CV – Roger Tipton, PhD

Summary

Highly accomplished, interdisciplinary research faculty member and materials engineer with 20 years of experience bridging advanced polymer science, sustainable materials, and technology commercialization. Expertise lies in the design and manufacturing of materials, particularly for aerospace, optical, sensing, and environmental applications. As PI or Co-PI, secured competitive grant funding from federal and industrial sponsors.

Education

Doctorate, Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL., (Advisors: Prof. V.R. Bhethanabotla, PhD and Prof. Thomas Weller, PhD)

Masters, Materials Science and Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. 

Bachlors, Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

Employment History

2022 – Present University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science , Research Associate Professor (2024 to Present), Lecturer (2022 to 2023)

2025 – Present The Polymer Center of Excellence, Board Member

2025 – Present Sustainable Seas Institute, Chairperson of the Board

2022 – Present Newell Brands, Research Fellow (2022 – Present)

2020 – Present Better Hill Holdings (Family Office), Chairperson of the Board

2014 – Present Northern Lights Solutions, Inc., 2014 – Present Chief Executive Officer

2017 – 2022 Unbounded Labs, Inc., 2020 – 2022 Chief Executive Officer, 2017 – 2020 Executive Research Director, (Occam Technology Group)

2005 – 2014 ECI, Inc., Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer

2002 – 2005 Astra Products, Inc., Director of Operations

2001 – 2002 Magnet, Inc., Business Management Consultant

1999 – 2001 Cosmo Corporation, Inc., Product Manager

1998 – 1999 Rubbermaid, 1998 – 1999 Home Products Division, Engineering Manager, 1997 – 1998 Little Tikes Division, Manufacturing Engineer

1996 – 1997 American Showa (Hitachi Astemo), Honda Suspension Group, Quality Assistant Manager

1995 – 1996 ASC (Roush Industries), Honda Interior Trim Group,mManufacturing Engineer

Research Publications

1. M.S.N. Arafin, M. Sun, R. Lohmann, J. Becanova, R.B. Tipton; Global PFAS Contamination Trends (2000-2024): Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Emerging and Legacy Compounds in Rivers, Lakes, Watersheds, Islands, Seas and Oceans, In Draft, Jan 2026
2. M.S.N. Arafin, S. Carpentier, R.B. Tipton; Integrating Wearable Flexible Sensors into Masonry Work Gloves to Evaluate Biomechanical Strain and Improve Worker Safety and Performance, Journal of Safety Research, Submitted, Jan 2025,  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5281132
3. A. Hubbard, S. Wasti, S. Elyas, R.B. Tipton, C. Kirschner, G. Parker, A. Lulf, C. Clarkson. (2025, December); Cellulose fiber reinforced olefin polymer composite materials for commercial products: cellulose waste to waste bin. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. ORNL/TM-xxxx/xxx.
4. M.S.N Arafin, R.B. Tipton. (2025), “Temporal Dataset of Emerging and Legacy PFAS Concentrations (ng/L) in 11 Inland Watersheds (Lakes, Rivers, Islands) and Median PFAS Concentrations Across 14 Seas and Oceans Over Multiple Time Periods”, Mendeley Data, V1
5. T.L. Powell, J.J. Doughty, Y. Shimabukuro, C.L. Kirschner R.B. Tipton; Consumer food waste upcycled into lignocellulosic materials that are utilized in polyethene biocomposites, MRS Advances, 2024
6. R.B. Tipton; How I navigated through my midlife PhD, Nature, 2022
7. R.B. Tipton; Multi-Material Hybrid Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing of Photonic Devices Additive Manufacturing of Optoelectronic Sensors, Diss University of South Florida, 2021
8. M. Kelly, V.R. Bhethanabotla, R.B. Tipton; Pressure and force for masonry cutting using flexible sensor enabled gloves, Mendeley Data, V1, 2022
9. R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, Z. Shi, T.M Weller, V.R. Bhethanabotla; Optical interconnects on a flexible substrate by multi-material hybrid additive and subtractive manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing Journal, 2021, 102409
10. R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, Z. Shi, T.M Weller, V.R. Bhethanabotla; Multi-Material Hybrid Additive Manufactured Flexible Photonic Substrate Bend Fatigue Test, Mendeley Data, 2021
11. R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, E.A. Rojas-Nastrucci, T.M. Weller, V.R. Bhethanabotla; Laser Enhanced Direct Print Additive Manufacturing of Circular Cross-Section Optical Fiber Interconnects for Board Level Computing Devices, Additive Manufacturing Journal, 2020, 101227
12. R.B. Tipton, Direct Print Additive Manufacturing of Optical Fiber Interconnects; Diss. University of South Florida, 2018

