Technology Review magazine, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has named an ISU professor of chemical engineering one of the world’s top 100 young innovators of 2001.

Surya Mallapragada was honored for her research in polymeric biomaterials. Polymeric biomaterials are advanced plastics used in a wide array of medical procedures.

After being notified in January, Mallapragada attended the TR100 induction ceremony May 23 at MIT in Boston.

Nominations for the award started nearly a year ago when a fellow professor anonymously nominated her. A panel of judges made up of distinguished academics and members of industry went through the nominations and recommendations and 100 candidates were selected.

“I was totally thrilled when I found out,” Mallapragada said. “It’s great when your work gets recognition. It’s not just a testimony for my work and me but for my research team and funders at the U.S. Department of Energy as well.”

Polymeric biomaterials are being developed for use in drug delivery, gene therapy and tissue engineering applications.

“What we’ve done is to actually modify the plastic polymers so that they give cues to cells, particularly nerve cells, to grow in particular directions and at a faster pace,” she said. “We are working in a new frontier of plastic polymers, most specifically in the nerve cell area.”

This type of research isn’t new, but the current work is groundbreaking. Mallapragada said tissue-engineering research has gone on for 10 to 12 years, but there are challenges for each tissue.

“My team’s challenge is significant with nerves because we are trying to get them to grow in specific directions,” she said. Mallapragada’s research team consists primarily of students.

“I have six graduate students and numerous undergraduates. I get lots of help from the younger students, while the faculty and I do lots of the thinking,” she said.

Mallapragada is glad her work gives the students the opportunity to do lab research.

“I’m certainly very happy to see the amount of attention this work is getting for Iowa State and the chemical engineering department,” Mallapragada said.

“Surya does things in all areas, not just in research with undergraduates, but also as the popular instructor that she is,” said Charles E. Glatz, chair of the chemical engineering department.

“This project is something a more senior person should be doing, but she does a better job of it,” he said. “I truly appreciate her willingness to take on such a challenging project.”

Mallapragada said the award marks the potential of the plastic polymer research project.

“The award from MIT is for my general work and research,” she said. “The project is far from being finished.”