Evon Petek

Evon is a 3rd year graduate student in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, currently working on a systematic study of the wetting behavior of liquids on thin polymer bilayer systems in the Katsumata Group. She hopes that her research will lead to a new class of reusable oil/water membranes.

At UMass, Evon acted as PSE Club 2019 Social Chair, planning bimonthly social and professional events for graduate students, post docs, faculty, and staff in the PSE Department to network and communicate. She also participates yearly in ASPIRE, a polymer education outreach program for high school students.

Evon grew up near Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from The College of Wooster in 2018 with a degree in Chemistry. She worked as an undergraduate intern for three summers at The Lubrizol Corporation in the Health, Home, and Personal Care Department. Her time at Lubrizol inspired her to look to polymers in her undergraduate and graduate research.