The Performance Materials Laboratory (PML) had a wonderful showing at this year’s UNC Charlotte Office of Undergraduate Research Symposium, where undergraduate researchers Shamar Lindo and Liam Eckhart presented their poster on extracting nanocellulose from hemp hurd agricultural waste. Their work was coauthored by Ali Alkhabbaz and PhD candidate Md Shah Nawaz Arafin, who served as their research mentors throughout the project.
The work sits at the heart of our biocomposites research program, exploring how nanocellulose derived from hemp hurd, an agricultural byproduct, can be used to develop sustainable, high performance biocomposite polymer materials as an alternative to petroleum based options. Shamar and Liam spent the semester in the lab extracting and characterizing fibers, evaluating purity and thermal stability, and laying the groundwork for the biocomposite formulations and stress testing that will follow. Ali and Arafin were closely involved every step of the way, guiding the experimental approach and helping Shamar and Liam build the skills they needed to carry the project forward.
Presenting a research poster to a room full of faculty, peers, and visitors takes real preparation and confidence, and Shamar and Liam handled it with poise. Fielding questions on the spot about your own data is one of the best tests of how well you understand your work, and both of them were more than up to the challenge. That confidence does not happen on its own. It comes from strong mentorship, and Ali and Arafin deserve real credit for the time and patience they invested in these two undergraduates.
I could not be prouder of everyone involved. Shamar and Liam’s curiosity, persistence, and growth as researchers reflect exactly what makes undergraduate research at UNC Charlotte so valuable, and Ali and Arafin’s mentorship reflects the collaborative culture we work hard to build in PML. This is great experience for the whole team, and I look forward to seeing where this work goes next.
Congratulations to Shamar, Liam, Ali, and Arafin on a job well done.