Creativity drives Georges
“I love tinkering,” says University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM) polymer scientist Michael Georges, adding (and obviously pleased) that he had been able to squeeze in lab time before an early morning meeting.
What is “tinkering” to Georges, however, is really leading-edge research that has made a huge impact on polymer science.
In fact, in 1993, Georges, then a scientist at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada in Mississauga, and his team were the first in the world to solve “living radical polymerization” (LRP) – a problem in polymer science that was thought to be impossible for mere mortals to master.
Polymers, a creation of nature, are chains of large molecules. The unique characteristics of a polymer chain – such as its length – determine its properties. Your DNA is a polymer. Wood is made of polymers, as are turtles’ shells, milk and natural rubber.
In the late 19th century, chemists developed ways to copy nature’s genius. Since then, polymers have given rise to materials that are used to make almost any manufactured material imaginable – plastics, food wrap, tires, nylon stockings, housing materials, carpets, textiles, bulletproof vests, sails and even bubblegum.
Scientists were always aware of the LRP problem. If solved, it would enable easier manipulation of the molecules in the chain, thus enabling materials to be created that couldn’t be with conventional polymer processes.
Georges undertook it, however, as a carbohydrate specialist. He had no background in polymers.
“My inexperience turned out to be a benefit. The polymer chemists had been trained to believe that LRP was not possible. I didn’t have enough background to buy into that, so we forged ahead, based only on the fact that I had a hunch.”
What followed was like something out of a Hollywood movie. The Georges team tried and failed numerous times, to the point where Georges’ boss gave him a four-month deadline to get a result – or forget the whole thing.
“I used to go to meetings to present my results and I would get hammered. One guy said, ‘If it could have been done, there are a lot better chemists out there than you who would have done it.'”
Georges and his team not only solved the problem but they won the Arthur K. Doolittle Award for the best paper presented to the American Chemical Society in 1993. The discovery made LRP a thriving part of polymer research. “When we published that paper, there were about seven others related to LRP,” says Georges. “Today, there are probably 600 to 700 papers a year.”
Georges left his 31-year career in the private sector and joined UTM in 2001. “There is definitely more freedom to follow your instincts in university research and I was ready to explore some new areas. And I like helping the students understand organic chemistry.”
In his work with students, Georges emphasizes creativity over brains as the key to success in research.
“Academically, I am not the brightest student around. Where I differ is that I never lack ideas. People who do well in research are those who can be creative. And you have to have passion. We just had a big result the other day and I didn’t sleep for three nights after that because I was so excited.”