Education
- PhD Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama (2021)
- MS听Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, (2018)
- BS听Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, (2017)
- BA听Dance, Mathematics Minor, The University of Alabama, (2017)
Selected Awards
- Engineering Council of Birmingham and UA Capstone Engineering Society Young Engineer of the Year (2024)
- National Alumni Association 18 under 31 Award (2024)
- National Academy of Inventors Inductee (2023)
- Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award, UA Graduate School (2022)
- UA College of Engineering Overall Graduate Student of the Year (2022)
- AIChE 鈥淓xcellence in Graduate Student Research鈥� Speaker (2021)
- 2021 DSM Bright Science Award Finalist, American Chemical Society (2021)
- ACS POLY 鈥淓xcellence in Graduate Polymer Research鈥� Symposium, Awardee and Presenter (2020)
- 1st Place Springer Award for Oral Presentation (ILMAT-5, France, 2019)
- DoEd GAANN Fellowship (2018-2020)
- Graduate Council Fellowship (2017-2018, 2020-2021)
Selected Publications
Spirobisindane-Containing Imidazolium Polyimide Ionene: Structural Design and Gas Separation Performance of 鈥淚onic PIMs鈥� I Kammakakam, KE O鈥橦arra, JE Bara, EM Jackson, Macromolecules 55 (11), 4790-4802 (2022)
Valorization of Plastic Wastes for the Synthesis of Imidazolium鈥怋ased Self鈥�Supported Elastomeric Ionenes J Demarteau, KE O'Harra, JE Bara, H Sardon,听ChemSusChem 13 (12), 3122-3126 (2022)
Design, develop, launch: the making of an innovative Honors Minor program focused on 鈥淓ngineering Positive and Intentional Change KE O'Harra, ASEE Peer Conference Paper, ESCJ Division (2022)
Toward controlled functional sequencing and hierarchical structuring in imidazolium ionenes (Mini-Review) KE O'Harra, JE Bara, Polymer International 70 (7), 944-950 (2021)
Designing Ionic Liquid-Derived Polymer Composites from Poly (Ionic Liquid)鈥揑onene Semi-interpenetrating Networks KE O鈥橦arra, GM Timmermann, JE Bara, KM Miller, ACS Applied Polymer Materials 3 (4), 1995-2004 (2021)
Nearly perfect 3D structures obtained by assembly of printed parts of polyamide ionene self-healing elastomer KE O鈥橦arra, N Sadaba, M Irigoyen, F Ruip茅rez, R Aguirresarobe, H Sardon, ACS Applied Polymer Materials 2 (11), 4352-4359 (2020)
Recent advances in the design of ionenes: toward convergence with high鈥恜erformance polymers (Review), JE Bara, KE O'Harra, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 220 (13), 1900078 (2019)
Synthesis and performance of 6FDA-based polyimide-ionenes and composites with ionic liquids as gas separation membranes KE O鈥橦arra, I Kammakakam, EM DeVriese, DM Noll, JE Bara, EM Jackson, Membranes 9 (7), 79 (2019)
Research and Teaching Interests
Polymers 鈥� Separations - Membranes - 3D Printing 鈥� Food Science and Technology - Engineering Education 鈥� Sustainability 鈥� Study Abroad