Three chemistry students from Stellenbosch University earned their stripes at the Asian Polymer Association's annual conference held from 5 to 7 September 2016 in Mauritius.

Inge Weideman, an MSc student supervised by Dr Rueben Pfukwa, earned second place for her poster "Organocatalytic anionic polymerisation of o-phthaladehyde: effect of catalyst on polymer microstructure", while PhD students Welmarie van Schalkwyk and Ingrid Heyns shared third place in the oral contest, organised by Springer.

The conference focused on new dimensions in healthcare systems and how to respond to the challenges facing research in biomaterials and biomedical technology.

The students are part of Prof. Bert Klumperman's research group in the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science. Prof. Klumperman also holds the South African research chair (SARChI) in Advanced Macromolecular Architectures.

Prof. Klumperman presented a paper on new developments with research on poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride), while Prof. Albert van Reenen's paper focused on the functionalisation of commercially available polymers for biomedical applications.

On the photo, from left to right, Prof Bert Klumperman, Welmarie van Schalkwyk, Inge Weideman and Ingrid Heyns. Photo: Divann Robertson