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Honors and Awards

Society of Plastics Engineers Names Carr 2019 Fellow

SPE Fellows recognized for contributions in plastics engineering, science, technology

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) selected Northwestern Engineering’s Stephen Carr to its 2019 class of SPE Fellows.

Stephen CarrThe society, with more than 22,500 members in 84 countries, honors members with fellowships based on “their outstanding contributions in the field of plastics engineering, science or technology, or in the management of such activities,” according to the society’s website.

Carr, who has been on the faculty since 1969, is a professor of material science and engineering as well as chemical and biological engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also served as associate dean of Northwestern Engineering’s undergraduate program from 1992 to 2015, driving the evolution of the school’s education to focus on living at frontiers—both in research and in design.

“I have made plastics the center of my engineering career for almost 60 years. To get professional recognition at this point is satisfying,” he added. “Northwestern has been my home for nearly 50 years and it has provided the platform for this recognition, allowing me to receive funding to conduct the research I found compelling.”

Carr’s research has made a variety of contributions including the effects of processing on structure/property relationships in flexible or rod‑like polymers and their alloys, the origins of piezoelectricity in polymers, and the structure and property relationships in electronically conducting polymers.

Currently, Carr is co-director of the Master of Product Design and Development Management program. His recent work centers on attaining a deeper understanding of how engineering students learn and grow themselves.