The Polymer Processing Institute pursues all aspects of the interaction between materials and machinery, in particular the development of polymer processes and products. Areas of active, industry sponsored research include: a. Reactive Polymer Processing, including functionalization and modification, blend compatibilization, polymerization, and controlled degradation. b. Compounding for the production of polymer blends, foams, and advanced thermoplastic composites including fiber, particulate, and highly filled metal powder. c. Devolatization of polymer melts (residual monomer or solvent removal). d. Polymer Characterization, including thermal, rheological, and mechanical; specialized property measurements such as gas solubility in polymer melts and high pressure viscometry ; complete property measurements for injection molding software. e. On-line Measurements of melt viscosity and composition, through specially designed rheometers and spectrophotometers, respectively. f. Computer Modeling including the development of software and data bank for extrusion, die design, and property analysis.