Black and white photo of Steven Holdcroft with a blurred science laboratory in the background. Text in the top left says, "President's Faculty Lecture". In the top right there is an SFU Public Square logo.

Steven Holdcroft | Plastics, Basically

2021, Climate + Environment, Science + Techonology, PFL 2020-2021, President's Faculty Lectures

Over the past decades, plastics have become cheaper, stronger and more durable. So successful have these advancements been that, regrettably, 80 to 90 per cent of plastics end up in landfills. Nonetheless, plastics hold the key to our future health and welfare.

Dr. Steven Holdcroft walked us through the fascinating world of plastics and recent breakthroughs that promise to facilitate a revolutionary impact on the global energy sector, the hydrogen economy, greenhouse gas reduction and, ultimately, climate change.

Tue, 11 May 2021

Online Event

The President's Faculty Lectures

The President’s Faculty Lectures shine a light on the research excellence at Simon Fraser University. Hosted by the SFU president, these free public lectures celebrate cutting-edge research and faculty that engage with communities and mobilize knowledge to make real-world impacts.

Steven Holdcroft

Steven Holdcroft's headshot

Dr. Steven Holdcroft, Ph.D., FCIC, is a Professor of Chemistry, Canada Research Chair, former Departmental Chair and President of the Canadian Society for Chemistry. He researches materials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage. He is the author of 300 peer-reviewed articles, several book chapters and numerous patents, and is the recipient of SFU’s Excellence in Teaching Award. With three former students, he co-founded Vancouver-based Ionomr Innovations Inc., an SFU spin-out commercializing materials for clean energy. For services to the community, Dr. Holdcroft has received the Macromolecular Science and Engineering Division Award of the Chemical Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Society for Chemistry’s Rio Tinto Alcan Award. In 2018, he was the recipient of SFU’s Outstanding Alumni Award for Academic Achievement.

Event Summary

Urgency and Optimism: A Summary of "Plastics, Basically" with Steven Holdcroft

By Amelia Hohenadel, Ph.D. Candidate, SFU Department of Chemistry

On May 11, Steven Holdcroft, a professor of chemistry at SFU, delivered a virtual lecture titled “Plastics, Basically” as part of the President’s Faculty Lectures. Professor Holdcroft has spent his career researching plastics, or “polymers” to those in the field. Often the width of a human hair in length and only a few nanometres wide, the long molecules in plastics are interwoven like felted wool, creating strong, durable materials. Diverse chemical structures give rise to everything from grocery bags to laminate flooring and the synthetic fibres in your clothing.

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Event Recording

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2020/2021 President's Faculty Lectures

Past President's Faculty Lectures