Conference Publications

1. S. Phillips, M.S.N. Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Modeling the Transport of Forever Chemicals in the Arctic Ocean, National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), Richmond, VA, April 2026
2. S. Phillips, M.S.N. Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Using Data Science to Model Oceanic Microplastic Transport; Honors Undergraduate Research Symposium, Charlotte, NC Nov 2025
3. S. Gandas, M.S.N. Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Wearable Flexible Sensors for Injury Prevention and Performance Management; Honors Undergraduate Research Symposium, Charlotte, NC Nov 2025
4. M.A.B. Pinapati, M.S.N. Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Material Performance from Extracted Nanocellulose from Plant Mater, Undergraduate Research Symposium, Charlotte, NC, July 2025
5. S. Carpentier, A. Parks, M.S.N. Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Flexible Wearable Sensors for Injury Prevention and Performance Improvement, Undergraduate Research Symposium, Charlotte, NC, July 2025
6. F. Banuani,  M.S.N.  Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Visualization of Global Microplastic Pollution using MITgcm, Undergraduate Research Symposium, Charlotte, NC, July 2025
7. M. A. B. Pinapati, M.  Jammannagari, M. S. N. Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Extracting Nanocellulose from Plant Mater, Undergraduate Research Symposium, Charlotte, NC, April 2025
8. Mehul Jammannagari, Madhava, Aditya Bharadwaj Pinapati, Md. Shah Nawaz Arafin, R.B. Tipton; Extracting Nanocellulose from Plant Mater, Undergraduate Research Symposium, Charlotte, NC, April 2025 
9. R.B. Tipton; Using waste organic matter from landfills to create cellulosic filler materials for biocomposite plastic products, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting, Dec 2023
10. R.B. Tipton, T.M Weller, V.R. Bhethanabotla; Optical interconnects on a flexible substrate by multi-material hybrid multi- additive and subtractive manufacturing, AIChE Annual Meeting, Nov 2021
11. O.F. Firat, R.B. Tipton, T.M Weller; Versatility of laser enhanced direct print additive manufacturing, Print for Fabrication Conference, Sept 2021
12. R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, Z. Shi, T.M Weller, V.R. Bhethanabotla; A shape deposition manufacturing process for producing integrated three-dimensional flexible optoelectronics, AIChE Annual Meeting, Nov 2020
13. R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, Z. Shi, T.M Weller, V.R. Bhethanabotla; Numerical modeling of a fused deposition modeled embedded polymer fiber in a micro-dispensed cladding for optical fiber interconnects, AIChE Annual Meeting, Nov 2020
14. R.B. Tipton, P. Das, T.M Weller, V.R. Bhethanabotla; Homogeneous cooling dynamics in laser enhanced-direct print additive manufacturing of circular optical fiber interconnects, Materials Research Society Spring/Fall Meeting, April/Dec 2020
15. R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, E.A. Rojas-Nastrucci, T.M. Weller, V. Bhethanabotla; Direct print additive manufacturing of circular cross-section optical fiber interconnects for board level computing devices, NanoFlorida International Conference, Nov 2019
16. H. Brudi, R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, D. Hay, V.R. Bhethanabotla: Reflection technique for measuring poled PMMA’s electro-optic coefficient, Council on Undergraduate Research, Research experiences for Undergraduates Symposium, Tampa, FL, 2019
17. R.B. Tipton, D. Hou, E.A. Rojas-Nastrucci, T.M. Weller, V. Bhethanabotla, Laser enhanced direct print additive manufacturing of circular cross-section optical fiber interconnects for board level computing devices, AIChE Annual Meeting, Nov 2019
18. C.E. Tolliver, R.B. Tipton, V.R. Bhethanabotla:  Direct print additive manufacturing of optical fiber interconnects, Leadership Alliance 2018 National Symposium (LANS), Providence, RI, 2018
19. C.E. Tolliver, R.B. Tipton, V.R. Bhethanabotla: Direct print additive manufacturing of optical fiber interconnects, Council on Undergraduate Research, Research Experiences for Undergraduates Symposium, Alexandria, VA, 2018

