degree in textile engineering in 2012 and a Ph.D. in fiber and polymer science in 2017, both at the Wilson College. During his graduate work, Shen studied fundamental polymer science, looking at how the polymer’s chemical structure relates to its behavior in real life.
Polymers are chain molecules that are found in almost everything, from cotton fiber to water bottles. When Shen transitioned to his postdoctoral role, his research began to focus on polymer science applications.
“I used my basic polymer science background and applied it to different areas. For two years, I worked on developing a fibrous wound dressing material in a biomedical application,” Shen says. “In 2019, Dr. Sonja Salmon was looking for a postdoc to develop an enzyme-based CO2 capture system. I started working with her to develop bio-catalytic textiles for CO2 capture, combining biotechnology with textile technology for carbon capture applications. With this, I see tremendous potential for sustainability.”
This carbon capture system is intended to create a more energy efficient way to manage carbon emissions from industrial sources than traditional methods.
“Jialong has been in the field of polymers and textiles for his entire career and he’s been a really amazing collaborator in the lab,” Professor Sonja Salmon says. “He is also extraordinary with students and takes mentorship very seriously. He helps them in their journey to transform from being less knowledgeable about what they’re doing to build their skills. They leave working with him being much more confident and capable. He’s a great educator and that’s what I love about him.”
Planning for his classroom
Since 2023, Shen has served as an assistant research professor in Salmon’s lab, where his focus shifted to sustainable polymer applications, or “applying his knowledge where it really matters,” he says. In this role, he started working on synthesizing sustainable polymers and producing bio-electrocatalysis.
“Basically, we want to use electrochemistry combined with biotechnology. Biotechnology will give us the enzyme, and the enzyme is really nature’s catalyst,” Shen says. “It’s a more sustainable catalyst that will help us make chemicals we want more sustainably. Rather than using fossil fuel-based resources, we can use bio resources.”
He plans to continue this sustainability focus with his students by setting up a sustainable polymer research lab.
“We want to sustainably synthesize and engineer polymers for textile circularity. I want to tie all of the chemistry and polymer science research I did and apply it to the textile industry,” Shen says.
He is teaching TE 463 Polymer Engineering this fall, a senior-level textile engineering course. Students will learn how to engineer polymers, understand their structure-property relationships and select the correct polymer for the correct product.
“My teaching philosophy is really about serving and empowering the students,” Shen says. “Students come to us with their goals and many of them are interested in sustainability too. I want to focus my efforts on teaching them engineering and chemistry knowledge that will help them design future sustainable textile products.”
- Categories:
