Reika Katsumata
(勝又　麗香)

Bio:

Reika Katsumata is an Associate Professor in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned her B.E. and M.E. in Organic and Polymeric Materials from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Institute of Science Tokyo), followed by a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She then completed postdoctoral training at the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Leading the Katsumata Research Group at the intersection of chemical engineering and materials science, she focuses on revealing material performance that would otherwise be unattainable by designing extremely confined soft/hard interfaces.

 

Honors and Awards:

• Polymer Journal: Rising Stars in Polymer Science (2025)

• Soft Matter: Soft Matter Emerging Investigators Series (2025)

• ACS Polymer Au: 2023 Rising Stars in Polymers (2023)

• American Chemical Society, Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (ACS PMSE): PMSE Early Stage Investigator Award (2023)

• Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR): Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) (2023)

• Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST): PRESTO Award (2022)

• 3M: Non-Tenure Faculty Award (2021)

• National Science Foundation: Faculty Early Career Development Program (NSF CAREER) (2022)

• American Chemical Society, Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF): Doctoral New Investigator (DNI) Grant (2019)

• UCSB, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry: Robert H. DeWolfe Teaching Fellowship in Organic Chemistry (2017)

• The 11th SPSJ International Polymer Conference: RSC Soft Matter Award (2016)

• AIChE Annual Meeting: Finalist in the Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Award Session (2016)

• Takenaka Scholarship Foundation: Scholarship for Studying Abroad, full tuition and stipend (2012-2016)