I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.

Vinita Shinde knew she wanted to be a researcher from an early age. She had even narrowed down her field of study by the time she was 12, thanks to the example set by her father.

“My dad completed his education in chemistry, so I have had a growing interest in that area from childhood,” Shinde said. “I wasn’t exactly sure what my research area would be, but I knew I wanted to do something with chemicals and their applications.”

While completing her undergraduate degree at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, she devoted her summer holiday breaks to logging time in the research laboratory and interning with different companies to build her research profile.

After earning her degree, to follow her passion for chemical engineering research, she worked as a research scientist in the petrochemical industry in India for two years before turning her sights to graduate school.

The doctoral candidate in chemical engineering chose Auburn because of the vast opportunities for multidisciplinary research within the Department of Chemical Engineering. And in the five years she’s been on the Plains, she’s made a name for herself in the area of 3D printing of self-healing polymer research, advised by Bryan Beckingham.

She will join Eastman Chemical as a polymer research scientist after graduation.

“Engineered materials develop damages in the system at a certain stage of their life. Using self-healing polymers, we’re trying to build a system where damages in the 3D-printed polymeric materials will be healed automatically, without external human intervention to extend the service life and reliability of polymer materials used in the various industries,” Shinde said.