ITHACA, N.Y. -- The connections of polymer science to biology will be examined when a major academic research conference with industrial participation, the 14th annual Polymer Outreach Program (POP) symposium, is held at Cornell University, May 19 and 20.

The symposium, sponsored by the Cornell Center for Materials Research, is open to industry researchers and to members of the Cornell community. Free registration, which is required, is available online at http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/industry .

The symposium is intended to strengthen and develop research relationships between university scientists and industry researchers in the rapidly growing field of polymers.

The conference will feature several Cornell researchers discussing such topics as nanocomposites, bio-inspired and biomimetic polymer materials, biocompatible and biodegradable polymers, biosensing, bioimaging and polymer materials for nanobiotechnology.

The symposium also will feature an extensive poster session presented by Cornell students and postdoctoral fellows.

A highlight of the conference will be the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology's annual Aggarwal Lectures, to be given this year by Matthew Tirrell, the Richard A. Auhll professor and engineering dean at the University of California-Santa Barbara. The lectures, which are free and open to the public, honor the late Sundar L. Aggarwal (Cornell, Ph.D. '49), a vice president and director of GenCorp Research division and an industry consultant.

Tirrell's research has been in polymer surface properties, including adsorption, adhesion, surface treatment, friction, lubrication and biocompatibility. His first talk, "Forces between layers of polyelectrolyte chains tethered to surfaces," will be at 8:45 a.m. Monday, May 19; the second talk, "Biofunctionalization of interfaces with peptide-lipid conjugates," will be at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, May 20. Both lectures will be in 700 Clark Hall.

Organizers of this year's POP at Cornell include Ulrich Wiesner, associate professor of materials science and engineering, and Geoffrey Coates, professor of chemistry and chemical biology. Both also will present their latest research during the symposium.