Invited Speaker

Jim Watkins is Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering and Director of the Institute for Hierarchical Manufacturing (IHM), at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Professor Watkins received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. Professor Watkins has guided the research of more than 50 Ph.D. students, has authored more than 150 papers and holds 27 patents. He is a recipient of the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award and a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Inventors. Professor Watkins is the founder of Myrias Optics, Inc., a company commercializing metaoptics by direct nanoimprint lithography.