Education

Professional Summary

Dr. Vijay Mannari is distinguished professor of polymers and coatings in the School of Engineering Technology at Eastern Michigan University. He has more 25 years of combined experience in academia, applied research and leadership in industrial research and development. His research interests includes polymers and coatings based on renewable bio-based raw materials, sol-gel coatings, UV-cure and water-borne coatings, and study of structure-property relationship in polymers.

Dr. Mannari has established a rigorous research program at Coatings Research Institute of EMU with more than $2.15 million in research funding over the last several years. He has co-authored more than 45 publications in juried journals, one technical book, three book chapters, five US patents and numerous presentations. He has mentored four candidates through their Ph.D. degree. Dr. Mannari, a gifted instructor and accomplished researcher, is the recipient of several prestigious awards and recognitions for his outstanding teaching, research, and professional service.

Interests and Expertise

• Design and synthesis of polymers for CASE applications
• Coating formulation
• Coatings based on bio-based and "green" materials
• Sol-Gel technology
• Water-borne and UV-cure coatings
• Novel cross-linking chemistry.

Courses Taught

PC500: Polymers and Coatings Tech.-I 
PC501: Polymers and Coatings Tech.-I Lab. 
PC582: Advanced Coatings Formulation
PC540: UV-Cure Coatings 
PC503: Advanced Polymers and Coatings Lab

Selected Publications

• Stretching the Limits: Six Sigma Reaches New Heights When It's Applied in a Coating Materials Lab, Senthilkumar Rengasamy, Christopher Kluse, and Vijay Mannari, Six Sigma Forum Magazine 08/2014; 13(4):15–24.
• Air-drying bio-based polyurethane dispersion from cardanol; Synthesis and characterization of coatings Patel Chintankumar J, and Mannari Vijay, Progress in Organic Coatings (2014), 77(5), 997–1006.
• Vijay Mannari, Rengasamy, S., Hydrophobic and Oil-resistant coatings based on advanced green polyurethane dispersions, J. Applied Polymer Science, 2013.
• Novel Organic-Inorganic hybrid nanocomposite coatings by UV-initiated sol-gel process Scott Zavada and Vijay Mannari RadTech Report, Dec. 2012, Vol.27, No.4.
• Intelligent polymeric surfaces through molecular self-assembly, Goel, Achin; Joshi, Ravi G.; Mannari, Vijay Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, vol.6, 2, 123–133, 2009.

Patents

• U.S. Patent 8952093, Feb 10, 2015. Bio-based Polyurethane dispersion compositions and methods. Vijaykumar Mannari
• U.S. Patent 8900668 B2, Dec 2, 2014. Corrosion resistant coatings and methods using polyureasil precursors. Vijaykumar Mannari
• U.S. Patent 8764851 B2, July 1, 2014. Ghosh, Subhas and Mannari, Vijaykumar, to Eastern Michigan University, Antimicrobial fabrics made using sol-gel/N-halamine chemistry, and methods of making same.

Selected Presentations

• High functionality soy-based sustainable polyols for high solid coatings for metals, Chintankumar Patel and Vijay Mannari
  Metal Protection Through Coatings Technology Conference, September 16–17, 2014, Baltimore, MD.
• Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Conversion Pretreatment for Corrosion Protection of Metals, Mahshid Niknahad and Vijay Mannari
  Metal Protection Through Coatings Technology Conference, September 16–17, 2014, Baltimore, MD.
• Bio-based functional building blocks for sustainable and advanced coatings, Vijay Mannari, Chintankumar Patel, Chung-Hsuan Cheng, Senthilkumar Rengasamy
• ACS 248th National Meeting, San Francisco, 10–14 Aug., 2014
• Bio-based building blocks for advanced photo-cure coating systems, Vijay Mannari, Chintankumar Patel, Chung-Hsuan Chen, Ali Kiamanesh, and Wenyin Li, RadTech UV and EB Conference, May 12–14, Rosemont, IL, USA.
• Advanced Innovative Coatings for Energy Efficient Buildings, Vijay Mannari, International Conference on advanced materials for energy efficient buildings, Feb 13–15, 2013 (Invite Keynote Lecture).
• Water-borne UV-curable Coatings Based on Renewable Materials, Vijay Mannari and Senthilkumar Rengasamy, RadTech UV/EB 2012 Conference, Chicago, IL, April 30–May 2, 2012.
• Sustainable polymeric binders for coatings: Combining bio-renewable materials and advanced cross-linking chemistries. ACS Fall 2011 National Meeting and Exposition, Denver, CO, Aug. 28–Sept. 1, 2011, Invited Speaker.
• Industrial products with bio-based materials, International Conference on Natural Products, Castres, France, May 24–27, 2011. Keynote speaker

Patents / Awards / Grants

Active Research Grants

• Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane Platform for Sustainable and Advanced Rain-Erosion Resistant Coatings
  Sponsor: SERDP - 2016
• Soy-Based functional building blocks for sustainable advanced coatings
  Sponsor: USDA-NIFA -2012

Past Grants

• Development of novel bio-based polyols and their derivatives for low VOC coatings
  Sponsor: USDA-NIFA - 2009

Research and Commercialization Grants

• Commercialization of chromate-free sol-gel pretreatments, 2011, 2012
  Sponsor: Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIIE)
• Polyurethane dispersions based on soybean oil (soy-PUD) for high bio-based content coatings, 2012
  Sponsor: Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIIE)

Awards

• 2013, Eastern Michigan University "Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Award"
• 2012, Michigan Green Chemistry Governors Award
• 2008, John A Gordon Best Paper Award, FSCT
• 2007, Teaching Excellence Award EMU
• 2006, Chartered Scientist qualification, The Science Council
• 2004, Election as Fellow of Oil and Color Chemists Association (OCCA), UK

Professional Memberships and Affiliations

• American Chemical Society
• American Coatings Association
• Detroit Society for Coatings Technology
• Phi Kappa Phi

Additional Information

Dr. Mannari is active in offering professional development short courses. Find more information on his personal website. 
EMU news release