Tejveer Singh Plaha receives undergraduate thesis award from Chemical Institute of Canada

Tejveer Singh Plaha, a PhD student in the research group of University Professor Eugenia Kumacheva in the Faculty of Arts & Science's department of chemistry, has been recognized with the MSED Undergraduate Thesis Award presented by the Chemical Institute of Canada's Macromolecular Science and Engineering Division.

The annual award recognizes an outstanding thesis in the field of polymer science and engineering undertaken as part of an undergraduate degree requirement.

Plaha's undergraduate thesis, conducted in the Kumacheva group, concerns the molecular composition of biopolymer networks which influence the movement of ions in the body. The research offers insights into variances in ion transport behaviours and mechanisms, with implications for the development of synthetic materials with controlled ion transport properties.

Plaha said he was never in doubt about staying at U of T for this PhD. "I specifically wanted to stay in the Kumacheva group. This allows me to continue the project I got accustomed to in my fourth year," he said. "I dove really deep into this field, and as a result I have many ideas for new projects and systems to work on."

He added he was drawn to polymer chemistry by the breadth and diversity of the field. "Everybody is doing something different, even within my own group. Whatever you want to work on, you can find your own niche," he said. "There is a lot of freedom and creativity in this field... This makes it easy to learn something new every day. "

Read the department of chemistry story