Patents

1. Tipton, R.B., Pearce, T.M. (2026). Sealing Compound for Canning Jar Lids (U.S. Patent Application No. 63/956,239) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent details a PVC free plastisol coating for sealing of canning lid jars.
2. Tipton, R.B. (2025). Surface Functionalization of Aluminum Magnesium Boride-Based Coatings and Associated Methods. (U.S. Patent Application No. 63/884,553) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent details the silanization of Aluminum Magnesium Boride coatings to reduce the surface energy.
3. Tipton, R.B. (2024). Aluminum Magnesium boride-based coatings for cookware and associated cookware and methods. (U.S. Patent Application No. 63/692,949) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This patent details a novel method for creating PFAS free coatings for cookware.
4. Bhethanabotla, V.R. Weller, T.M. Tipton, R.B. Bentley, J. T. Rojas, E.A. (2023). Digital fabrication of a small diameter polymer optical waveguide (U.S. Patent No. 11,561,343). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This patent details a novel method for creating integrated optical interconnects for computing devices.
5. Bhethanabotla, V.R. Weller, T.M. Tipton, R.B. Bentley, J.T. Rojas, E.A. (2020). Digital fabrication of a small diameter polymer optical waveguide (U.S. Patent No. 10,852,479). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  
6. Kattan, L. Tipton, R.B. Roebuck, J. (2015). Portable tray table (U.S. Patent No. 9,084,491 B1). U.U. Patent and Trademark Office.

Honors and Awards

1. Department Award for Outstanding Journal Publication for Nature Article 
2. Innovator on Fire Award, Entrepreneurship award for Path Optical Systems startup founded with USF developed IP
3. Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention Prize for innovative research in optical materials.
4. NASA FSGC Fellowship to research additive manufacturing of optical materials
5. Nortech Innovation Award in Advanced Materials, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for new materials development
6. Manny Award for Excellence in Manufacturing for new manufacturing processes

Entrepreneurship

1. Co-Founder, Sustainable Seas Institute, Charlotte, North Carolina, 2025, Nonprofit focused on sustainable ocean and freshwater research and learning.
2. Founder, Better Hill Holdings LLC., Tampa, Florida, 2020, Venture Capital business to manage investments in companies and other assets.
3. Co-founder, Unbounded Labs, Inc., Tampa, Florida, 2020, IoT technology business providing hardware and software solutions.
4. Co-founder, Path Optical Systems, Tampa, Florida, 2018, Company created to commercialize University of South Florida intellectual property around additively manufactured plastic optical fibers.
5. Co-founder, Good Hill Holdings, Hong Kong, 2007, Company created to facilitate the sale of goods and services to and from China.
6. Founder, ECI Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, 2005, Company created to develop, manufacture, and sell window blinds with successful spin out of ProDesign LLC natural window coverings business and an exit of retail blind business to Leader Development Corporation.

Invited Talks

1. A Journey to the Top of the World: Science on the Brink of a New Era, Office of Sustainability, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 2025
2. Microplastics: Understanding Our Dependence and Developing Sustainable Alternatives, Plastics Recycling Symposium (The Polymer Center of Excellence), Charlotte, NC, 2025
3. Upcycled waste materials for polymer biocomposite products, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, TN, 2024
4. Design for Sustainability – Plastics and the Circular Economy, Newell Summer Internship Development Program, Charlotte, NC, 2023
5. Design for Sustainability – Plastics and the Circular Economy, University of North Carolina Charlotte, NC, 2022
6. My Experience with Entrepreneurship, Research Experience for Undergraduates Symposium, University of South Florida, FL, 2021
7. Commercialization of an IoT Big Data Value Chain, Interdisciplinary Data Science Consortium, University of South Florida, FL, 2019
8. Entrepreneurship and How It Happens, Research Experience for Undergraduates Symposium, University of South Florida, FL, 2019
9. My Experience with Entrepreneurship, Research Experience for Undergraduates Symposium, University of South Florida, FL, 2018

Media

1. Charlotte researcher first to study contaminants in Arctic depths,  Dec 2025
2. Breaking the Ice on Discoveries, Sept 4, 2025
3. Breaking the ice: A rare dive into the Arctic’s secrets, Aug 28, 2025
4. Computer Components Connected by Light, Radio Cade Podcast, 2020
5. Smooth Sailing: Designing Yacht Arches with CREO CAD Software, PTC, May 8, 2012
6. Modular Assembly for Marine Structures, ProBoat Radio, March 18, 2001

Courses Taught

1. Water Quality Concepts, Sampling, and Analyses, Spring 26
2. Mechatronics 2, Spring 26
3. Mechatronics 1, Fall 25, Spring 26
4. Measurement and Instrumentation, UNCC, Spring 24, Fall 24, Spring 25, Fall 25, Spring 26
5. Basic Electrical Engineering 1, Fall 25, Spring 26
6. Senior Design II, UNCC, Spring 24
7. Senior Design I, UNCC, Fall 23
8. Machine Analysis and Design, UNCC, Fall 23, Spring 23
9. Chemical Engineering Lab II, USF, Spring 21
10. Engineering Foundations, USF, Fall 21, Spring 20
11. Chemical Engineering Lab I, USF, Fall 19

Courses Developed

1. Mechatronics 1 (2025) – Developed comprehensive curriculum focusing on interdisciplinary design and robotic systems.
2. Mechatronics 2 (2025) – Developed advanced curriculum covering control systems, sensors, and actuators in mechatronic applications.

