Workshop Biographies

Biographies of Workshop Facilitators

A Coatings Primer with PPG

Hilary Kerchner, Ph.D.

Hilary Kerchner grew up in Lancaster, PA. She completed her B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in psychology at the University of Delaware in 2013. During her time at Delaware, she performed undergraduate research with Prof. Mary Watson where she focused on alkynylation and arylation of oxocarbenium ions. In 2018, Hilary completed her Ph.D. in organic chemistry under the direction of Prof. John Montgomery at the University of Michigan working on the development of organic/organometallic methodology for the synthesis of small molecules. Her main projects focused on two specific areas of regio- and diastereocontrol: hydroboration of terminal olefins for the synthesis of secondary alkylboranes and intramolecular aglycone deliveries for the synthesis of 1,2-cis glycosides. During her time at Michigan, Hilary participated in an exchange program with Institut Catalá d’Investigació Química (ICIQ) in Tarragona, Spain where she worked with Prof. Antonio Echarvarren on small molecule synthesis and gold catalysis.

In June of 2018, Hilary joined the Global Polymer Synthesis Group at the Coatings Innovation Center of PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, PA. Her main work focuses on structure-property relationships of materials used in waterborne coatings. She is also the founder and organizer of a global internal seminar series as well as an advocate for working new moms.

Chad Landis, Ph.D.

Chad has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Kentucky where he studied the synthesis of novel fused aromatic systems under the advisement of Dr. John Anthony. Staying at the University of Kentucky, he earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry staying with Dr. John Anthony as his adviser. Chad’s graduate research was generally on carbon-based materials with specific focus on synthesis of functionalized acenes for organic electronics as well as functionalized carbon nanotubes for improved tensile strength materials. After graduate school, Chad joined the research group of Dr. Howard Katz at John Hopkins University for two years as a post-doctoral researcher developing electron transporting materials and their usage in sensors. After Johns Hopkins, Chad joined Pittsburgh-based start-up Plextronics where he had 10 years of R&D experience in organic electronic synthesis and device development. He contributed to the synthesis of next-generations of OLED and organic photovoltaic materials. After Plextronics, Chad joined PPG where he has had an additional 8 years of R&D experience where he has contributed to the development of more sustainable coatings automotive coatings.

Timothy Marsh, Ph.D.

Timothy completed his B.S. in Polymer Science at the University of Southern Mississippi working in the Shelby Thames research group synthesizing architectural latexes incorporating renewable monomers. Timothy completed his Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University under the direction of Patrick Mather researching hyperbranched polymers for high-temperature thermoset composites, which involved monomer synthesis, polymerization, and blends with thermoset composites focusing on cure kinetics, cure rheology, interfacial adhesion, and fracture toughness. Since joining PPG in 2008, Timothy spent many years in a physical chemistry role studying the physics of coatings performance for a variety of coatings technologies and markets with a focus on electrodeposited coatings for automotive applications. More recently he has added responsibility for training fellow employees on topics related to basic statistics, experimental design and analysis, and scientific coding as tools critical to improving research productivity.

Scott Moravek, Ph.D.

Scott has a B.S. in Plastics Engineering Technology from the Pennsylvania State University where his undergraduate research included property optimization of injection molded materials using nano-sized glass filler and post-processing crosslinking of polyethylene under the advisement of Dr. Paul Koch. He also has a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Southern Mississippi where he was advised by Dr. Robson Storey. Scott’s graduate research focused on synthesis, propagation kinetics, and characterization of lactone-based polyester polyols and polyurethanes therefrom. After graduate school Scott joined PPG where he has over 16 years of industrial R&D experience in coatings and related technologies. He has contributed to numerous new or improved technologies across a range of automotive, refinish, protective and marine, and industrial applications. Scott is an inventor on more than 25 granted US patents and international versions thereof.

Coal and Waste Coal to Advance Material Products with CONSOL Energy

Natasha Smith, Ph.D.

Natasha has a B.S. in Chemistry from West Virginia University, where her undergraduate research focused on the synthesis and modelings of Goniothalamin-based derivatives. She completed internships at Bayer Material Science, now Covestro, in their Coatings, Adhesives, and Specialties group working with polyurethane and polyaspartic coating systems. Natasha earned her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2019 under the advisement of Professor Sanford Asher. Natasha’s graduate research focused on the development of colorimetric chemical sensors that utilized 2-dimensional photonic crystals embedded in selectively volume responsive polymers-solvent systems. During her graduate work, she developed methods for fabricating pure protein polymers networks that retain their protein binding capacity or enzymatic activity in water environments and have increased stability and functionality in organic solvent environments. Natasha joined the CONSOL Innovations R&D team in early 2023. She has contributed to understanding the formation of vitreous carbon foams made from coal and is currently working on several projects to bring new coal-to-product technologies to market and tune the properties of the carbon and graphite foam products for new applications. Natasha was named an adjunct research faculty for the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment in the Russ College of Engineering at Ohio University, where she contributes on DOE funded projects related to commercializing products and advanced materials derived from coal and carbon.

Advanced Tube Bending Workshop with Swagelok

ACS Workshops

The Science of Managing Inclusive and Diverse Teams

Finding Yourself: Identifying a Career that Matches your Strengths and Values

Joe Martino

Joe Martino graduated from Villanova University with a Master of Science in Chemistry. He was hired by Arkema where he performed process chemistry on organometallics and inorganics as well as catalyst application development. From here, Joe was hired by GlaxoSmithKline, where he was responsible for large-scale preparative syntheses of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients as well as medicinal chemistry research.

Joe has been pro-active in the American Chemical Society both local to the Philadelphia area and nationally. Locally, Joe is a Past Chair of the ACS Philadelphia Section, where his primary accomplishment was the expansion and growth of the Section’s Career Services Committee. Nationally, Joe is an ACS Career Consultant and is a freelance instructor for the ACS Institute with a focus on the ACS Career Pathways series of workshops and a technical short course in Process Chemistry. Joe is currently a Lecturer of Chemistry at Immaculata University, where he instructs undergraduates in laboratory technique as well as developed a course in process chemistry.