Laura Elomaa awarded Komppa Award for her excellent doctoral dissertation in the field of chemistry

The Finnish Chemical Society has recognised Laura Elomaa for her excellent doctoral dissertation in the field of chemistry. Laura Elomaa completed her postgraduate studies at Aalto University's School of Chemical Technology under the supervision of Professor Jukka Seppälä in 2010-2015. Her doctoral dissertation is titled ‘Synthesis of biodegradable photocrosslinkable polymers for 3D fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds and hydrogels by stereolithography’.

'The topic of Laura's dissertation is related to polymer science and more specifically to the synthesis of new biopolymers taking into account the needs of medical tissue engineering. Particularly, the research has aimed to create new bioactive polymers that are suited for stereolithography-based 3D printing,' states Jukka Seppälä.

Jukka Seppälä tells that Laura Elomaa completed a substantial part of her dissertation work at Stanford University in California as a member of Professor Peter Yang's research group, which formed an excellent bridge between Aalto University and Stanford University. One of the dissertation's publications is based on Laura Elomaa's Master's thesis, which she completed in Professor Dirk Grijpma's laboratory at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Aalto University and Stanford University have jointly applied for a patent to the developed polymer family.

Currently, Laura Elomaa is a postdoctoral researcher in Germany.

The recipients of the Komppa Award 2015 in the field of chemistry were published on 23 November 2016 at the Finnish Chemical Society's meeting.

Gustaf Komppa (28 July 1867–20 January 1949) was one of Finland's most distinguished chemists. Professor Komppa worked for nearly five decades as a chemistry teacher and researcher at the University of Technology. His most recognised achievement is the synthesis of camphoric acid.