Students Advised

PhD Students Advised

1. Md Shah Nawaz Arafin, Graduate Research Assistant, 2026 – Present 
2. (Arctic Water Pollution)

Masters Students Advised

1. Max Sommer, Graduate Research Assistant, 2026 – Present (Research into biocomposite materials with NC State and Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
2. Md Shah Nawaz Arafin, Graduate Research Assistant, 2024 – 2025 (Arctic Water Pollution)
3. Sravani Kuncham, Graduate Research Assistant, 2025 
4. (Data Science Research investigating ocean particle migration with particle physics versus machine learning approaches)

Undergraduates Advised

1. Paul Travers, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Spring 26
2. Marley Magnotta, Office of Undergraduate Research Programs, Spring 26
3. John Tran, Office of Undergraduate Research Programs, Spring 26
4. Shrushti Gandas, “Wearable Flexible Sensors for Injury Prevention and Performance Management“ Office of Undergraduate Research, Fall 25 – Spring 26
5. Sam Phillips, “Using Data Science to Model Oceanic Microplastic Transport” Office of Undergraduate Research Programs, Fall 25
6. Tejashri Panchal, “Using Data Science to Model Oceanic Microplastic Transport” Office of Undergraduate Research, Fall 25
7. Ava Parks, “Flexible Wearable Sensors” Undergraduate Research Assistant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Summer 25
8. Franck Banuani, “Global Microplastic Pollution” Office of Undergraduate Research, Summer 25
9. Spencer Carpentier, “Flexible Wearable Sensors” Office of Undergraduate Research, Summer 25
10. Madhava Aditya Bharadwaj Pinapati, “Enhancing the Strength and Sustainability of Olefin Plastics Using Cellulose Fibers” Office of Undergraduate Research, Spring, Summer 25
11. Mehul Jammannagari, Office of Undergraduate Research, Spring 25
12. Sofia Moreno Briceno, Summer Internship, 4-month placement, Newell Brands, Summer 24
13. Jackson Maynor, Summer Internship, 4-month placement, Newell Brands, Summer 23

Awards Won By Students

Franck Banuani – Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Grant, 2025

Outreach and Engagement Activities

1. 2026 – Caribbean Water Sampling Expedition: Mentored two High School students on water sampling and mangrove expedition to St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, The Saints, and Guadalupe.
2. 2025 – Ocean Pollution in the Arctic Simulcast: Interactive discussion with 50+ students from Hough High School on environmental science and research.
3. 2025 – Caribbean Water Sampling Expedition: Mentored two High School students on water sampling and mangrove expedition to Martinique.

Membership

1. American Geophysical Union 2026
2. North Carolina Water Resources Association 2026
3. Council on Undergraduate Research 2025
4. Ocean Exploration Trust 2025
5. American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) 2024
6. Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) 2023 
7. The Explorers Club 2020
8. American Society for Composites (ASC) 2020 
9. Materials Research Society 2018
10. American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 2018

Service

1. NSF Reviewer
   1. Panel Reviewer, 2025
   2. Panel Reviewer, 2024
2. Referee for Journals
   • Journal of Applied Polymer Science
   • Automation in Construction
   • Current Nutrition & Food Science
   • IEEE Sensors Journal
3. Member of ASTM subcommittee F15.81 on Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, 2024/5
4. Business Mentor for USF ENT-6415 Venture Capital and Private Equity Class, 2020 
5. Building Entrepreneurship Around Tampa Bay (BEAT) business plan judge, 2019
6. Business Mentor for NSF I-Corps program, 2018
7. Building Entrepreneurship Around Tampa Bay (BEAT) business plan judge, 2018
8. Consultant and expert witness for Spectrum Inc. on Intellectual Property theft, 2014

Board Membership

1. The Polymer Center of Excellence, Board Member, 2025 to Present
2. Sustainable Seas Institute, Chairperson of the Board, 2025 to Present
3. Better Hill Holdings, Chairperson of the Board, 2020 to Present