Dr. Petra Pötschke

Petra Pötschke received her doctoral degree in mechanical engineering in 1988 from the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. Since then, she has held several positions as a research scientist in the fields of polymers, polymer blends and composites at the Institute of Technology of Polymers and the Institute of Polymer Research in Dresden, Germany. On the basis of a scholarship from the Max Kade Foundation, New York, she worked with Prof. Donald R. Paul at the University of Texas at Austin (USA) in the Department of Chemical Engineering on multiphase mixing systems in 2000 to 2001. Since then, she has focused on carbon nanoparticle-filled composites and their applications for antistatic, sensor, thermoelectric and thermal management applications. From 2013 to 2024, she headed the Department of Functional Nanocomposites and Blends at the Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden). In 2011, she edited a book on polymer–carbon nanotube composites (Woodhead Publishing) with Tony McNally. In 2018, she received the title of “Nanochair Visiting Professor” from the Mahatma Ghandi University in Kottayam, India. She is a member of the editorial boards of the journals "Polymer" and "Functional Composite Materials". She is also a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Polymer Processing Society (PPS), Deutsche Rheologische Gesellschaft (DRG) e.V. and Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI).