A "pluripotent plastic" material developed by Prof. Stuart Rowan can turn into plastics that range from stretchy and bendy to stiff and rigid. This versatility may be useful for engineers working in resource-scarce environments like outer space. To develop the new material, Rowan worked with PME assistant professor Shrayesh Patel, graduate student Nicholas Boynton, and colleagues at @Argonne, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory ( @afresearchlab) @NASA, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology ( @nist). #UChicagoPME #plastics #materialscience #STEM #research