Dr. Ben Sundell attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where he earned his BS in Chemistry. Under the direction of Dr. David Jenkins, Ben synthesized novel di-electrophiles and bis(imidazoles) as reagents in tetraimidazolium macrocycles. After enrolling in graduate school at Virginia Tech in 2010, he focused on polymer science under the direction of Dr. James McGrath. As part of his Ph.D., Ben synthesized novel poly(arylene ethers) for use as reverse osmosis water purification and gas separation membranes, with a large emphasis on chemical crosslinking to improve the performance of these materials. Ben completed his Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering and joined the Aramco Services Company - Boston Research Center as a Laboratory Scientist in September 2014. His current work involves novel polymer synthesis and the chemical modification and transport property improvement of commercial polymers.