Brandon Bowser Email & Phone Number

Cary, North Carolina, United States

Cary, North Carolina, United States

While at Duke, I mentored 3 undergraduate students in a one-on-one mentorship format, each lasting ~3-6 months. Each undergraduate helped advance my research goals as I trained them and helped them with professional development. One of the undergraduates has already published a research article with me, and I am about to publish another research article with a different student. I am also co-leading a team of 5 undergraduates in a team-based project within our group, where we hope to publish a research article where all of the authors are students (no PI).

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area

▪ Performed research in both monomer and polymer synthesis, characterization, and application.▪ Designed the multi-step synthesis of mechano-responsive monomers for applications in stress-responsive polymer materials, specifically stress-reporting and stress-dissipating polymers.▪ Pioneered the utilization of RAFT chemistry in our field to achieve polymers with abundant stress-responsive monomer content and tunable polymer properties.▪ Gained a fundamental mechanistic understanding of the structure-activity relationships for the ring-opening of cyclobutene, the knowledge of which was used to design cyclobutene-containing polymers that are able to report areas of localized stress.▪ Developed cross-linking chemistry so that these mechano-responsive monomers could successfully be 3D-printed within seconds for bulk network characterization▪ Probed, characterized, and analyzed polymer solutions and networks utilizing a variety of techniques (DSC, DMA, tensile testers, pulsed ultrasound), including GPC and other spectroscopic tools (NMR, UV-Vis, fluorescence spectroscopy).▪ Publicized research results as a first-author on 2 publications, with 4 additional first-author manuscripts in preparation.▪ Developed independent attention to detail, problem solving, and troubleshooting skills through daily laboratory scale design of experiments, literature analysis, and weekly oral presentations communicating research progress.▪ Contributed research to collaborative projects with various other universities including Stanford, MIT, and UW-Madison, which enabled honing of teamwork and communication skills.▪ Served as lab safety manager (2018-2020) for Duke Safety Office and prepared for 3 annual safety audits.

TA for General Chemistry (2016-2017):▪ Led a team of 4 TAs in creating class content and facilitating team-based activities for 120+ freshman students for a flipped-classroom ▪ Collaborated with other department members to incorporate cutting-edge research content into the curriculum▪ Created weekly clicker-quizzes and Qualtrics surveys to track student progressTA for Summer Research Fellowship Program (2020)▪ Co-led a research-intensive summer fellowship program for 10 undergraduate students▪ Adapted the program to be fully virtual with only a 30-day notice as a result of COVID-19▪ Monitored team activity and morale via weekly Qualtrics surveys that were used to adapt and improve the program and to ensure all team members felt supported and valued

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Chemistry (Polymers), 3.9/4.0

Activities and Societies: ACS/AACT Science Coaches Program; Certificate in College Teaching Program; Lab Safety Representative to Duke.

Bachelor Of Science (A.C.S Certified), Chemistry; Minors In Mathematics And Religion

Activities and Societies: Emmaus Scholars Program; Immersion Trip Leader; Peer-Led Team Learning Facilitator; Peer Partnership Learning.