Rate My Professor Eric Cochran

Eric William Cochran serves as the Mary Jane Skogen Hagenson and Randy L. Hagenson Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering within the College of Engineering at Iowa State University. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1998 and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2004. Cochran's academic career at Iowa State University has focused on advancing polymer science and engineering, particularly in developing sustainable materials from biorenewable resources. His research group, Poly Cy, investigates all aspects of polymers—including synthesis, self-assembly, structure-property relationships, nanomaterials, soft matter, and end-of-life management—to address the environmental challenges of plastic waste while maintaining the benefits of these ubiquitous materials such as resins, plastics, rubbers, adhesives, coatings, thermoplastics, and thermosets.

Cochran's contributions have been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the 2021 Mary Jane Skogen Hagenson and Randy L. Hagenson Professorship, the Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa Innovation in Construction Award (2021 and 2019), the Canadian Technical Asphalt Association Elaine Thompson Editor’s Award (2021), the ACS PMSE Cooperative Research Award (2021), the American Cleaning Institute/National Biodiesel Board Glycerine Innovation Award (2019), the Smart Transportation Alliance Best Innovation Project for BioRePavation (2019), and the Iowa State University Award for Achievement in Intellectual Property (2019). In 2024, he was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Affiliated with the Center for Biorenewable Chemicals, his work emphasizes polymerization of renewable oils, protein-based plastics, cellulosic-based composites, and bio-derived additives like soybean oil rejuvenators for asphalt pavements. Cochran has published over 112 papers, with highly cited works such as 'Stability of the gyroid phase in diblock copolymers at strong segregation' (2006), 'Ordered Network Phases in Linear Poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-ethylene oxide) Triblock Copolymers' (2004), 'The battle for the “green” polymer. Different approaches for biopolymer synthesis: bioadvantaged vs. bioreplacement' (2014), and recent publications including 'Unraveling Electro-Reductive Mechanisms of Biomass-Derived Aldehydes via Tailoring Interfacial Environments' (ACS Catalysis, 2022), 'Next-Generation High-Performance Biobased Naphthalate-Modified PET for Sustainable Food Packaging Applications' (Macromolecules, 2022), and 'A Bio-Enabled Platform to Access Polyamides With Built-In Target Properties' (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2022). His research has garnered thousands of citations and influenced sustainable materials development in academia and industry.