September 22, 2025

Lucia Fernandez-Ballester, Assistant Professor in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, holds a custom-made injection-molding flow cell that processes small amounts of polymers inside the Advanced Polymer Engineering Lab at the Engineering Research Center. Behind her is a polarized optical micrograph showing orientation in a polymer sample. With a $739,205 National Science Foundation Early Career Award Program grant, Husker engineer Lucia Fernandez-Ballester is working to better understand how micro- and nanoplastics enter the environment, with the goal of designing safer plastic materials. September 22, 2025. Photo by Jordan Opp / University Communication and Marketing.