What if a car or wall or phone could repair itself? Dominik Konkolewicz, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Miami, explores the possibilities. He has received a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development program, which means $600,000 over five years for his research on polymers. From a chemistry perspective, polymers consist of smaller molecules, or repeating units, linked together to form a larger molecule. “The links that bind these chains together are a little like staples,” Dominik says. “They’re permanent. When a material becomes damaged or fractured, the material becomes useless because there’s no way to recover the original properties.” His work focuses on creating links between the chains that he says are more like paper clips than staples, ones that can be reused many times. If one link is damaged, it can be exchanged for another, allowing the material – whether it’s wall paint or a truck tire – to heal itself when sc...