IUPUC Associate Professor and Division of Science Head James Mendez, Ph.D., spent the 2023 spring semester in Bratislava, Slovakia, as part of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. He returned to IUPUC in July with renewed enthusiasm for his research with naturally derived plastics, connections with scientists around the world, and exciting lab opportunities for his students.
Since joining IUPUC nine years ago, Mendez has been working with chitin (pronounced “kite-in”), a natural polymer made from crustacean shells, insect exoskeletons, and even certain mushrooms. (If you see students collecting bags of cicada shells, they’re probably for JD’s lab to make chitin.) Chitin is unique not only because it’s a renewable, natural polymer but because it has no toxicity for humans. In fact, chitin has antimicrobial properties that could even promote wound healing, leading to fascinating possibilities in the medical world. In Slovakia, Mendez was exploring chitin’s potential 3D printing applications, which could someday be used to create custom frameworks for medical devices.
Mendez spent five months working with Ivan Simkovic, a principal research scientist at the Institute of Chemistry at Slovak Academy of Sciences. He said it was the first time he worked in a lab that wasn’t connected to a university, which was a very different atmosphere from the hustle and bustle of campus. Mendez is looking forward to sharing what he learned with his students and colleagues at IUPUC, and he’s most excited about increased research opportunities for students, offering fun and unique experiments with 3D printing of chitin. He noted that not every university offers such lab opportunities to undergraduates, and he’s proud to have research labs open to all of his students, including freshmen.
“The 3D printing lab is great place for experimenting, especially compared to other chemistry labs where there is greater risk and expense,” Mendez explained. “Here, they aren’t going to hurt themselves or waste hundreds of dollars. I tell my students, ‘You don’t have to be afraid of experimenting in here.”
During his Fulbright trip, in addition to his research, Mendez discussed modern applications of biopolymer 3D printing with scientists in Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Estonia. These connections could lead to potential collaborations in the future. Plus, Mendez noted that it was great to reconnect with his former colleagues—in 2017, he conducted research and taught a graduate class on biopolymers in Estonia as part of a previous Fulbright Award.
Personally, he said the semester abroad was a great experience. In addition to his work, he got to know other Fulbright Scholars in different fields, travel throughout Europe, and get immersed in a new culture with his family—his wife Julie Mendez, 1-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son joined him, his son even attended school in Slovakia.
Mendez is among more than 800 U.S. citizens who conducted cutting-edge research and/or partnered with institutions abroad for the 2022-2023 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Mendez won the award in chemistry for the 2022-2023 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.